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NPR's "Morning Edition" on Wednesday in the fourth of a series of segments on challenges in meeting the U.N. Millennium Development Goals by 2015 examined the risks of childbirth in Africa, where one in six children dies before the age of five and the chance of a woman dying in childbirth is three times higher than in developed nations. In addition, many African women die from complications related to incorrectly performed abortions, delayed medical care and the lack of appropriate treatment for reproductive health issues, according to NPR. The NPR segment examines the challenges and strategies for assisting women and infants in Zambia, a country with one of Africa's highest rates of maternal mortality and where women have an average of almost six children, and Mozambique, one of a few African countries with a steady decline in infant mortality. The Zambian government and its international partners -- UNICEF, the World Health Organization and UNAIDS -- recently held a conference in Lusaka, Zambia, to draft a "roadmap" for defining the maternal mortality problem and developing solutions, according to NPR. According to Mulindi Mwanahamuntu, who led a study on maternal mortality in Zambia, midwives are attempting to reduce maternal mortality, but some are leaving the country because the government can not adequately pay them for their work. However, Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF's country director for Zambia, said governments can reduce maternal and infant mortality rates by training people to become skilled birth attendants. For example, in Mozambique, traditional healers are trained in basic midwifery, a campaign encourages pregnant women to attend hospital childbirth classes and high-risk pregnant women from rural areas are allowed to stay at district hospitals until giving birth, NPR reports. The NPR segment also includes comments from residents of Zambia and Mozambique (Hunter-Gault, "Morning Edition," NPR, 8/9). A transcript of the segment is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer. In addition, an essay by NPR reporter Charlayne Hunter-Gault on HIV/AIDS, the "newest grim companion" of poverty for women in Africa, is available online. Expanded NPR coverage of the series is available online. Related Opinion Piece "Because the phrase 'reproductive health' has become a red flag ... for 'abortion' and 'birth control,'" maternal health is no longer in the "political comfort zone" and governments dedicate only "paltry sums" to ensure the safety of pregnant women, Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, and Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at the council, write in a Toronto Star opinion piece. "Hundreds of millions of dollars are directed to saving the world's babies, infants and small children," but women receive less money in philanthropic grants, attention from relief organizations and foreign aid commitments, which "reflects a remarkable lack of concern for the survival of women," according to the opinion piece. "Every mother should have a right to her own life, and the freedom to choose decent obstetric care," Garrett and Coleman write, adding, "[W]orld leaders need to understand that funding directed at saving the lives of children does not necessarily do anything to spare their mothers" (Garrett/Coleman, Toronto Star, 8/8). You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
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