About 95,000 mothers supported by Save the Children in Yemen and other countries, may have to give birth without a skilled health worker present in the next 12 months putting themselves and their babies at risk, unless life-saving aid programs continue, according to a press release published by Save the Children aid agency.
Global aid cuts have affected the aid agency’s newborn and reproductive health services in several countries, with the worst impacted including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Yemen and Nigeria, said Save the Children.
Recent UN modelling showed that universal access to midwifery care could avert more than 60% of all maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths – amounting to 4.3 million lives saved annually by 2035 – and that even a more modest 10% increase in coverage could save 1.3 million lives each year.[4]
Moazzam Malik, CEO of Save the Children UK who is attending the 78th World Health Summit this week in Geneva, said:
“As health leaders meet for the World Health Assembly, shrinking aid and rising debt are threatening essential health services, putting millions of lives at risk -especially among women, children, and the most vulnerable.
“Governments must act now to rethink and realign health financing: mobilizing domestic resources, taxing harmful products, coordinating donor support, and investing in resilient primary health systems. The future of universal health coverage depends on bold decisions today.”
The World Health Assembly (WHA) is the ultimate decision-making body of the WHO and is held annually in Geneva to determine the health agency’s policies and funding priorities.
Save the Children is urging member states to adopt this year’s proposed WHA resolution on strengthening global health financing as well as the resolution on accelerating action on the global health and care workforce by 2030.
Save the Children trains and equips front line health workers and uses basic, low-cost care to save newborn lives in 30 countries around the world. In 2024, our maternal, newborn and reproductive health services reached 1.4 million babies and 2.1 million mothers and women of reproductive age in 30 countries.