March 2018 Monthly News Review

by admin · Published April 9, 2018 · Updated April 9, 2018

Education and Male Involvement in Family Planning

The first step towards effective family planning is comprehensive sex education so that girls and boys, women and men, are able to make informed decisions. A family planning initiative in Benin through the Grameen Foundation combines education and seed funding, in a country where only 14% of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 use contraception. An IPPF youth volunteer in Ghana reminds that Scary stories don’t save lives, Comprehensive Sexuality Education does. The government of Uganda has approved expanded sex education. But what happens if a girl gets pregnant and can’t access education? That debate has been in the public eye in Tanzania, where school pregnancies have increased “with free tuition” and “furious politicians” have called for a ban on pregnant girls returning. A UNDPA report shows that a sixth of Tanzania’s female population between the ages of 15 and 19 fall pregnant, and a commentary in This is Africa concludes, “arresting girls for being pregnant will not put an end to teenage pregnancy.” Ghanaian MP insists that “victims” of teenage pregnancy must go back to school.

Though a study in Psychology of Women Quarterly found “a link between sexist beliefs and support for men’s control over women’s reproductive choices,” some progress is being made. Male family planning schools are gaining ground in Niger. The advent of the male contraceptive pill was in the news. At least four kinds of male pills are showing promise in the R&D pipeline. One of the side effects can be weight gain, which “women have faced for decades.” Much of the ongoing work is synthesized through the Male Contraception Initiative.

In Kenya, The Standard told its readers to “be ready to embrace” the male pill, and also saluted Kuria men leading family planning campaigns in the patriarchal community.

From Michigan Medicine, another story about male contraception: In the US, research shows that more men get vasectomies during the college basketball tournament know as March Madness. The reason? Because they have scheduled downtime to watch the games, so they can recover in peace.

Legal and Economic Implications of Safe Abortion and Family Planning

Legal discussions in many countries. A draft law in Angola criminalizes abortion with few exceptions. In current DRC law, no exceptions are allowed and illegal abortion is taking a toll – a maternal mortality ration of 693 per 100,000 and 150-thousand unwanted pregnancies. A coalition of nonprofits is petitioning the government to make changes and align the country with the Maputo Protocol. Swaziland, where abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances and performing, receiving or participating in an abortion carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Though the constitution allows for exceptions, no laws have been implemented which allow for them, leading to sometimes deadly confusion. The election in Sierra Leone “raises hopes for girls’ education, safe abortions.”

And when the laws change to accommodate the real health needs of the population, results are clear: A Guttmacher Institute study of abortion safety worldwide concludes Want to lower the abortion rate? Support pro-choice policies. And a study from Ethiopia, the first of its kind, shows that Improved Access to Safe Abortion Has Benefited Adolescent Women.

The economic benefits of the entire family planning supply chain include not just healthier populations but also real financial benefit. Noble Energy is working in Equatorial Guinea on family planning projects because it sees a direct result in improvement of the potential workforce.

The Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition has urged governments to invest in commodities and distribution networks, asserting, “smart investments in that sector would have manifold benefits and eventually improve the economies of developing countries at large.” A USAID conference on the topic at the beginning of the month looked at the sustainability of family planning systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, concluding, “The road to sustainable domestic resourcing is certainly long and complicated, and the obstacles are undeniable. But the ultimate payoff is enormous. Self-financing enables countries to take ownership of their own healthcare costs and ensure the sustainability of their programs, without being at the mercy of external instability.” Local Government Councils (LGs) in Nigeria are committing funds for FP consumables distribution, as another report declares that lack of reproductive rights [is a]drag on economy.

A ground-breaking study in Kenya looks at, in addition to the terrible human cost of unsafe abortion, the actual costs to the public health system of treating unsafe abortion complications — $5.2 million, not counting lost days of work or other factors, which would be enough to fund “free primary health care for six months of the year.”

Complete News References:

Angola

La CEAST condamne la dépénalisation de l’avortement, ANGOP, 15 Mar 2018

Draft law criminalizes abortion but foresees exceptions, ANGOP, 1 Mar 2018

Benin

Grameen Foundation Delivering Family Planning Education in Bénin, Grameen Foundation, 27 Mar 2018

Burkina Faso

Planification familiale – « Elle ne se limite pas à la distribution de méthodes contraceptives », selon Claude Béatrice Sawadogo, Le Pays, 21 Mar 2018

Accès aux méthodes contraceptives, Sidwaya, 8 Mar 2018

DRC

Coalition de lutte contre les Grossesses non-désirées. RDC : vers un plaidoyer pour la décriminalisation de l’avortement médicalisé en gestation, La Prospérité, 25 Mar 2018