logo

Assignment on Sustainable Development Goal

   

Added on  2020-05-16

22 Pages5891 Words169 Views
Running head: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL: ADVANCEMENTS IN FAMILY PLANNINGAND SANITATION INTERVENTIONS TO REDUCE MATERNAL MORTALITYName of the StudentName of the UniversityAuthor Notes

1SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALExecutive SummaryThis policy brief identifies the problems of maternal mortality that has gripped the globalpopulation and is particularly prominent among the populations of the developing countries.Maternal mortality has significant consequences on the society, family and the nation in general.Maternal mortality is also associated with child mortality and socio-economic consequences.Various policies like family planning and sanitation or WASH policies have helped to curb thisproblem but still various regions of the developing countries are still suffering from theseproblems, particularly sub Saharan Africa. The barriers to these policy implementations in theseregions are lack of facilities, resources, education, promotional programs, presence ofmisconceptions, lack of funds, negative attitudes, lack of skilled healthcare personnels, culturalfactors, among others. This policy brief provides recommendations with respect to education andpromotional strategies that will helps in the proper implementations of these policies in variousrural regions, among backward classes and also in various other developing countries of theWorld.

2SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALTable of ContentsIntroduction/Context and importance of the problem.....................................................................3Statement of the issue or problem...............................................................................................3Underlying root causes................................................................................................................4Policy implications of maternal mortality...................................................................................5Organizational interests...................................................................................................................6Critique of Policy options................................................................................................................7Overview of policies and their shortcomings..............................................................................7Policy recommendations................................................................................................................12Practical steps............................................................................................................................12Closing paragraph......................................................................................................................13Reference List................................................................................................................................14Bibliography..................................................................................................................................20

3SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALIntroduction/Context and importance of the problemStatement of the issue or problemAccording to the World Health Organization (WHO), “the death of a woman whilepregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site ofthe pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management butnot from accidental or incidental cases” (Who.int 2018). Maternal mortality is a significantconcern in the modern World. The maternal mortality rates have dropped from 385 deaths to 216deaths per 100,000 live births from 1990-2015, which is a decline of 44% of the global ratio ofmaternal mortality. However, this is only 5.5% of the annual rate, which is needed to achieve thematernal mortality reduction target. Maternal mortality is a significant concern, particularly inthe regions of Africa. Maternal mortality rates are unacceptable in the sub-Saharan regions ofAfrica (World Health Organization 2015). Moreover, compared to the countries of high socio-economic status, the countries with poor socio-economic status are far more affected with respectto maternal mortality. This is because the developed countries have a maternal mortality rate of 1in 3300, while for developing countries, it is 1 in 41. The maternal mortality ratio in thedeveloping countries is 14 times higher than the maternal mortality ratios of the developed andhigh-income countries (World Health Organization and Unicef 2014). The percentage of womenrequiring or undergoing antenatal care has also increased from 65%, which was observed in theyear 1990 to 83% in the year 2012. This is particularly high among the developing countries.Moreover, not all women receive the necessary amount of healthcare services required,particularly in the developing countries (Tran Khanh 2012). Although maternal mortality rateshas decreased but more than 800 women die each day due to complications resulting from

4SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALpregnancy and child birth (Haddou 2018). Both Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia contribute tosignificant numbers of the maternal deaths observed worldwide (Blencowe et al. 2012). Properfamily planning and sanitation are some of the interventions that can help to reduce the maternaldeaths. This policy brief concentrates on the maternal mortality rates on Africa as compared toother countries and identifies the root causes of the problem. The policy brief is directed towardsthe Government and the participants in the culmination and application of the policy will be thehealthcare organizations, non-government bodies, among others. Underlying root causesApproximately, 289,000 women die every year due to childbirth complications resultingfrom sanitation. Lack of family planning, results in early pregnancies, unintended pregnanciesand abortions that contribute to maternal deaths (Usaid.gov 2018). Teenage pregnancies and lackof use of contraceptives also results in maternal deaths. Another case of concern is the HIVinfections, which account for 40% of maternal deaths. These are some of the preventable causesof maternal mortality. Other preventable causes of maternal mortality are haemorrhage, whichaccounts for 27% of deaths, presence of pre-existing medical conditions that are aggravated dueto pregnancy, pregnancy hypertensive disorders like eclampsia, sepsis, embolism, unsafeabortion practices also contribute to the preventable causes of maternal deaths worldwide,particularly in developing countries (Filippi et al 2016). Lack of skilled healthcare personnels,supplies and equipments prevent timely care of women going through various pregnancy or childbirth related complications. Lack of equipments and skilled doctors and nurses, particularly inthe developing countries also results in improper diagnosis of the complications, therebypreventing timely treatments and in turn contributing to increased maternal mortality rates.Presence of complications results in timely interventions like the use of services like

5SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALadministration of life saving drugs, blood transfusions, surgical interventions like caesareansections, among others (Nnebue et al. 2014). Policy implications of maternal mortalityThe consequences associated with maternal mortality has far reaching effects. Studieshave revealed that increase in maternal mortality results in increased rates of mortally among thechildren. It also results in decreased nutrition and proper education of children. Maternal deathsare also associated with social and economic crisis, particularly in the developing countries. Inthe developing countries like Africa, mothers are also earners of the family and maternal deathsresults in financial instability, difficult management of the household, loss of education, amongothers. These are some of the long term consequences associated with maternal mortality (Mollaet al. 2015). Some of the policies particularly in the developing countries that have been impliedto reduce maternal mortality are fee exemption policy. According to this policy, delivery feesduring child birth will be reduced in regions of Ghana. Along with this a method called the“Rapid Ascertainment Process for institutional deaths” were also applied. It revealed that afterapplication of the policy, maternal death rates were significantly reduced (Johnson, Frempong-Ainguah and Padmadas 2015). Some of the other policy implications are evaluation of safepregnancy and motherhood programs, use of skilled health workers specialized in emergencyobstetrics in order to reduce maternal deaths in rural areas, improvement of health facilities,helping the poor socio-economic groups get safe care delivery services in order to prevent deathscaused by pregnancy related complications, monitoring of maternal care services, se of contextspecific indicators to evaluate and monitor maternal health, evaluation of economic aspects ofhealthcare systems with the use of specific tools and enhancement of research works for furtherevaluation of the intervention and monitoring programs (Gov.uk 2018).

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Malaria in Africa: A systematic Review of its Environmental Determinants
|10
|2679
|59

Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Developing Countries: Factors and Strategies
|14
|3451
|61

Assignment | Maternal and Neonatal Mortality
|8
|3438
|17

Hiv Aids in Sub Saharan Africa Assesment Report
|12
|4694
|22

Family Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa
|7
|710
|85

Early Pregnancy Issues in Sierra Leone
|7
|1544
|91