• Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth
• 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
• Improving maternal health is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals- Between 1990 and 2010, maternal mortality worldwide dropped by almost 50%
• Out of the 800, 440 deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa and 230 in Southern Asia, compared to five in high-income countries
• Less than 50% of deliveries were attended by a skilled attendant in low-income countries  [inequity and lack of access to quality care]

(WHO)

• Each year more than 500,000 women die in childbirth or from complications during pregnancy
• Child mortality in most countries has been decreasing in past decades, however, both neonatal and maternal mortality have largely remained the same
• Neonatal mortality accounts for almost 40 per cent of estimated 9.7 million children under-five deaths and for nearly 60 per cent of infant (under-one) deaths
• The largest absolute number of newborn deaths occurs in South Asia – India contributes a quarter of the world total – but the highest national rates of neonatal mortality occur in sub-Saharan Africa

(UNICEF)

Non-communicable diseases (NCD):

• In 2008, 36.1 million people died from conditions such as heart disease, strokes, chronic lung diseases, cancers and diabetes- nearly 80% of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries
• Cardiovascular diseases account for most NCD deaths, or 17 million people annually, followed by cancer (7.6 million), respiratory disease (4.2 million), and diabetes (1.3 million):

These four groups of diseases account for around 80% of all NCD deaths, and share four common risk factors:

•                         tobacco use
•                         physical inactivity
•                         the harmful use of alcohol and
•                         poor diets

• About 30% of people dying from NCDs in low- and middle-income countries are aged under 60 years and are in their most productive period of life
• NCDs killed 63% of people who died worldwide in 2008. This equals 36 million and nearly 80% of these NCD deaths – equivalent to 29 million people – occurred in low- and middle-income countries
• Without action, the NCD epidemic is projected to kill 52 million people annually by 2030
• NCDs are largely preventable by means of effective interventions that tackle shared risk factors, namely: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol

(WHO)

Employee health: