News Review – 21 July 2017 | Center for International Reproductive Health Training

Investing in Family Planning

Investment in family planning training, access and service has been proven again and again to be valuable – with improved health outcomes as well as economic and environmental benefits. The opposite has also been shown: restrict access, defund research, or censor voices and the health, economic and environmental consequences are easy to see.

The cost can be quite reasonable. $8 per person per year, according to Guttmacher Institute research, can give “a brighter, more empowered future for a woman in need of access to contraceptives and quality maternal care, meeting the global need for family planning and maternal and newborn health care in developing regions.”

The new acting head of the UNFPA, Natalia Kanem, notes that having fewer children, and lowering “the dependency ratio is a key element of the demographic dividend — that you have fewer dependents per working age population. It all is part of a piece: Better economy, better health, better nutrition, longevity.” The climate change benefits were noted this week as well in a Swedish study which says that having fewer children is the most effective way to improve the environment.

Nigerian Health Minister Isaac Adewole pledged more investment, calling family planning “one of the strongest anti-poverty strategies.” The Ugandan, Zambian and Zimbabwean governments announced higher family planning budgets as well. And news this week that Sweden will support efforts in Somalia to the tune of $8.5M.

One UK paper pleaded that 10 women a day die in Malawi during childbirth, surely a compelling defense “to safeguard the UK foreign aid budget.”

The Global Health Technologies Coalition noted the real economic benefits of global health innovation: “From 2007 to 2015 alone, $14 billion in US investments in global health innovations advanced numerous new technologies for fighting many dangerous diseases while attracting substantial private sector commitments and creating 200,000 new American jobs,” said GHTC Director Jamie Bay Nishi. “It’s hard to imagine many other investments of taxpayer dollars that have provided such impressive returns.”

The downside of cutting funding and ignoring investment is equally clear. As the Trump Administration hits its six-month mark, The Guardian accuses the White House of “signing a global death warrant for women,” and publishes five charts that exemplify the challenges. One aspect of a lack of women’s empowerment: The World Bank says that child marriage will cost developing countries “trillions of dollars by 2030.”

On the US domestic front, lack of access has led to the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world. ProPublica is on a quest to document maternal deaths, since “these deaths of women from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth are almost invisible.” In Texas, defunding Planned Parenthood “actually increased abortion rates.” An OB-Gyn shortage is already on the horizon for several cities, which could be exacerbated if legislatures eliminate abortion training at state universities, as is being considered in Wisconsin.

CIRHT!

You may be interested in two articles this week from the CIRHT website: One shows the way in which CIRHT’s founder Dr. Senait Fisseha and WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom worked together first in Ethiopia and now on a global stage (more also on Dr Tedros’s vision for Universal Health Coverage); the other looks at the CIRHT partnership with the University of Gondar.

Complete News Review References:

General/Global

How Trump signed a global death warrant for women, The Guardian, 21 Jul 2017

Grindr, virtual reality and vlogging: new ways to talk about sexual health, The Guardian, 21 Jul 2017

Putting women’s health and empowerment at the center of development, World Bank, 20 Jul 2017

Scientists Say Having Fewer Kids Is Our Best Bet To Reduce Climate Change, Forbes, 20 Jul 2017

These cities are on the front lines of a women’s health crisis, STAT news, 20 Jul 2017

Boots faces boycott over refusal to lower cost of morning-after pill, The Guardian, 20 July 2017

Q&A: UNFPA chief on why it pays to have healthy youth, Devex, 20 Jul 2017

Bid to ease Chile’s abortion ban hits roadblock, Reuters, 20 Jul 2017

Chile’s Senate Passes Abortion Bill, Center for Reproductive Rights, 19 Jul 2017

The Future of Family Planning – Podcast with Rachel Silverman, Center for Global Development, 19 Jul 2017