One in 38 women dies from pregnancy complications

One in 38 Pakistani women dies from pregnancy related causes as compared to one in 230 women in Sri Lanka while around one half of women are anaemic throughout their pregnancies. Approximately, 80 percent deaths are due to direct obstetric causes, while Hepatitis is the most frequently cited indirect cause of maternal death in the country. This was revealed by health professionals while talking to Business Recorder here on Thursday.
According to them, reproductive tract infections including sexually transmitted diseases could cause pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility and chronic pain and also increase women's susceptibility to HIV infection. Cancers of the breast and reproductive tract also constitute a significant proportion of cancers seen in Pakistan.
They stated untimely death or disability of a woman adversely affects the health of her children, household productivity and the national economy.
About 25 percent of children are born with low birth weight due to maternal problems. Ten percent of children do not reach their first birthday. High fertility, with an average of six children per woman, has resulted in high population growth.
They maintained malnutrition was a major public health problem in Pakistan that disproportionately affects women and girls. More girls than boys die between the ages of one and four; in fact the female mortality rate here was 12 percent higher than for boys. This was a direct consequence of lower social status accorded to women and girls who as a result tended to eat less and face additional barriers when accessing health care.
They further stated women, girls and infants most often died of common communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, diarrhea, pneumonia and tetanus which could have been easily prevented and treated. The high prevalence of communicable diseases and malnutrition was not only related to poor living conditions but also to the lower social status of women and girls. In addition, because of social stigma and gender norms, as many as fifty percent of women suffer from recurrent reproductive tract infections, they claimed.
Moreover, the Provincial government had re-activated the Women Health Project (WHP) and Rs 1260 million were being spent under WHP for provision of necessary heath facilities in various districts of the Province. Under this project, provision of necessary medicine and other facilities were being provided to the women population of selected areas.