NAIROBI, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Sub-Saharan African countries are not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on maternal and infant mortality, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.
Anshu Banerjee, director of department of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health at WHO told journalists in Nairobi that the SDGs are very ambitious and so require heavy and sustained investments in order to be attained.
"Overall there has been a decline in maternal and infant maternity deaths since 2015 but the decline is slowing down, so at the current rate of progress Sub-Saharan Africa is not likely to achieve the health SDGs," Banerjee said on the sidelines of the 24th board meeting of Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH).
The PMNCH is an alliance of more than 1,000 organizations in 192 countries and is administered by a secretariat hosted at the WHO in Geneva, Switzerland.
Banerjee said that there is also great variation in the level of progress in reducing mortality among women and children under the age of five among countries and within countries in the region.
According to the health body, there exist inequities in sub-Saharan Africa between poorer and richer households in access to health and health-benefiting opportunities.
Banerjee noted that there are a number of factors why progress towards health SDGs faces a challenge.
"There is still a critical shortage of skilled health personnel especially to cater for the primary healthcare needs," he added.
"Many women also experience mistreatment when accessing health services during childbirth from personnel and this discourages them from visiting health facilities," he revealed.
