Thus a large number of avoidable maternal deaths become inevitable.
Besides, harmful cultural practices, especially female mutilation (FGM), contribute significantly to the maternal deaths across Africa. It is estimated that FGM is still practiced in over 28 African countries. World Health Organization statistics showed that an estimated 92 million girls from 10 years of age and above have undergone FGM in Africa.
In many African rural areas, the FGM operations, which may lead to irreversible damage to a girl's reproductive organ, are being conducted under poor medical conditions, leaving the bleeding genital area to heal itself. The cruel cultural practice adds to risks of hemorrhage, infection and obstructed labor in the girls' future delivery, which may undoubtedly cause more maternal deaths.
Days ago, Ugandan activists against female genital mutilation were requesting that it be included among the issues to be discussed during the ongoing AU summit.
Another reason behind the high maternal mortality in Africa is women's inferior social status. The high rates of maternal mortality highlight the issue of gender inequality in Africa, the AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawanas told media before the summit.
African women's inferiority to men leads to school dropouts and forced early marriages. A woman without proper education would not be self-protective in terms of reproductive health and a teenage forced into early marriage risks her unprepared body in the intercourse, both of which may raise the maternal death odds.
The UN MDG report indicated that the number of teenage pregnancies per 1,000 women in sub-Sahara has remained as high as 120 since 1990 while the figures for East Asia and the world's developing regions on average stand at five and 52 respectively.
At present estimates, if no urgent corrective measures are taken, 2.5 million maternal deaths and 49 million maternal disabilities will hit the continent in the next decade. Africa needs to address the multiple concerns rather than regarding the issue of high maternal mortality merely as a problem of money.
