PHA-Exch> UNFPA APPEALS FOR NEARLY $500 MILLION TO SLASH MATERNAL DEATHS IN 75 NATIONS

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Vern Weitzel <vern at coombs.anu.edu.au>
crosposted from: "[health-vn discussion group]" health-vn at cairo.anu.edu.au


UN APPEALS FOR NEARLY $500 MILLION TO SLASH MATERNAL DEATHS IN 75 NATIONS
New York, Feb 14 2008 12:00PM
With a women dying every minute due to pregnancy or childbirth
complications,
the United Nations Population Fund
(<"http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1098">UNFPA) today appealed for
nearly
half a billion dollars to save the lives of millions of women in 75
countries.

"No woman should die giving life," said Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, UNFPA's
Executive
Director. "To have a healthy society, you have to have healthy mothers."

There are up to half a million maternal deaths annually, and the agency
hopes
the $465 million it is calling for will support women in the neediest
countries
over the next four years.

Progress in the area of maternal health has been slow in many nations due to
the
lack of political will and inadequate resources.

Ms. Obaid urged countries to bolster their investment in national health
systems
by training birth attendants and promoting family planning. "Millions of
deaths
and disabilities could be prevented, if every woman had access to
reproductive
health services," she pointed out.

Improving maternal health by 2015 is also the fifth Millennium Development
Goal
(MDG).

The new thematic fund – established by UNFPA in collaboration with
governments,
other UN organizations and international partners – will help countries
health
systems' capacities to provide a wide range of maternal health services and
empower women to exercise their right to maternal health.
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