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Produced for LMC-TVbyFran Snedeker |
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Produced for LMC-TVbyFran Snedeker |
More than 500,000 women died from complications related to pregnancy
or childbirth in 2000, but 99% of those maternal deaths were preventable,
according to the
U.N. Population Fund's "State
of World Population 2005" report released
on Wednesday, BBC News reports (BBC News, 10/12). Reproductive health problems,
including HIV/AIDS, are the leading cause of death among women ages 15 to 44
and are responsible for approximately 250 million years of productive life lost
annually, the report says (Lawless, AP/ABC
News, 10/12). Experts said that most
maternal deaths are preventable through family planning that provides access
to contraceptives, skilled workers attending to births and improved access to
emergency obstetric care when necessary (BBC News, 10/12). An estimated 76 million
unplanned pregnancies and 19 million unsafe abortions occur worldwide annually
(UNFPA release, 10/12). About half of the approximately 40 million HIV-positive
people worldwide are women, and prevalence is rising among women, especially
young women, according to the report (Daily
Mail, 10/12). Women ages 15 to 24
are 1.6 times as likely to be HIV-positive as their male counterparts, the reports
says (BBC News, 10/12).
Recommendations, Costs
The report says that improving gender equality and investing in the health
and education of women and youth could lead to lower HIV prevalence rates,
smaller
families, and healthier, more literate children, Reuters reports. "It is
time to call for action to free women from discrimination, violence and poor
health they face in their daily lives," UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya
Obaid said, adding, "If we don't invest in women's education and health
and their ability to plan their family, we are not allowing them to be able to
contribute to the economic sector" (Reaney, Reuters, 10/12). The estimated
cost of achieving the U.N. Millennium
Development Goals -- which include stemming
the HIV/AIDS pandemic, halving extreme poverty, promoting gender equality and
reducing maternal mortality -- would be $135 billion in 2006, rising to $195
billion in 2015 (AP/ABC News, 10/12). Providing social infrastructure alone will
not solve the problem, Steve Kraus, head of the HIV/AIDS branch of UNFPA, said,
adding, "When we benefit women in a just and free society, all of society
benefits. When we suppress women, society loses" (Cheong-won, Korea
Times,
10/12).