Securing Maternal Health Through Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services: Lessons from Bangladesh

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Summary: By Rounaq Jahan, PhD (American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 97, No. 7, July 2007). Reports findings from a research project launched in 2002 by Columbia University in collaboration with IWHC.  Dr. Jahan examines the noticeable reduction of maternal mortality in Bangladesh since 1996, in part because of government policy and program initiatives. The article explores the comprehensive reproductive health strategy adopted in 1996 under the country’s first Health and Population Sector Strategy and the 5-year Health and Population Sector Programme (1998–2003). The author assesses Bangladesh’s achievements and challenges in the design and implementation of a maternal health strategy, concluding that mobilizing and nurturing political will is the key to sustaining policy commitment to comprehensive reproductive health (5 pages).

Reprinted with permission from the American Public Health Association.
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