Results from a landmark study coordinated by the Countdown 2030 with collaboration from the International Center for Equity in Health was recently published in BMJ Global Health. The Maternal Newborn Health Exemplars Study has identified seven countries that have significantly reduced maternal and newborn mortality between 2000 and 2020. These countries—Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Nepal, Niger, India, Morocco, and Senegal—achieved remarkable results through improved maternity services, enhanced healthcare quality, increased access to safe abortion, and strong government support.

The Maternal Newborn Health Exemplars Study underscores the importance of comprehensive strategies, including infrastructure expansion, multi-sectoral approaches, and adaptive policy implementation. Each country’s progress was supported by tailored health reforms and a focus on reducing inequalities.

The International Center for Equity in Health, represented by its technical coordinator, Cauane Blumenberg, contributed with several analyses and discussions related to the project. More specifically to the synthesis paper, and to Ethiopia’s papers. 

While the synthesis manuscript summarized that many of the Exemplar countries exhibited learning health systems which enabled them to collect relevant data, and make adaptive improvements over time, the Ethiopia’s paper showed that major investments in health infrastructure and workforce positively influenced increases on intervention coverage.

"We found that effective data utilization and adaptive improvements were key to success. This collaboration was very valuable for us to better understand the context of each country and how they reached exemplar progress on reducing maternal and newborn mortality.", Cauane Blumenberg noted.