Sexual and reproductive health

Recent pledges from multilateral funding platforms – notably the replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – and renewed donor commitment signal that global solidarity may yet rescue the response.

Authorities have not yet made clear whether this policy will be extended nationwide or remain confined to Herat

According to a report in the The Kathmandu Post, state-run health clinics have not received key contraceptive supplies, including the widely used shot Depo‑Provera and intrauterine devices, for months. This has raised concern among health officials and experts.

In a landmark public health achievement, the World Health Organization (WHO) has validated the Maldives for eliminating mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) of hepatitis B.

The 24-month cohort follow-up, conducted between August 2022 and December 2024, paints a troubling picture of early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, violence, and severe gaps in reproductive health services for some of the country’s most marginalised women.

The study urged that the Rohingya crisis not be seen in isolation but as a social, economic, and humanitarian challenge requiring integrated responses that combine humanitarian action, climate resilience, and peace-building.

In 2023 alone, roughly 260,000 women worldwide died during or shortly after childbirth, with 22 per cent (about 58,000 maternal deaths) occurring in the Asia-Pacific – many of which were preventable with timely midwife-led care.

In Upper Kohistan, 98 out of 718 babies – roughly 13.65 per cent – were born underweight, making it the most affected district in the province. Kolai Palas followed with a 9.04 per cent rate (34 out of 376), while Upper Chitral recorded 76 such cases out of 1,212 births, translating to 6.27 per cent.