In early June, Melinda French Gates pledged US$215 million to improve women's health globally, with a focus on underfunded areas such as maternal care in Africa. The announcement comes at a critical moment. Every day, more than 700 women die during and following pregnancy and childbirth, though many of the leading causes of maternal mortality are preventable with affordable, evidence-based interventions.
These maternal deaths are not evenly distributed. Roughly 87% of them occur in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with the latter alone making up nearly 70%. By contrast, high-income countries experience far lower rates, although stark inequities remain.
As calls for local resource mobilisation grow louder, the focus should shift to cost-effectiveness. Instead of investing in expensive hospital-centred models, policymakers should scale up funding for affordable interventions that address the leading causes of maternal mortality, which include postpartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders such as pre-eclampsia, unsafe abortion complications, obstructed labour and sepsis.
