UNICEF: SOWC: Protecting maternal health in Port au Prince, Haiti

This year, UNICEFs flagship report, The State of the Worlds Children to be launched on 15 January addresses the need to close one of the greatest health divides between industrialized and developing countries: maternal mortality. Here is one in a series of related stories.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 12 January 2009 In the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, no one struggles harder than the women trying to support their families.

It is women who contribute the bulk of Haitis informal economy and raise multiple children on the most meagre of incomes. It is also women who suffer most from the lack of affordable health care.

The country doesnt have a lot to offer. For the woman its even worse. Shes really the head of the household, surviving on very little resources, says UNICEF Haiti Health Specialist Mireille Trebie. Most of the women have small food businesses or pepe [second-hand] markets. And they have six to eight children to care for.

To read the full story, visit: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_47099.html

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• UNICEF
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• Children
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• Haiti
• maternal
• mortality