PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD CONGRESS ON MATERNAL MORTALITY
Press Briefing
PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD CONGRESS ON MATERNAL MORTALITY
19970225
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
The first ever World Congress on Maternal Mortality, organized by the World Society of Labour and Delivery, will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 8 to 14 March, the President of the Society, Dr. Daniel Weinstein, announced at a Headquarters press conference this morning, sponsored by Morocco.
The Congress, to be held under the patronage of King Hassan II of Morocco, will consider ways to reduce the high rate of maternal, as well as infant, mortality, mainly in the developing countries. Dr. Weinstein, who is also Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, said 1 million women -- about 99 per cent from the third world -- were dying every year from the process of labour and delivery. About 45 million others would also remain handicapped for the rest of their lives. "I think, this is the biggest tragedy of our times", he observed. He hoped the Congress would be the start of a new era in focusing on what had become a huge public health concern worldwide, adding that it was time the western world cared about it.
Dr. Weinstein said that during the initial planning stages of the Congress, letters signed by Leah Rabin, widow of the former Israeli Prime Minister, had been sent to 180 heads of State appealing for support. Only Switzerland and Norway had responded with donations of $100,000 each. He again appealed for financial support to ensure the success of the Congress. The reasons for the cause of deaths in the process of labour and delivery were the same the world over. In the United States, Norway, Denmark, France, England and Israel, about two women died during 100,000 deliveries. Many more died in Africa from infections, post-partum haemorrhage, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and medical complications of pregnancy, and liver diseases. "In the western world, there are solutions for all these medical problems", he said.
If family planning were introduced properly in the developing world, particularly in Africa, the number of deaths immediately would drop to half, he stated. Women in Africa would be helped to avoid unwanted pregnancies and also saved from untimely deaths, he added.
Dr. Weinstein said that there were plans to hold another Congress in an African country a year after the Marrakesh gathering. Many from around the world had already volunteered their services. He believed the world would be awakened and efforts made to reduce what he called a catastrophe.
Dr. Frank A. Chervenak, Director of Obstetrics of the New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center, Chairman of the scientific committee of the Congress, said that there was "no more important problem in modern obstetrics than the
Morocco Press Conference - 2 - 25 February 1997
topic of maternal mortality". That applied not only in the developing but the developed world as well. A scientific programme had been put together for the Congress that would bring together leaders from throughout the world. Seventy internationally respected authorities in all aspects of obstetrics, medicine, surgery and associated areas would address the dialogue on maternal mortality. It would be a true dialogue between physicians from throughout the world that would address in a formal way the central problem of maternal mortality, which was a universal issue, he added.
An information material distributed at the briefing said the topics in the scientific programme had been selected to cover all aspects of maternal mortality during pregnancy, labour and delivery, and would hopefully result in improved conditions for mother and child. Some of the Congress participants and the topics of their lectures included J.B. Wilson of Ghana, who will speak on "Preventing maternal mortality: the West African experience"; Maher Mahran of Egypt, on "Maternal mortality in developing countries"; Nico Schuitemaker, on "Maternal mortality in relation to caesarian section"; My Tahar Aloui of Morocco, on "Family planning and contraception"; and Michael Lindsay of the United States, who will speak on "Prevention of HIV infection".
Dr. Weinstein said Morocco was chosen as a site for the Congress for a number of reasons, including its high maternal death rate, facilities and the patronage of King Hassan II. He appealed to the press to help the organizers raise $250,000 immediately.
Responding to questions, he said there would be at least 1,000 participants at the Congress. He told another questioner that the site for the next Congress had not yet been chosen, but the country would be one with a high maternal mortality.
Asked why there had not been a concerted effort to tackle what was a serious problem, he said he had addressed congressmen in the United States, and other groups and organizations around the world on the subject. He could only guess that "they don't care". Asked why he had not obtained support from multilateral agencies, he said that he was still trying.
El Hassane Zahid of the Permanent Mission of Morocco said that some of the multilateral agencies, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), were already dealing with the problem. He added that they might not be getting enough resources from Member States to do more. He hoped the Marrakesh Congress would elicit awareness of the problem and more resources and support from governments and United Nations organizations.
Dr. Weinstein said that one of the reasons for the lack of international response was "because we don't hear any noise about it from Africa and from us here. There is silence there. People are dying in silence". He would at the Congress urge African delegations not to stay silent about the problem any more.
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