U.S. Launch of The Lancet's Maternal Survival Series
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| U.S. Launch of The Lancet's Maternal
Survival Series at the Woodrow Wilson Center
in Washington, DC.
Source: Joshua Yospyn |
On September 28, 2006, the Lancet published a landmark series of papers on reducing the burden of maternal mortality in developing countries. The maternal survival series addresses the deaths of women who die from preventable causes related to their pregnancy and provides evidence for solutions that can be taken to scale.
One in 2,500 women in the United States will die of maternal causes in her lifetime. In sub-Saharan Africa, the average figure is a staggering one in 16, and in South Asia, one in 43. The burden of maternal mortality in developing compared to developed countries constitutes the "largest discrepancy of all public health statistics" and is considerably greater than differentials for child and newborn mortality. Approximately 529,000 women die worldwide during pregnancy or childbirth each year.
The U.S. launch of this landmark series of papers was held on Thursday October 5, 2006, at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. Speakers participating in the U.S. launch included:
- Mary Ellen Stanton, USAID
Mary Ellen Stanton, a certified nurse midwife, is senior reproductive health advisor for the Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition in the Bureau for Global Health at USAID.
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| Mary Ellen Stanton, Senior Reproductive Health Advisor for USAID, giving the opening welcome. Source: Joshua Yospyn |
Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, JHPIEGO
Dr. Harshad Sanghvi is medical director at JHPIEGO, responsible for providing leadership and oversight for technical and clinical approaches, leading strategic thinking, and pursuing innovative opportunities.
- Dr. Nils Daulaire, Global Health Council
Dr. Nils Daulaire is president and CEO of the Global Health Council, the world's largest membership alliance of public health professionals and organizations working in over 100 low-income countries to raise the attention, resources, and knowledge needed to improve health worldwide.
- Ann M. Starrs, Family Care International
Ann M. Starrs is executive vice president of Family Care International, where she is responsible for overall program development, strategic planning, and administration, and also assists with fundraising.
- Dr. Carine Ronsmans, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dr. Carine Ronsmans is an epidemiologist with degrees in medicine, demography, and epidemiology.
- Dr. Marge Koblinsky, International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B)
Dr. Marge Koblinsky is director of the Public Health Sciences Division of ICDDR,B, responsible for strategic planning, administration, management, program development, fundraising, and implementing research projects.
- Lynn P. Freedman, Columbia University
Lynn P. Freedman is director of the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program and professor of clinical public health at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.
- Dr. Koki Agarwal, JHPIEGO
Dr. Agarwal is the director of the ACCESS Program – USAID's centrally funded five-year flagship program on maternal and newborn health – at JHPIEGO, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University.
- Anne Tinker, Save the Children
Anne Tinker is director of the Saving Newborn Lives Initiative at Save the Children. She has over 30 years experience in reproductive and child health in more than 40 countries.
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