In 2004, Dr Judith Hall Head of Anaesthetics & Intensive Care at Cardiff University, heard Professor Martin Chobli from Benin speak about the international disgrace of African maternal mortality.
Judith Hall attended the World Congress of Anaesthesia in Paris 2004. Charismatic Professor Martin Chobley gave a passionate talk of the high risk that mothers face when giving birth in Sub Sahara Africa, illustrated by his own experience in his native Benin. Judith was so moved, she was determined to arrange a visit to see if Cardiff anaesthetists could help. And so, 12 months later, May 2005, Paul Clyburn and Judith HallI boarded a plane to Cotonou, the first city of Benin.
- A Boeing 747 of mothers die in childbirth every single day in Africa.
- In Africa a woman’s risk of dying from treatable or preventable complications of pregnancy and childbirth over the course of her lifetime is 1 in 22, compared to 1 in 7,300 in developed regions.
- In a country like Benin, there are 11 anaesthetists in a country of 11 million. There are 140 anaesthetists in Cardiff alone!
Did you know that? We didn’t. We don’t hear about this! This is just Africa’s ordinary day to day tragedy.
Goal 5 of the UN’s Millennium goals is to decrease maternal mortality by 75% by 2015.
It is a big goal, with big international talk and support. There is some progress, but in the meantime…Judith decided to at least try and do something.
So the combined Cardiff University and NHS Departments of Anaesthesia in South Wales set up this Charity with the ambition of training. And do you know what? We are making an impact.
Since the charity started in 2005, 15 trained anaesthetists have travelled to Benin, Togo, Ethiopia and Liberia to support the training of health care workers in these countries. We hope that this training empowers the people of these countries to improve their own provision of healthcare in a sustainable way.
More than 80 per cent of maternal deaths worldwide are due to five direct causes:
- hemorrhage
- sepsis
- unsafe abortion
- obstructed labour
- hypertensive disease of pregnancy (pre-eclampsia)
About the United Nations Millennium Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations-and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. (see Goal 5) The goal that this project directly supports is Goal 5a:
Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio and increase the Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel. For more information on this, visit Millennium Goal.
There is still a long way to go.
According to the GuardianOnline, (25/9/08):
“on present trends, the UN may fail to meet any of its targets. Least progress has been made in achieving a 75% cut in the number of women dying in pregnancy or childbirth, from the current level of more than 500,000 deaths a year." Full story here.
But there is hope on the large scale as the world governments recognise the need for action. In September of 2008 The United Nations launched a new initiative to strengthen health systems in an effort to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth. This task force on maternal mortality will be co-chaired by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. |