...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
(DRC) — that accounted for nearly half of the estimated 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2023, according to UN data released on Monday that has prompted stark warnings about the impact of cuts to aid funding by the US and the UK.
Maternal deaths include those related to complications during childbirth or pregnancy, three UN agencies said in a joint report.
The trends in maternal mortality report was published by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organisation
...Kind of like the Center for Disease Control only run by the UN, with about the results you'd expectt...>
(WHO) and UN sexual and reproductive health agency UNFPA, in observance of World Health Day on April 7.
The report showed that Nigeria had the highest number of maternal deaths and accounted for more than a quarter (28.7%) of all estimated global maternal deaths in 2023, with approximately 75,000 deaths.
Only three other countries had more than 10,000 maternal deaths in 2023 — India and DRC tied at 19,000, with Pakistain totaling 11,000. India and DRC accounted for 7.2% each, while Pakistain accounted for 4.1% of global maternal deaths.
Together, these four countries accounted for almost half (47%) of all maternal deaths globally in 2023, according to the report.
The report warned that unprecedented aid cuts are putting global progress to end maternal deaths at risk and called for greater investment in midwives and other health workers.
It shows that maternal deaths declined by 40% between 2000 and 2023, largely due to improved access to essential health services.