World Bank Announces 5-Year Plan on Reproductive Health

The World Bank has unveiled a 5-year plan to help poor countries reduce high fertility rates and maternal and infant mortality.  In releasing its plan, the Bank warned that “family planning and other reproductive health programs that are vital to poor women had fallen off the development radars of many low-income countries, donor governments, and aid agencies.”  Under its new plan, the Bank will help 58 countries with high maternal death and fertility rates, which have remained stubbornly high for some years, improve their reproductive health systems by expanding access to modern contraceptives, training more health workers, and educating women about family planning and reproductive health.  The Bank this year is expected to spend $4.1 billion this year on health systems improvements, triple the prior level.

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