Target 6: Reduce Maternal Mortality by one third by 2015

Until 1996, the official statistics were indicating a steady decrease in maternal mortality. MMR has decreased from 65.4 in 1990 to 20.7 in 1996. This trend was temporarily reversed between 1997 and 2001 when MMR increased to 34.1 in 2001. From 2002, this indicator started decreasing again and dropped to 30.2 in 2004.

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) is the most commonly used measure of maternal mortality, and it is defined as the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births per year.

MMR differs significantly between provinces. However, there is no evident correlation between MMR and the socio-economic situation in the provinces. For instance, in 2004, the official statistics show MMR of 19.5 for Surkhandarya province, which is among the poorest regions of the country, in the capital city Tashkent it was 52.3. This is a surprising comparison, because services are more accessible and of high quality in Tashkent compared to the country average. Such discrepancy, in part, might be explained by the deficiency of the registration system and possible underregistration of cases in the rural provinces. Hence, one should be careful drawing undue conclusions from the statistics alone.

Uzbekistan has made a significant progress in increasing contraceptive use since 1990. During the last 14 years, the proportion of married couples using contraception increased from 19 % in 1990 to 67% in 2003.

• In 1991, the maternal mortality rate was 65.4 per 100,000 live births, but by 2004 it had dropped by half, to 30.2 per 100,000 live births.
• According to UNFPA world population data, in 2005 there were 34 births per 1,000 women between the ages of 15-19 years, in Uzbekistan.
• Fertility among young people between the ages of 19-24 is relatively high in Uzbekistan. In 2004, there were 239 births per 1,000 women.
• The indicators on abortion showed a decline, from 11.2 per 100 live births in 1991 to 9.1 in 2005.
• Anemia remains the leading factor affecting women's health. According to the Ministry of Health, 74.4 per cent of all women in Uzbekistan suffered from anemia in 2005. The highest rate of anemia is observed in Karakalpakstan, where it affected 99.3 per cent of women in 2004.

What is being done to Improve Maternal Health?

The Government of Uzbekistan is making serious efforts to maintain universal access to maternal helath services and to improve matenal helath in the country.Examples of those are the Health Sector Reform Program and 2005 Year of Health Program.

The Health Sector Reform Program for 1999-2005 has targeted maternal health through strengthening the system for emergency obstetric care and restructuring reproductive health care services at the primary health level.

The 2005 Year of Health program has focused on infrastructure of maternal helath care, skills of health care providers and awareness of population on maternal health issues.

The donor community is actively involved in supporting the Government's efforts.UNFPA and UNICEF are focused on improving maternal health in the country. They support the revision of national clinical protocols o maternal helath, training for health care providers and provision of essential medical equipment.