Call to check high mortality rate in Asia Pacific

The high maternal mortality rate and the rising number of deaths due to unsafe abortions in several Asian countries including India were a cause of concern, participants said at the fourth Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights. The conference was held in Hyderabad, India last October 29-31.
Several countries were lagging behind in achieving the target of universal sexual and reproductive health services by 2015, said participants.

Despite several countries making progress in increasing access to sexual and reproductive health, too many gaps still remain, felt Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in her key note address.

'Today far too many women, men and young people continue to be denied their sexual and reproductive health and this is witnessed by the high rate of unintended pregnancies persistent and wide spread violence against women and girls,' she said in her address which was read out by Purnima Mane, deputy executive director, UNFPA in Thoraya's absence.

The conference was attended by about 1,500 representatives from 52 countries to discuss the issues related to the reproductive and sexual health and rights.
Describing maternal mortality and morbidity as one of the major challenges before the Asia Pacific region, she said that South Asia had the highest rate of maternal mortality outside Africa and almost half of the world's maternal deaths occur in South Asia.

She said several countries in the region would fall short of meeting the target of millennium development goals of providing the reproductive and sexual health services to at least 80 percent of the population by 2015.

'In South Asia only 38 percent of women enjoy the skilled attendants at delivery. At the current rate of progress countries in Asia will provide skilled coverage for only about 60 percent of deliveries,' she said adding that greater action was needed to train, deploy and retain midwives in communities and villages.

Thoraya also expressed deep concern over the alarming rise in the pre natal sex selection, which was persisting despite progressive legislation and efforts by the governments and civil society leading to a long term socio cultural and demographic and economic consequences.

Various institutions in India, China, Nepal and Vietnam with the help of UNFPA have conducted a research on declining sex ratio in these countries and their root causes. In India sex ratio has fallen to 933 women for 1,000 men.

'In socially and economically advanced society sex ratios are favourable to the females. However this is not the case in India, China and some other south and east Asian countries,' she said.

Source: Indo-Asian News Service