Toward better reproductive health for poor women in South Asia : summary for policymakers
Chatterjee, Meera | Rao-Seshadri, Shreelata | Murthy Nirmala | Levine, Ruth
This is a synopsis of a study undertaken by the World Bank in Jive countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This summary of the five-country study of reproductive health among poor women in South Asia is intended to raise awareness about the major reproductive health problems faced by poor women; to shed light on their primary determinants and consequences; and to recommend high-priority actions for consideration at the policy and program levels. It argues that, within the framework of the International Conference on Population and Development's Program of Action, and the Millennium Development Goals, countries in the South Asia region face an urgent imperative to increase the responsiveness of the health system to the reproductive health needs of women who marry and start childbearing at young ages and have compromised nutritional and health status, in a way that is cognizant of the underlying determinants of ill health, including gender discrimination, poverty and lack of education. This will require program changes, drawing on global good practices, and an increase and reorientation in spending on reproductive health services. While each country faces special challenges, the health sector strengthening processes currently underway in all represent opportunities for greater attention to reproductive health priorities
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