title: Accountability for improving maternal and newborn health.
abstract: In 2010, the United Nations (UN) launched the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health to accelerate progress on maternal and child health. A UN Commission on Information and Accountability, established to ensure oversight and accountability on women's and children's health, outlined a framework with three processes: monitor, review, and act. This paper assesses progress on these processes. Effective monitoring depends on a functional civil registration and vital statistics system. Review requires counting all deaths and identifying contributing factors. The final, critical step is action to prevent similar deaths. Maternal death surveillance and response includes these steps and strengthens accountability. Strategies are underway to improve accountability for severe maternal morbidity and perinatal mortality. The post-2015 agenda adds greater focus on reducing inequalities, increasing availability of quality, disaggregated data, and accountability for human rights. This agenda requires engagement with communities and health providers - the foundation of accountability for women's and children's health.
authors.affiliation: IWK Health Centre, 5980 University Ave, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3J 3G9, Canada. Electronic address: heather.scott@iwk.nshealth.ca.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Pan American Health Organization, 525 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC, 20037, USA.
authors.forename: Isabella
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Danel
mesh_terms: D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D054238:Perinatal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D012941:Social Responsibility; D014480:United Nations; D014798:Vital Statistics
keywords: accountability; clinical audit; maternal morbidity; maternal mortality; perinatal mortality; surveillance