US study: From 1980-2008, PHL maternal deaths dropped by 81%

A study on maternal deaths in 181 countries showed that the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines dropped by 81 percent from 1980 to 2008, the news agency "LifeNews.com" said. A report of Steven Ertfelt, founder of LifeNews.com, on September 1 said, "researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation of the University of Washington in Seattle examined maternal mortality rates in 181 countries." Ertfelt said the researchers "found the [maternal mortality] rate — the number of women’s deaths per 100,000 — dropped by 81 percent in the Philippines between 1980 and 2008." According to him, in the study of the University of Washington, "the Philippines outpaced first-world nations like Germany, Russia and Israel — where abortions are legal — in cutting maternal mortality rates." Maternal deaths The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal death as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes." On the other hand, WHO defines pregnancy-related death as "the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the cause of death." WHO noted that measuring maternal mortality accurately is difficult "except where comprehensive registration of deaths and of causes of death exists." Illegal abortion Ertfelt noted that the maternal mortality rate in the Philippines dropped even though the Reproductive Health (RH) bill has not yet been passed and abortion is illegal in the country. In the LifeNews.com report, he said, "while some backers of the RH bill in the Philippines say it is needed to reduce maternal mortality, studies show the nation that has experienced success in dropping its maternal mortality rates without resorting to legalizing abortion." "The decrease comes as the largely Catholic nation has resister efforts to legalize abortions, even though the United Nations and pro-abortion groups claim women will supposedly die in illegal abortions and increase the maternal mortality rate if abortion is prohibited," Ertfelt said. The RH bill is a highly controversial issue in the Philippines as it promotes both artificial and natural means of family planning. The Catholic Church accepts only natural family planning methods. Philippine statistics According to the report, the National Statistical Coordination Board in the Philippines "has shown the same results. From 1990-2010, the daily maternal mortality rate dropped 21 percent, its figures indicated." "The World Health Organization also found that the Filipino maternal mortality rate dropped 48 percent from 1990 to 2008," the LifeNews.com report said. The report alleged that supporters of abortion in the Philippines "have relied on a 2004 study from the World Health Organization and UNICEF to make the claim that a short-term increase in maternal mortality in the Philippines meant abortions should be legalized." However, LifeNews.com said the WHO study also includes an important disclaimer: “The margins of uncertainty associated with the estimated MMRs are very large, and the estimates should not, therefore, be used to monitor trends in the short term." In addition, cross country comparisons should be treated with considerable circumspection because different strategies have been used to derive the estimates for different countries, making it difficult to draw comparisons." Millenium Development Goals Meanwhile, AusAID noted in a report last updated on May this year that "The Government of the Philippines' Midterm Progress Report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) shows the country is on track to meet 2015 targets on reducing child mortality, promoting gender equality, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, and increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation." "However, the country needs to increase its efforts to meet universal primary education and maternal health goals," AusAID said. The AusAID report noted that the Philippines had a "high" performance when it comes to promoting gender equality and empowering women. "By international indicators, gender equality is quite high in the Philippines. However, meeting MDG 3 (Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women) will require ensuring women's equal share in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector and an increased proportion of seats held by women in national parliament," AusAID said. On improving maternal health, however, the Philippines' performance is "low," AusAID noted. "MDG 5 (Improve Maternal Health) will not be met on current trends. The decline in the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births has slowed down: from 209 deaths in 1993, maternal mortality ratio (MMR) went down to 172 in deaths in 1998, and currently estimated at 162," AusAID said. "At this slow rate, it is unlikely that the 2015 target of 52 deaths in the MMR will be met," AusAID noted. - RJMD, VVP, GMA News