UN aims to put family planning back on ‘radar’
Jun 26, 2012, 2:32 PM
GENEVA (AP) – The head of the United Nations Population Fund wants the world to pay more attention to family planning issues.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin told The Associated Press that “family planning seems to have fallen off the radar” in the past two decades _ a victim of politics, funding shortages and focus on other priorities such as fighting AIDS.
He said Tuesday that 220 million women lack adequate information about family planning or a regular supply of contraceptives.
He hopes a July 11 summit in London organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the British government will increase attention to the need for better family planning in poor countries.
Osotimehin is a medical doctor and former Nigerian health minister. His U.N. agency provides population data to fight poverty and disease.
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