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Planned Parenthood is a leader in working to eliminate barriers to basic reproductive health care services that are essential to the lives of billions of women and men worldwide. But limited access to health services, lack of political will, legal restrictions, cultural taboos, and harsh gender inequality all conspire to put women at risk of harm resulting from unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion and childbirth, and sexually transmitted infections.
Here are the facts:
- Worldwide, there are more than 200 million women who wish to avoid or delay pregnancy and who do not have access to modern contraception. And every minute of every day, a woman dies from a pregnancy-related cause.
- More than 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Tragically, 2.5 million people were infected in 2007 alone. About 40 percent of the new HIV infections among adults occur among young people ages 15-24, and young women are particularly at risk.
- Worldwide, approximately 19 million unsafe abortions are performed annually, with the majority occurring in developing countries. According to the World Health Organization, they account for 13 percent of all maternal mortality, leading to approximately 68,000 deaths each year.
- The number of people living in extreme poverty worldwide, on less than one dollar a day, exceeds 1.3 billion. Women account for the majority of people living in absolute poverty.
Improved access to birth control, pre- and post-natal care, and HIV prevention, testing, and counseling, among other services, can improve gender equality, maternal health, and child survival; reduce poverty; and allow women to take control of their lives
To protect the health and safety of women and men around the world, Planned Parenthood supports access to contraceptives, condoms, and reproductive health care worldwide.
Learn how you can help Planned Parenthood make a difference in Kenya and other countries.
Join the Planned Parenthood Action Network and learn what you can do to protect the health and safety of women worldwide.
Published: 03.07.08 | Updated: 03.07.08
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