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. 

Photo © Face2Face Africa

The University of Rwanda’s School of Medicine and Pharmacy and School of Nursing and Midwifery, in partnership with the Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT) at the University of Michigan, launched a partnership that will strengthen pre-service family planning training and build faculty capacity with the goal of reducing maternal morbidity and mortality throughout the country.

This two-year partnership will work to enhance curricula, promote faculty development, heighten the quality of clinical services in Reproductive Health, and enhance the research culture at the University of Rwanda.

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.” 

A next-generation non-hormonal contraceptive for women is being developed in Sweden, AlphaGalileo/KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 28 Mar 2018

Conceptions in England and Wales: 2016, Office for National Statistics, 27 Mar 2018

Abortion: access and safety worldwide, The Lancet, 24 Mar 2018

Better Communication Between Spouses May Lead to Better Health Outcomes, New Research Suggests, Johns Hopkins CCP, 22 Mar 2018

One-time provider training has lasting impacts on patient-centered LARC counseling, UCSF Bixby Center, 22 Mar 2018. Research: Training contraceptive providers to offer

intrauterine devices and implants in contraceptive care: a cluster randomized trial, AJOG, 22 Mar 2018

Women denied abortion are significantly less likely to support the legal right to abortion, ANSIRH, 21 Mar 2018 Research: Attitudes Toward Abortion After Receiving vs. Being Denied an Abortion in the USA, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 21 Mar 2018

New Report Highlights Worldwide Variations in Abortion Incidence and Safety, Guttmacher, 20 Mar 2018; Research: Abortion Worldwide 2017: Uneven Progress and Unequal Access, Guttmacher, March 2018; Commentary: Want to lower the abortion rate? Support pro-choice policies, The Guardian, 24 Mar 2018

The Roadmap to Safe Abortion Worldwide: Lessons from New Global Trends on Incidence, Legality and Safety, Guttmacher, 20 Mar 2018

Causes of death and infant mortality rates among full-term births in the United States between 2010 and 2012: An observational study, PLOS, 20 Mar 2018

Linking Global Health to Local Health within an Ob/Gyn Residency Program, AMA Journal of Ethics, 20 Mar 2018

Medicamentalia Contraceptives: Data, Euro Scientist, 19 Mar 2018

Abortion is over-regulated in US, study says, BMJ, 19 Mar 2018

The Quality of Abortion Care Depends on Where a Woman Lives, Says One of Most Comprehensive Reviews of Research on Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the U.S. , National Academies of Science, 16 Mar 2018

Understanding Self-Managed Abortion, ReproAction, 15 Mar 2018

"Birth Control Can Take a Back Seat": Challenges Providing IUDs in Community Health Care Settings, UCSF Bixby Center, 8 Mar 2018

Medical Abortion Provision by Pharmacies and Drug Sellers in Low ‐ and Middle ‐ Income Countries: A Systematic Review , Studies in Family Planning, 6 Mar 2018

 

Demand for family planning satisfied with modern methods among sexually active women in low- and middle-income countries: who is lagging behind? , Reproductive Health, 6 Mar 2018

 

Global, Regional, and Subregional Trends in Unintended Pregnancy and Its Outcomes from 1990 to 2014: Estimates from a Bayesian Hierarchical Model, Guttmacher Institute, 5 Mar 2018

IUD Clinical Preparation, Innovating Education in Reproductive Health/Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health, 5 Mar 2018

Strategic Communication Framework for Hormonal Contraceptive Methods and Potential HIV-Related Risks, Health Compass, 3 Mar 2018

Hormonal Contraception Benefits – Beyond Pregnancy Prevention, ObG Project, 2 Mar 2018

Community sexual health providers’ views on immediate postpartum provision of intrauterine contraception, BMJ, 1 Mar 2018

The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States, National Academies of Science, Engineering, & Medicine, March 2018

Liftoff: The Blossoming of Contraceptive Implant Use in Africa, Global Health: Science and Practice, March 2018

2018 Leadership Report, Engender Health, March 2018

Family Planning: a Global Handbook for Providers, K4Health, 22 Feb 2018

Barriers to and strategies for addressing the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of the sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn and adolescent health workforce: addressing the post-2015 agenda, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 20 Feb 2018

Access for Everybody: Disability inclusion in abortion and contraceptive care - overview, IPAS, 31 Jan 2018