Ireland

Jan O’Sullivan, Health Spokesperson for the Labour Party asked the ICPD Parliamentiary Question on behalf of the All Party Group.

To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the action he is taking to ensure that Ireland meets the internationally agreed development goals, including the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals specifically in relation to family planning, reproductive health and in meeting the needs of young people; if he will commit to adequately funding the relevant budget lines to meet these goals; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Answer

Minister of State, Mr. Peter Power, T.D.

Universal access to reproductive health is one of the goals of the Programme of Action agreed at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. The fifth of the Millennium Development Goals, adopted internationally in 2000, aims to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters, and to achieve universal access to reproductive health by 2015. The Government is fully committed to action in support of these goals, which will also make a vital contribution in addressing the global HIV and AIDS pandemic.

The Government’s 2006 White Paper on Irish Aid outlines our commitment to supporting the specific health needs of women and girls within the overall approach to health in developing countries. It makes clear that the health needs of women and girls, particularly in the areas of basic healthcare and maternal and reproductive health, must be at the heart of an effective strategy to improve health in the developing world.

Unfortunately, only limited progress has been made on this issue since the Cairo Conference in 1994. Every year, some 500,000 women die and a further 10 million suffer severe illnesses or disabilities as a result of complications in pregnancy and childbirth. Underlying this tragedy is the lack of access by women in developing countries to good quality maternal and reproductive health services, including family planning.

The Government’s aid programme adopts a comprehensive approach in addressing the reproductive health needs of women and young people, through involvement in global policy development, funding and research. Ireland’s assistance is directed at programmes at both global and country levels.

The Government works with several partner agencies in the UN system to address maternal health issues. One of the main obstacles to the achievement of universal access to reproductive health is the lack of empowerment of women in developing countries. The issues involved form the core mandate of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with which Irish Aid has a close relationship.

In recognition of its important mandate, the Government has engaged with and contributed substantially to UNFPA. We provided funding of €20.5 million over the three years 2005-2008, covering a range of programmes, including Trust Funds for Global Reproductive Health Commodities Security, Maternal Health, and Obstetric Fistula. Ireland has also funded a joint programme between the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNFPA to ensure that the implications of the practice of female genital mutilation are integrated into reproductive health strategies.

Ireland is also working closely with a number of partner countries on these important issues. For instance, in Tanzania , we are working on increasing access to maternal health care; in Ethiopia, we are addressing adolescent reproductive health needs; in South Africa, we are focusing on the prevention of gender based violence; and Irish Aid has been central to the development of maternal health services in Northern Province in Zambia.

France

Mme Bousquet Danielle

Texte de la question: Mme Danielle Bousquet attire l’attention de M. le secrétaire d’État chargé de la coopération et de la francophonie sur l’aide au développement. Elle lui demande de lui indiquer quelles actions le Gouvernement a mené pour garantir que la politique d’aide au développement et de coopération réponde bien aux engagements internationaux pris en matière de développement à la Conférence internationale du Caire sur la population et le développement et ceux pris dans le cadre des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le Développement, en particulier ce qui concerne l’accès au planning familial et à la santé reproductive. Elle lui demande également de préciser quels moyens le Gouvernement entend engager pour atteindre ces objectifs, et en particulier si 10 % du budget de l’aide publique au développement seront effectivement affectés aux programmes de santé reproductive et de population.

Texte de la reponse: L’engagement du Gouvernement français en faveur
des objectifs de la Conférence internationale du Caire sur la population et le développement et des objectifs du millénaire pour le développement se traduit, en premier lieu, par des efforts importants d’aide publique au développement en faveur du secteur de la santé.
Estimées à 970 millions d’euros pour la seule année 2008, ces contributions augmentent chaque année de manière sensible pour atteindre un total cumulé de 5,42 milliards d’euros sur la période 2000-2008. Les priorités de l’aide française dans le domaine sanitaire convergent avec celles du programme d’action du Caire et les OMD liés à la santé, ainsi que l’illustre le niveau des contributions au titre de l’année 2007 : lutte contre le VIH/Sida et les maladies transmissibles (633 millions d’euros), santé maternelle (38 millions d’euros), santé infantile (27 millions d’euros). Les efforts particulièrement intenses dans la lutte contre le VIH/Sida, reflet d’un engagement historique au plus haut niveau, sont destinés à financer des activités de prévention, de soins et de prise en charge des malades, mises en oeuvre dans le cadre d’instruments internationaux, dont le Fonds mondial de lutte contre le sida, la tuberculose et le paludisme (300 millions d’euros), la Facilité internationale d’achats de produits de santé UNITAID (160 millions) et le Fonds européen de développement (116 millions d’euros). S’agissant plus particulièrement de la santé reproductive, la France apporte son soutien financier à de multiples programmes, qu’ils soient mis en oeuvre par voie bilatérale, au travers de l’Agence française de développement, ou par voie multilatérale, par le biais d’organismes onusiens, dont notamment le FNUAP, l’UNICEF et l’Organisation mondiale de la santé. Une assistance technique est également fournie, essentiellement en Afrique sub-saharienne (Dakar, Niamey, Addis-Abeba), afin d’appuyer l’élaboration et la mise en oeuvre de politiques de santé maternelle et reproductive, que cela soit à l’échelle nationale ou sous-régionale. La France participe par ailleurs à renforcer les connaissances en la matière, au travers d’un programme de recherche, de développement et de formation mis oeuvre par l’OMS. Au total, sur la période 2003-2008, l’aide publique au développement en faveur de la santé reproductive s’élève à 80 millions d’euros. Par ailleurs, la France considère le renforcement des systèmes de santé et d’éducation des pays en développement comme un enjeu majeur qui conditionne la réalisation des objectifs du Caire et celle des OMD. L’aide versée à ce titre, sur la période 2000-2007, est estimée à plus de 2,8 milliards d’euros (dont près des deux tiers pour l’éducation). L’engagement français en faveur des systèmes sanitaires et scolaires se traduit également par le soutien actif à divers initiatives et partenariats internationaux dont notamment l’initiative Providing for Health et le partenariat International Health Partnership pour la santé et l’initiative Fastrack pour l’éducation).
Enfin, le ministère des affaires étrangères et européennes joue un rôle important en matière de plaidoyer, au sein des instances internationales, afin de garantir l’accès universel à la santé et aux droits reproductifs, notamment au travers de la promotion de l’égalité des genres et de la planification familiale. Aux côtés de ses partenaires, en particulier européens, le ministère entend contribuer à faire progresser ces thèmes de manière significative dans les agendas internationaux sur le développement et sur les enjeux globaux.
Dans cette perspective, la France a récemment intégré le partenariat international public/privé Reproductive Health Supply Coalition qui, en réunissant l’ensemble des acteurs impliqués dans le domaine de la santé reproductive, du Nord comme du Sud - institutions publiques, agences de développement, organisations non gouvernementales, fondations, secteur privé - vise à améliorer l’accès des pays en développement aux produits et services en la matière.

UK

Chris McCafferty MP

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to ensure his Department’s policies meet internationally agreed development goals in relation to provision of services relating to family planning, reproductive health and meeting the needs of young people; and if he will allocate 10 per cent. of overseas development assistance to population assistance.

Reply

Mr. Ivan Lewis: The Department for International Development (DFID) accepts that there is a large, well documented, unmet need for family planning and is working to address this. We provide significant resources to improve access to sexual and reproductive health information, services and supplies (e.g. contraceptives). DFID supports the core work of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) with £8.5 million per annum and is providing £100 million to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) over the five-year period to 2013 to increase access to reproductive health commodities. Our bilateral programme supports contraceptive supply directly in several developing countries.

The UK Government are also committed to spending £6 billion on strengthening health systems and services over the seven years to 2015. Strong health education programmes, including targeted youth services, sexual and reproductive health and maternal health programmes are key elements of a well functioning health system.
DFID does not plan to adopt the target of allocating 10 per cent. of overseas development assistance to population assistance. DFID’s country-led development approach is to support recipient governments to spend development assistance on the priorities they set themselves for helping their people out of poverty. DFID is committed to working to the Paris Principles concerning donor harmonisation and as part of this strongly supported the outcome of the recent the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness to drive partner country ownership and leadership and for donors to support this.

The question can be accessed in the official Hansard Report at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090430/text/90430w0008.htm#09043032000068
 

Romania

Senator Tudor Udristoiu

-Romania supports MDG related international initiatives, such as the Call to Action initiative of Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Romania joined this initiative in July 2008), and the EU-Africa Partnership on the MDGs (Romania joined the Education dimension of the Partnership);
-Romania supported also the adoption of the EU Agenda for Action on the MDGs, at the June 2008 European Council;
-Romania’s ODA focuses, in a first stage, on certain priority areas where national experience and comparative advantages can be capitalized on, namely: promotion of human rights; consolidation of democracy; economic development; education;
-Health is a priority area in which Romania is prepared to contribute with ODA; in the period 2007-2008, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocated from the ODA budget a series of contributions to programs run by UN agencies, including in relation to reproductive health:
-In 2007 – contributions to the UNFPA budget, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the UNICEF general budget;
-In 2008 – contributions to the UNFPA budget (for projects in the Republic of Moldova and in Serbia), the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the UNICEF general budget.

-The project for the Republic of Moldova (July 2008-June 2009) focused on reproductive health, domestic violence and social inclusion, and aimed at facilitating access of vulnerable groups to basic services, social protection and inclusion;
-The project for Serbia (September 2008-September 2009) focuses on the social inclusion of Roma population (implementation of the Romanian model in three municipalities);
-In 2008 and 2009, the Romanian Public Health Ministry contributed also to the WHO budget and the UNFPA general budget;
-During the period between 2007 and 2010, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UNDP are implementing jointly a cooperation program whose aim is to build institutional capacity and to raise public awareness regarding the development cooperation. Within this framework, a public campaign entitled “Pay it forward!”, was launched in the 5 most important Romanian cities, and consisted of: awareness raising activities on the MDGs and on Romania’s role in supporting them, in its new capacity as ODA donor; information and awareness raising among young people on MDG 6; promotion of the UNITAID system.     

Sweden

Ameer Sachet

During the UN conference om pop. And dev in 179 states agreed on a plan of action with focus on improving people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights – working for improved gender equality, access to services and councelling, sexuality education, contraceptives and safe abortion in countries where abortion is legal.
Year 2000 the MDGs were agreed upon and in six years these are to be met. Hoever, it is unlikely that they will be met and MDG 5 on improved maternal health is the one which is the furthest from the target. Due to this the world has agreed on MDG 5 b – with the goal of universal access to Reproductive health – a goal with a very strong connection to the ICPD.

It has proven tobe very difficult to track the exact figures on the percentage of the Swedish Dev assistance that goes to MDG 5 and 5b and to SRHR. The multilateral assistance, so called core support, and it is difficult to know how much of this that goes to SRHR. The bilateral dev assistance is reported in line with specific criterias and budget lines. Within healthsystem dev there are several budget lines and it is difficult to know how much out of these that are to SRHR.

Against this background I ask the Minister: What action is the Minister willing to take to improve the ways of tracking how much of our ODA that goes to SRHR?

Answer

Dev Minister: Gunilla Carlsson

It is true, as pointed out, that it is hard to get accurate statistics on the percentage of methods for follow up and tracking the results of dev assistance to gender equality, including SRHR.

Maternal deaths continue to be very high in dev. countries. The difficulties in meeting MDG 5 is often connected to attitudes and resource distribution that limit women’s influence and rights. Improvement of gender equality, increased respect for women’s and girl’s rights, is one of the governments 3 thematic priorities of the dev assistance.

SRHR including maternal health is a special focus within this priority. During 2009 the government gives 100 million SEK to Sida with the aim to increase the work we do in the field of maternal health. 

Today Dev Assistance goes, among other things, to regional initiatives in Africa, the global partnership Women Deliver, to UNFPA, to initiatives on sexuality education and education for midwives and other health care staff, information on and access to contraceptives, initiatives for improvement of antenatal care and deliveries and to org working with the right for safe and legal abortion.

In Sweden’s international policy, SRHR is a very broad field with several central components closely related and dependent of each other. Sweden gives in total more than 1.6 million to SRHR related initiatives. For example – 120 million to a broad health sector support to Bangladesh to improve maternal health care and women’s SRH. Sweden also gives support to different UN organizations and to international NGOs such as IPPF. Sweden is the second biggest donor to UNFPA with 450 million SEK an increase with 50 million from  2008. 290 million SEK is given to Unaids, an increase with 48 million SEK. Through Sida 196 million was given to IPPF and other organizations working with SRHR.
Written question
Maternal health
By Johan Linander (c)
To Minister Gunilla Carlsson
The MDGs consist of 8 dev goals. In six years they are to be met. The 5th goal is the one the furthest from being met. Every year more than half a million women die as a result of pregnancy, unsafe abortion or delivery afor 15-19 year old girls. To reduce Maternal deaths, women’s health and rights must be much more prioritized than today, both politically and financially. I would like to say that the situation would have been a lot better today if men were giving birth, risking to die during pregnancy and delivery.  Against the above background I want to ask the Minister:

What action the Minister is willing to take to make sure that Sweden and the EU, with among other things our development assistance, will be able to do more to make sure that the MDG 5 is met year 2015.

Answer

Minister Gunilla Carlsson
Maternal death continues to be very high in dev countries. Complications in connection to pregnancy and delivery is one of the biggest underlying causes of women’s and girl’s ill-health around the world.
Therefore, better results regarding the fulfillment of MDG 5 also influence the fulfillment of MDG 1 on povery and MDG 3 on gender equality.

According to the most recent report on MDGs from the UN the maternal deaths been reduced with less than 1 % between 1990 and 2006. This is unacceptable.

Reducing maternal deaths is very important in itself, but apart from this the connections between women’s health and economic growth is getting more and more clear. Women’s and girl’s ill-health and death due to lacking SRHR result in reduction in productivity and growth.

Improvement of gender equality, increased respect for women’s and girl’s rights and strengthening of their possibilities, is one of the governments 3 thematic priorities of the dev assistance. SRHR including maternal health is a special focus within this priority. During 2009 the government gives 100 million SEK to Sida with the aim to increase the work we do in the field of maternal health. 

Sida is goingto channel these extra funds both through laready existing structures but also through new initiatives. Support is given, among other things, to regional initiatives in Africa, the global partnership Women Deliver, to UNFPAs new fund for working against maternaldeath, to initiatives on sexuality education and education for midwives and other health care staff, information on and access to cheap and qualitative contraceptives for adults and for adolescents, initiatives for improvement of antenatal care and deliveries and to org. such as IPAS working with the right for safe and legal abortion and treatment and care after complications due to unsafe abortions.

The government is also actively working in the EU with gender equality and we were involved in MDG 5 being clarly visible in the council counclusions of a EU Agenda of Action on the MDGs.
Last fall, before the MDG summit in NY, I, as a member of this government, was given an MDG 3 gender equality torch. One of the obligations I made was to support the work to reduce maternal death. Johan Linnader, I can assure you that I will follow this work closely.

Belgium

1. Mondelinge vraag van mevrouw Olga Zrihen aan de vice-eersteminister en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken en aan de minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking over «de 42ste zitting van de Commissie Bevolking en Ontwikkeling van de Verenigde Naties» (nr. 4-635)

2. Mondelinge vraag van mevrouw Sabine de Bethune aan de vice-eerste minister en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken en aan de minister van Ontwikkelingssamenwerking over «de participatie van België aan de Commissie Bevolking en Ontwikkeling van de Verenigde Naties» (nr. 4-646)

The minister of foreign affairs at that time gave a coordinated answer on both questions which you could consult on the following link (in Dutch or French):

http://www.senate.be/www/?MIval=/consulteren/publicatie2&BLOKNR=5&COLL=H&LEG=4&NR=64&SUF=&VOLGNR=&LANG=nl

In his answer the minister engages to consult civil society and parliament with regard to the Belgian position on ICPD +15;

Civil society drew up recommendations (in English) which can be seen at the following website

http://www.platformpopdev.be/index.asp?nb=branch14&lang=NL

New York, 3 March 2010

The President of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Dr. Jacqueline Sharpe, presented the Count Me In: Sexual Rights for All Petition to the Office of President of the United Nations General Assembly, at the United Nations during the Fifty-Fourth Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global service provider and a leading advocate of sexual and reproductive health and rights. Working through 152 Member Associations in 174 countries, IPPF is a worldwide movement of national organizations working with and for communities and individuals.

Dr. Sharpe delivered the petition to Mr. Jamal Benomar, Chef de Cabinet at the Office of President of the General Assembly on behalf of its 179,619 signatories from 190 countries—the vast majority of whom are young people.

The petition asks governments around the world to prioritize young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, including comprehensive sexuality education and information and youth friendly health services.

“It is my great pleasure and honor to present the petition on behalf of IPPF to the UN and to the president of the General Assembly and to ask him specifically to urge all of the Member Countries to fulfill the promises that they made in 1994 because they were worthwhile and will make a big difference for the state of the world’s development,” Dr. Sharpe remarked earlier today during the brief ceremony held at UN Headquarters in New York.

In 2009, IPPF conducted a global initiative, 15andCounting, to raise awareness of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and the Programme of Action that, in 1994, 179 governments signed, agreeing to deliver improved sexual and reproductive health worldwide.

As 2009 marked the 15th anniversary of this commitment IPPF sought to engage young people to persuade these governments to promote, protect, and fulfill the promises they made 15 years ago.

The Count Me In: Sexual Rights for All Petition was a key component of 15andCounting.

Given that nearly half of the world’s population is currently under the age of twenty-five, the majority of whom live in developing countries, there is an urgent need to ensure that young people have access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.

IPPF believes sexual and reproductive health and rights are central to equitable and sustainable development and for addressing obstacles to women’s empowerment worldwide.

To that end, IPPF is committed to implementing the ICPD Programme of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the Millennium Development Goals.

This year, the Commission on the Status of Women commemorates the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action and representatives of Member States have gathered to evaluate progress and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and the advancement of women worldwide.

This marks a momentous occasion for the delivery of Count Me In: Sexual Rights for All.

While accepting the petition and thanking IPPF, Mr. Benomar commented that “Raising consciousness about these issues, particularly when it comes to young people, is something that we very highly value.”

Contact
Laura Zaks
212.214.0287 / 347.563.6408

lzaks@ippfwhr.org

For more information visit: www.ippf.org or www.ippfwhr.org

Not as obvious as you might think; find out more.

Cory Silverberg’s list of sites about sex and disability.

Things are changing in Vietnam, but there is still a massive difference between the rules for women and the rules for men.
Full story.

A workshop about the criminalisation of HIV transmission was never going to be a cheerful event, but it was surprising to me how enthused everyone was in discussing this issue. Even though the day was murky, a selection of our office sacrificed an hour spent in a warm cafe with a bowl of soup, to attend an optional lunchtime session called Behind the Bars that explored the reason behind the criminalisation of HIV in various countries.

Instead of delving through facts and statistics we were to be focussing on fictional but realistic situation. The story we were given went as follows: a young man named Bill goes to the pub one night, and after a few drinks he ends up going home with a woman and having sex. He wakes up with a shocking hangover and remembers that he hadn’t used a condom.

After a visit to his local clinic where a number of tests are carried out on him, he receives the news that he is HIV positive. During his post test session, the counsellor asks him if he is in contact with the person he slept with that night. Bill remembers her first name and the college she says she went to, but nothing else. Bill had never previously been tested for HIV, but has not previously had unprotected sex with many other people.

During the session, when discussing Bill’s options the counsellor mentions that if the woman was aware that she was HIV positive then she could be criminally liable under the ‘Offenses Against the Persons Act’ from 1861 since she didn’t disclose her status. Bill decides to phone the police. At this point, the story is over to us. The email I received over a week ago, inviting me to the session, read: ‘Can you handle the truth? Can the evidence of HIV transmission ever be crystal clear?’ I was about to find out.

Divided into 4 groups (one for each of the characters: Bill, the girl, the counsellor and the police officer) and armed with fat felt tip pens in garish colours, we began discussing our roles. What were each of these characters thinking? How would they feel about the situation and what would they want to do? How would our actions alter the course of this story?

It was agreed upon that Bill would feel frightened and angry about the situation and may want to place the blame on someone else. This is the basis for the law that exists regarding HIV transmission in many countries around the world. But what would Bill have to gain from placing the woman in prison? No one could say for sure what Bill would do. On one hand, he could feel sympathetic towards the woman because she may have the virus unknowingly. Or, he could feel guilt for giving the virus to her if he had it previously. Or he could just be plain angry.

The other group then spoke about the woman – who was she and did she know her HIV status at all? If she was to be prosecuted, how would evidence be found against her? Maybe if she was arrested she would be asked to do a HIV test, and if she was found to be positive would she immediately go to prison? ‘It’s just one person’s word against another,’ said one participant.

The counsellor had a lot of responsibility too, as it would be up to them to advise Bill and help the police find evidence if the woman was to be put on trial. A lot of other questions cropped up – if evidence was required for the case (such as the HIV status of Bill and the woman and their sexual history) could they be obtained without infringing the human rights of the people in question? Would any of us want our private records leaked during an investigation? Should the information be released if that could potentially secure someone’s freedom or should it remain sealed? With our power came a huge responsibility and it was up to us to decide.

Finally, the police would be responsible for carrying out the investigation. They would of course be obliged to search for evidence and find records that pointed to the ‘criminal’ who passed this virus on to Bill. ‘But isn’t this just another form of discrimination?’ said another participant. ‘Are all the people with HIV just going to end up in prison?’ Our final task was to discuss what measures should be taken to change this law – we had to think about how we could protect people from this virus in a way that doesn’t alienate and stigmatize a group in our society. But then we all realised that it was 1:30 and so packed up our pens and slowly filed out of the door, chatting noisily as we headed for lunch.

In truth, criminalising HIV is just another tool with which to frighten us and encourage safe practices. But does scaring us really work? I once received a card from the NHS on St. Valentine’s Day that said: ‘Roses are red, violets are blue, one in 10 have Chlamydia, don’t let it be you!’ in big horrific lettering. In all honesty, most of the people I knew just laughed at this when they got one themselves. You need to work with the people you want to help (whether it’s people with HIV or young people) not try to frighten them with the threat of STIs or HIV. In the future, we should all skip lunch and try to work out this issue, because until we campaign for a change in the law there won’t be one.

Please sign the petition that calls on governments to meet their commitments on sexual and reproductive health.

The Guttmacher Institute held a media launch in London yesterday, in which they discussed the new data they have gathered regarding the number of global legal and clandestine abortions.

As part of my two week internship with IPPF I was asked to cover the event and so I waited nervously, as seasoned members of the British press descended upon the launch to hear Dr Sharon L.Camp (President of Guttmacher), Dr Akinrinola Bankole (Director of International Research for Guttmacher) and Dr Kelly Culwell (Senior Advisor on Abortion for IPPF) as they spoke about the falling rate of abortion.

However, not everything is looking good. Even someone like me, who has never attended a press conference on this issue or read up on it in great detail, could see that the statistics that emerged on illegal abortions demanded attention.

For instance, while the number of legal abortions have fallen (from 46 million in 1995 to 42 million in 2003), the number of women resorting to clandestine abortions is static. Also the report has uncovered that for every one legal abortion, two illegal and possibly dangerous abortions take place.
In the developed world, progress is rapid in making abortions safer and easier to access, but this is not so in many parts of Africa and Latin America. Limited services and restrictive laws mean that most women have few alternatives.

Annually, 20 million unsafe abortions take place, resulting in over 70,000 deaths. The report finds that liberalising abortion laws could help reduce this figure. In South Africa, once restrictive laws against abortion were lifted in 1996, there was a 50% decline in deaths due to abortion.
Dr Culwell agrees that liberalizing laws could lower the need for dangerous abortions, but says that ‘the law is not enough. ‘In order to lower unintended pregnancies which could lead to unsafe abortions, there is a pressing need for ‘new contraceptive technology and family planning services,’ says Dr Camp.

The Netherlands, a country in which the abortion rate is relatively low (10 per 1000 women) is an example of what can be achieved with good access to contraception and health care. The ‘Double Dutch’ system recommends the use of two contraceptives at a time.

The figures on clandestine abortions in the developing world were described as ’significant and tragic’, though Dr Camp did say that ‘it is not impossible to lower international rates of illegal abortions substantially.’

Women are paying the ultimate price because of inadequate pregnancy and birth services, according to the World Health Organisation. Please sign the petition that calls on governments to meet their commitments on sexual and reproductive health.

The HIV/Aids pandemic is claiming hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Over 200 million women, mainly in the less developed countries, do not have access to contraceptives. Unsafe abortions cost the lives of 67,000 women every year while millions of others suffer from injury, illness or disability.

Those shameful statistics came under the spotlight at a recent forum on sexual and reproductive health and development in Berlin (2-4 September 2009).

The forum, attended by over 400 representatives of NGOs from 131 countries, was held to mark the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo.

According to Laura Villa Torres of the Mexican Youth Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights, the ICPD was a “groundbreaking moment in birth and sexual policy and family planning”.

“Until then,” she explained, “demographic policies both at the national and international level were characterised by undemocratic and sometimes even racist rules, such as forced sterilisations in determined ethnic groups.”

The ICPD underlined the importance of gender equality and of improving the status of women, and called for family planning to be made universally available by 2015, providing estimates of the national resources and international assistance that would be required.

However, those goals are still a long way from being achieved.

Gill Greer of the London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation said: “No doubt there has been progress, but it has been uneven and selective.

“The right to the highest attainable standard of health, particularly sexual and reproductive health, continues to elude millions of people, especially the poor and marginalised. Nobody should be dying for having sex. And yet, it happens every day.”

The fall in funding for sexual health highlights the failure of governments to address the problems.

Greer explained: “Between 1994 and 2008, funding for reproductive health as a proportion of health aid dropped from 30 to 12 per cent.”

According to Greer, the Vatican’s condemnation of sexual education and the conservative approach of former US president George W. Bush helped “political opposition to the ICPD programme to resurface, facilitating worldwide attacks against programmes for sexual and reproductive health”.

Financial rescue packages have further squeezed resources for human and development programmes, and environmental causes are taking precedence over sexual health issues.

However, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), believes money is being lost as a result.

The UNFPA sponsored the Berlin forum along with the German government, and Obaid told media representatives: “An additional dollar invested in voluntary family planning comes back at least four times in saved expenses.”

She added: “It would cost the world $23 billion a year to stop women from having unintended pregnancies and dying in childbirth, and to save millions of newborns.” The figure, she said, is equivalent to the sum that governments spend on military funding in just ten days.

Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, German minister for economic cooperation and development, made a called for governments of industrialised countries to set aside one percent of their economic emergency stimulus funds and put it towards development needs.

Wieczorek-Zeul said the theme for global policies must be: “It is not the market, stupid, it is the people who matter.”

Please sign the petition that calls on governments to meet their commitments on sexual and reproductive health.

A new contraceptive that promises to make long-term birth control more acceptable to men is to be tested in Scotland.

Previous attempts at popularising the male ‘pill’ have foundered because, although effective, they have involved weekly injections. But a new combination of hormones means that the jabs now only have to be administered once every two months.

Scottish couples are now being urged to come forward to help researchers trial the new method, which stops sperm production. The bi-monthly jab combines testosterone and progesterone. The addition of the progesterone hormone makes it possible to use less testosterone and also helps make the effects last longer than previous versions.

The team are now searching for 20 couples in south-east Scotland to take part in a one-year international trial involving 200 couples, run by the World Health Organization.

Professor Richard Anderson, from Edinburgh University’s reproductive and developmental sciences division, said a previous study in Scotland with the weekly male jab had shown that such a method worked.

“That was extremely successful and proved the concept that an injectable hormone could stop men’s sperm production to very good contraceptive levels and be fully reversible,” he said. “It was a proof of concept rather than anything that was ever going to be used, but it did prove that it could be done.

“What we are doing now is a substantial refinement of that, using the same theoretical approach of hormone injections that temporarily stop men producing sperm. The idea is to check that it really is a good contraceptive.”

The new study will recruit men under the age of 45 with female partners under 37, with regular periods and no medical reason preventing pregnancy.

Tests have shown that the injection reduces a man’s sperm count down from above 20 million sperm per millilitre to zero in most men, and to less than one million in others.

Such as result would provide better contraceptive protection than condoms, and a similar success rate to the female pill.

“Many of the couples we see for this type of study will be those with existing contraceptive problems who recognise that although theoretically there are a lot of options, you can run out quickly,” Anderson explained.

But would men want the jab even if it were available in a more usable form? Anderson said he was in no doubt that there would be market for the male jab. “The surveys we have done have been very positive and particularly positive from women as much as men.

“You are in a stable relationship. You have had a baby or two. You have taken the reproductive burden on throughout. Maybe it’s about time someone else took a turn.”

Anderson said it was too early to talk about side-effects, but no serious problems were expected. Other hormone related treatments, such as the pill and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been linked to certain cancers.

“The risks with things like HRT and the pill are emerging after tens of millions of women have taken them for decades,” he said. “These have shown that the risks, while real, are very small and take a vast amount of exposure to come to light.”

A spokesman from the Family Planning Association said: “It is important that research continues to try to give men more contraceptive choice. But it is crucial that any new contraceptive is rigorously tested to make sure it is incredibly safe and effective.”

Source: Scotsman.com, 4 October 2009

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