Ensuring Universal Access to Reproductive Health Supplies

Helping women around the world gain universal access to reproductive health supplies demands that the development community pursue three strategies across the next five “especially critical” years, according to the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition. This period will see the global community intensify efforts to meet Millennium Development Goal 5 to reduce maternal mortality by three quarters and achieve universal access to reproductive health.

The strategies are based on contributions from participants of the “Access for All: Supplying a New Decade for Reproductive Health” conference, which took place in Addis Ababa on June 22 to June 23, and include:

•    Having the global community recognize reproductive health and family planning as priority development issues in the international development and human rights field;
•    Ensuring country ownership of reproductive health commodity security by strengthening systems, establishing the right policies and frameworks, training and supporting workers, and improving coordination among sector; and
•    Establishing an additional, adequate, and sustainable resource base to allow equitable access to a full range of safe, effective, and affordable reproductive health supplies and services irrespective of economic status, age, gender, geography, or political context.

According to the coalition, an estimated 215 million women who wish to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy but do not use modern contraception. To expand the reach of reproductive health supplies to these women, the coalition has prescribed specific actions policy makers, civil society, and businesses can in next five years.

These actions include raising the profile of reproductive health supplies by showing the linkages and interaction with other development areas, such as economic growth, poverty reduction, the environment, and food security. In addition, the coalition advises strengthening the ability of civil society to hold governments accountable and using innovative financing to maximize the use, effectiveness, and efficiency of resources. To read all of the recommended action, click here.