When is Universal Health Coverage Good for Attaining Universal Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights?

UNFPA-supported midwives ensured that this young woman gave birth safely in Bor Hospital, South Sudan. © UNFPA South SudanBy Julitta OnabanjoJOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 12 2019 (IPS) This is a special year for all rights-based health advocates, as we celebrate 25 years of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). At the ICPD in Cairo in 1994, for the first time world leaders from 179 member states committed to the principles that underpin today’s Sustainable Development Goals: non-discrimination and universality; the centrality of health, including sexual and reproductive health and rights; education; women’s empowerment and gender equality; and the collective need to ensure environmental sustainability. In the past 25 years, noteworthy progress has been made towards the realization of universal sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in most parts of the world, including in East and Southern Africa. The East and Southern Africa region is home to more than 600 million people, with a third of its population between 10 to 24 years of age. In the East and Southern Africa region: Today, one in three women are using a modern family planning method, compared to less than one in ten in 1994. Higher use of modern family planning methods has enabled women to exercise their right to determine the timing and number of their children; A woman’s chance of dying due to pregnancy or childbirth has declined from a 1-in-20 risk during her lifetim...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Africa Gender Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations ICPD25 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) Source Type: news