Britain will save the lives of thousands of women by providing urgently needed contraceptive supplies, International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien announced on 29th November 2011 at the International Conference on Family Planning in Senegal. Britain's support with these contraceptives will prevent more than 2 million unintended pregnancies and avert nearly 220,000 unsafe abortions, many of which result in life-threatening complications such as bleeding and organ damage.
Stephen O'Brien said the funding for the UN's Population Fund (UNFPA) will provide at least 1.6 million implants for women across the developing world so they can decide for themselves whether, when and how many children to have. It will ensure women in countries such as Mali, where the prevalence of contraception is only 8% compared with 82% in Britain, receive implants, which are long-acting but reversible methods of birth control. In addition, Britain is backing a rapid response-style unit which will procure and deliver up to 6 months worth of contraceptive supplies to countries where stocks are running out to give local providers an opportunity to find lasting solutions.
Speaking at the International Conference on Family Planning in Dakar, Senegal, International Development Minister Stephen O'Brien said "Family planning is a smart, simple and extremely cost effective investment of aid. It is at the centre of all our development work and we are going to ensure more women are given the choices they want and deserve."
British support to UNFPA is part of Britain's commitment to enable at least 10 million more women and girls to use modern contraception methods by 2015 to reduce the unmet need for family planning. Britain's overall commitment to maternal health will directly contribute to preventing more than 5 million unintended pregnancies and to saving the lives of at least 50,000 women during pregnancy and childbirth and 250,000 newborns by 2015.
