Partners in Population and Development Initiative

• 10 Dec 2020

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare has digitally addressed the Inter-Ministerial Conference by Partners in Population and Development (PPD).

Key Points

• Partners in Population and Development:
  
  • Aim: It is an intergovernmental initiative created specifically for the purpose of expanding and improving South-South Cooperation in the fields of reproductive health, population, and development.
  • Launch: PPD was launched at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), when ten developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America formed an intergovernmental alliance to help implement the Cairo Program of Action (POA).
    
    • The POA, endorsed by 179 nations, stresses the need to establish mechanisms to promote development through the sharing of experiences in reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) within and among countries.
  • Members: An alliance of 27 developing countries. India is a member country.
  • Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Inter-Ministerial Conference by PPD:
  
  • It was jointly organised by PPD, National Health Commission of China (NHC) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
  • Objective:
    
    • Advocate and ensure political support and investment to address the effects of Covid-19 pandemic in the achievement of the Three Zeros by 2030, finalised under the Nairobi Summit 2019.
  • India appreciated the efforts of PPD in promoting cooperation in key areas of reproductive health, population and development.

Nairobi Summit

• In November 2019, the Nairobi Summit, also known as ICPD+25, was held in Nairobi, Kenya, to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the ICPD (held in Cairo in 1994).
• The UNFPA and the Government of Kenya hosted the Nairobi Summit, which brought together governments, UN agencies, private sector organizations, women's groups and youth networks to discuss and agree on initiatives to further advance the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action.
• Three Zeros by 2030: Pledges were announced to achieve zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices by 2030.

• Steps Taken by India:
  
  • Steadfast in its reaffirmation of the commitments made at the Nairobi Summit.
  • Committed to ensuring universal health coverage through its flagship programme Ayushman Bharat.
  • The Government has pledged USD 3 billion by 2020 for improving reproductive health services.
  • With aspirations of achieving universal health care, India’s National Health Policy 2017 aims at raising public health expenditure to 2.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
  • Continuous efforts to substantially reduce the unmet need for contraception by increasing the range of contraceptives and improving accessibility and quality of family planning services.
  • Implementation of Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative for achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for reducing Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) to less than 70 by 2030.
  • It is enacting stringent legislation to address gender-based violence and eliminate all forms of atrocities against women and girls.
  • Dedicated to providing quality, timely and disaggregated data, investing in digital health innovations, and improvement of data systems by 2030 to achieve sustainable development.
    
    • The National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country.
  • India’s Covid-19 response started even before it was declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
  • Community-based interventions including family planning are also a part of various services provided.
  • Promotion of alternate service delivery mechanisms along with telemedicine services, digital platforms for training, improving finances and streamlining supply chain systems.

Way Forward

• Current times require integrated and coordinated efforts from all health institutions, academia and other partners directly or indirectly associated with the health care services to make these services accessible, affordable and acceptable to all. PPD plays an important role in fostering such dialogue at the highest levels to take forward the common agenda of ‘Health for All’.

Source: PIB