Maternal mortality falls by over half in Russia

Moscow, June 11 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Maternal mortality rate in Russia has fallen by 55 per cent since 2005, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

"We recently obtained data on a decrease in maternal mortality," Medvedev said at a meeting of deputy premiers. "Since 2005, or in essence since the start of the national healthcare project, it dropped 2.2-fold."

In 23 Russian regions, the maternal mortality figures have fallen to the level of West European countries, he added.

He linked the positive dynamics to a state programme to build 23 perinatal centres and a programme to improve the supply of equipment and medicine to maternity centres.

According to a 2012 World Health Organisation (WHO) factsheet, approximately 800 women across the world die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, with 99 per cent of the deaths occurring in developing countries.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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