Montevideo, May 23, 2023. In the framework of the campaign Zero Maternal Deaths. Prevent the prevetable, promoted by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) together with other organisations that make up the Interagency Working Group for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality (GTR, for its acronym in Spanish), a document is published with nine steps to achieve the reduction of maternal mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The content stems from the Interagency Strategic Consensus for the Reduction of Maternal Mortality and Mortality: Strategic Directions for the Decade 2020-2030 and includes evidence-based recommendations that have proven to be effective in reducing preventable maternal deaths. The proposed actions target both public policy and health systems, including information and surveillance systems and attention to the needs of adolescents and youth. Nine out of ten of these maternal deaths are preventable through good practice.
Step one
Develop public policies that energetically address the great gaps in equity, in order to achieve universal access and coverage in maternal and sexual and reproductive health.
Step two
Allocate the necessary resources for the implementation of public policies related to access and universal coverage in maternal and sexual and reproductive health.
Step three
Generate, disseminate and use evidence to inform policies to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, fomenting South-South cooperation among countries in the region.
Step four
As part of a rights-based approach, strengthen citizen participation and accountability. Empower citizens to promote health equity and reduce existing access barriers.
Step five
Improve the quality of maternal and sexual and reproductive health care as an essential element to reduce maternal mortality and to The nine steps guarantee the right to health for all women, regardless of their social status, including the promotion of a comprehensive response to unsafe abortion.
Step six
Invest in the health workforce to improve working conditions and foster commitment to quality care, especially in primary care, with a particular emphasis on professional midwives given that increased access to competent and regulated professional midwives could save millions of lives each year.
Step seven
Identify the barriers people face in accessing the maternal health services to which they are entitled, and the populations that are most affected by these barriers
Step eight
Ensure universal access to contraceptive methods
Step nine
Address the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescent populations, recognizing their rights and their impact on country development.
Download "Nine Steps to Reduce Maternal Mortality" (in PDF).
More information at https://ceromuertesmaternas.org/
