PAHO and partners launch campaign to reduce maternal mortality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Every hour, a woman loses her life in the region due to complications in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum, the vast majority of which are preventable.

PAHO / WHO
8 Mar 2023

Washington DC - The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) together with other United Nations agencies and partners, today launched a campaign to encourage countries in Latin American and the Caribbean to reduce maternal mortality, which increased by 15% between 2016 and 2020.

Around 8,400 women die each year in the region from complications in pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. High blood pressure, severe bleeding, and complications from unsafe abortion are the most common causes. However, nine out of ten of these deaths are preventable through quality care, access to contraception and by reducing inequities in access to care.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/paho-and-partners-launch-campaign-reduce-maternal-mortality-latin-america-and-caribbean

Vietnam – Teenagers lack knowledge about reproductive health

SGGP
February 21, 2023

Some medical experts believed that minors lack basic knowledge and skills on protection and care for reproductive and sexual health, so they easily become victims of sexual abuse, leading to bad consequences. Lack of parents' and relatives’ care and schooling also worsened the problem.

According to the World Health Organization, children entering adolescence are going through many physical and psychological changes like exploring their own capabilities and expanding many new relationships. Teenagers having early sexual intercourse have a higher risk of sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancy, and unsafe abortion.

Continued: https://www.sggpnews.org.vn/teenagers-lack-knowledge-about-reproductive-health-post100396.html

U.S. Overturn of Roe Will Embolden Anti-Abortion Movements Abroad

11/29/2022
by MICHELLE ONELLO

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ruled that there is no U.S. constitutional right to abortion, will have ripple effects around the world, according to the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) policy brief, “U.S. Foreign Policy Implications of Overturning Roe v. Wade.” While Dobbs did not change existing U.S. foreign policy regarding abortion, the brief argues that it will embolden anti-abortion movements abroad, contribute to global stigmatization of abortion, cause confusion for policy implementation and open the door for new restrictions—all of which will negatively impact the health, economic resources and well-being of women throughout the world.

Dobbs is a reminder that current U.S. foreign aid restrictions “are not aligned with best health care practices nor consistent with human rights and bodily autonomy principles.”

Continued: https://msmagazine.com/2022/11/29/us-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-abroad-foreign-policy-helms-amendment-global-gag-rule/

Kenya – Give adolescents contraceptives to address cases of teen pregnancies

By Esther Kimani
Nov 28, 2022

As the world population clocked eight billion recently, more than 3,500 delegates from across the globe gathered in Pattaya City, Thailand, for the International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP).

The conference attended by key women’s rights advocates from Kenya, including Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, provided a global stage for countries, organisations, and individuals to make important commitments, celebrate achievements, and interrogate barriers to the realisation of Reproductive Health goals, including access to contraception.

Continued: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001461905/give-adolescents-contraceptives-to-address-cases-of-teen-pregnancies

Indian women cautious about Supreme Court’s ‘historic’ abortion ruling

Abortion rights have been extended to unmarried women, but how will this affect women’s lives in reality?

Deepa Parent
12 October 2022

Women who have had abortions in India fear the extension of abortion rights “will do nothing to change the rot in our society”. They say class inequality and prejudice against women still present the biggest barriers to accessing equal reproductive rights in the country.

Their stark warnings contrast with the hopeful note struck by many Indian women and reproductive rights activists, who have called the Supreme Court’s ruling on 29 September “historic” and “progressive”.

Continued: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/india-abortion-supreme-court-unmarried-women/

Ensuring sexual and reproductive health and rights for youth and adolescents in Myanmar through innovation amid COVID-19 pandemic and political crisis

UNFPA
7 Sep 2022

YANGON, Myanmar— “There is social stigma existing in our community to speak about sexual and reproductive health especially concerning adolescents and youth. People are too shy to talk about it. Since we have grown up under this shadow, we don’t even know that young people have the right to access sexual and reproductive health information,” said Thura, 15, a local youth from Yangon.

Young people in Myanmar face different social and cultural barriers to get right information about sexual and reproductive health and rights. Without having access to sexual and reproductive health information including family planning, young people tend to experience consequences such as unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion, leading to other life-threatening complications. According to 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census, the fertility rate of females aged 15-19 was 33 births per 1,000 women. Comparing to urban areas, the teenage fertility is higher in rural areas of states and regions. The data highlights the needs to enhance protection and promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and young people in remote places and in areas undergoing humanitarian crisis.

Continued: https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/ensuring-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-youth-and-adolescents-myanmar-through-innovation-amid-covid-19-pandemic-and-political-crisis

07.09.2022

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Why So Many Indians Watch YouTube To Know How To Get An Abortion

Turns out, that a large population in India is still not aware that abortion is legal.

By Adrija Bose
8 July 2022

A 25-year-old woman in Nagpur used household utensils to self-abort last year by watching a YouTube tutorial. The procedure that involves a safe place, safe tools and a trained medical practitioner was carried out by herself, in her own home when her parents were away. The woman survived but she had to spend days in the hospital, recovering from an acute infection from the procedure that could have killed her. This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

This is not the only story of a botched abortion.

Continued: https://www.boomlive.in/explainers/abortion-india-legal-watching-youtube-roe-v-wade-us-18465

Ukraine war: Volunteers deliver emergency contraception pills

By Annabel Rackham, BBC News
Apr 29, 2022

Charities are working to deliver emergency contraception into Ukrainian hospitals as reports of rape rise.

Nearly 3,000 packets of morning-after pills have been sent to areas of the country most affected by the Russian invasion.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has provided the pills, which volunteers are delivering.

Continued: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-61269792

Standing strong: youth health workers from Benin share lessons from sexual and reproductive health and rights workshop

28 April 2022
FIGO Advocating for Safe Abortion Project

From 9–11 March 2022, in Cotonou, Benin, FIGO’s Advocating for Safe Abortion Project worked with the National College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Benin (CNGOB) to organise a capacity building workshop for their counterparts visiting from Mali alongside the Youth Health Workers for Safe Abortion (YHW4SA) – a Beninese network of young pro-choice health professionals set-up in 2021 by CNGOB.

The group attending the workshop was made up of 15 members of the YHW4SA network and five members of the Malian Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (SOMAGO).

The aim was to share knowledge and tools on Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) and on best practice to discuss abortion, in order to enable participants to address abortion stigma and strengthen access to safe abortion in their workplaces and wider communities.

Continued: https://www.figo.org/news/youth-health-workers-benin-share-lessons-srhr-workshop

The Elephant in the Womb: Unintended Pregnancies

22 APRIL 2022
Population Matters

This year’s State of the World Population (SWOP) report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) focuses on the worrying issue of unintended pregnancies. Still approximately half of all pregnancies today are unplanned and the number of affected women is increasing. Tackling this crisis is key to achieving a better future and should be an utmost priority.

RUNNING TO SLIDE BACKWARDS?
Since 2019, the annual unintended pregnancy rate fell from 79 to 64 unintended pregnancies for every 1,000 women of child-bearing age (15 to 49 years) – in other words, roughly 6% of the world’s women experience an unintended pregnancy each year, down from 8% in 2019. However, the report points out that due to population growth, the absolute number of affected women has increased by as much as 13% during this time period. This inconvenient truth also applies to the number of girls and women affected by other injustices, such as child marriage and unmet contraceptive needs, alongside many other development indicators, as shown in Population Matters’ 2019 report on population and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Continued: https://populationmatters.org/news/2022/04/elephant-womb-unintended-pregnancies

22.04.2022