Brussels, 04/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission held an international conference on the health of women, children and newborn babies in poor countries, which took place in Brussels on Wednesday. At the end of the conference, the Commission undertook to make reproductive and children's health one of the top priorities of its development cooperation policy. As part of its contribution to the revision of the millennium development objectives, to take place this September in New York, the Commission will lend its support to the introduction of a new objective, that of universal access to rights and sexual and reproductive health by 2015.
Commissioner Louis Michel stressed the importance of this priority. “Equal status for women and recognition of women's reproductive rights are central to development. Unless women can control their own fertility and have an equal status in society, their ability to protect their children will be limited. It is also morally unacceptable that every 30 seconds, a child under five years dies in Africa from illnesses that can easily be treated”, the Commission stated.
A WHO report published on 9 April underlines that 500,000 women die every year in childbirth or during pregnancy. Over ten million children, including 4 million newborn babies, die every year of easily treatable diseases. On top of this, some three million children are stillborn each year.