Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volum Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health

The evaluation of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) by the Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (DCP3) focuses on maternal conditions, childhood illness, and malnutrition. Specifically, the chapters address acute illness and undernutrition in children, principally under age 5. It also covers maternal mortality, morbidity, stillbirth, and influences to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. Volume 3 focuses on developments since the publication of DCP2 and will also include the transition to older childhood, in particular, the overlap and commonality with the child development volume. The DCP3 evaluation of these conditions produced three key findings: 1. There is significant difficulty in measuring the burden of key conditions such as unintended pregnancy, unsafe abortion, nonsexually transmitted infections, infertility, and violence against women. 2. Investments in the continuum of care can have significant returns for improved and equitable access, health, poverty, and health systems. 3. There is a large difference in how RMNCH conditions affect different income groups; investments in RMNCH can lessen the disparity in terms of both health and financial risk.

Robert Black is Reader in Renaissance History at the University of Leeds.

Ramanan Laxminarayan is a senior fellow at Resources for the Future in Washington, DC. His research includes the integration of epidemiological models of infectious disease transmission and the economic analysis of public health problems. He has worked with the World Health Organization on evaluating malaria treatment policy in Africa, and recently served on a National Academy of Science/Institute of Medicine Committee on the Economics of Anti-malarial Drugs. He teaches international health policy in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and development economics at the Johns Hopkins University 's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies