More may die in pregnancy, childbirth due to aid cuts: UN

Cuts to aid budgets are threatening to undermine years of progress in reducing the number of women dying during pregnancy and childbirth, and could lead to a rise in deaths, the United Nations has warned.

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LONDON -

Globally, there was a 40 per cent decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023, a report by UN agencies including the World Health Organisation (WHO) showed on April 7, largely due to better access to essential health services.

That could now go into reverse, the WHO said in a statement accompanying the report, which did not mention specific cuts but came in the wake of a foreign aid freeze by the US government and the ending of funding through the United States Agency for International Development (USAid) for many programmes.

Other donor countries including Britain have also announced plans to cut aid budgets.