OP-ED: Latin America Lags on Reproductive Rights

Indigenous women hauling water in Chiapas, Mexico. Credit: Mauricio Ramos/IPSIn the last decade, several countries in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have had the opportunity to experience economic growth and establish redistributive fiscal policies aimed at reducing poverty, reducing inequality and improving the coverage and quality of health, education and social protection services. And yet significant gaps exist in the area of reproductive health and rights, both between countries and as a whole, when it comes to some of the key objectives of the Cairo Programme of Action. Let us take one of the basic indicators of reproductive health, the maternal mortality ratio. The decline overall in the region is not enough to guarantee the achievement of the target set for 2015. The average maternal mortality rate in LAC is 80 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, according to estimates by WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and World Bank, 2011. Moreover, there are significant inequities between countries. For example, the estimated maternal mortality rate in Uruguay was 29 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010, while it was 120 in Guatemala; Haiti exhibits the highest ratio in the region, with 350 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. A significant proportion of maternal deaths are caused by unsafe abortions, which represent a serious public health concern in the region. In 2008, the annual rate of unsafe abortion estimated for the region was 31 abortions per 1,000 women aged 1...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Featured Gender Headlines Health Human Rights Latin America & the Caribbean Poverty & MDGs TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Abortion Fertility Rates Maternal Health Maternal Mortality Pathfinder International Purnima Man Source Type: news