John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the work being undertaken by Development Co-operation Ireland in reducing maternal mortality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26919/05]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Each year more than 500,000 women die as a result of complications associated with pregnancy or giving birth, 95% of which deaths occur in Africa and Asia with less than 1% occurring in more developed countries. Many millions of women who survive childbirth suffer illness and disability afterwards.

The reduction of maternal mortality is one of the key targets of the millennium declaration. While progress towards this goal has been very slow in low income countries, there is a growing recognition that improvements in maternal health will only be brought about if there is progress also in other goals relating to the health of women, such as better access to education, addressing gender inequalities and preventing the spread of HIV-AIDS.

At the international conference on population and development, ICPD, in 1994, and its five year follow up, ICPD+5, governments committed themselves to provide universal access to reproductive health services to all individuals no later than 2015. The conference was ground breaking in placing population issues, including reproductive health and rights at the centre of human development.

Ireland is fully committed to upholding the principles agreed at Cairo. We firmly believe that the ICPD programme of action is essential to achieving the millennium declaration development goals and to improving the health of mothers in poorer countries. We have translated this commitment into concrete actions by the financial support we provide for improving maternal health in developing countries.

Ireland is playing a major role in supporting the strengthening of health systems in countries such as Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. In doing so, Ireland is helping to improve the quality of health services to enable women to access antenatal care and to receive emergency treatment in the event of a complication during pregnancy. In addition, in countries such as Zambia and Ethiopia, Ireland has provided specific funding for the improvement of maternity services at district and provincial level.

The control of HIV-AIDS is closely linked to improvements in maternal health. Ireland provides substantial funding for programmes that prevent new infections among women, provide treatment for women infected by the disease and prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child during pregnancy. Total funding for HIV-AIDS programmes in 2005 amounts to €50 million. At the millennium summit high level event in New York last month, the Taoiseach announced that funding for HIV-AIDS activities would be substantially increased in the years ahead.

In the context of a rapidly expanding aid programme and recognising the importance of the life and health of women to development progress, Ireland will continue to play a very active role in supporting these programmes and in ensuring the reduction of maternal mortality in developing countries remains an important policy objective.