Health, Africa - If men were dying en masse . . .

Maternal mortality rates in Africa constitute a "monumental tragedy" that requires urgent attention by African governments, health experts say. "Expectant mothers in Africa, of all pregnant women in the world, are worst off. An average African woman has a chance of one in fourteen of dying during pregnancy or child labour," says human rights and health researcher Ebenezer Durojaye. Durojaye, a Nigerian working at South Africa's University of the Free State, told IPS that the situation in Sierra Leone is even worse. "Here, a woman has a chance of one in eight of dying during pregnancy and labour. In countries like Singapore, for instance, the maternal death risk is one in 3,000," he explained.