Technical Advisory Group on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation
WHO is the leading agency of the United Nations (UN) Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), a UN initiative comprising WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank Group and the UN Population Division. The MMEIG has the function to update the inter-agency estimates of maternal mortality. The MMEIG contributes to monitoring progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.
WHO is the leading agency of the United Nations (UN) Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), a UN initiative comprising WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank Group and the UN Population Division. The MMEIG has the function to update the inter-agency estimates of maternal mortality. The MMEIG contributes to monitoring progress towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 - “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages” by producing estimates of the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) (target 3.1.1).
To support WHO’s role in the MMEIG and, ultimately, the MMEIG’s work, WHO hereby establishes a Technical Advisory Group on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation (the “TAG”) that will act as an advisory body to WHO in the field of maternal mortality measurement and maternal cause of death measurement. The TAG will provide guidance in relation to on-going methodological improvements and strategies for reporting and enhancing country level reporting.
TAG Objectives
The principal objectives of the TAG on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation are:
- To provide independent evaluation of the scientific, technical and strategic aspects relating to maternal mortality and maternal cause of death measurement and estimation methods.
- To recommend priorities relating to the development of a research agenda to address maternal mortality measurement challenges required for global monitoring purposes.
- To advise on linkages with related advisory groups, including those working on the measurement and estimation of perinatal, neonatal, and infant mortality.
- To advise on strategies to promote linkages to broader strategies to strengthen national statistics systems as relates to maternal mortality measurement, including civil registration and vital statistics, standardised coding and classification according to the rules of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) framework.
- To advise on strategies in relation to the effective dissemination and use of the maternal mortality estimates and related products.
TAG Members
Professor Richard MK Adanu
TAG Chair, Professor, Rector Ghana College of Physicians & Surgeons, Ghana
Azra Aziz
Director of Research, National Institute of Population Studies, Ministry of Health, Pakistan
Dr Andreea Creanga
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Dr Alison Gemmill
Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
Dr. Charles Ameh
Assistant Professor in Global Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
Claudia Hanson
Associate Professor, Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Dr Florina Serbanescu
Team Lead, Global Reproductive Health Evidence for Action Team, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA
Huda Alkitkat
Manager of the Population Estimates Program, Demographer and Statistician & International Consultant in civil registration and vital statistics, Portland State University, United States of America
Dr Kapila Jayaratne
Consultant Community Physician, Sri Lanka
Dr Leontine Alkema
Associate Professor of Biostatistics, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA
Sandhya Singh
Deputy Registrar General and technical lead for CRVS and SRS, India
Professor Thomas W. Pullum
Director of Research, The Demographic and Health Surveys Program. Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Professor Yifru Berhan Yifru Berhan
Consultant and researcher, St Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia