Many proposals have been put forward on how to address this global crisis, but trying to eliminate every single problem related to maternal health in all low- and middle-income countries would costOur new research uses cost-benefit analysis to determine which policies would be most cost-effective at preventing maternal and newborn death during childbirth. The study was conducted by maternal health experts and supported by funding from Merck for Mothers.
To obtain the greatest impact for investment, health officials and donor agencies should consider focusing on family planning and what is known as basic emergency obstetric and newborn care.who want to avoid pregnancy still don’t have access to safe and effective family planning methods. If 90% of women in the 59 hardest-hit countries had access to such services, fewer would become pregnant and 87,000 fewer mothers would die each year.
Still, implementing basic emergency obstetric and newborn care and family planning is relatively inexpensive, costing just $2.9 billion per year. In economic terms, each dollar spent would achieve $71 of social benefits, making it an extremely smart investment — one that could bring billions of dollars of economic and health benefits to people around the world.
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