PROPOSAL / CHAPTER ONE
1.0 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Of
all the Millennium Development Goals, the least progress has been made on goal
Number Five (MDG 5): Reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters by the year 2015.
(UNICEF 2009).
Every
day, about 1,500 women across the globe die because of complications during
pregnancy or childbirth, and 98 percent of these deaths, half a million annually,
occur in developing countries. Another 10 to 20 million women develop physical
or mental disabilities every year as a result of complicated pregnancies and
deliveries. (WHO Report: 2008).
Sub-Saharan
Africa leads this death toll, accounting for 50 percent of all maternal deaths
worldwide, and South Asia accounts for another 35 percent (UN Millennium
Declaration). In addition to the tragedy of these preventable deaths, high
maternal mortality comes with a high cost to the rest of society. Costs are
both direct, including the cost of health care (either to families or to the
health system), and indirect, in the form of income and productivity lost for
both the mother and the family (child health, growth, and education all suffer
when mothers die) (Gill et al. 2007).
The
recent progress report on the subject, Countdown
to 2015: Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival, defines
as “high” any Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 300 or more maternal deaths per
100,000 live births. Currently, 60 countries have MMR levels this high (UNICEF
2008).
The
regions (excluding high-income countries) that had the highest aggregate MMR
in 2005 are Sub-Saharan Africa (900 deaths per 100,000 live births) and South
Asia (500). These stand in extreme contrast to the average rate among
high-income countries, which was just 9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
in that same year. Worldwide, the average maternal mortality ratio has
declined at a rate of less than one percent per year between 1990 and 2005,
according to the 2007 WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA/World Bank report on maternal mortality
(WHO 2007).
Of
all health indicators, maternal mortality reveals the greatest gap between
rich and poor women, both between and within countries. Health experts agree
that the interventions needed to avert much of the burden of maternal death.
However, it has become increasingly clear that the success of these
interventions depends on the capacity of the health system and the role play by
mass media in each country to deliver quality care as well as creating
awareness and especially in girls’ education, family planning, good roads, and
available transport for emergencies.
There
is no gain saying in the fact that mass media especially radio, television and
newspaper have a lot of responsibilities in the effort to reduce maternal
mortality in our society. Apart from the responsibility to entertain, it is
also the priority of the mass media to educate, enlighten, sensitizing of
varieties of issues which health is not an exceptional.
During
the outbreak of ebola virus in Nigeria, effective communication was used to
contain it within few months and if such communication strategies are adopted
in the case of maternal mortality and other women and children related issues
because it appears that women especially in the rural area are not educated,
poor and suffer malnutrition before, during and after pregnancy which affect
their strength and health.
Other
issue that is attributed to the incensement in maternal death include but not
limited to under age pregnancy, poor family planning, poor child spacing,
Poor
attitude or poor access to antenatal care, access to maternity/hospital at the
time of delivery among others.
To
this end, the research is core objective is to assess the level of reduction
and examine the influence and contribution of print media in reducing maternal
mortality rate in Ibadan local government, especially now that the deadline
date is here (2015).
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