Djibouti: High maternal mortality despite improved health services

Djibouti has made significant progress in reducing maternal mortality over the past 10 years, but the number of women who die in childbirth is still high, the Djiboutian national coordinator for reproductive health, Safia Elmi, said. "In 1994, Djibouti's maternal mortality rate was 740 for 100,000 live births. That is a lot. By 2002, it had fallen to 690 deaths per 100,000 live births," Elmi told IRIN.