Delegates from 16 developing countries are currently meeting in Beijing to discuss reproductive health and family planning.

Health and population officials from 16 developing countries are taking part in the three-day event, the sixth board meeting of the Partners in Population and Development, which began Thursday.

They will discuss how to respond to current and emerging challenges in reproductive health and how to tackle issued raised at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo, Egypt.

At the ICPD, governments agreed to carry out a programme which places reproductive health and people's rights at the centre of population and development planning.

To achieve that goal, developing countries decided to establish the Partners in Population and Development.

During the Beijing meeting, participants will talk about how to co-operate with pharmaceutical companies from India, Egypt, Morocco and China in matters related to quality and cost of products for family planning, sexual and reproductive health.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, State Councillor Wang Zhongyu called upon developing nations to unite to achieve sustainable development in all areas.

Only if developing countries act as one can they raise their profile, he said, adding the Chinese Government highly appreciates the support of all its partners.

In a letter to the meeting, the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, Nafis Sadik, also expressed her support for the programme and vowed to continue to back the scheme.

Through the programme initiative, many developing countries have achieved notable progress in improving reproductive health and also in the control of HIV/AIDS and in the protection of women's health and right, she said.

As an inter-governmental alliance of developing countries, the programme helps the transfer of knowledge, expertise, and skills.

The 16 countries which have joined the programme includes Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Egypt, the Gambia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

(China Daily )