Frequent and increasingly severe natural disasters are testing the Philippines’ ability to improve conditions for mothers and children and could erode recent gains in maternal health, says a report by international charity Save the Children.
“State of the World’s Mothers” looks at how natural disasters pose unique threats to poor mothers and children, even in middle-income countries like the Philippines, which ranks 105 on the list of best and worst places to be a mother out of 178 countries, with number one being the best. When the index was launched in 2000, the Philippines out-performed 73% of countries listed. Now it places higher than only 41% of countries ranked.
Unlike countries that rank lower, the Philippines has a growing economy and has made significant progress in improving child survival. Health reforms launched by the government in 2010 have increased enrollment in a national health insurance plan, with an estimated 83% of the population covered. But the poorest still struggle to access health care services and disasters like Typhoon Haiyan could set back progress by forcing the country to invest more in rebuilding rather than improving its health infrastructure, the report says.
“While it is too soon to predict how many lives will be lost due to Haiyan, past experience suggests
many more young children could die in 2014 due to deteriorating conditions than were killed outright by the storm,” the report notes.
Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest disaster to ever to hit the Philippines, killed more than 6,000 people, displaced more than 4 million and left communities in the hardest-hit areas
without access to health care services or adequate water and sanitation.
According to Save the Children, more than 2,000 health facilities were damaged or destroyed by the storm, with half of them still non-functional four months after the typhoon hit in early November 2013.
Tens of thousands of women
have since given birth outside health centers, says Save the Children, which estimates that out of 750 births a day, around 100 would have involved some complication requiring the need for health facilities.
“It’s really quite a concern that health services be brought back to pre-storm conditions as quickly as possible,” said Ned Olney, the country director for Save the Children. “Women need to have access to quality health care services before, during and after typhoons.”
Other threats facing children in the Philippines include malnourishment, poor sanitation and a lack of access to vaccines for measles and other preventable diseases.
Save the Children and a number of international organizations are working to improve the situation on the ground by providing access to child friendly spaces and educating families about what to do following a disaster.
The charity is currently delivering 10,000 health kits to storm-prone areas with everything from plastic sheets to lamps to birthing certificates to increase preparedness and improve the chances of safe, sanitary births ahead of typhoon season, which kicks off in June.
In addition, Mr. Olney said the Philippine government has worked hard to provide aid in the face of such massive destruction and has looked to the international community for donations and other material support. It has also set up mobile health clinics, distributed childbirth equipment and launched a nationwide vaccination program for children under the age of five.
“State of the World’s Mothers” also examines the negative impacts humanitarian crises have on health and nutrition, with countries suffering from persistent poverty and armed conflict, such as Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, consistently ranked among the worst places to be a mother.
Other chronic challenges pointed out in the report include limited access to quality health care, lack of access to emergency obstetrics and early marriage, which contributes to high rates of maternal mortality.
The top spots this year go to Finland, Norway and Sweden, while those at the bottom are Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. In Southeast Asia, the highest rank, 15, goes to Singapore, which has cut its risk of maternal death by over 80% since 2000. Cambodia, ranked at 132, has also seen progress since 2000, by reducing both maternal and child mortality by 64%.
Elsewhere, Indonesia, ranked 113, has seen an increase in maternal mortality, from 228 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2007 to 359 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2012, according to a
2012 Demographic and Health Survey. While in Myanmar, ranked 157, ethnic conflicts are prohibiting aid groups from providing essential health care services to vulnerable communities like the Rohingya.
In addition to the Philippines, climate-related disasters could also slow or erode child survival gains in Thailand, currently ranked 72, Myanmar and Vietnam, which was ranked at 93, the report says.
It broke my heart the first time I watched a woman leave a hospital with her lifeless baby in an old cardboard box for her to take home and give a proper burial. I was only a student midwife when I first encountered this tragedy, but knew enough that it was simply unnecessary.
