About 188,000 women in South Asia die each year due to pregnancy-related complications, accounting for more than 50 percent of Asia’s maternal deaths in 2005. All of these deaths are avoidable. To achieve MDG 5 by 2015, improving health care for women and providing universal access to reproductive health (RH) services must be prioritized.
The Conference on “Advocating Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services and Commodity Security” was organized to improve the capacity of South Asian parliamentarians, media professionals and senior policymakers to advocate in a coordinated manner for a much stronger commitment to achieving MDG 5. Through the conference, delegates gained knowledge on UNFPA’s global policies on reproductive health commodity security, and increased their understanding of the relationship between achieving universal access to RH and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).