MATERNAL mortality in Zimbabwe has been on the low due to concerted efforts by government, development partners and civil society which has seen it come down from 388 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 2000 to 357 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 2020.
By Kudakwashe Pembere
According a joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the World Bank Group and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA/Population Division) dubbed Trends in maternal mortality 2000 to 2020, Zimbabwe recorded 1 700 in 2020.
In the report, Zimbabwe had a 5.7 percent change between 2000 and 2020 in the positive direction as observed by the trend in the twenty year period under discussion.
Zimbabwe according to the report, had an all-time high maternal mortality ratio of 618 per 100 000 in 2010 with the year 2005 being the second highest having 533 per 100 000 and 408 per 100 000 recorded in 2015.
The report noted that global trends obscure large inequalities in maternal survival between regions of world and countries within those regions.
“Looking at SDG regional groupings,3 in 2020, sub-Saharan Africa was the only region with a very high4 MMR – estimated at 545 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births (UI 477 to 654). This is 136 times higher than the MMR in Australia and New Zealand (4; UI 3 to 4) where MMR was lowest. From lowest to highest, the regions of Europe and Northern America (13), Eastern and South-Eastern Asia (74), Northern Africa and Western Asia (84), and Latin America and the Caribbean (88) all had low MMRs (below 100) in 2020.
“Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for approximately 70% of global maternal deaths in 2020, followed by Central and Southern Asia which accounted for almost 17%. These regional differences in the MMR correspond to substantial differences in the lifetime risk of dying from a maternal cause,” read the report.
Meanwhile, maternal mortality in Zimbabwe currently stands at 363 per 100,000 live births, according to the Preliminary Results of the 2022 Housing and Population Census.
The country awaits an updated demographic health survey which will give a more updated figure regarding the maternal mortality ratio.
