Fact of the week

31%: The percentage increase in antenatal care in Asia from 1990-2000

Millennium Development Goal 7: Improve maternal health

Target: Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio

The figures show a striking improvement in use of antenatal care of around one fifth in the developing world over the decade 1990 to 2000. Progress was greatest in Asia, where antenatal care increased by nearly one third over the period, although this region started from the lowest base. By contrast, in sub-Saharan Africa the increase was only some 4%. In the Middle East and North Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean, the increases were 10% and 14% respectively.