This week saw more proof, if it were needed, that promoting access to family planning and contraception can have dramatic results. A report in the UK showed that teen pregnancy had halved in the past decade, and Colorado’s aggressive investment in family planning service from 2009-2014 delivered $5.85 in savings for every $1 invested, and is being replicated in other states.
The debate in the US continues about funding domestic and international healthcare, including the last-minute withdrawal of the replacement plan for Obamacare, and the potential effects of the global gag rule in countries like South Africa and Uganda.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) World Congress in South Africa addressed a range of issues, including how to reduce the 50,000 preventable deaths from unsafe abortion each year. Reducing stigma – in the public and in the medical community – is key, according to the RCOG president.
At the event, Kenyan First Lady Margaret Kenyatta was lauded for her “commitment to end maternal and child mortality”. Her country saw a call for increased investment in reproductive health spending, as doctors resumed work after a 100-day strike.
Debates about abortion are taking different forms in Angola, which saw protests against a law to completely ban them, in Malawi, where the issue is an element of the concern about the population boom, and in Zambia, where it is legal but practical access is severely limited.
The WHO issued an important guide to identifying and documenting best practices in family planning.
It was World Water Day and one article noted the importance of clean water in maternal health.
Finally, two interesting pieces on reproductive health and maternal care on the front lines – in the largest Syrian refugee camp and in rural DRC – remind us of the ubiquity of the need to improve access, information and service.
Complete News Review References:
General
Teenage pregnancy rates hit all-time low after nearly halving in last eight years, Independent (UK), 24 Mar 2017
Yes, Senator, You Wouldn’t Want to Lose Your Mammograms — or Women Voters, The New York Ties, 23 Mar 2017
The Colorado Family Planning Miracle, Sightline Institute, 23 Mar 2017
Go inside a maternity ward at the world’s largest Syrian refugee camp, PRI, 22 Mar 2017
Hearts and minds must be changed to support safe abortion care and family planning, RCOG President tells international congress, RCOG, 21 Mar 2017
Birth spacing, and the information and tools to do it, can save women’s and children’s lives, STAT, 21 Mar 2017
The Global Gag Rule: America’s Deadly Export, Foreign Policy, 20 Mar 2017
The Worst ‘Alternative Facts’ About Abortion, Rewire, 20 Mar 2017
Girls in crisis settings overlooked for life-saving care, say health advocates, ReliefWeb, 20 Mar 2017
“My family, my career, and my life as I know it are all a direct result of contraceptives.”, FP2020, 19 Mar 2017
Why birth control is essential for Americans’ health, Boston Globe, 16 Mar 2017
Reproductive Justice Beyond Biology, Center for American Progress, 15 Mar 2017
Academic
A guide to identifying and documenting best practices in family planning programmes, WHO, 2017
Integration of family planning services into HIV care clinics: Results one year after a cluster randomized controlled trial in Kenya, PlosOne, 22 Mar 2017
Angola
Angola Is on Its Way to Ban Abortion Entirely and Women Are Fighting Back, Global Voices, 22 Mar 2017
Protests against abortion bill in Angola, Deutsche Welle, 18 Mar 2017
Botswana
Women’s rights never truly acquired: Does this hold for Women in Botswana? , Sunday Standard, 12 Mar 2017
DRC
Rural women lead fight against infant mortality in DR Congo, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 23 Mar 2017
Ethiopia
Catherine Hamlin – “I dream of a midwife in every village of Ethiopia”, Semonegna, 14 Dec 2016 (ICYMI)
Ghana
NPC solicits commitment, support of partners, Graphic Online, 23 Mar 2017
Implement all-inclusive sexuality education in schools – Ipas, Ghana News Agency, 21 Mar 2017
Ashanti scales up the campaign against teenage pregnancy, Ghana News Agency, 17 Mar 2017
No child death recorded in three major hospitals in Sunyani Municipality, Ghana News Agency, 17 Mar 2017
Kenya
Step up funding for reproductive health, Standard, 24 Mar 2017
First Lady awarded for work to end maternal, child mortality, Daily Nation, 22 Mar 2017
Clerics ‘hurt efforts’ to end teen pregnancy, The Star, 22 Mar 2017
New pay package for Kenyan doctors to rival South Africa and Namibia’s, The East African, 22
Mar 2017
Let’s consolidate devolution gains, Business Daily, 21 Mar 2017
Only sex education will save the young from HIV/Aids, The Standard, 19 Mar 2017
Malawi
Let us prevent unsafe abortion, The Times, 24 Mar 2017
Birth-control policy vital to manage population — Malawi Parliament, Nyasa Times, 23 Mar 2017
Population Boom Worries Malawi Legislators, Capital Radio, 22 Mar 2017
Malawi facing population explosion ‘time bomb’ — Teen pregnancy soars, Nyasa Times, 20 Mar 2017
Nigeria
Inside a Nigerian Hospital Fighting to Reduce Maternal Death Rate, VOA, 22 Mar 2017
Nigerian govt deployed 1,473 graduate midwives to PHCs in 2016 – Official, Premium Times, 22 Mar 2017
Kaduna: Rural women demand family planning services from govt., Daily Trust, 22 Mar 2017
FG lauds UNFPA intervention on population, humanitarian services, Nigerian Tribune, 21 Mar 2017
Mixed reactions trail Emir Sanusi’s proposed family law, Daily Trust, 21 Mar 2017
Aisha’s Buhari’s call on infant mortality, Nigerian Tribune, 20 Mar 2017
Young Secondary Schoolgirl Dies from Abortion, Nairaland, 20 Mar 2017
Rwanda
New book to ease parent-child interaction on reproductive health, The New Times, 20 Mar 2017
SPONSORED: Behaviour change communication vital in averting health threats among Rwandans, The New Times, 20 Mar 2017
South Africa
“Forget family planning and focus on studies”, Zoutnet, 20 Mar 2017
US Gag Rule to cause more abortion-related deaths, Daily Maverick, 20 Mar 2017
Free Zimbabwean contraceptives smuggled for sale in South Africa, Ground Up, 19 Mar 2017
South Sudan
Japan, UNFPA power up health clinic, ReliefWeb, 16 Mar 2017
Uganda
From Here To Uganda: Why U.S. Leadership On Reproductive Rights Matters, Huffington Post, 23 Mar 2017
More maternal deaths due to lack of water, Winfred Ongy, 22 Mar 2017
Midwives in Arua use phone lights to deliver mothers, The Monitor, 22 Mar 2017
United Nations agency vouches for hospital deliveries in Busoga, The Observer, 22 Mar 2017
Law scholars sue government over abortion law, The Monitor, 22 Mar 2017
Minister Opendi decries high maternal deaths, New Vision, 22 Mar 2017
Zambia
Signs of progress in the ‘complicated reality’ of abortion in Zambia, Ipas, 20 Mar 2017
