Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

A number of South Asian countries (such as Nepal and Sri Lanka) with modest economic growth and less amount of investment in human development are able to reduce high maternal mortality rate (MMR) quickly than other countries, including Bangladesh. Comparing success experience of Nepal and Sri Lanka with that of Bangladesh thus emerges as the critical requirement of the hour. The main objective of the article based on secondary sources was therefore to explore the factors that worked behind the relative success in Nepal and Sri Lanka and to compare these factors in the context of Bangladesh. As found, long-term policies, better availability of and accessibility to maternal health care services, strong political will and monitoring system are the contributing factors to the success. It concludes that Bangladesh is able to achieve the sustainable development goal for health if bio-social approach—placing importance to not only medical advancement but also social development—to improve maternal health is followed.

Keywords

Good political will maternal mortality rate bio-social model Bangladesh Nepal Sri Lanka

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

AbouZahr

(2003). Safe motherhood: A brief history of the global movement 1947–2002. British Medical Bulletin, 67(1), 13.

ADB. (2001). Women in Bangladesh. Country Briefing Paper, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Hongkong.

Afroza

(nd.). Achievements and challenges of family planning in Bangladesh. NIPORT. Retrieved 14 March 2016, from http://www.iedcr.gov.bd/pdf/files/NPHC%20WEB/UPLOAD-3/Thematic%20Session/5_DG%20NIPORT%20NPHC.pdf

Ahmed

(2009). Interface of political opportunism and Islamic extremism in Bangladesh: Rhetorical identification in government response. Communication Studies, 60(1), 82–96.

Ahmed

Khan

(2011). A maternal health voucher scheme: What have we learned from the demand-side financing scheme in Bangladesh. Health Policy and Planning, 26(1), 25–32.

Ailuogwemhe

Rajbhandari

Illiaki

Villar

Dieterich

(2005). Tackling shortages of health care workers in rural Nepal: ‘Train to Retain’. Boston: Harvard School of Public Health.

Alexander

Wildman

Zhang

Langer

Vutuc

Lindmark

(2003). Maternal health outcomes in Europe. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 111(S), 78–87.

Amery

(2009). Editorial: Safe motherhood case studies: Learning from South Asia. Journal of Health Population Nutrition, 27(2), 87–88.

Anam

R. L.

(2008). Inadequacies and variations of maternity leave policies throughout the world: Special focus on Bangladesh. BRAC University Journal, 5(1), 93–98.

10.

Arman

(2010, May 24). Appraising our MDGs. The Daily Star.

11.

Barbazza

Margrieta

Haw

Juan

(2015). Health workforce governance: Processes, tools and actors towards a competent workforce for integrated health services delivery. Health Policy, 119(12), 1645–1654.

12.

BBS. (2010). Key indicators on sample Vital registration system—2009. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

13.

bdnews24 . (2011, January 29). New approach cuts maternal mortality. Retrieved from bdnews24.com.

14.

Beaglehole

Bonita

(1997). Public health at the crossroads: Achievements and prospects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

15.

Bhandari

Gordon

Shakya

(2011). Reducing maternal mortality in Nepal. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 118(Suppl. 2), 26–30.

16.

Bjorkman

J. W.

(1985). Health policy and politics in Sri Lanka: Developments in the South Asian welfare state. Asian Survey, 25(5), 537–552.

17.

Caldwell

J. C.

(1986). Routes to low mortality in poor countries. Population and Development Review, 12(2), 171–220.

18.

Campbell

(2003). Egypt, 1992–2000. In Koblinsky

M. A.

(Ed.), Reducing maternal mortality: Learning from Bolivia, China, Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe (pp. 5–37). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

19.

CBS. (2009). Nepal Labour Force Survey 2008: Statistical report. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).

20.

Chang

Elam-Evans

Berg

Herndon

Flowers

Seed

Syverson

C. J.

(2003). Pregnancy-related mortality surveillance—United States, 1991–1999. MMWR Surveill Summ, 52(2), 1–8.

21.

Chowdhury

O. H.

Osmani

S. R.

(2010). Towards achieving the right to health: The case of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Development Studies, 33(1/2), 205–273.

22.

Chowdhury

Banu

Chowdhury

Rubayet

Khatoon

(2011). Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Bangladesh. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 118(Suppl. 2), 36–46.

23.

CRH. (2011). Improving the quality of nursemidwives in Bangladesh: Addressing barriers of midwifery course in diploma in nursing and midwifery training. Centre for Reproductive Health (CRH), ICDDR,B. Knowledge Translation Brief No. 9.

24.

Daily-Star . (2012, July 17). Population growing by 1.37pc. The Daily Star.

25.

Daily-Star . (2014, October 20). Dhaka second to Colombo. The Daily Star.

26.

Danel

Rivera

(2003). Honduras, 1990–1997. In Koblinsky

M. A.

(Ed.), Reducing maternal mortality: Learning from Bolivia, China, Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe (pp. 5–37). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

27.

de Bernis

Sherratt

AbouZahr

Van Lerberghe

. (2003). Skilled attendants for pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care. British Medical Bulletin, 67(1), 39–57.

28.

Dev

P. P.

Suvedi

B. K.

Pradhan

Hulton

Matthews

Maskey

(2008). Investigating recent improvements in maternal health in Nepal: Analysis of the 2006 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey. Calverton, MD: Macro International Inc.

29.

DFID. (2011). MDG 5-Driving down maternal mortality in Nepal. Retrieved 26 January 2012, from https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/mdg-5-driving-down-maternal-mortality-in-nepal

30.

Dhaka Mirror . (2011 January, 12). Maternity leave now for six months. Dhaka Mirror.

31.

Q. T.

Lyer

(2010). Geography, poverty and conflict in Nepal. Journal of Peace Research, 47(6), 735.

32.

DoC&S. (2009). MDG indicators of Sri Lanka: A mid term review-2008. Colombo: Department of Census and Statistics (DoC&S).

33.

Ensor

Clapham

Prasai

D. P.

(2008). What drives health policy formulation: Insights from the Nepal maternity incentive scheme? Health Policy, 30(2), 1–10.

34.

Fernando

(2000). Health care systems in transition III. Sri Lanka, Part 1. An overview of Sri Lanka’s health care system. Journal of Public Health Medicine, 22(1), 14–20.

35.

Fernando

Jayatilleka

Karunaratna

(2003). Pregnancy-reducing maternal deaths and disability in Sri Lanka: National strategies. British Medical Bulletin, 67(1), 85–98.

36.

Fraser

(2005). Approaches to reducing maternal mortality: Oxfam and the MDGs. Gender and Development, 13(1), 36–43.

37.

GED & UNDP. (n.d.). A situation analysis report on health (MDG 4, 5 and 6) Bangladesh: A baseline for needs assessment and costing. Dhaka: General Economic Division (GED), Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and UNDP Bangladesh.

38.

Ghimire

L. V.

(2009). Retaining health manpower in developing countries. The Lancet, 374(9686), 291.

39.

Grisaru

Samueloff

(2004). Primary nonmedically indicated cesarean section (‘section on request’): Evidence based or modern vogue? Clinics in Perinatology, 31(3), 409–430.

40.

Gunasekera

Wijesinghe

P. S.

Gunasekera

(1996). Learning from primary care in developing countries. British Medical Journal, 312(9003), 1161–1162.

41.

Gunaserera

P. C.

Wijesinghe

P. S.

(1996). Maternal health in Sri Lanka. The Lancet, 347(9003), 769.

42.

Hussein

Bell

Dar lang

Mesko

Amery

Graham

(2011). An appraisal of the maternal mortality decline in Nepal. PLoS One, 6(5: e 19898), 1–10.

43.

Islam

M. B.

(2009). Blood transfusion services in Bangladesh. Asian Journal of Transfusion Science, 3(2), 108–110.

44.

Islam

(1978). Development strategy of Bangladesh. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

45.

Jahan

(2004). Bangladesh in 2003: Vibrant democracy or destructive politics? Asian Survey, 44(1), 56–61.

46.

Jha

H. B.

(2007). Women in Nepal’s education system. The Telegraph Weekly, 28 Febuary.

47.

Kabene

S. M.

Carole

John

M. H.

Mark

A. S.

Raymond

(2006). The importance of human resources management in health care: A global context. Human Resources for Health, 4(20), 1–17.

48.

Koblinsky

M. A.

Campbell

(2003). Factors affecting the reduction of maternal mortality. In Koblinsky

M. A.

(Ed.), Reducing maternal mortality: Learning from Bolivia, China, Egypt, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, and Zimbabwe (pp. 5–37). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.

49.

Koblinsky

Anwar

Mridha

Chowdhury

Botlero

(2009). Reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal health: Bangladesh and MDG 5. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 26(3), 280.

50.

Koblinsky

Campbell

Heichelheim

(1999). Organizing delivery care: What works for safe motherhood? Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 77(5), 399–406.

51.

Koehlmoos

T. P.

Islam

Anwar

Hossain

S. A. S.

Gazi

Streatfield

P. K.

Bhuiya

A. U.

(2011). Health transcends poverty: The Bangladesh experience. In Balabanova

McKee

Mills

(Eds), ‘Good health at low cost’ 25 years on: What makes a successful health system? (pp. 47–81). London: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

52.

Larson

Mitra

S. N.

(1992). Family planning in Bangladesh: An unikely success story. International Family Planning Perspectives, 18(4), 123–129.

53.

Loudon

(2000). Maternal mortality in the past and its relevance to developing countries today. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 72(Suppl.), 241S–246S.

54.

Maclean

G. D.

(2005). Dimension, dynamics and diversity: A 3D approach to appraising global maternal and neonatal health initiatives. In Balin

R. E.

(Ed.), Trends in midwifery research (pp. 261–317). New York: Nova Biomedical Books.

55.

Malla

Giri

Karki

Chaudhary

(2011). Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Nepal. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 118(Suppl. 2), 60–68.

56.

Mavalankar

Rosenfield

(2005). Maternal mortality in resource-poor settings: Policy barriers to care. American Journal of Public Health, 95(2), 200.

57.

Mavalankar

Vora

Sharma

(2007). Strengthening midwifery services in India based on lessons learnt from Sweden and Sri Lanka. Vol. W.P.No. 2007-06-07. Ahmedabad: Indian Institute of Management.

58.

McAlister

Baskett

(2006). Female education and maternal mortality: A worldwide survey. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada, 28(11), 983–990.

59.

McCarthy

Maine

(1992). A framework for analysing the determinants of maternal mortality. Studies in Family Planning, 23(1), 23–33.

60.

Ministry of Education. (2011). Nepal education in figures 2011 At-A-Glance. Kathmandu: Ministry of Education, the Government of Nepal.

61.

MoH&P. (2010). Women deliver conference: Safe motherhood in Nepal. Retrieved 27 January 2012, from http://www.womendeliver.org/assets/Women_Deliver_-_Minister_speech_June_10.pdf

62.

MOHFW. (2010). Health Bulletin 2010. Dhaka: Management Information System (MIS), Director General of Health Services (DGHS). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

63.

MOHFW. (2014). Health Bulletin 2013. Dhaka: Management Information System (MIS), Director General of Health Services (DGHS). Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

64.

Moral

(2010, April 30). Samanwayheen seba, matreemeetrur har komche na (Uncoordinate services, maternal mortality rate not decreasing), Prothom Alo.

65.

Moral

(2011, February 14). Deshe Matreemetru komate ullekhjogya saflya (Good progress in reduction of maternal mortality rate of Bangladesh), Prothom Alo.

66.

Muhammad

(2015). Bangladesh—A model of neoliberalism. Monthly Reiew, 66(10), 35.

67.

Nasreen

H. E.

Nahar

Al Mamun

Afsana

Byass

(2011). Oral misoprostol for preventing postpartum haemorrhage in home births in rural Bangladesh: How effective is it? Global Health Action, 4(1), 7017.

68.

Nepal Red Cross Society. (n.d.). Blood services. Retrieved 10 July 2012, from http://www.nrcs.org/core-area/hc-blood-service.php

69.

NIPORT, Mitra and Associates Macro International. (2005). Bangladesh demographic and health survey (2004). Dhaka, Bangladesh and Calverton, MD: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates and Macro International.

70.

NIPORT, Mitra and Associates Macro International. (2009). Bangladesh demographic and health survey (2007). Dhaka, Bangladesh and Calverton, Maryland, USA: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates and Macro International.

71.

NIPORT, Mitra and Associates Macro International. (2012). Bangladesh demographic and health survey, 2011: Preliminay report. Dhaka, Bangladesh and Calverton, Maryland, USA: National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT), Mitra and Associates and Macro International.

72.

Niraula

B. B.

(1994, October 1). Use of health services in hill villages in central Nepal. Health Transition Review, 151–166.

73.

NPC. (2010). Nepal Millennium Development Goals: Progress report, 2010. Kathmandu, Nepal: National Planning Commission (NPC), Government of Nepal.

74.

Padhye

Lakhey

(2003). ‘Brought Dead’-cases of maternal mortality. Kathmandu University Medical Journal, 1(3), 184–186.

75.

Pandey

P. K.

(2004). Political culture in Bangladesh: Does leadership matter? Social Change, 34(4), 24–37.

76.

Pathmanathan

Liljestrand

Martins

J. M.

Rajapaksa

L. C.

Lissner

de Silva

… Singh

P. J.

(2003). Investing in maternal mortality: Learning from Malaysia and Sri Lanka. Washington, DC: The World Bank.

77.

Perera

W. L. S. P.

Lillian

Rohini De

A. S.

Tushara

(2012). Family planning services in Sri Lanka: Client’s nonmedical expectations and the health systems nonresponsiveness. South East Asia Journal of Public Health, 2(1), 54–59.

78.

Prothom Alo . (2014, August, 29). Bangladesher daridra manchitra (Poverty Map of Bangladesh). Daily Prothom Alo.

79.

Prothom Alo . (2014, October, 20). Samajik Suchke Varter cheye egiye Bangladesh (Bangladesh ahead India in social indicators). Daily Prothom Alo, p. 1.

80.

Prothom Alo . (2014, October, 20). Air noy matri mtritu (No more maternal death). Daily Prothom Alo, p. 14.

81.

Prothom Alo . (2016, March, 24). Durbal hoye parchhe paribar parikolpana karjakam (Family planning program has been weakening). Daily Prothom Alo.

82.

Prothom Alo . (2016, March, 27). Daridra shishuder meetrajhuki dhigun nirkhrera seba kom pay (Double death risks for poor children, less services for illiterate). Daily Prothom Alo.

83.

Rahman

S. A.

Parkhurst

Normand

(2003). Maternal health review Bangladesh. Dhaka: Policy Research Unit (PRU), MOHFW, Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh.

84.

Randall

(2012). Family planning programmes review. Retrieved 10 March 2016, from http://www.populationmatters.org/documents/programmes_review.pdf

85.

Reynolds

H. W.

Elizabeth

G. S.

(2013). A systematic approach to the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of integrated health services. BMC Health Services Research, 13(1), 168.

86.

Riaz

(2003). ‘God willing’: The politics and ideology of Islamism in Bangladesh. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 23(1/2), 301–320.

87.

Rosenfield

Min

Freedman

(2007). Making motherhood safe in developing countries. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(14), 1395.

88.

Say

Rosalind

(2007). A systematic review of inequalities in the use of maternal health care in developing countries: Examinig the scale of the problem and the importance of contet. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation, 85(10), 733–820.

89.

Senanayake

(1998). Safe motherhood: A success story in Sri Lanka. World Health, 51(1), 28–29.

90.

Senenayake

Goonewardene

Ranatunga

Hattotuwa

Amarasekera

Amarasinghe

(2011). Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Sri Lanka. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 118(Suppl. 2), 78–87.

91.

Shahraki

(2007). Maternal mortality in Isfahan Province 2001–2006. Journal of Medical Sciences, 7(8), 1340–1344.

92.

Shankar

(2010). Attracting and retaining doctors in rural Nepal. Rural and Remote Health, 10(3), 1420.

93.

Shiffman

(2003). Generating political will for safe motherhood in Indonesia. Social Science & Medicine, 56(6), 1197–1207.

94.

Shiffman

del Valle

(2006). Political history and safe motherhood disparities between Guatemala and Honduras. Population and Development Review, 32(1), 53–80.

95.

Shiffman

Okonofua

(2007). The state of political priority for safe motherhood in Nigeria. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 114(2), 127–133.

96.

Sikder

S. S.

Alain

B. L.

Hasmot

Abu

A. M. H.

Rolf

D. W. K.

Sucheta

et al . (2015). Availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) among public and private health facilities in rural northwest Bangladesh. BMC Public Health, 15(1), 36.

97.

Silva de

J. K. M.

Wickramasuriya

(2001). Maternal and child health and family planning services in Sri Lanka. In Herath

H. M. S. S. D.

Seneviratne

R. d. A.

Fernando

H. T. E. I.

(Eds), Public health development in Sri Lanka (pp. 11–19). Colombo: College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka.

98.

Simkhada

van Teijlingen

E. R.

Porter

Simkhada

(2006). Major problems and key issues in maternal health in Nepal. Kathmandu University Medical Journal, 4(2), 258–263.

99.

SSMP. (2010). SSMP summary brochure. Retrieved 9 July 2012, from http://www.safemotherhood.org.np/pdf/ssmp_exit_brochure.pdf

100.

Suwal

(2008). Maternal mortality in Nepal: Unraveling the complexity. Canadian Studies in Population, 35(1), 1–26.

101.

Tamang

Govind

Catherine

(2010). The status of family planning and reproductive health in Nepal. Centre for Research on Environment, Health and Population Activities (CREHPA).

102.

Uddin

M. A.

Rahman

M. L.

(2006). Stalling of human fertility in Bangladesh: Causes and consequences. The CDR Journal, 1(2), 133–140.

103.

Ujah

Aisien

Mutihir

Vanderjagt

Glew

Uguru

(2005). Factors contributing to maternal mortality in north-central Nigeria: A seventeen-year review. African Journal of Reproductive Health/La Revue Africaine de la Santé Reproductive, 9(3), 27–40.

104.

UNDP. (2009). Human Development Report 2009. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

105.

UNDP. (2010). The real wealth of nations: Pathways to human development. Human Development Report 2010. New York: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

106.

UNDP. (2011). Managing natural resources for human development: Developing the non-oil economy to achieve the MDGs Timor-Leste Human Development Report 2011. New York: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

107.

UNDP. (2014). UNDP Nepal Annual Report 2014. New York: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

108.

UNFPA-Asia. (2009, January 17). SAFE MOTHERHOOD: The Sri Lanka experience (Video Clip). Retrieved from in http://video.unfpa.org/video/048265011001-safe-motherhood-the-sri-lanka-experience

109.

UNICEF. (2013). A snapshot of sanitation, hygiene and drinking water safety in South Asia—2013 update. Kathmandu, Nepal: United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

110.

United States State Department. (2010). Background note: Nepal. Retrieved 12 July 2012, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5283.htm

111.

United States State Department. (2011). Background note: Sri Lanka. Retrieved 12 July 2012, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5249.htm

112.

Uprety

(2005). Body politics in Nepal. Development, 48(3), 134–139.

113.

USAID, New ERA, & The Government of Nepal. (2011). Nepal demographic and health survey, 2011: Preliminary report. Kathmandu: The USAID, New ERA, and the Government of Nepal.

114.

Wang

G. Z.

(2014). The impact of social and economic indicators on maternal and child health. Social Indicators Research, 116(3), 935–957.

115.

WHO. (2007a). Policy papers on health Nepal. Kathmandu: Country Office for Nepal, World Health Organization (WHO).

116.

WHO. (2007b). Health inequities in the South-East Asia region. Research Report. World Health Organization (WHO).

117.

WHO. (2010). Monitoring the building blocks of health systems: A handbook of indicators and their measurement strategies. World Health Organization (WHO).

118.

WHO. (2012). Situation assessment of public and private blood centres in Bangladesh. Research Report, World Health Organization (WHO).

119.

Witter

Khadka

Nath

Tiwari

(2011). The national free delivery policy in Nepal: Early evidence of its effects on health facilities. Health Policy and Planning, 26(Suppl. 2), ii84–ii91.

120.

Womendeliver. (n.d.). Reducing maternal mortality: Countries to inspire continued commitment, 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012, from www.womendeliver.org/.../Maternal_Mortality_Success_Stories.pdf

121.

Women Magazine . (2011, January, 1). Six month maternity leave from Jan. Women Magazine.

122.

Zafarullah

Banik

B. K.

(2015). Muddling through: Limitations and challenges of the health policy process in Bangladesh. Journal of Asian Public Policy. DOI: 10.1080/17516234.2015.1082690

Improving Maternal Health

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References