Aid cuts could be detrimental to pregnant women, says UN

Cuts to aid budgets are threatening to undermine years of progress in reducing the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth, and could lead to a rise in deaths, the United Nations has warned.

Globally, there was a 40 percent decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023, a report by UN agencies including the World Health Organization showed yesterday, largely due to better access to essential health services.

That could now go into reverse, the WHO said in a statement accompanying the report which did not mention specific cuts but came in the wake of a foreign aid freeze by the US government and the ending of funding through the United States Agency for International Development for many programs.

Other donor countries including Britain have also announced plans to cut aid budgets.

"One of the headline messages is that the funding cuts risk not only that progress, but we could have a shift backward," the WHO.

The cuts have had "pandemic-like effects" on health systems globally and could have a "more structural, deep-seated effect," it added.

The WHO said the cuts were already rolling back vital services for maternal, newborn and child health in many countries, reducing staff numbers, closing facilities and disrupting supply chains for supplies including treatments for hemorrhage and pre-eclampsia.

Cuts to other areas, such as malaria and HIV treatment, would also impact maternal survival, the UN said.

In 2023, despite recent progress, a woman still died roughly every two minutes - around 260,000 in total that year - from complications that were mainly preventable and treatable, it added.

Reuters