An intersectional analysis of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: a human rights issue

S ub-Saharan Africa continues to possess the highest rates of maternal mortality across the globe.In recent years, it was estimated that almost half of all global maternal fatalities from pregnancy-related complications occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa.There has been a decline in the rates of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1990.However, these rates are not uniformly distributed across the region and remain troublingly high relative to the global front [1].Importantly, since the overwhelming majority of maternal deaths from pregnancy-related complications are a result of the inequitable and oppressive conditions plaguing that region, maternal mortality is a human rights issue.This article posits that maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa is a violation of human rights through an analysis of the intersecting social determinants of gender, economics and education in the regional context.Maternal mortality must be framed and understood as a fundamental human rights issue in order to effectively ameliorate this systemic global health burden and promote human flourishing. SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND INTERSECTIONALITYThere are three over-arching social determinants of maternal mortality within Sub-Saharan Africa that shape the situation as a human rights issue: gender, education and literacy, and economic factors.In order to effectively address each of these major determinants of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is essential to employ the theory of intersectionality to effectively contextualize how certain positions in societies across the region intersect and build off one another to frame the issue at hand.Gender remains a critical social determinant of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.The striking number of women who have prematurely died during pregnancy in Sub-Saharan Africa is largely due to gender biases in the distribution of health services and marginalization of women in these societies. A high correlation between maternal mortality ratios (MMRs)-the number of maternal deaths per 100 000An intersectional analysis of maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: a human rights issue