Topic: 2025 – Maternal Mortality
Country: Guyana
Delegate Name: Hafsa Zeeshan
Country: Guyana
Committee: ECOSOC: WHO
Topic: Maternal Mortality
Delegate: Hafsa Zeeshan
School: Portage Central High School
Maternal mortality is a factor closely related to a country’s economic prosperity, meaning that for Guyana, a historically disadvantaged country up until just recently, maternal mortality has been and unfortunately continues to be a serious problem. Guyana, according to the CIA, ranks 9th out of the 33 countries in the region for maternal mortality rates, 76 deaths per 100,000 live births. That being said, this is a significant improvement from its mortality rate in the past, 240 per 100,000 in the 2000s. The reality is that Guyana’s government has and continues to take significant steps in order to provide care. In Guyana, approximately 97.6% of births were attended by skilled health personnel in 2020, and that number has only risen in recent years. According to the PAHO, Guyana’s government has increased healthcare funding by nearly threefold from 2022, and an expansion of regional health networks has started with the construction of ten new regional hospitals, which will be fully equipped to improve access to quality maternal services, and these will be constructed in collaboration with teh PAHO.
Now, the main focus is to not only continue the efforts being made, but also to give resources where they can’t, which is, like in most places across the world, rural areas. In Guyana, this poses an especially difficult challenge, as historically most improvements and projects have been focused on its populated urban coast. In the indigenous and hinterland areas, these resources are still lacking, and projects must be made to reduce maternal mortality in these areas as well. To do this, the country must have the funding and resources to establish mobile clinics and outreach programs in areas where traveling is difficult, transportation systems to get pregnant women to hospitals in emergencies, and education programs that increase awareness for women so that they are better equipped to take care of and advocate for their own health.
Guyana is a rapidly developing country, and its success in reducing maternal mortality has been instrumental in changing the public health of the nation as a whole. These efforts must be continued and expanded to make healthcare accessible across all regions, to all people.
