International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The maternal mortality rates in developing countries are still too high, according to a new report.

Despite death rates dropping by 30 per cent from 12.5 million in 1990 to 8.8 million in 2008, more still needs to be done to reduce the rates further, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which directs and is the co-ordinating health authority within the United Nations.

Some advances have been made, for example, the number of underweight children in developing countries has dropped from 25 per cent in 1990 to 16 per cent in 2010.

Also, there were fewer HIV infections recorded between 2001 and 2008, which has led to better health for infants.

However, the WHO said that, despite developments being made, "few developing countries are on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal target for maternal mortality".

The data from the WHO has shown that nine countries in Africa and 29 outside the continent are on course to meet the MDG goal for reducing malaria, which should, in turn, reduce the number of infant deaths.

In 2008, an estimated 243 million malaria cases led to the worldwide deaths of 863,000 people, the majority of whom were children under five years old.

Posted by Alexandra George