Decades of Progress Under Threat: Child Deaths and Stillbirths on the Rise, UN Warns
New York, March 25, 2025 – The United Nations issued a stark warning today, highlighting a worrying trend: the decades-long progress in reducing child mortality and stillbirths is at risk. According to a new report released by UN Women, global efforts to save the lives of mothers and newborns are faltering, potentially reversing years of hard-won gains.
For decades, dedicated programs and initiatives focused on improving maternal health, providing access to vaccinations, and ensuring skilled birth attendants have dramatically decreased the number of children dying before their fifth birthday and the incidence of stillbirths. However, this positive trajectory appears to be losing momentum, raising serious concerns about the future health of vulnerable populations.
Key Findings and Alarming Trends:
The UN report paints a concerning picture, outlining several key factors contributing to this slowdown:
- Global Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises: Ongoing conflicts and humanitarian emergencies disrupt healthcare services, displace populations, and increase the risk of malnutrition and disease outbreaks. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable in these unstable environments. Access to prenatal care, safe delivery services, and essential vaccinations is severely compromised, leading to preventable deaths and stillbirths.
- Climate Change Impacts: The escalating impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events like droughts, floods, and heatwaves, exacerbate existing inequalities and disrupt food security. Malnutrition, particularly among pregnant women and infants, weakens their immune systems and makes them more susceptible to illness and death. Climate-related disasters also damage healthcare infrastructure and limit access to essential services.
- Economic Instability and Poverty: Global economic instability and rising poverty levels disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. Families struggling to make ends meet often lack access to adequate nutrition, sanitation, and healthcare, increasing the risk of complications during pregnancy and childbirth and hindering child survival.
- Weakening Healthcare Systems: In many countries, healthcare systems are struggling to cope with the increasing demands placed upon them. Underfunding, a shortage of trained healthcare workers, and inadequate infrastructure contribute to the decline in the quality and accessibility of healthcare services, particularly in rural and underserved areas. This is especially problematic for women during pregnancy and childbirth, as complications can quickly become life-threatening without access to timely and appropriate medical care.
- Gender Inequality and Discrimination: Deep-rooted gender inequalities and discriminatory practices continue to negatively impact maternal and child health. In many societies, women lack decision-making power over their own health and reproductive choices, and they face barriers to accessing education, employment, and healthcare services. These inequalities contribute to higher rates of maternal mortality, stillbirths, and child mortality.
The Consequences of Inaction:
The UN warns that if these trends continue unchecked, millions more children could die before their fifth birthday and countless pregnancies could end in stillbirth. The consequences extend beyond individual tragedies, impacting families, communities, and national development. Failure to address these challenges will undermine progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to health, poverty reduction, and gender equality.
Call to Action:
The UN report emphasizes the urgent need for a renewed global commitment to improving maternal and child health. It calls on governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector to take immediate action to:
- Strengthen Healthcare Systems: Invest in strengthening healthcare systems, ensuring access to quality maternal and child health services, including prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, postnatal care, and essential vaccinations. Prioritize training and recruitment of healthcare workers, particularly in underserved areas.
- Address Root Causes: Tackle the underlying social, economic, and environmental factors that contribute to maternal and child mortality and stillbirths, including poverty, gender inequality, climate change, and conflict.
- Increase Funding: Allocate sufficient resources to maternal and child health programs, ensuring that funding is targeted effectively and reaches those who need it most.
- Promote Gender Equality: Empower women and girls by promoting gender equality in education, employment, and healthcare, and by addressing harmful cultural practices that negatively impact their health and well-being.
- Strengthen Data Collection and Monitoring: Improve data collection and monitoring systems to track progress, identify challenges, and inform evidence-based interventions.
The UN’s warning serves as a crucial reminder that the fight to save the lives of mothers and children is far from over. Sustained commitment, targeted interventions, and a focus on addressing the root causes of inequality and vulnerability are essential to ensuring that future generations have the chance to thrive. The progress achieved over the past decades must not be allowed to unravel. Instead, it must serve as a foundation for a renewed and more effective global effort to protect the health and well-being of women and children worldwide.
Decades of progress in reducing child deaths and stillbirths at risk, UN warns
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The following question was used to generate the response from Google Gemini:
At 2025-03-25 12:00, ‘Decades of progress in reducing child deaths and stillbirths at risk, UN warns’ was published according to Women. Please write a detai led article with related information in an easy-to-understand manner.
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