UN agency seeks funding to curb rising maternal deaths in Asia-Pacific

The Manila Times

UN agency seeks funding to curb rising maternal deaths in Asia-Pacific  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Director for Asia and the Pacific Pio Smith tells The Manila Times during an interview at the sidelines of the AVPN Global Conference in Hong Kong last September that they were seeking investments from government, private sector, and even blended financing to curb increasing maternal deaths in the region.  He said that the region lacked one million midwives who could assist pregnant mothers, especially in climate-stressed areas.    VIDEO BY RED MENDOZA  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe Visit our website at [https://www.manilatimes.net](https://www.manilatimes.net/)  Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion  Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #TMTNews #pregnancy #Philippines

Transcript

00:00What we want to talk about here at AVPM is the need for better partnerships among all

00:08these different stakeholders who are interested in sustainable and inclusive growth across

00:13the region and how we power that to get better outcomes.

00:17But specifically from UNFPA's perspective, we want to make sure that we get better outcomes

00:21for women and girls across the region.

00:24If you look at the area of maternal health, you have an unacceptable amount of preventable

00:29pregnancy related deaths that happen on a daily basis.

00:33Two women, or one, I beg your pardon, one woman every two minutes dying from a preventable

00:40pregnancy related death.

00:41That's unacceptable in 2025 and so we want to leverage better the type of investments

00:47that are required across the region so that we get better, sustainable maternal health

00:52outcomes.

00:53Ultimately, everybody benefits when we do that.

00:56You're absolutely right.

00:57And I think part of the reason is that we don't have sustainable financing and we don't

01:02have the kind of partnerships that are going to leverage the scale that we need to deliver

01:07in this.

01:08If you look at the underinvestments in maternal health, we're short one million midwives.

01:13There's a consistent underinvestment in maternal health.

01:18We're talking about these impacts in a region like Asia-Pacific where it is the most climate

01:26crisis related region in the world.

01:31And that results in having a direct impact on the maternal health, particularly of women

01:40who are pregnant.

01:41And it increases heat stress.

01:44It increases risk of stillbirth, preterm births, preeclampsia, which of course can be life-threatening.

01:54And the other thing is that you also have a rise in conflicts and disasters.

01:5860% globally of pregnancy related deaths that are preventable happen in fragile settings.

02:07So, you know, there is a lot more that still needs to happen.

02:11And what we need to do is close the gap in terms of the inequities that are and the inequalities

02:16that exist within countries.

02:18It's not about comparing country to country.

02:22It's about looking at who's being left behind in a particular country and how do we reach

02:27them.

02:28And very often, it's a her.

02:30You know, at UNEPA, we're bringing to bear a lot of evidence and data to tell the good

02:34story in terms of what good investments look like and also the return on investment when

02:40you invest in maternal health.

02:42So for every dollar that you invest in maternal health, you can get returns between 8 and 33

02:47US dollars.

02:49So to do that, we want to bring together a whole cast of stakeholders, government, private

02:55sector, philanthropics, so that we get a better mix of blended and catalytic financing that's

03:01going to give us more longer term sustainable investments in health system strengthening, better

03:08capacity building, but also very important to make sure that as we design all of these programs,

03:13we're listening to women.

03:15We're designing it with women from bottom up and not top down.

03:20You know, in this region, there's a lot of countries with still very high and acceptable

03:24rates of maternal mortality.

03:27And obviously, we want to, you know, target those with highest burden, highest need.

03:31And, you know, very often, these are countries that are not only affected by climate, but

03:36also affected by conflict.

03:37So we want to work with those, but we also want to recognize that there are inequalities

03:42when it comes to maternal health across the board.

03:45One death is a death too many.

03:47So we want to make sure that even in countries with lower rates of paternal mortality, that

03:53we get closer to achieving that precious zero.

03:56Because that's what we want to see zero preventable pregnancy related deaths.

04:01You know, what we're trying to achieve requires many different approaches.

04:06It requires, you know, very innovative catalytic financing, but it also requires us to look

04:14at things like the societal hurdles that are preventing us from making progress in maternal

04:21health.

04:22So what are the harmful social and gender norms that persist gender inequality across

04:28the board?

04:29And how do we engage with faith communities so that that young girl can understand her

04:34right to full bodily autonomy?

04:36And so I think we have endless possibilities.

04:40We know what works.

04:42We have the goodwill and intent on the part of many of these stakeholders.

04:46I think we need to come together better with more deliberate leadership.

04:50And I think we can definitely achieve these, you know, over the coming years.

05:20Yeah.

05:21Alright.

05:22And I think that we can achieve this.

05:22Okay.

05:22Oh.

05:23Don't rush me.

05:24Don't rush me.

05:25I'm feeling like that.

05:28Especially by really, we can't, you know.

05:29That's not my wife.

05:30You can hear my wife.

05:30You can hear her.

05:31You can hear your wife.

05:32Don't rush me.

05:33You can't hear it like that.

05:34Oh I've them be.

05:34Honor.

05:35I've,

05:36you know.

05:36You can hear it literally.

05:38Oh I know.

05:39That's not my wife.

05:39I've been expecting.

05:40Let's look for you.

05:40I've been doing.

05:42When the biopsy visits you.

05:43C'est impact me.

05:44I've been exploring.

05:45Not my wife.

05:46I've mentioned you.

05:47Uh I've been feeling.

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