The Status of Health in Mali
Mali’s health services are underused, poorly supervised and often badly equipped and staffed; resulting in high maternal and child morbidity and mortality and hindering economic growth and stability. Forty-nine percent of mothers must walk 30 minutes or more to reach a community health center. Every three hours a Malian mother dies from complications related to childbirth resulting in a maternal mortality rate estimated at 464 deaths per 100 000 live births according to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 2006. One contributing factor to maternal morbidity and mortality is the high prevalence of female genital cutting (FGC), over 90%, which is a major contributor to obstructed labor, itself the leading cause (49%) of maternal death in Mali.
Results from the DHS 2006 show a 20% decline in child mortality however this indicator remains elevated at 191 child deaths per 1000 live births; a little over half of these deaths occur in newborns. Fertility has remained persistently high in Mali; the average woman will have 6.6 children over her reproductive lifetime; low contraceptive prevalence (6.9% in 2006) negatively impacts gains made in maternal and child survival. The evolution of HIV prevalence in Mali is encouraging: at 1.2% a 30% reduction has occurred since 2001. However prevalence remains alarmingly high among most at risk populations such as sex workers, truck drivers, and vendors, underscoring the need to continue and strengthen prevention programs reaching all sectors of the population.
Since 2003 USAID Mali has been implementing its ten year “High Impact Health Services” (HIHS) strategy that supports an integrated package of interventions proven to decrease maternal and child morbidity and mortality by addressing nutrition, diarrheal disease control, immunizations, HIV prevention, family planning/maternal health and malaria prevention and control (as of FY08, Mali became a PMI focus country).
The strategy aims to increase the use of quality health services and the adoption of positive health behaviors by Malians by partnering with public services, the private sector and civil society including religious groups, women’s associations and government leaders; and by improving the capacity and quality of health services and linking them to the population through gender-sensitive community-based interventions while promoting key household health behaviors.
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Last updated: Monday, October 20, 2008