There is a serious need to shorten time lags between the years of producing data.

This was highlighted in the second series of mortality and causes of death reports launched by the Namibia Statistics Agency today.

A lack of data is said to fuel policy blindness and affect national programmes.

Deputy Statistician-General at the Namibia Statistics Agency, Ottilie Mwazi, pointed out challenges of delay encountered during the production of the mortality and causes of death reports.

The recent report only captured data from 2018–2021.

Namibia recorded 150 maternal deaths in 2020 due to the limitation of safe abortions and access to proper reproductive health services.

This is contained in the Global Report on Maternal Mortality by the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group.

The global trend of maternal mortalities reveals an alarming setback for women's health in recent years. 

Maternal deaths either increased or stagnated in nearly all regions.