women die every year from an unsafe abortion
Women and Children
women die every year from complications during pregnancy or childbirth
million children die every year from illnesses that could be treated
Background
Many of the world’s women and children are vulnerable. Some, unable to feed themselves properly, suffer from nutrition deficiencies, others’ lives are endangered because medical care is unavailable, inaccessible or unaffordable and still others’ sexual identities condemn them to a life of exclusion and abuse. And, of course, countless women don’t have control over their own bodies and can’t choose if and when they want to bear children.
What we do
Enable women to take informed decisions about their own lives
Doctors of the World advocates for the right of women to take informed decisions about their own bodies, to bear children, to decide how many and the space between births. All women should be afforded access to the latest methods of contraception and legal and safe abortion.
Doctors of the World organises advocacy initiatives in all those countries where these rights do not exist. In Colombia as in DRC, we campaign to promote access to healthcare for women and children by tackling geographical, financial and socio-cultural barriers.
Supporting pregnant women
Whether in Burkina Faso or in Peru, Doctors of the World works to improve the health of women and couples. Our teams offer reproductive health services, which include contraception, voluntary termination and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. Families are also given advice about the risks of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
To reduce maternal mortality, we strive for quality care during pregnancy and childbirth. To achieve this, we train local health workers and set up mobile clinics to deliver medical care to patients living in remote areas.
Every woman should have access to contraception and legal and safe abortion.
Healthcare for children
Every year millions of children die from avoidable causes such as malnutrition, treatable diseases and lack of vaccination so we do our utmost to ensure babies and young children receive medical care in Doctors of the World centres or other existing facilities. For example, children suffering from malnutrition in Mali, Burkina Faso are provided with treatment and prevention and awareness-raising programmes are organised for families. Doctors of the World teams also see in its healthcare and advice clinics in France many families with children whose vaccinations are rarely up to date.
Intervention location
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Emergency
Burkina Faso
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Côte d'Ivoire
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Éthiopie
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Madagascar
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Emergency
République démocratique du Congo