Two women die in Laos every day from pregnancy-related causes or during child birth, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative, Ms Mieko Yabuta, reported on World Population Day on Friday.

According to UNFPA, a woman's risk of dying from a pregnancy-related cause or in childbirth is around one in 48,000 in developed countries. In Laos , they say the risk of dying is one in 33.

Ms Yabuta was speaking in Vientiane when she said maternal deaths could be reduced by one third in Laos if every woman had access to contraceptives and reproductive health services. The theme of World Population Day was “Family planning: it's a right, let's make it a reality”.

Ms Yabuta said the risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes was two times greater for girls between the ages of 15 and 19 than it was for women in their 20s, and five times higher for girls aged under 15.

Millennium Development Goal number five focuses on improving maternal health, and the Lao government has pledged to reduce maternal deaths by 75 percent and ensure universal access to family planning by 2015.

Deputy Health Minister, Dr Bounkouang Phichit, said maternal mortality in Laos remained one of the highest in the region. One reason for this was Laos ' large rural populations where access to reproductive health services and family planning information was limited.

In a bid to reduce maternal deaths the Ministry of Health has built more than 5,000 health centres throughout the country, which provide health care and family planning services. Dr Bounkouang said the ministry had built 17 maternity waiting homes this year in the southern provinces of Saravan, Xekong and Attapeu. The main objective of the homes is to reduce the country's high mother and infant mortality rates by providing obstetric services during delivery and immediate access to medical care in the last period of pregnancy.

Laos ' population in 2006 was roughly 5.7 million. At the current growth rate, the country's population will double in the three decades. As a developing nation, the country is already struggling to provide essential services including heath care and education.

Ms Yabuta said unintended pregnancy was the factor in population growth most amenable to programme and policy interventions. Every year, 190 million women become pregnant, at least a third of them unintentionally.

Ms Yabuta said family planning also provided considerable cost benefits for governments.

“In Thailand , research has shown that every dollar invested in family planning programmes saved the government more than $16 in other social expenditures,” she said.

“In Vietnam , the government would save about $8 in health, education and other services. We therefore need to look at family planning as a means for driving development as well as a means for improving people's personal lives.”

By Khonesavanh Latsaphao
Vientianetimes