Sierra Leone: One in eight women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth

On the eve of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s expected announcement of new finance packages devoted to improving healthcare in the developing world at the United Nations in New York, Amnesty International today launched a new campaign to reduce maternal deaths in Sierra Leone.

The accompanying report Out of Reach: The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone uses graphic and personal testimonies to show how Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and girls are often unable to access life-saving treatment because they are too poor to pay for it.

In Sierra Leone one in eight Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights risks dying during pregnancy or childbirth. This is one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.

Thousands of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights bleed to death after giving birth. Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital: in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot. In Sierra Leone, less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and less than one in five are carried out in health facilities.

Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Irene Khan launched the report in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. She said:

“These grim statistics reveal that maternal deaths are a human rights emergency in Sierra Leone.

“Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and girls are dying in their thousands because they are routinely denied their right to life and health, in spite of promises from the government to provide free healthcare to all pregnant Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights.”

At the United Nations General Assembly meeting on 23 September, access to healthcare in the developing world will be high on the agenda.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce a series of new finance packages devoted to improving healthcare in the developing world with particular focus on infant and maternal health. Sierra Leone is expected to be among the recipients of the fund.

Irene Khan said:

“Additional money is desperately needed in Sierra Leone but will not reach Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and Children's rights in remote areas who are at greatest risk. The lives of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights and girls will only be saved when the health system is properly managed and the government is held to account.

“Money alone will not solve the problem. In Sierra Leone severe discrimination and the low social status of Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights underlies the terrible tragedy of maternal deaths. This is a country where girls are forced into early marriage, excluded from schools and face sexual violence. Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights’s health needs are given a low priority by their own families, community leaders and their government.”

The Secretary-General’s visit to Sierra Leone marks the start of Amnesty International’s action against maternal mortality in the country. A campaign caravan will tour Sierra Leone over the coming weeks acting as a vehicle for information and debate on the issue of maternal health.

Earlier this year Amnesty International launched a global campaign to Demand Dignity – which calls for an end to the human rights violations that drive and deepen poverty. Maternal mortality is a key strand of this campaign.

The campaign mobilises people all over the world to demand that governments and corporations listen to the voices of those living in poverty and respect their rights.

• Read the report: 'Out of reach: The cost of maternal health in Sierra Leone' (PDF)
• Find out more about our campaign for maternal health worldwide /li>