A/RES/73/147 Intensification of efforts to end obstetric fistula gynaecologists and doctors, and providing support for the development and maintenance of infrastructure, as well as investments in referral mechanisms, equipment and supply chains, to improve maternal and newborn health -care services and ensure that women and girls have access to the full continuum of care, with functional quality control and monitoring mechanisms in place for all areas of service delivery; (c) Supporting the training of doctors and surgeons, nurses and other health care workers in life-saving obstetric care, especially midwives, who are the front-line workers in the fight to prevent obstetric fistula and maternal and newborn mortality, including training on fistula prevention, treatment and care as a standard element of the training curricula of health professionals; (d) Ensuring universal access through national policies, plans and programmes that make maternal and newborn health-care services, particularly family planning, skilled attendance at birth, emergency obstetric and newborn care and obstetric fistula treatment, financially accessible and affordable, including in rural and remote areas and among the poorest women and girls through, where appropriate, the establishment and distribution of health-care facilities and trained medical personnel, collaboration with the transport sector for affordable transport options, support for developing and maintaining infrastructure to improve maternal and newborn health-care services and to strengthen the capacity for surgery, the promotion of and support for community-based solutions and the provision of incentives and other means to secure the presence in rural and remote areas of qualified health-care professionals who are able to perform interventions to prevent obstetric fistula; (e) Developing, implementing, following up on and supporting national and international prevention, care and treatment and socioeconomic reintegration and support strategies, policies and plans to eliminate obstetric fistula within a decade by developing further multisectoral, multidisciplinary, co mprehensive and integrated action plans in order to bring about lasting solutions and put an end to maternal mortality and morbidity and obstetric fistula, which is preventable and treatable, including by ensuring access to affordable, accessible, comprehe nsive, high-quality maternal health-care services, and, within countries, incorporating into all sectors of national budgets policy and programmatic approaches to address inequities and reach poor women and girls and those in vulnerable situations; (f) Establishing or strengthening, as appropriate, a national task force for obstetric fistula, with a lead governmental entity, to enhance national coordination and improve partner collaboration to end obstetric fistula, including partnering with in-country efforts, to increase surgical capacity and to promote universal access to essential and life-saving surgery; (g) Strengthening the capacity of health-care systems, in particular public health systems, to provide the essential services needed to prevent obste tric fistula and to treat existing cases by increasing national budgets for health, ensuring that adequate funds are allocated to reproductive health, including for obstetric fistula, ensuring access to fistula treatment through increased availability of t rained, expert fistula surgeons and permanent, holistic fistula services integrated into strategically selected hospitals, thereby addressing the significant backlog of women and girls awaiting surgical repair of fistula, and encouraging communication amon g fistula centres to facilitate training, research, advocacy and fundraising and the application of relevant medical standards, including consideration of the use of the World Health Organization manual entitled Obstetric Fistula: Guiding Principles for Clinical Management and Programme Development, which provides background information 6/8 18-22184