  Show Us the Money for Women's Health and Lives  Written By:
Susanna Smith April 7, 2009   unfpa-logoYesterday, the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released new dollar figures on
what the world should be spending to provide widespread access
to contraception; for HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and
testing, care, and treatment; and to stop women from dying
unnecessarily during childbirth and pregnancy. In short, the
world needs to cough up just short of $65 billion next year for
sexual and reproductive health, including family planning and
maternal health. This may seem like a lot of money, but it is
less than half of what the United States spent on the Iraq War
last year.  Overall, the current 2010 projection is a three-fold
increase over the initial 2010 projection from 1994. The jump is
largely accounted for by the need to spend seven times more than
predicted on basic research, data collection, and policy
analysis, and 20 times more on HIV/AIDS.  The burden of ill
health falls most heavily on the