It is certainly a very good thing that maternal and newborn health (MNH) is now being taken seriously by the global health community. While not at the level of HIV/AIDS or malaria, this interest has translated into increased donor support compared to a decade ago. And, in many high burden countries, host governments are also giving high priority to this issue. The Muskoka Initiative and the efforts of Secretary General Ban Ki Moon have helped ensure continuing high priority for this area during a period of global financial crisis, when attention and financial support could well have been allowed to lapse.
Recent multi-country mortality analyses by the UN group and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation have suggested encouraging declines in maternal mortality, though slower declines in newborn deaths. It should be noted that there were already declining trends during the 1990s, at which time there was little political priority or program resources for maternal and newborn health services. Nevertheless, across all high burden regions, except Latin America and the Caribbean, the pace of decline in maternal mortality accelerated over the decade 2000-2010.