Maternal and Child Mortality: Burkina Faso, Angola & Albania
This paper examines the determinants and prevention of maternal and child mortality in three countries — Burkina Faso, Angola, and Albania — using 2020 WHO data on maternal mortality ratios (MMR) and under-five mortality rates (U5MR). It compares country-level health outcomes, reviews government initiatives and preventive services in each nation, and analyzes how socioeconomic factors such as poverty, education, gender, geography, and cultural practices influence access to care. The paper further identifies barriers and gaps in existing health services and proposes interventions — including expanding healthcare infrastructure, training providers, reducing financial barriers, and community education — to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to maternal and child health by 2030.
- Maternal and Child Mortality Data by Country: WHO 2020 MMR and U5MR statistics compared
- Preventive Services and Government Initiatives: Country-level health programs and interventions reviewed
- Socioeconomic Determinants of Health Service Use: Poverty, education, gender, and geography as barriers
- Barriers, Gaps, and Pathways to the 2030 SDGs: Obstacles to care and recommended policy interventions
- Summary and Recommendations for Positive Change: Synthesis of findings and SDG-aligned recommendations
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses concrete, comparable statistics (MMR and U5MR from 2020 WHO data) across three countries to anchor the argument empirically.
- Systematically addresses each country in parallel throughout the paper, making cross-national comparisons easy to follow.
- Connects macro-level indicators to ground-level socioeconomic factors (poverty, geography, gender), demonstrating multi-dimensional thinking about public health.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses a comparative case study structure, applying a consistent analytical framework — mortality data, government responses, socioeconomic determinants, and barriers — to each of the three countries. This approach allows the reader to draw direct comparisons while still recognizing country-specific contexts, a technique common in global health policy writing.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with quantitative data and simple comparative tables, then transitions to qualitative analysis of government programs, followed by a thematic discussion of socioeconomic determinants. A dedicated section on barriers leads into policy-oriented recommendations. The conclusion synthesizes findings and links them to the broader SDG framework, giving the paper a clear policy-advocacy arc from diagnosis to prescription.
Maternal and Child Mortality Data by Country
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Burkina Faso was 430 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, while the under-five mortality rate (U5MR) was 96 deaths per 1,000 live births in the same year (Kiemtore et al., 2020). In Angola, the MMR was 420 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, and the U5MR was 70 deaths per 1,000 live births (Balogun et al., 2020). In Albania, the MMR was 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020, and the U5MR was 11 deaths per 1,000 live births (Mone et al., 2022).
The table below compares the MMRs of the three countries:
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) per 100,000 live births: Burkina Faso — 430; Angola — 420; Albania — 4.
The table below compares the U5MRs of the three countries:
Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) per 1,000 live births: Burkina Faso — 96; Angola — 70; Albania — 11.
Overall, Albania has the lowest rates of maternal and under-five mortality, while Burkina Faso and Angola have substantially higher rates on both measures.
Preventive Services and Government Initiatives
In Burkina Faso, the government has implemented a number of initiatives to improve maternal and child health outcomes, including the establishment of a national health insurance scheme to increase access to healthcare services and the expansion of community-based health worker programs to improve the delivery of healthcare at the local level (Kiendrebeogo et al., 2022).
In Angola, the government has also prioritized maternal and child health, launching several initiatives to increase the availability of essential health services and improve the quality of care. These include the expansion of the national immunization program and the implementation of a national plan to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV (Vueba et al., 2021).
In Albania, the government has implemented a number of measures to improve maternal and child health, including the expansion of access to antenatal and postnatal care, the introduction of a national family planning program, and the implementation of a nationwide vaccination program (Tresa et al., 2022).
Socioeconomic Determinants of Health Service Use
Several socioeconomic determinants can influence the use of preventive services in Burkina Faso, Angola, and Albania:
1. Poverty: Poverty can limit access to healthcare services and make it difficult for individuals to afford the costs associated with preventive care.
2. Education: Higher levels of education can lead to increased awareness of the importance of preventive services and greater use of those services, including skilled birth attendants and antenatal care coverage.
3. Gender: In some societies, traditional gender roles and beliefs can prevent women from seeking preventive care, particularly when they lack the support of male partners or families.
4. Geography: Rural communities may have limited access to healthcare facilities and services, making it more difficult for individuals to obtain preventive care.
5. Cultural practices: Certain cultural practices — such as traditional childbirth practices or beliefs about the causes of illness — can influence the use of preventive services.
In Burkina Faso, poverty is a major factor that can influence the use of preventive services. According to the World Bank, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, with nearly 40% of the population living below the poverty line (N'dri & Kakinaka, 2020). This poverty makes it difficult for individuals to afford the costs associated with preventive care, including hiring skilled birth attendants or accessing antenatal care, resulting in low utilization of these services.
In Angola, the civil war that ended in 2002 and the subsequent reconstruction efforts have had a significant impact on the country's maternal and child health outcomes. The conflict disrupted the healthcare system and led to the destruction of many health facilities, making it difficult for individuals to access preventive services (Cummings et al., 2019).
In Albania, while the country has made significant progress in reducing maternal and child mortality rates in recent years, these rates remain higher in rural areas compared to urban areas, reflecting the ongoing impact of geography on access to preventive services.
References
Balogun, O. O., Tomo, C. K., Mochida, K., Mikami, M., da Rosa Vasconcelos, H., Neves, I., ... & Takehara, K. (2020). Impact of the Maternal and Child Health handbook in Angola for improving continuum of care and other maternal and child health indicators: Study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial. Trials, 21(1), 1–16.
Cummings, P. R., Cummings, D. B., & Jacobsen, K. H. (2019). Obstructed labor as an underlying cause of maternal mortality in Kalukembe, Angola, 2017. Journal of Global Health Reports, 3, e2019065.
Kiemtoré, S., Evelyne, K. B., André, S., Hyacinthe, Z., Xavier, K., Mikael, Z., ... & Blandine, T. (2020). Maternal mortality in the Gynecology-Obstetric Department at the Yalgado Ouedraogo University Hospital Center (CHUYO), Burkina Faso: About 181 cases collected from January 1st to December 31st 2016. Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 10(5), 714–722.
Kiendrébéogo, J. A., Tapsoba, C., Kafando, Y., Kaboré, I., Sory, O., & Yaméogo, S. P. (2022). The landscape of strategic health purchasing for universal health coverage in Burkina Faso: Insights from five major health financing schemes. Health Systems & Reform, 8(2), 2097588.
Mone, I., Kraja, B., Roshi, E., & Burazeri, G. (2022). Overview on health status of the Albanian population. South Eastern European Journal of Public Health (SEEJPH).
N'dri, L. M., & Kakinaka, M. (2020). Financial inclusion, mobile money, and individual welfare: The case of Burkina Faso. Telecommunications Policy, 44(3), 101926.
Tresa, E., Czabanowska, K., Clemens, T., Brand, H., Babich, S. M., Bjegovic-Mikanovic, V., & Burazeri, G. (2022). Europeanization of health policy in post-communist European societies: Comparison of six Western Balkan countries. Health Policy.
Vueba, A. N., Almendra, R., Santana, P., Faria, C., & do Céu Sousa, M. (2021). Prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B virus among pregnant women in Luanda (Angola): Geospatial distribution and its association with socio-demographic and clinical-obstetric determinants. Virology Journal, 18(1), 1–11.
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