Please have a look at the CIRHT-St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College Case Study, a good read about the essential work that CIRHT partners have begun.

Trump’s anti-abortion surge continues, this week allowing individual states to deny Federal funding to Planned Parenthood for provision of non-abortion health services. The legislation will be fought in the courts across the country. The continued worry about the ramifications for the world’s poorest of the defunding of UNFPA continues, in the pages of NEJM, across Africa, and in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda.

These moves do ignore the facts, as shown in a study from India, where better access to contraceptives is helping reduce maternal mortality, and a study from Guttmacher which shows that barriers to abortion care have serious and cumulative negative effects.

Two studies out of South Africa about the costs of abortion services to patients and providers, and the barriers those costs can create despite the country’s liberal abortion law.

As countries struggle with evidence-based policies concerning gender equality, an interesting study shows how big data sources can be harnessed to fill the gender data gaps and inform those policies.

Countries in the Sahel are showing a readiness to take FP seriously, with anti-stigma and information initiatives in Burkina Faso and Senegal, which is showing some improvement in the rate of teen pregnancies.

And an uplifting story about a Ugandan midwife, who has delivered more than 7,400 babies.

Let’s all look forward to the Fifth International Conference on Family Planning. See you in Rwanda in 2018!

Complete News Review References:

General

The Fifth International Conference on Family Planning, Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, 13 Apr 2017

Anti-Choice Activists Flank Trump as He Delivers Final Blow to Family Planning Safeguards, Rewire, 13 Apr 2017

Ethiopian candidate for top WHO job gets full backing from Africa, The New Times, 12 Apr 2017

Anti-‘global gag rule’ campaign seeks private sector, philanthropic support, Devex, 12 Apr 2017

Planned Parenthood: Trump’s Cuts Hit Maternal Health of World’s Poorest, News Deeply, 11 Apr 2017

Barriers to Abortion Care May Have Cumulative Negative Effects, Guttmacher, 11 April 2017

How Trump’s proposed US aid cuts will affect healthcare in Africa, The Conversation, 10 Apr 2017

While scrambling to provide food and water, remember the girls, ReliefWeb, 10 Apr 2017

In India, Better Access to Contraception Is Key to Reducing Maternal Deaths, The Wire, 4 Apr 2017

Birth Control Causes Depression? Not So Fast, The New York Times, 3 Apr 2017

The Universal Anaesthesia Machine, Gradian Health Systems, 2016

Tomatoes, Limes and Sex-Selective Abortions, IPS, 7 Apr 2017

ICHC 2017: Five Key Takeaways for Maternal Health, MHTF, 30 Mar 2017

Five years since the London Summit, a landmark occasion to energize global commitment to women and girls, Medium.com, 30 Mar 2017

Academic

The Perils of Trumping Science in Global Health — The Mexico City Policy and Beyond, NEJM, 13 Apr 2017

Trends in the age at reproductive transitions in the developing world: The role of education, Population studies, 11 Apr 2017

Abortion as agentive action: reproductive agency among young women seeking post-abortion care in Uganda, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 11 Apr 2017

Making good on a call to expand method choice for young people – Turning rhetoric into reality for addressing Sustainable Development Goal Three, Reproductive Health, 11 Apr 2017

Single versus repeat doses of misoprostol for treatment of early pregnancy loss—a randomized clinical trial, Human Reproduction, 10 April 2017

Accessing medical and surgical first-trimester abortion services: Women’s experiences and costs from an operations research study in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, Contraception, 5 Apr 2017

The costs and cost effectiveness of providing first-trimester, medical and surgical safe abortion services in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, PLOS One, 3 Apr 2017

Big Data and the Well-Being of Women and Girls, Data2X, April 2017

Botswana

Unsafe abortion worries ministry, Daily News, 6 Apr 2017

Burkina Faso

Lutte contre les avortements clandestins, Sidwaya, 10 Apr 2017

Chad

Family planning helps refugees regain control of their lives, IRC, 13 Apr 2017

Ethiopia

U.S. ban on foreign abortion funds hits family planning work in Ethiopia: NGO, Xinhua, 13 Apr 2017

Sexual Related Health in Ethiopia, The Ethiopian Herald, 11 Apr 2017

Integrating Family Planning into Medical Education: A Case Study of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC), Addis Ababa, CIRHT, April 2017

Ghana

14 teenagers impregnated in Sunyani municipality, Vibe Ghana, 11 Apr 2017

Kenya

Reducing UNFPA funding is a setback to health goals, Daily Nation, 11 Apr 2017

Invest more in sexual and reproductive health for all, The Standard, 7 Apr 2017

Kenya Shines Light on FP2020 Data Use, FP2020, 30 Mar 2017

Malawi

Moyo ndi Mpamba, Usamalireni! Inspiring Behavior Change in Malawi, Health COMpass, 14 Apr 2017

Namibia

Biggest condom distributor to shut up shop, The Namibian, 12 Apr 2017

Denying the poor condoms,  Namibian Sun, 11 Apr 2017

Nigeria

Less than 1% of women in Nigeria use condoms, Daily Trust, 14 Apr 2017

Association calls for extensive civic education on female condom usage, Daily Trust, 14 Apr 2017

‘No family planning budgets in states’, Daily Trust, 9 Apr 2017

Celebrating 2017 World Health Day: Family Planning: Panacea To Depression, Nigerian Newspapers, 9 Apr 2017

On US’ withdrawal from UNFPA, Nigerian Tribune, 7 Apr 2017

How is advocacy making the government respond to MNH issues?, Mamaye, 27 Mar 2017

9 Ways to Increase Demand for Child Spacing and Survival, Impact, March 2017

Senegal

Etude du geep sur les grossesses en milieu scolaire: une baisse entre 2015 et 2016, JASRPF Senegal, 14 Apr 2017

Projet d’autonomisation des femmes au Sahel : Pour plus de ressources en santé maternelle, néonatale et infantile, Le Soleil, 12 Apr 2017

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone schools for pregnant students raise questions, Al Jazeera, 10 Apr 2017

Uganda

Kabale media move to promote Maternal health, New Vision, 12 Apr 2017

Mother dies in labour as doctors go for weekend, Daily Monitor, 12 Apr 2017

Shun traditional birth attendants, expectant mothers told, Uganda Today, 11 Apr 2017

Midwife delivers more than 7,000 babies in 24 years, Daily Monitor, 10 Apr 2017

Fear as US cuts UNFPA funding, Daily Monitor, 8 Apr 2017

Zambia

Zambia opposes condoms distribution in schools, Daily Trust (Nigeria), 9 Apr 2017