Vietnam drops 7 places in the maternal and child health index.

However, in Vietnam, over the past 15 years, the maternal mortality rate has halved, and the infant mortality rate has decreased by a quarter.

According to Save the Children's recently released annual ranking of the best and worst places to be a mother, Vietnam currently ranks 93rd in the Mothers' Index for 2014. Despite a seven-point drop from last year, Vietnam still ranks above other countries in the region such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

The Mothers' Index is part of the organization's annual State of the World's Mothers report on maternal and child health. The report compares 178 countries worldwide to identify those that are succeeding and those that have yet to achieve success in saving and improving the lives of mothers and children.

The report indicates that maternal and child mortality rates in the world's most challenging countries could be significantly reduced if efforts were made to improve services for mothers and children. In Vietnam, over the past 15 years, maternal mortality has halved, infant mortality has decreased by a quarter, the average length of schooling has increased by 1.5 years, and per capita income has nearly quadrupled.

“Vietnam has made tremendous progress in maternal and child health care over the past 15 years. This is the result of political will and a willingness to invest in the health system, including essential services for children,” said Gunnar Andersen, Director of Save the Children in Vietnam. “However, we should also note that we have fallen behind in the rankings.”

This year's State of the World's Mothers report focuses primarily on the challenges faced by mothers in disaster situations, aiming to better understand and effectively support their needs. In disaster situations, mothers often face numerous challenges in keeping their children safe and healthy, such as access to basic physical and economic health services, while also being vulnerable to rising rates of poverty, malnutrition, sexual violence, unwanted pregnancies, and unassisted childbirth.

“Vietnam is a country affected by devastating storms and floods every year. In recent years, natural disasters have become increasingly severe due to climate change, causing significant damage to homes, crops, livestock, and other assets such as agricultural machinery in heavily affected areas. These losses, in turn, contribute to malnutrition, school dropout rates, and a decline in the use of voluntary, paid healthcare services,” said Gunnar Andersen.

Save the Children has been operating in Vietnam for over 20 years, supporting responses to all major natural disasters nationwide, most recently the two typhoons Wutip and Nari. Save the Children provided cash assistance to families with children in severely affected areas to help them repair their homes, buy food and medicine, and get their children back to school as normal after the storms.

To ensure the protection of mothers and children after natural disasters, Save the Children calls on countries and civil society organizations to: Ensure all mothers and newborns living through crises have access to quality healthcare; Support strengthening the resilience and response capacity of healthcare systems to minimize the negative impacts of crises on health; Develop appropriate national and local prevention plans to meet the essential needs of mothers, children, and newborns in emergencies; Ensure adequate and coordinated funding to promptly meet the needs of mothers and children in emergencies.

According to VOV.VN