YEREVAN. – Maternal mortality has drastically reduced in Armenia over the course of the past fifteen years. 

The Minister of Health, Armen Muradyan, told the aforesaid to reporters, and after Thursday’s Cabinet meeting.

In his words, in the 1990s, the maternal mortality ratio in Armenia had constituted 53 cases per 100,000 live births. In 2000, however, this indicator had reached up to 71 cases. 

Muradyan noted, however, that several projects were introduced to protect maternal health, and they have proved their effectiveness. As a result, the maternal mortality ratio in Armenia has dropped to 18.6 in recent years, whereas the average indicator in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)—in which Armenia is a member—is 29.3 cases per 100,000 live births.

The health minister noted that five cases were recorded during the first seven months of 2015. 

“Of course, each such incident is not a mere statistics, but a tragedy, I believe for our whole society,” added Armen Muradyan. “This indicator cannot be brought to zero in any country in the world, but we are committed to strive for it.”