All women should have access to family planning
Women and girls need access to sexual and reproductive health services, to be supported in their decision making, and to have their health needs met at each stage of their lives.
At Doctors of the World, we’ve been working to promote the health of women and girls for over 30 years. In fact, it’s one of the main priorities of our organization.
Through hundreds of programs in countries around the world, we provide crucial reproductive care, strengthen local health services and advocate for reproductive rights in contexts where they are limited.
We work to empower women to decide if they want to have children, when they want to have children, and how many children they want to have.
Contraception
225 M
Women do not have access to contraception
56%
Of people living in rural areas do not have access to healthcare services
Educating young girls and women about their sexual and reproductive health is one of the most important aspects of our work. In many of the countries we work in, such as Pakistan, it is taboo for girls to access information about their sexual health or contraception. Across the globe, our teams provide vital information for girls so they can make informed choices about their health.
An important part of providing SRH information is community outreach. Millions of women and girls are unable to access healthcare information simply because they live too far away from the nearest clinic. Our teams are often comprised of community health advocates who seek out isolated communities and develop innovative ways for women to access the care they need.
99%
Of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries
In addition to women’s reproductive health, we also work to ensure that mothers and newborn babies have the best start possible in their lives. Access to reliable pre and postnatal health services is crucial to ensuring women have safe pregnancies, smooth deliveries and healthy newborns.
Through our SRH programs, we provide support to expecting mothers throughout the pregnancy term, and we continue to provide check ups after they give birth. Every year, millions of children die unnecessarily from malnutrition or treatable diseases. We do our utmost to ensure that newborns and children receive regular pediatric care in our clinics.