PCIJ WebAlert #22.2008

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W H A T ' S N E W @ www.pcij.org
2.June.2008


---------------[ i Report Feature )------

2015 OR BUST?
Making Sure Mama Makes It
by Avigail M. Olarte

The Bohol town of Carmen, some 59 kilometers away from the provincial
capital, Tagbilaran City, doesn’t look like much. Indeed, with more
than half of its population living under the poverty line, it also
doesn’t seem like there is much going for it. But this is one town
where there has only been one maternal death in the last five years.
In a country that has at least 10 women dying each day due to
pregnancy-related causes, that is a phenomenon.

The closing piece in i Report’s MDGs series shows the ways in which
Carmen has beat the odds and made itself a haven for mothers. Its
story is made more unusual by the fact that the national government
itself has admitted that the Philippines is unlikely to meet the
Millennium Development Goal of improving maternal health by the 2015
deadline. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 99
percent of maternal deaths that occur worldwide each year take place
in developing countries like the Philippines.

The UNFPA has acknowledged Carmen’s efforts by partnering with it on
some of its maternal-health initiatives. But much of the credit for
the town’s achievements in maternal health goes to its forward-
thinking health officials, as well as its local political leaders.

Read more about Carmen and its happy and healthy mothers at http://pcij.org.
Post your comments at http://pcij.org/blog/?p=2352