The World Health Organization and its partners on Thursday unveiled a new global roadmap to combat hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, one of the leading causes of death and serious illness among pregnant women and their babies.

The plan was launched at the world congress of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Netherlands.

According to WHO estimates, hypertensive disorders account for around 10 to 15 percent of pregnancy complications worldwide and roughly 16 percent of maternal deaths. Some 42,000 women die each year from these treatable conditions, which are also responsible for more than 500,000 stillbirths and newborn deaths.

Yet in many countries, women still lack reliable access to basic blood pressure checks, urine protein testing and essential medicines, the agency said. Weak referral systems, shortages of trained health workers and limited emergency obstetric care, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, can further delay life-saving treatment. Women facing poverty, humanitarian crises or geographic isolation are at especially high risk.

"Pre-eclampsia can occur in any pregnancy," said Dr Pascale Allotey, WHO Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing. Whether it proves fatal, she said, depends on when a woman's blood pressure is checked and whether quality emergency care is available. The roadmap, she added, brings together research, medicines, clinical guidance, health systems and political action so that a woman's chances of survival do not depend on where she lives.

The roadmap sets out coordinated action for the next decade and beyond, highlighting a "stark innovation gap" in dedicated treatments, as research funding has focused largely on diagnostics. WHO urged governments, donors, researchers, health professionals, civil society and development partners to pool their efforts.