title: Determining Optimal Strategies to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality in Rural Areas in Western China: an Assessment Using the Lives Saved Tool.
abstract: China, as a whole, is about to meet the Millennium Development Goals for reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR), but the disparities between rural area and urban area still exists. This study estimated the potential effectiveness of expanding coverage with high impact interventions using the Lives Saved Tool (LiST). It was found that gestational hypertension, antepartum and postpartum hemorrhage, preterm birth, neonatal asphyxia, and neonatal childhood pneumonia and diarrhea are still the major killers of mothers and children in rural area in China. It was estimated that 30% of deaths among 0-59 month old children and 25% of maternal deaths in 2008 could be prevented in 2015 if primary health care intervention coverage expanded to a feasible level. The LiST death cause framework, compared to data from the Maternal and Child Mortality Surveillance System, represents 60%-80% of neonatal deaths, 40%-50% of deaths in 1-59 month old children and 40%-60% of maternal deaths in rural areas of western China.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China; Chinese Center of Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: United Nations Children's Fund, China Office, Beijing 100600, China.
authors.forename: Su Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: United Nations Children's Fund, China Office, Beijing 100600, China.
authors.forename: Robert W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Scherpbier
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, China Office, Beijing 100600, China.
authors.forename: Chun Mei
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal and Child Health, Ministry of Health and Family Planning of China, Beijing 100044, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Chao
authors.initials: XC
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy