This brief outlines the steps that programme managers can take to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths in East and Southern Africa. In the region, more than 49 million women who want to plan their families cannot get access to modern family planning. An estimated 830 women and adolescent girls die needlessly every day because of complications in pregnancy and childbirth.
Projections show that the UNFPA Supplies programme can cut unintended pregnancies by 32 per cent (modern contraceptive use prevented an estimated 15 million unintended pregnancies in 2021); prevent an additional 32 per cent unsafe abortions (modern contraceptive use prevented an estimated 3.6 million unsafe abortions in 2021); and lower maternal and child deaths by 33 per cent. These investments will save more than 31 per cent in direct health-care costs. To achieve this, the region would need to spend $1.5 billion.
The UNFPA Supplies Programme has signed a new Compact with its partners that will lead to greater impact and improved sustainability. The aim is to improve performance, accountability and quality assurance during last mile delivery, so communities can get what they need, when needed. An important shift is to sustainable financing, to help countries reduce their reliance on outside funding for programme commodities. Communities will benefit from efforts by lawmakers, policy and decision makers to put reproductive health at the centre and as a driver of a country’s sustainable development programmes.
