Campaign: Family Planning Saves Lives
Marie Stopes International Australia is one of the leading providers of family planning services in the Asia Pacific region.
Access to quality family planning is essential for low-income communities, as it reduces maternal and infant deaths. United Nations research has revealed that 'ensuring access to family planning alone would reduce global maternal deaths by 20 to 35 percent and child deaths by 20 percent' 1.
Supporting the life-saving work of Marie Stopes International Australia and our partners will directly help to reduce the global burden of maternal and child mortality.
We know that when women die, child survival rates also decline. Family planning is a human right and is essential to women's empowerment. It is central to efforts to reduce poverty, promote economic growth, raise female productivity, lower fertility, and improve child survival and maternal health.
Reproductive health conditions – including HIV/AIDS - are the leading cause of death and illness in women worldwide (15-44 years of age), and the second leading cause of death and illness when both men and women of reproductive age are taken into account.
We need more support for family planning activities. There are between 250-300 million couples around the world with an unmet contraceptive need: they have stated they wish to access family planning but are unable to do so.
Decreased international funding for reproductive health is threatening global efforts to reduce poverty, improve health and empower women worldwide. "This is especially evident in the case of funding for family planning where absolute dollar amounts are lower than they were in 1995" says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“If this trend is not reversed” he cautions, it will have "serious implications for the ability of countries to address the unmet need for such services, and could undermine efforts to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce maternal and infant mortality."
How can you help us help the women living in developing communities?
1. Reported in: United Nations Children’s Fund, Women Deliver: A Global Conference on Maternal Health , UNICEF, 2008, retrieved 16th October 2008 www.unicef.org/womendeliver/wd.swf