News Review – 30 June 2017 | Center for International Reproductive Health Training

SRHR Crossroads

Sexual health and reproductive rights are at a crossroad, according to an editorial in The Lancet, which summarizes that, “there is perhaps no area of health where politics and ideological beliefs meet evidence and human rights in such a contested arena.” While Guttmacher finds that greater investment is required to meet women’s sexual and reproductive health needs in developing regions, the Trump administration’s contraception cuts “will make the world poorer,” at the same time that military spending in Africa is growing at the expense of humanitarian aid. The upcoming international family planning conference in London will address ways of “expanding access to contraception and family planning programmes… one of the most cost-effective ways to break the cycle of poverty.”

Among the issues: Contraception and abortion

The CDC issued its latest guidance on contraceptives, noting that “nearly half of US pregnancies are unintended, and among teens the percentage is even higher—about 75%” and providing “numerous evidence-based ways to decrease medical barriers to contraception, helping patients plan, prevent, and space pregnancies.” Increased contraception access and education initiatives were also discussed in DRC (“high potential for improvement”), Ghana (“teachers lack resources”), Kenya (“take up family planning”), Mali (“increase access through public sector social franchising”), Nigeria (“secure the future for teenagers”), Uganda “high teenage pregnancies dues to lack of access to contraceptives”) and Zambia (“young people are still ill-equipped to make safe decisions about their sexual health”). An excellent compendium of statistics on global contraceptive access was released by the Guttmacher Institute – well worth a read.

The debate about abortion access in the UK has come to the fore in the aftermath of the recent election, as PM Theresa May stood down in her opposition to abortion in the Queen’s speech, while the prospect of doctors who perform abortions being prosecuted was decried by the BMA. Many of the arguments against abortion are disprovable lies, which Nancy Northrup of the Center for Reproductive Rights vows to combat in the courts. The real life consequences of the political debate occur every day – in Botswana a report about a botched backstreet abortion ruining a woman’s reproductive life; in Uganda “barriers to safe abortion in Uganda Lead to unhealthy & dangerous outcomes.” In South Africa, to make access easier, 92 % of patients surveyed said they were happy with advice via SMS, along with “a checklist and a simple home urine test after a medical abortion”, rather than a return visit to the doctor or clinic.

Child marriage and teen mothers

A startling report on child marriage from the International Center for Research on Women states that “every day more than 41,000 girls marry before the age of 18,” which beyond the personal toll, the lack of education attainment, the rise in fertility, causes economic consequences of more than $4 billion in global loss of activity. Among others across the continent is an initiative in Malawi to combat the practice.

The debate about allowing teen mothers back into school continues, the week after President Magufuli decreed they would not be barred, with some politicians supporting the move and others calling it “barbaric”.

Complete News Review References:

General/Global

Sexual health and reproductive rights at a crossroad, The Lancet, 1 Jul 2017

The U.S. fertility rate just hit a historic low. Why some demographers are freaking out., Washington Post, 30 Jun 2017

California decided it was tired of women bleeding to death in childbirth, Vox, 29 Jun 2017

More Global Investment Needed To Meet Sexual, Reproductive Health Needs Of Women In Developing Countries, Guttmacher CEO, Report Say, KFF, 29 Jun 2017

Trump’s Contraceptive Cuts Will Make the World Poorer, Newsweek, 29 Jun 2017

Family planning champions to discuss commitments to increase access to family planning services for world’s poorest girls and women., Gov.UK, 29 Jun 2017

The 21st Century Reproductive Revolution: The Fatherly Desires of HIV-Positive Men, The Body, 29 Jun 2017

The High Impact Practices for Family Planning (HIPs) advisory board and partners are pleased to announce the launch of a new HIPs website, HIP, 29 Jun 2017

The lies about abortion must stop. Here’s what we’re doing about that., USA Today, 28 Jun 2017

BMA annual meeting: Doctors who carry out abortions should not face criminal sanctions, says BMA, BMJ, 28 Jun 2017