WHO had expressed concern over the way pregnancy and childbirth in under developed countries had led to rise in the death rate of women and children. In The World Health Report 2005 released this month WHO had urged the countries to increase life saving care to pregnant women and children till the age of 5 yrs.
The WHO report says that about 530,000 women all over the world die each year from pregnancy and childbirth related complications. In a less developed country only two third of the pregnant women get their babies delivered through a trained professional each year. In the least developed countries the number is only one third of the total women pregnant. About 10.6 million children die each year before their fifth birthday.Most of these deaths are due to lower respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles and HIV/AIDS. Availability of oral re-hydration therapy, antibiotics, anti-malaria drugs, and insecticide treated bed nets are some very common treatments that can successfully stop these children from dying. WHO urges the medical community across the globe to practice a continuous method of care extended to the women from pregnancy to childbirth and continued with the child till he’s about 5 yrs of age.
