universal medical care

Specific reference to maternal mortality due to lack of medical services in the Third World. Every year an estimated 500,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth.

One in every seven women in Niger will ultimately die of pregnancy-related causes, whereas in Sweden the lifetime risk is one in 17,400.

Sierra Leone remains a stark reminder of that contrast, suffering one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with one in every eight women dying in childbirth, according to UNICEF. The experience in Sierra Leone mirrors that in most of sub-Saharan Africa, where the maternal death rate has remained almost unchanged since 2000.

Detail 1 - a mother and a child

Detail 2 - gravediggers at the bottom of the main picture

Detail 3 - a toy hospital as in the first world