Rwanda has maintained good ranking compared to its East African Community (EAC) peers on maternal health and prevention of newborn deaths, according to a new report.

In Save the Children’s annual State of the World’s Mothers report ranking 178 countries on how mothers are likely to survive childbirth, Rwanda and Tanzania are the only EAC countries not labeled as fragile.

They are ranked at 121 and 135, respectively. Uganda, Kenya and Burundi, are ranked 133, 143 and 147, respectively.

DR Congo is ranked 177th.

Commenting on the report released on Monday, Nathan Mugume, the Head of Division, Rwanda Health Communication Centre, said government is committed to working  harder to attain "zero maternal and child deaths.”

Rwanda has achieved a lot as far as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), are concerned, especially Goals four and five: reducing child mortality and improving maternal health, respectively. In less than 10 years, infant mortality is down by 61 per cent.

Last year, Rwanda was ranked top among 48 African countries that registered substantial progress in achieving the MDGs, in a continental report compiled by a campaign and advocacy organisation, ONE.

Finland again tops the 2014 Mothers’ Index, while Somalia, affected by both terrorism and natural disasters, is at the bottom. The United States, which 15 years ago ranked in the top five, has fallen to number 31 out of 178 countries.