Citation, extract and a comment from me below.
CITATION:
Anwar H Nassar an21@aub.edu.lb ∙ Ihab Usta
Lancet Global Health Volume 14, Issue 1e4-e5 January 2026
Factors contributing to the reduction of global maternal mortality rate
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00445-0/fulltext
SELECTED EXTRACT
Women's own knowledge has an important role in navigating pregnancy and childbirth, helping them avert adverse maternal outcomes that might result in death by having the necessary and adequate amount of information to recognise early signs and make reasonable decisions that promote their wellbeing.
COMMENT (NPW): The authors' emphasis on the importance of basic healthcare information for women clearly aligns with HIFA. Women, and those who care for them, require timely access to relevant, reliable healthcare information.
It's also important to reflect that 'knowledge has an important role' in every aspect of health, for the prevention, diagnosis and management of virtually every disease. Our colleagues in sexual and reproductive health are one step ahead of the rest of us. When they articulated the Sustainable Development Goals, they specifically declared: 'SDG Target 3.7 Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes'. Sexual and reproductive health is the only health area to recognise access to healthcare information in the SDG targets. Our challenge is to extend this recognition across all health areas.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org