World Bank Announces Increased Lending For Family Planning, Maternal Health Programs

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 13 May 2010 - 3:00 PDT

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The World Bank on Tuesday released a five-year Reproductive Health Action Plan that aims to reduce maternal deaths and improve family planning in 58 developing nations by increasing access to contraception and maternal health services, Reuters reports. The plan calls for greater investments in health worker training, more frequent prenatal visits and improved reproductive health education.

According to the World Bank, reproductive health issues have become a lower priority for many donors, aid agencies and governments. Pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications contribute to the deaths of about 350,000 women each year, mostly in developing countries, the World Bank said. The group also noted that unsafe and illegal abortions contribute to the deaths of about 68,000 women annually.

Reuters reports that the World Bank's lending for health programs is a record $4.1 billion for fiscal year 2010, three times the previous year's amount. Over the past decade, lending for reproductive health programs accounted for 4% of the organization's health financing. Between the first and second half of the decade, the proportion of health-related lending devoted to reproductive health dropped by two-thirds (Wroughton, Reuters, 5/11).

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