| 1 | Less than 10 |
| 2 | 10 to 49 |
| 3 | 50 to 99 |
| 4 | 100 to 499 |
| 5 | 500 to 999 |
| 6 | More than 1000 |
| 7 | No data |
| 1 | < 5% |
| 2 | 5%-9.9% |
| 3 | 10%-14.9% |
| 4 | > 15% |
| 5 | No data |
Links
Maternal Mortality Ratio
What does it mean ?
The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is the rate at which women die from maternal causes (any cause related to pregnancy, during childbirth, pregnancy or within 42 days of childbirth). It is measured as the number of maternal deaths per every 100,000 live births. A live birth refers to any baby that is born that shows signs of life outside of the womb. A maternal death refers to the death of woman while she is pregnant or within 42 days of childbirth, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. Maternal deaths exclude accidental or other non-related causes of death. The MMR represents the risk associated with each pregnancy and birth.
Why does it matter ?
Problems during pregnancy and childbirth are a leading cause of death and disability of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in low income countries. This indicator acts as a record of deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth and reflects the ability of a country's healthcare system to provide safe care during pregnancy and childbirth. The Maternal Mortality Ratio is an indicator for monitoring Sustainable Development Goal 3 Health and Wellbeing Target 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
How is it collected ?
In high income countries the data for MMR are from nationally registered deaths to women, with maternal death as the cause, then dividing by the number of registered live births. If birth and death registration is incomplete other methods are used such as a special survey or population censuses. Where there are no data, an estimate is generated from three factors: GDP, fertility rate and births attended by a skilled attendant.
WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and World Bank (2015). Trends in Maternal mortality 1990-2015. http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-2015/en/
Government Expenditure on Health in Africa
What does it mean ?
This indicator shows the level of government health expenditure relative to other government expenditures in a country. Government expenditure on health includes recurrent and capital spending by the government to improve the health status of the population and health services through public budgets, external borrowing, grants/donations and social or compulsory health insurance funds.
Why does it matter ?
Universal health coverage cannot be achieved without sufficient funds being allocated to the financing of health systems. This indicator informs us of the priority a government gives to funding health expenditures compared to other public expenditures in a country. How much a government should allocate to health expenditure depends on different factors and contexts. In 2001, Heads of State in African Union countries pledged to allocate at least 15% of their total government expenditure to health.
How is it collected ?
The preferred source of data for this indicator is a National Health Account, which is an internationally agreed method for collecting information about all financial flows related to health in a country. Where a recent National Health Account is not available, the WHO's health financing team collects similar information using technical contacts in-country and publicly available documents.
World Health Statistics 2014. http://apps.who.int/nha/database
