Tubectomy: Last hope for hapless women

Women are willing to face any risk to undergo sterilisation in order to avoid unintended pregnancies through mostly unprotected sex

Saturday, 09 April 2022
Swapna Majumdar

In August last year, over a hundred women, majority of them tribal, underwent tubectomy surgeries in the Surguja district of Chhattisgarh. Unbelievable as it may sound, all the 101 sterilisation procedures were carried out by one surgeon within a span of eight hours in a small community centre. Under the central Government’s National Family Welfare Programme guidelines, a doctor can conduct a maximum of 30 sterilisations in a day.

When issued a showcause notice by the state health department asking why this was done, the concerned doctor contended he had been pressurised to do so by the villagers. He said the villagers told him that they had travelled long distances for the procedure and it would be difficult for them tocome again. Hence, all the women had to be operated the same day.

Continued: https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/columnists/tubectomy--last-hope-for-hapless-women.html

Nearly half of the pregnancies in Nepal are unintended, UN agency says

Half of the 1.2 million pregnancies in the country were unintended and nearly 359,000 ended in abortion in 2017.

Arjun Poudel
March 31, 2022

Nearly half of the pregnancies in Nepal are unintended and close to two-thirds of them ended in abortion, according to a recent report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The UNFPA’s “State of World Population 2022” report titled, “Seeing the Unseen”, says half of the 1.2 million pregnancies in 2017 in Nepal were unintended and nearly 359,000 were aborted.

Continued: https://kathmandupost.com/health/2022/03/31/nearly-half-of-the-pregnancies-in-nepal-are-unintended-un-agency-says

An unseen crisis: nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended

by Seema Jalan, United Nations Foundation
MARCH 30, 2022

A new report from UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, features a staggering statistic: Nearly half of all pregnancies worldwide are unintended. “For the women affected, the most life-altering reproductive choice — whether or not to become pregnant — is no choice at all,” says UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem.

UNFPA is sounding the alarm on a human rights crisis that has ramifications for women, societies, and the world in light of its 2022 State of World Population report, Seeing the Unseen: The case for action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy, which estimates there are 121 million unintended pregnancies each year. The report builds on new data from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) that outlines the first-ever estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion at the country level, highlighting major disparities across 150 countries in access to quality sexual and reproductive health care.

Continued: https://unfoundation.org/blog/post/an-unseen-crisis-nearly-half-of-all-pregnancies-worldwide-are-unintended/

Health Providers Worldwide Welcome Biden Reversal of Anti-Abortion Rule

By restoring funding cut off by his predecessor, President Biden ended four years of what abortion rights advocates called a concerted assault on women’s reproductive health in the developing world.

By Bhadra Sharma, Ruth Maclean, Oscar Lopez and Rick Gladstone
New York Times
Jan. 29, 2021

KATHMANDU, Nepal — When President Donald J. Trump scrapped tens of millions of dollars in aid to women’s health care providers around the world four years ago, the Family Planning Association of Nepal was forced to dismiss more than 200 people and close clinics in at least four parts of the country, one of Asia’s poorest.

Family planning education and birth-control distribution slowed or stopped in Nepal, which relies heavily on American financial assistance for public health programs. While abortion is legal in the country, the options for safe procedures were abruptly narrowed.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/world/asia/gag-rule-abortion.html

Nepal – Putting the brakes on COVID-19: Safeguarding the health and rights of women and girls

Published: July 11, 2020

KATHMANDU: The COVID-19 pandemic has sickened 16,649 people and left 35 dead in Nepal as of July 10. But the full toll of this catastrophe has been incalculably greater. The health system has been overwhelmed and the economy has been greatly impacted. Women and girls have been disproportionately affected, with sexual and reproductive health services being curtailed and gender-based violence on the rise.

Today, 11 July, is World Population Day, a moment to raise awareness of the sexual and reproductive health needs of people. This year, UNFPA is calling attention to the needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls amid the pandemic, and the efforts needed to secure their health and human rights.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/putting-the-brakes-on-covid-19-safeguarding-the-health-and-rights-of-women-and-girls/

11.07.2020

intimate partner violence

maternal deaths

maternal mortality

sexual and reproductive health and rights

Millions more cases of violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, unintended pregnancy expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Millions more cases of violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, unintended pregnancy expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic

28 April 2020

UNITED NATIONS, New York – A clear view of the toll of the COVID-19 pandemic is only beginning to take shape, but experts estimate the human cost could be extraordinary. The economic and physical disruptions caused by the disease could have vast consequences for the rights and health of women and girls, a new analysis by UNFPA and partners shows.

Significant levels of lockdown-related disruption over 6 months could leave 47 million women in low- and middle-income countries unable to use modern contraceptives, leading to a projected 7 million additional unintended pregnancies. Six months of lockdowns could result in an additional 31 million cases of gender-based violence.

Continued: https://www.unfpa.org/news/millions-more-cases-violence-child-marriage-female-genital-mutilation-unintended-pregnancies

UNFPA committed to women empowerment: Dr Natalia Kanem

UNFPA committed to women empowerment: Dr Natalia Kanem

Published: October 24, 2019
RAJAN POKHREL

The ‘so-called’ Global Gag Rule, as well as the defunding of United Nations Population Fund by the current US government, impacted the health and well-being of women and girls in many parts of the world, the top United Nations official said.

According to United Nations Under Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund Dr Natalia Kanem, the GGR and the pushback have led to cutbacks in essential services.

Continued: https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/unfpa-committed-to-women-empowerment/

24.10.2019

Right to Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Act-2018

UNFPA

United Nations International Conference on Population

United Nations Population Fund

Despite Progress, Over 200 Million Women Still Waiting for Modern Contraception

Despite Progress, Over 200 Million Women Still Waiting for Modern Contraception

By Thalif Deen

OTTAWA, Canada, Oct 23 2018 (IPS) - The international community will be commemorating two milestones in the history of population and development next year: the 50th anniversary of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the 25th anniversary of a Programme of Action (PoA) adopted at the1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo.

“Let’s use these important benchmarks to launch accelerated action – together. Starting here in Ottawa,” UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem told a gathering of over 150 parliamentarians from more than 60 countries who were meeting in the Canadian capital to review the progress made in several key socio-economic issues on the UN agenda, including reproductive health, maternal and infant mortality, family planning, female genital mutilation (FGM), child marriage, women’s empowerment and gender equality.

Continued: http://www.ipsnews.net/2018/10/despite-progress-200-million-women-still-waiting-modern-contraception/