CHAPTER ONE
1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Of all the Millennium Development Goals, the least progress has been made on goal Number Five (MDG 5): Reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters by the year 2015. (UNICEF 2009).
Every day, about 1,500 women across the globe die because of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and 98 percent of these deaths, half a million annually, occur in developing countries. Another 10 to 20 million women develop physical or mental disabilities every year as a result of complicated pregnancies and deliveries. (WHO Report: 2008).
Sub-Saharan Africa leads this death toll, accounting for 50 percent of all maternal deaths worldwide, and South Asia accounts for another 35 percent (UN Millennium Declaration). In addition to the tragedy of these preventable deaths, high maternal mortality comes with a high cost to the rest of society. Costs are both direct, including the cost of health care (either to families or to the health system), and indirect, in the form of income and productivity lost for both the mother and the family (child health, growth, and education all suffer when mothers die) (Gill et al. 2007).
The recent progress report on the subject, Countdown to 2015: Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival, define as “high” any Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 300 or more maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Currently, 60 countries have MMR levels this high (UNICEF 2008).
The regions (excluding high-income countries) that had the highest aggregate MMR in 2005 are Sub-Saharan Africa (900 deaths per 100,000 live births) and South Asia (500). These stand in extreme contrast to the average rate among high-income countries, which was just 9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in that same year. Worldwide, the average maternal mortality ratio has declined at a rate of less than one percent per year between 1990 and 2005, according to the 2007 WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA/World Bank report on maternal mortality (WHO 2007).
Of all health indicators, maternal mortality reveals the greatest gap between rich and poor women, both between and within countries. Health experts agree that the interventions needed to avert much of the burden of maternal death. However, it has become increasingly clear that the success of these interventions depends on the capacity of the health system and the role play by mass media in each country to deliver quality care as well as creating awareness and especially in girls’ education, family planning, good roads, and available transport for emergencies.
There is no gain saying in the fact that mass media especially radio and television have a lot of responsibilities in the effort to reduce maternal mortality in our society. Apart from the responsibility of the mass media to entertain, it is also the priority of the mass media to educate, enlighten, sensitizing of varieties of issues which health is not an exceptional.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM