Study Ranks Women’s Reproductive Health Worldwide

Audio News Conference: Wednesday, March 7th at 12:00 Noon ET/9:00 AM PT. With Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Amy Coen of PAI and Maurice Middleberg of CARE. To read the transcript, click here Contact an Expert: Leslie Isom Raabe, PAI Tel: 202-557-3419 Nicole King, CARE Tel: 202-595-2810 Key Findings from the Report: One in 65 women in developing countries will die from reproductive health-related causes during her lifetime, compared to one in 2,125 women in developed countries. About 515,000 women die each year from pregnancy-related complications, and millions more become ill or disabled. Family planning, essential obstetric care, and HIV/AIDS prevention programs enhance women's social and economic well-being. Nearly three-quarters of the countries in the Very High and High Risk categories in the Index are in sub-Saharan Africa. While the United States falls into the Very Low risk category, it is ranked 15th--below Singapore and just above the Czech Republic and Lithuania. More Facts: Complete text of the report will be available on PAI's Web site March 8. Selected Country Rankings (available now) Comparing “Lifetime Risk” (available now)

A World of Difference: Sexual and Reproductive Health & Risks ranks 133 countries--home to 95 percent of the world's population--using the latest data for ten indicators on sexual and reproductive health.

The report shows that women in the United States face greater risks to their sexual and reproductive health than women in Singapore and many European nations. However, women in developing nations, particularly in Africa, are at greatest risk.

"There is a gaping chasm between rich and poor countries when it comes to the sexual and reproductive health of women," says Amy Coen, president of PAI. "Right now, in developing countries, nearly half of all women deliver their babies with no help from skilled health personnel, and there are 150 million women who say they want to prevent or delay their next pregnancy, yet do not have access to contraceptives."

The report calls on governments and other institutions to honor commitments made by 179 nations at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo. The Cairo Programme of Action called for international spending of $17 billion annually by the year 2000 (rising to $21.7 billion annually by 2015) to achieve universal access to basic reproductive health services. Six years later, the United States is allocating less than half of its “fair share” of these costs, in contrast to such donors as the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

PAI and CARE identify two crucial building blocks for achieving universal access to basic reproductive health care:

• Increased support and funding for reproductive health services-especially for family planning, essential obstetric care, and HIV/AIDS prevention; and



• Increased support and funding for programs that create economic and educational opportunities for women. Because reproductive health is linked to a woman’s social and economic wellbeing, programs that contribute to her status within her family, and to her knowledge of and access to institutions and ideas, will improve her health and the health of her children.

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