2015: Year of Goals in Reproductive Health

The International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and Millennium Development Goals agenda of reproductive health were declared as the most comprehensive one, which had actually broadened the spectrum of reproductive health and drove the states to embark upon initiatives to improve reproductive health status of their populations. Maternal health is one of the main global health challenges and reduction of the maternal mortality ratio, from the present 0.6 mio per year, by three-quarters by 2015, is the target for the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG 5). However, this goal is the one toward which the least progress has been made. There is not a simple and straight-forward intervention, which by itself will bring maternal mortality significantly down; and it is commonly agreed on that the high maternal mortality can only be addressed, if the health system is strengthened. There is a common consensus about the importance of skilled attendance at delivery to address the high, maternal mortality. This consensus is also reflected in the MDG 5, where the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel is considered a key indicator. There are, however, certainly some common grounds which have been experimented by various countries and we can learn lessons from those best practices. There is a need of increasing resource allocation, strengthening primary health care services and emergency obstetric care and motivating the human resource employed in health sector by good governance. These endeavors should lead to formulate evidence-based national policies, reproductive health services which are affordable, accessible and culturally acceptable and finally a responsive health system.