The Lancet Publishes a Special Issue to Coincide With the Upcoming Women Deliver Conference
The Lancet has published a special issue, focused on maternal health, that comes just before the third Women Deliver conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This exciting issue includes several studies and comments that examine the critical factors influencing the reproductive health of women around the world.
The publications include discussions of the role of participatory women’s groups, the unmet need for family planning, the relationship between HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality, the health and human rights tragedy of obstetric fistula, the recent progress and challenges with aid for reproductive health, and more.
The special issue also includes a video interview with Ana Langer, Director of the Women and Health Initiative at Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Langer discusses progress and persistent challenges to improving global maternal health.
From the executive summary of the special issue:
In recent years, two important changes in maternal health have taken place worldwide: a reduction in global maternal mortality, and an increase in the proportion of childbirths occurring in health facilities. Although substantial progress has been made, the fifth Millennium Development Goal to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters before 2015 will be missed.
Against this backdrop, The Lancet publishes a special themed issue to coincide with the third Women Deliver conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 28–30, 2013. Women Deliver brings together voices from around the world to generate political commitment and resource investments to improve the health and well-being of girls and women and achieve universal access to reproductive health. The studies published in The Lancet’s themed issue use different methods to show the multidimensional nature of reproductive health and the influence of social determinants and health systems.
Explore the Women Deliver special issue!