Farina Gul Abrejo, Babar Tasneem Shaikh.
Reproductive health from ICPD to MDGS: a qualitative enquiry from pakistan.
Pak J Public Health Jan ;2(1):4-9.

Background: The progress on achieving the reproductive health goals since ICPD 1994 and in pursuit of MDGs 2015 has been remarked as sluggish, particularly in developing countries with resource constraints and unstable political commitments. Pakistan presents huge gaps in catering reproductive health (RH) needs of the large segment of its population living in rural and remote areas. This study provides an opportunity to identify the main bottlenecks responsible for slow progress of the country as well as attempts to put forth some recommendations for bridging the gaps to achieve some reasonable reproductive health outcomes. Methods: This study is designed as exploratory qualitative research using theory of constructivism, in which information has been gathered through an enquiry from key informants from government, NGOs, donor community and academia. Data has been triangulated with the literature search through PubMed and Google scholar™. Results: ICPD agenda is still considered as far more comprehensive than MDGs. It was argued that goals 4 & 5 do not cover reproductive health in its entirety. Therefore, it is important to track the position of RH in national policies and programs. Weak information and communication is jeopardizing the appropriate uptake of RH services. The role of NGOs has been appreciable while donors need to tune their programs on evidence base. Lady Health Worker\'s program of the government is a breakthrough initiative but necessitates strengthening and stronger integration with other national programs. Government must adopt a \'health systems approach\' and focus on multitude of factors behind poor RH indicators. Improving quality of life of people would lead to development and economic uplift of the country. Conclusion: Pakistan needs more evidence based planning for reproductive health programs. However, that requires an overall support from a responsive and fair health care system, especially in terms of financing. The overall economic and development paradigm must be the centerpiece of all the future planning for reproductive health and family planning in Pakistan for the rest of the time left towards MDGs by 2015.

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