Universal access to reproductive health is vital to the effective implementation of population, health and development policies and to the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This IWHC brief describes in practical terms the justification for and components of the essential policy and program package. 

Every year, more than half a million women die and untold numbers suffer temporary or long-term disabilities from preventable pregnancy-related causes. Five complications account for the majority of maternal deaths worldwide. Read more in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese.

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Safe abortion—the termination of a pregnancy by trained health care providers using correct, sanitary technique and proper equipment—is a simple, lifesaving health service. Nonetheless, of the 42 million induced abortions each year, an estimated 20 million are unsafe and 97% of those occur in developing countries.  Every year, nearly 70,000 women die unnecessarily from the complications of unsafe abortions, and countless more suffer infections, infertility, and debilitating injuries.

From new commitments to sex education programs to progress on securing a women's right to abortion, these ten developments show that women's health was a priority concern in 2007, and will continue to require our attention and dedication in 2008.

Your contribution will help us support activists like Esther Endalé (right), pictured here outside the Maroua, Cameroun, office of ALVF (The Association for the Struggle Against Violence Against Women), a group co-founded by Esther and five colleagues in 1991. Click  here to meet more of IWHC's colleagues worldwide.

HERA Action Sheets

>>Available in PDF / Available in Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish