SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES

 

Every minute, a woman dies somewhere on earth from the complications of pregnancy and childbirth--600,000 deaths a year. Millions more suffer long-term disability. In the developing world, childbearing complications are the leading cause of death and disability for women age 15 to 49.

 

By spacing births, family planning lowers mortality among both women and children, and also reduces the toll on women’s health from repeated pregnancy, childbearing and sexually transmitted infections.

 

HERE ARE THE FACTS:

 

§         Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world:

§         700 people acquire a curable sexually transmitted infection, including HIV/AIDS

§         380 women become pregnant

§         190 women face an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy

§         110 women experience a pregnancy-related complication

§         40 women have an unsafe abortion

§         1 woman dies from a pregnancy-related complication

 

§         Of all health statistics monitored by the World Health Organization, maternal mortality has the largest discrepancy between developed and developing countries.

 

§         Quality maternal health care is the single best way to save mothers and their infants. But only 53% of deliveries in developing countries involve a skilled birth attendant.

 

§         Just by increasing the time between births or raising the age of first motherhood, family planning could reduce infant and child mortality by up to 25%, saving three million children’s lives a year.

 

§         Abortions performed under unsafe conditions are a major public health problem, killing more than 75,000 women annually, roughly one of every seven pregnancy-related deaths.

 

§         Evidence from Russia and several Eastern European countries shows that where family planning becomes widely available, abortions rates plummet.

 

§         At least 16,000 men, women and children are infected with HIV/AIDS each day. Half of all new cases are among young people aged 10 to 24.

 

§         In most countries, 40% of new HIV/AIDS infections are among women, and this rate is rising. In developing countries, most HIV infection is due to heterosexual intercourse.

 

§         Family planning programs provide education, counseling and treatment for STIs, and also reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.

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Information from Family Care International; Sexual and Reproductive Health Briefing Cards, New York, NY, March 1999 (http://www.familycareintl.org/briefing_cards_2000/bc.htm).