HEALTH

Today, all around the world, many people still can not get the health care they need. Women and children are often the hardest hit. Every minute, a woman somewhere in the world dies in pregnancy or childbirth. Almost half the world’s babies are born without the help of trained attendants. Because many people do not have access to family planning services, they are not able to plan when to get pregnant, or how many children to have, which puts women and their babies at risk. Women who have fewer children tend to be healthier, and their children are usually healthier, too. Over 100 million married women say they would like to be able to plan their families right now, but they can’t, because they do not have access to safe, effective contraception. And HIV/AIDS is cutting lives short in every country, killing 2.5 million people in 1998 alone. Reproductive health care is needed everywhere, by everyone. It can help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other ***ually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as helping ensure safe pregnancies. Healthy mothers are more likely to have healthy families. And healthy families are the building blocks of a productive society.