HakiPensheni

 

  By Sylivester Ernest   

In Summary

Uganda is ranked 132, Burundi is at 137 while Kenya comes last in the region at 156. Globally, Finland and Sweden took the top two slots on the Mothers’ Index, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo was judged last at 176, meaning DRC is seen as the toughest place in the world to be a mom.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has been named among the worst countries in the world to be a mother due to poor maternal health and high poverty, according to a global survey released yesterday by the Save the Children Fund.

The report, named Save the children-State of the World’s Mothers 2013, comes ahead of Mothers’ Day which is celebrated on the second Sunday of May every year.

Tanzania is ranked 135 among 176 countries surveyed worldwide but it is third in the East African region which has five countries behind Rwanda which is seen as the best at 117. Uganda is ranked 132, Burundi is at 137 while Kenya comes last in the region at 156.

Globally, Finland and Sweden took the top two slots on the Mothers’ Index, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo was judged last at 176, meaning DRC is seen as the toughest place in the world to be a mom.

The report looks at how mothers and under-fives are likely to die, maternal health, women’s education, their income, and political status.

Poverty also plays a part, with women whose partners do not work six times more likely to die from maternal causes.

Tanzania’s subsequent ranking on the Save the Children survey is low because of, among others, a low level of participation of women in national government with the percentage of seats held by women in Parliament being 36.

Moreover, the report says that more women die in pregnancy and childbirth than in many other countries in Africa and the world at large.

The charity has assessed 176 countries by a range of criteria such as education, income, female political representation and the chances of a mother and her baby to survive. It has also compiled the so-called Mother’s Index, where the three northern European countries have filled the top three positions.

Germany was placed on the ninth place, Australia – on the 10th, France – on the 16th, Ireland – on the 20th, Britain – on the 23rd. The US has filled the 30th position. Serbia is on the 36th place.

According to yet another and new part of the annual global survey – the Birth Day Risk Index - 1 million babies die on the day they are born yearly, making the first day of their life the most dangerous.

The survey reveals that despite its economic, intelligence and technological powers, the US has more first-day deaths than the rest of the industrialised world combined. In some US counties, the first-day death rate is similar to the one common for the developing world, where the rate is as high as 98 per cente

The report, however, indicates that globally, child mortality has decreased from 12 million annual deaths in 1990s to fewer than 7 million.

However, the new-born death rate, on the whole, has remained at the same level.
The main culprits for the high child mortality figures are prematurity, birth complications and severe infections, according to the report.