A $50 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has set in motion an international health program to prevent maternal death and disability, one of the most serious but treatable health problems in developing nations.

It is estimated that every minute of every day a woman in Asia, Africa, or Latin America dies from complications of pregnancy or childbirth.

In some parts of Africa, maternal mortality claims one out of twelve women, compared to one out of four thousand in northern Europe.

According to Dean Allan G. Rosenfield '59P&S of the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health and Deborah Maine '82 '98PH, professor of clinical public health, that is the largest discrepancy between developed and developing countries for any of the major public health problems.

What makes this situation especially heartbreaking is that for nearly five decades medical practice has had the means to prevent these deaths, through surgery, drugs, and blood transfusions.

A woman may die on the way to a hospital in a distant city or because she needs a Caesarean section and the one surgeon available does not know how to perform it.

The Gates Foundation gift is of critical importance because of the long-term impact it will have on millions of lives. With the combined efforts of the Gates Foundation, Columbia University, governments, and bilateral and private organizations, together with community-based groups, we have the best chance of improving maternity care of women in areas of the world where the need is greatest.