New, Affordable Technology is Improving Women's Health Access

This blog was coauthored by Maiya Moncino, a research associate in international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations. Just as the mobile phone and solar energy have allowed developing nations to leap-frog into more advanced stages of technology, advances in medical technology can provide easy access to maternal and women's healthcare in poor and rural areas around the world, particularly in developing countries. Every day, 830 women die from complications resulting from pregnancy or child birth (based on 2015 data). The vast majority of these deaths are preventable, and occur in regions that lack access to basic resources. Maternal mortality rates are significantly higher in African countries, South and Southeast Asia, and parts of Latin America.