Jakarta (Indonesia Window) - New data from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) shows women who give birth in sub-Saharan are almost 50 times more likely to die than those in more developed regions.

Meanwhile, babies born in the region are 10 times more likely to die in the first month of their lives, UNICEF’s Executive Director Henrietta Fore said, according to the UN website quoted by Indonesia Window here, Friday.

The data also shows that in 2018, one in 13 children in sub-Saharan Africa die before the age of five, or 15 times more than in Europe where the rate is one in 196.

Beyond sub-Saharan Africa, the joint WHO/UNICEF report also expressed concern about high mother and baby mortality rates linked to poverty in Southern Asia.

Taken together, both regions account for around eight in 10 of all maternal and child deaths, highlighting vast inequalities in healthcare worldwide.

Reporting by Indonesia Window