United Nations Commission for Lifesaving Commodities for Women and Children


The UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children was set up as part of the United Nations Secretary-General's Every Woman, Every Child programme. It is premised on the projection that a strong worldwide intervention has the power to save over 6 million lives by 2015 through increasing access to, and appropriate use of, 13 lifesaving commodities that are underutilized during pregnancy, childbirth, and early childhood. The UNCoLSC therefore works to make these thirteen life-saving commodities more widely available and used in low-income nations to forestall preventable maternal and children deaths.
These thirteen commodities are below with the common barriers or medical conditions that they prevent or help in parentheses:
  1. Oxytocin -
  2. Misoprostol -
  3. Magnesium sulfate -
  4. Injectable antibiotics -
  5. Antenatal corticosteroids -
  6. Chlorhexidine -
  7. Resuscitation devices -
  8. Amoxicillin -
  9. Oral rehydration salts -
  10. Zinc -
  11. Female condoms -
  12. Contraceptive implants -
  13. Emergency contraception