‘Best place to be a mother’
At a time when the world celebrates Mothers’ Day, Sri Lanka ranked 40th in the list of 77 of the middle-income countries rated for the ‘best place to be a mother’, a latest report released by the “Save the Children” stated.
The ‘State of the World’s Mothers 2010’ report said reducing maternal mortality in Asia, three Asian countries Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand offer dramatic examples of how sustained political will to provide better health care has saved mothers’ lives.
“Since the 1950s, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Thailand have each reduced their maternal mortality rates by an astonishing 97 percent. In Sri Lanka, for example, the odds that a woman will die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth have decreased from 1 in 95 to 1 in 3,333 live births,” it stated.
The report also said that Malaysia and Sri Lanka invested in midwives, increasing their numbers and status with well-run training and certification programmes.
It further stated that 99 percent of births are attended by skilled health personnel in Sri Lanka.
Cuba tops the Mothers’ Index ranking followed by Israel, Argentina, Barbados, South Korea, Cyprus, Uruguay, Kazakhstan, Bahamas and Mongolia.
Among the neighbours, China is at 18th place, India at 73, while Pakistan lags behind India at 75th place. Bangladesh, featured in the list of 40 least developed countries, is ranked 14.
The report analysed a total of 166 countries, among which Sweden is placed at the top while Afghanistan is at the bottom.