The World Health Organisation (WHO) will mark World Health Day on April 7 by starting a year-long campaign on “maternal and newborn health”.

The campaign, titled “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures”, aims primarily to prevent deaths of pregnant women and newborns. The organisation shall also highlight “longer-term health and well-being” of mothers and children.

The WHO shall share important information on “healthy pregnancies and births, and better postnatal health”.

According to data uploaded by WHO on its website based on recently published estimates, around 3,00,000 women die due to pregnancy or childbirth every year around the world. More than 2 million babies die in the first month after their birth. There are also around 2 million stillbirths. That roughly amounts to 1 preventable death every 7 seconds, according to WHO.

WHO says that 4 out of every 5 countries are off track to meet targets for improving maternal health and survival by 2030 while 1 in 3 will fail to meet targets for reducing newborn deaths.

The campaign comes at a pivotal time when the Global Gag Rule of US President Donald Trump prohibits foreign non-governmental organisations that receive US global health assistance from providing legal abortions and also bars advocacy for legal reforms on abortion. Owing to this, women’s access to their bodily and reproductive rights are diminishing as the US government pushes healthy abortions out of reach of millions of women.

“Women and families everywhere need high quality care that supports them physically and emotionally, before, during and after birth,” the WHO website says.

“Health systems must evolve to manage the many health issues that impact maternal and newborn health. These not only include direct obstetric complications but also mental health conditions, noncommunicable diseases and family planning,” it adds.