According to a recent report, Pakistan is among the world’s most dangerous places to give birth. The state’s abject failure to provide adequate facilities for pregnant women is a major reason why 11,000 cases of maternal deaths occurred in 2023 alone.
The common threads among the four worst countries — Nigeria, India, DR Congo and Pakistan — are large rural populations and being synonymous with corruption and poor governance. These four countries were responsible for nearly half of all maternal deaths in 2023, reflecting systemic failures of their respective healthcare systems and a dire lack of investment in maternal health.
In Pakistan, one of the biggest concerns is that despite a global decline of 40% in maternal mortality, the death rate here has stagnated. Meanwhile, unfortunate cultural hurdles mean that in some cases, women — and the families of such women — facing potentially fatal complications and emergency situations regularly refuse treatment from male doctors, no matter how qualified.
But while the federal and provincial governments deserve blame, it is also worth noting that some 60 health facilities nationwide are about to close because of the Trump Administration’s decision to slash US international aid and grants. Such facilities had been critical to providing a bridge — however rickety — to help cover the widening gap created by chronic underinvestment in healthcare in general.
The impact of funding cuts may echo into future years, as the US is also pulling funding from the UN, the WHO and other international health bodies. Without international funding, any solutions must come from within, which is an uphill task since government revenue growth was already subpar before US tariffs began threatening a global economic downturn.
The only realistic options that leave us with are investing in midwives and programmes that encourage responsible family planning, both of which are relatively inexpensive but require a level of competence and commitment that the government has rarely shown itself to be capable of.
Editorial published in the Express Tribune on 9th April 2025