The unfinished agenda of women's reproductive health

Abstract

The 2015 FIGO World Report on Women’s Health is published at a special time in the history of health interventions. This year marks the end of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) era and ushers us into the sphere of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). As we talk about UHC it is vital that the emphasis that has been placed on women’s reproductive health over the years does not diminish. The emphasis that WHO is placing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) post 2015 also emphasizes the need to preserve our achieve- ments, while taking on new challenges. In the light of these global developments, the 2015 World Report focuses on the unfinished agenda of women’s reproductive health. The MDG era achieved many successes and women’s health was central to a number of the goals.WiththemovetobuildonthesesuccessesbytargetingUHC, it is important to remember that successes in women’shealthover the years are not equivalent to the elimination of women’sreproduc- tive health problems. The 2015 World Report articles provide new perspectives on is- sues that are all too familiar. The Report is divided into three sec- tions: maternal health, reproductive health, and leadership and management. Maternal morbidity and mortality continue to be major issues in many countries. Even though maternal mortality has reduced globally, there are still many places where women face unacceptable risks of death whenever they go through pregnancy, labor, and delivery. The papers in the first chapter stress the need for all health services to ensure that the results of maternal death reviews are acted upon using the new maternal death surveillance and response (MDSR) approach. The controversial issue of task sharing or task shifting to ensure adequate coverage of obstetric services is also addressed.Mobile health (mHealth) is a subject receiving much attention and one article looks at the use of mHealth in providing personalized care to pregnant women. Medical conditions in pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, have always been an area of concern in maternal health. With the current emphasis on the prevention of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), it is important to understand how the presence of medical conditions in pregnancy could lead to the increase in incidence of NCDs in women. The prevention of type 2 diabetes in women who have suffered from gestational diabetes is considered in one paper