News Review – 2 June 2017 | Center for International Reproductive Health Training

Getting rid of the stigma and discrimination that surrounds menstruation in many places, ending the difficulties girls and women around the world encounter, and encouraging education, more communication, and access to supplies, were all part of the global discussion on international Menstrual Hygiene Day, May 28. Beyond basic education, ending the cycle of isolating girls and women and forcing them to miss school and work opportunities requires work across many fronts. In the UK, charities and companies are encouraging women to donate sanitary products to women who cannot afford them. Plan International calls for a ‘period emoji’ to address the taboo and researchers can benefit from a “menstrual cycle on a chip”. The serious consequences of the issue are brought home in a horrifying story from Uganda about “young women having sex with older men for sanitary pads.”

Sexual education is an essential element of saving adolescent lives and reducing maternal mortality, and is the past week saw vigorous promotion from UNESCO, the governments Ghana and Nigeria, and calls from youth groups in DRC and Liberia. One article suggests that Sex education fails Kenya’s pupils. An academic study shows that long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are most appropriate for adolescents, but that clinicians need to improve their communication and education to promote a larger uptake. Yet one outlier study cited by Family First actually states that “less sex ed has best outcomes.”

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the newly-elected director-general of the WHO, got more free advice from around the world. Securing the organization’s funding seemed to be the first focus. Among the many other priorities working towards universal health care, “diversify engagement with countries” and “make global health about care, not fear.”

Consequences of the US administration’s policies remain a concern – the gag rule’s “human cost” in Kenya, the threat to women’s health globally by the export of political reproductive health policies, and with the withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, IPPF re-released an article about the convergence of consequences of reproductive rights and climate change.

Finally, a good read from The Atlantic about The Doctor Who Revolutionized Hospital-Birth Safety, about Dr. Steve Clark who followed scientific evidence, “applied his own common sense’, created protocols and insists that “consistency helps mothers and babies.”

Complete News Review References:

General

U.S. Export of Political Reproductive Health Policies Threatens Women’s Health Globally, Women’s E-news, 1 June 2017

Breastfeeding linked to lower endometrial cancer risk, Reuters, 1 Jun 2017

Menstrual Cycle “on a Chip” Offers a New Window into Female Physiology, Scientific American, June 2017

A better sexual and reproductive health education could save adolescent lives, UNESCO, 31 May 2017

Less Sex Ed Actually Has Best Outcomes – UK Study, Scoop/Family First, 31 May 2017

IPPF honours outstanding contributions to sexual and reproductive health and rights, IPPF, 30 May 2017

Charity calls for ‘period emoji’ to address taboo of menstruation, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 30 May 2017

Teen birth rate hits historic low in U.S., CBS News, 30 May 2017

Five Easy Strategies To Reduce Back Pain During Pregnancy, Pregistry, 30 May 2017

“The Most Important Endangered Species?” Humans., Global Health Now, 29 May 2017