Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Country action

Pakistan

© UNICEF/UNI416483/Saiyna Bashir On 14 April 2023 at the Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore, Punjab province, Pakistan, staff nurse Mariam Azam holds 6-hour-old Muhammad Awais in a dedicated room for vaccination, which is supported by UNICEF and partners.

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Every Woman Every Newborn in Pakistan

Download the full profile with additional key demographics, progress against milestones, and more.

©UNICEF/UNI510611/Hasnain On 18 October 2023, meet Afshan’s newborn baby in Old Wahadat, Union Council 2, Tehsil Qasimabad, Hyderabad, Sindh.

National mortality targets

Maternal mortality ratio

70 per 100,000 live births by 2030

Stillbirth
rate

12 per 1,000 total births by 2030

Neonatal mortality rate

12 per 1,000 live births by 2030

Progress to meet the national maternal, newborn mortality and stillbirth reduction targets

© UNICEF/UNI416484/Saiyna Bashir. On 14 April 2023 at the Ganga Ram Hospital in Lahore, Punjab province, Pakistan, staff nurse Mariam Azam holds 6-hour-old Muhammad Awais with charge nurse Ruth Talib in a dedicated room for vaccination, which is supported by UNICEF and partners.

Progress to meet Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere coverage targets

MNH Acceleration Plan highlights

Expand the implementation of quality of care tools on maternal and perinatal health in selected districts (see details in box below)
Roll out the implementation of small and sick newborn units at district level, including by upgrading or repairing the infrastructure and by procuring supplies such as continuous positive airway pressure machines.
Support to emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) at district level though an EmONC assessment of health facilities.
Support midwifery education at district level by implementing a national and Provincial action plan on midwifery strategic framework, upgrading institutes, faculty & faculty development, ensuring continuous professional development and capacity building.

© UNICEF/UNI416483/Saiyna Bashir. On 10 May 2023 in Quetta, Balochistan province, Pakistan, vaccinator Bibi Aliya immunizes a 6-hour-old girl inside a vaccination area supported by UNICEF and partners at Bolan Medical Complex.

© UNICEF/UNI416483/Saiyna Bashir.On 18 April 2023 in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Lady Health Worker (LHW) Shamim Hussain stands for a portrait while working.

Quality of care in Pakistan

As part of its efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths, Pakistan is taking steps to improve the quality of maternal and newborn health. These include:

Expanding implementation of Quality of Care tools on maternal and perinatal health in selected districts:

Scaling up implementation of Maternal Perinatal Death Surveillance & Response (MPDSR) system at district, provincial and national level,
Strengthen Early Essential Newborn Care in selected districts
Roll-out use of Labour Care Guide in selected districts

News and events

Maternity Matters:

May 16, 2025

Devex, in partnership with MSD for Mothers and EWENE, is hosting an event on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly to explore how to accelerate progress in maternal and newborn survival.

Ministers to discuss impact of overseas development assistance (ODA) cuts on maternal, newborn and child health, and mitigation strategies

May 14, 2025

Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere, co-led by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA, is organizing a ministerial roundtable dinner on May 17th, on the sidelines of the 78th World Health Assembly, to discuss the impact of significant ODA cuts on maternal and newborn health and child survival, and possible responses to this challenge.

Communicating the impact of extreme heat on maternal, newborn and child health

May 9, 2025

HIGH Horizons, a project that studies the effects of extreme heat on maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) is looking for examples of public health education messages used to raise awareness among pregnant and postpartum women, parents, families, and health workers about the risks of extreme heat exposure for MNCH.

Resources

The Midwifery Accelerator: Expanding health care for women and newborns

April 8, 2025

The Midwifery Accelerator: Expanding Quality Care for Women and Newborns is a call to invest in midwifery care to save and transform the lives of women and their newborns around the world.

Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023: estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and UNDESA/Population Division

April 7, 2025

This report presents internationally comparable global-, regional- and country-level estimates and trends for maternal mortality between 2000 and 2023.

Levels and trends in child mortality, 2024

March 26, 2025

This report by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation provides the latest data and trends on child mortality. It calls on governement, donors and partners for greater potical will to end preventable child mortality.

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

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Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Get Involved

You can help us give mothers and their babies the best chance at life.

Contact us

Photo © 2020 WHO / Tatiana Almeida
Midwives during WHO Head of Sub-Office Dr Kai von Harbou visit to Hope Field Hospital

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Country action

Pakistan

Every Woman Every Newborn in Pakistan