BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Brunei has achieved a substantial reduction in maternal mortality over the past two decades, a government minister said.
Brunei's maternal mortality ratio for 2018 to 2023 is in the range of zero to 32.4 for every 100,000 births, which is zero to two deaths per year, Haji Mohd Isham Jaafar, minister of health, said on Monday in conjunction with World Health Day celebration.
The minister said the latest maternal mortality ratio for the year 2023 is 15.9 per 100,000 births, which is one death per year.
In the past 50 to 60 years, Brunei has achieved a good reduction in the number of maternal and infant deaths.
But subsequent reductions are not necessarily easy to achieve, especially with the increase in chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity among young women of childbearing age, the minister said.
