BMJ 1994;309:687 (17 September)

News

Population conference finalises action plan

M Gulens 

The United Nations international conference on population and development in Cairo has approved a 20 year "programme of action," which contains such far reaching goals as reducing infant, child, and maternal mortality; improving education (especially for girls); and providing universal access to family planning.

Much of the conference was taken up with discussion of the controversial paragraph 8. 25, which alludes to abortion and is found under the chapter on health, morbidity, and mortality. For months leading up to the conference, the Vatican and various Islamic officials accused the draft programme of action of sanctioning abortion, homosexuality, and immorality. At the conference Vatican representative Archbishop Renato Martino said, "The concept of a `right to abortion' would be entirely innovative in the international community and would be contrary to the constitutional and legislative positions of many states as well as being alien to the sensitivities of vast numbers of persons, . . . [Full text of this article]


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  • Drife, J. O. (2008). Are international medical conferences an outdated luxury the planet can't afford? No. BMJ 336: 1467-1467 [Full text]  
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