LONDON, (Reuters) – Spending $25 per woman per year on full sexual health services would dramatically reduce mother and baby deaths and give women the choice of smaller, healthier and more productive families, a UN-backed report found on Thursday.
The report, written by the Guttmacher Institute and part-funded by the United Nations Population Fund UNFPA, described “a staggering lack of basic sexual and reproductive health services in developing countries” which leaves 225 million women who want to avoid pregnancy without access to modern contraceptives.
It also found that tens of millions of women do not receive the basic pregnancy and delivery care needed to protect their own and their babies’ health.
Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA’S executive director, urged all governments to put women’s right to choose how many children to have and when at the heart of national health services.
“We know what to do and we know how to do it,” he told a briefing in London. “These investments save lives, empower women and girls, strengthen health systems and have a profound and lasting impact on development.”
