The Center for International Reproductive Health Training at the University of Michigan (CIRHT) partners with academic institutions in developing countries to integrate competency-based pre-service training in Family Planning and Comprehensive Abortion Care, revamping research culture and improving the quality of care, ultimately strengthening capacity for life-saving reproductive health services.

This news review is one way we hope to keep an ongoing conversation with our partners and the global reproductive health community. (Hyperlinks in the text lead to relevant articles.)
Addis Ababa Conference Highlights
Our thanks to all who attended, and followed on social media, the April conference in Addis Ababa, "Family Planning and Comprehensive Abortion Care: Strengthening Preservice Training". UM-CIRHT was thrilled to welcome some 250 participants who heard the keynote speech from H.E. Dr. Lia Tadesse, State Minister of Health, Ministry of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and plenary sessions with Dr. Timothy R.B. Johnson, Dr. Willie Parker, Dr. Lisa Harris,  Dr. Eddie Mhlanga , Dr. Jody Lori and Dr. Iqbal Shah , in addition to 15 oral research presentations, dozens of research posters and workshop sessions each day.

The conference, the inaugural scientific conference organized by UM-CIRHT, served as a platform for education and research in family planning and comprehensive abortion care. The two-day conference drew submissions and participants from 33 countries — a diverse group of professionals including Ob-Gyns, nurse/midwives, faculty and trainees, and policy makers.

The full program, and links to the oral and poster abstracts, can be found here .
For more photos of the event, see the album here .
While abortion access improves in African countries, challenges remain
The government of Rwanda changed its laws around abortion access after years of debate, eliminating the need for review by judicial authorities and granting more autonomy to medical practitioners in the decision about whether a woman or girl can have an abortion up to 22 weeks. Some 24-thousand women and girls need emergency medical treatment from unsafe abortion each year. The legal conditions remain only in cases of incest, rape, forced marriage, or the health of the mother, or if the girl is very young. President Paul Kagame released 367 women and girls who had been imprisoned for abortion-related offences.

In Botswana, where abortions contribute to maternal mortality, amounting to 15% of the maternal mortality ratio of 182.6 per 100,000 births, the government is looking at moving beyond the standard legal exceptions. While DRC the conditions of the Maputo Protocol have become law, many in the country are unaware, requiring a p ublicity campaign by the Coalition de Grossesses Non Désirées .  

Discussions about meeting the requirements of the Maputo Protocol are also taking place in Senegal, Namibia, Malawi, and Madagascar.
Yet dangerous conditions continue for women and girls, as seen in Cote d’Ivoire, where unsafe abortion is a factor in 18% of maternal mortality, and deaths were reported in Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and even in Mauritius and South Africa, where abortion is legal but still heavily misunderstood and stigmatized. Unclear laws in Uganda leave women who were raped unsure of their rights. Anti-abortion billboards in Nairobi were taken down after protests that they were creating stigma, putting women at risk of unsafe abortion.

The world will address safe access to abortion among other issues when the International Conference on Population and Development marks 25 years since Cairo with a global summit in Nairobi in November 2019.

Read more on ICPD and abortion access around the world here.

Map courtesy Center for Reproductive Rights: https://reproductiverights.org/worldabortionlaws
New family planning clinic in Kigali serves women and girls… and pre-service education
A new family planning clinic at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Kigali/Universuity Hospital Center of Kigali (CHUK) will enhance service to the women and girls in the area and also preservice education for doctors, nurses and midwives at the University of Rwanda. In collaboration with the Center for International Reproductive Health Training at the University of Michigan (UM-CIRHT) and the RHR Project at Eagle Research Center, the clinic opened its doors May 16, 2019, with new equipoment and three refurbished rooms within CHUK.

Students on clinical rotation will work with the OB-GYN and nursing faculty to provide contraception and comprehensive abortion services to the clients, services which previously had not been supported at the facility.

Some 50 people, including Prof. Theobald Hategekimana, Director General of CHUK, Professor Stephen Rulisa, Dean of the School of Medicine and Pharmacy, and Janet Hall, Managing Director of UM-CIRHT, attended the opening ceremony. The clinic is an integral part of the reshaping of the pre-service family planning and abortion curriculum being taught across the University of Rwanda at it sites across the country.

For more photos, click  here .
Congratulations to our founder, Dr. Senait Fisseha, on being named to the Global
"Gender Equality Top 100"
The list, compiled by Apolitical Foundation, salutes "the most influential people in global policy for 2019."

" With more nominations than ever before, this is our biggest and most global list yet: drawn from over 9,000 nominations, it recognises and celebrates the hard work being done on gender policy by so many around the world. Featuring politicians, civil servants, academics and activists, the list both recognises high-profile icons and shines a light on the unsung heroes whose work is indispensable to creating a fairer world for everyone."

For the full list, click here .
New video about St. Paul's Hospital Millennium Medical College OB-Gyn residents
UM-CIRHT has worked with SPHMMC in pre-service training in contraception and comprehensive abortion care. Residents from the SPHMMC program are now working in other hospitals in and around Addis Ababa, applying that knowledge to provide better care for the women and girls in the area. Click on the image below to learn more.
Midwifery Champion
Our colleague from Jimma University in Ethiopia, Selamawit Lake Fenta, was chosen by the International Confederation of Midwives as an #IDM2019 Champion for the International Day of the Midwife.

In the spirit of the chosen IDM theme, "Defenders of Women's Rights", she was picked as a person who is "pushing the gender envelop in their community." Selamawit worked with the Ethiopian Midwives Association to push the Federal Ministry of Health to give risk allowance payments to midwives.

She was also featured in a report on National Public Radio is the US: What A Midwife Wishes People Knew About Her Job, NPR, 5 May 2019
Update on the US abortion access battle
The Trump administration has expanded its global gag rule and is applying it domestically, imposing major funding restrictions on family planning clinics that refer to abortion services. State laws restricting access to abortions -- so-called " heartbeat bills" banning abortions after six or eight weeks -- are being introduced across the country with the intent of reaching the Supreme Court which could overturn Roe v. Wade. Yet other states are expanding access and entrenching reproductive rights into their state constitutions.

The controversial " abortion reversal" laws are being put to a scientific test, to the dismay of anti-abortion advocates.

Meanwhile, corporations are getting involved in the debate, with business leaders calling for reproductive rights and a poll that showing that 60 % of employees would be more loyal to a company that covered abortion care.

For the full report, click here.
Danish Crown Princess at Michu clinic
During the visit of Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark to Ethiopia in March, she visited the newly-opened St. Paul's Hospital Michu clinic in the Haya Hulet neighborhood, which combines family planning and fertility/IVF facilities. She praised ongoing developments in the health sector of the country, especially family planning services and works on reducing mother and child mortality.

Crown Princess Mary is Patron of UNFPA, the  United Nations Population Fund, "to support the agency's work to promote maternal health and safer motherhood in more than 150 developing nations".
Denmark launched a first five year (2018-2022) country strategy program with Ethiopia last year, setting aside 1 billion kroner (US$150 million) in aid to help promote democracy, fight poverty and create sustainable growth in Ethiopia.
May 2019 African News References
News from 22 countries across Africa!
Botswana
Abortions contribute to maternal mortality rates, Sunday Standard, 15 May 2019

Burkina Faso

Cote d’Ivoire

DRC

Ethiopia

Ghana
IPPFAR, GIZ Introduce Online SRHR Policy Tracking Tool, Government of Ghana, 27 May 2019

Kenya
Time is ripe for sex education in schools , Daily Nation, 14 May 2019

Lesotho

Madagascar

Mauritius

Morocco

Namibia

Nigeria
Six benefits of family planning, The Nation, 31 May 2019
End the war on Nigerian Women!, 9jafeminista, 22 May 2019

Rwanda
Civil society examines law on abortion , New Times, 12 May 2019

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

South Africa

Tanzania

Uganda
Fake family planning pills found on market, Daily Monitor, 3 May 2019

Zambia
One Man’s Quest to Bust Vasectomy Myths in Zambia, Global Press Journal, 15 May 2019

Zimbabwe
April 2019 News References, Research and Resources
News and research from from 18 African countries
March 2019 News References, Research and Resources
News and research from from 29 African countries
Family Planning Learning Resources
Additional learning resources, including instructional videos and University of Michigan OB-Gyn Grand Rounds have been added. Click on the icon below for more:
Research resources can be found on the Taubman Health Sciences Library Open Access Research Guide, including:

  • RSS feeds to keep current in the biomedical and health sciences literature
  • Research and clinical (point of care) databases
  • Selected open access journals
  • Freely available online health sciences books
  • Health and epidemiology data sources
  • Evidence-based medicine (EBM) guides and resources
  • Selected freely available health-related mobile resources

The objective of the guide is to be a starting point for use of evaluated information resources in education, research and practice, and not a exhaustive content repository.  
Research and Resource References for May





The World’s Abortion Laws: Supplemental Publications , Center for Reproductive Rights, 28 May 2019


The World's Abortion Laws Map , Philanthropy News Digest, 23 May 2019

Oral Contraceptive Pills , Fact Sheet, KFF, 23 May 2019


Progress in family planning in Africa accelerating , Eurekalert/Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 20 May 2019



Modern contraceptives in sub-Saharan African countries , The Lancet Global Health, 17 May 2019




Preventing teenage pregnancy in India to end the cycle of undernutrition , The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 16 May 2019


Timeline of Attacks on Abortion , Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 15 May 2019



ACOG Statement on Abortion Bans , ACOG, 9 May 2019




Child marriage among boys: a global overview of available data , Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 2 May 2019

Why Women—and Men—Need Better Birth Control , Scientific American, 1 May 2019


2plusabortions , 2plusabortions.com storytelling website, May 2019

The FDA-Approved Essure Device Counseling Order Fails to Promote Patient Empowerment , HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice/Healio, 10 Apr 2019
Global and General News References for May
‘Family planning program crucial to easing poverty’, Business Mirror (Philippines), 31 May 2019
After 2020: What’s Next for Global Access to Family Planning, Center for Global Development, 31 May 2019
Manila’s Abortion Ban Is Killing Women , Foreign Policy, 29 May 2019
Why the Fight Over Abortion Is Unrelenting , The New York Times, 29 May 2019
My Rapist Apologized. I still needed an abortion , The New York Times, 26 May 2019
How Abortion Could Threaten GOP Control of the Senate , Cook Political Report, 24 May 2019
Population growth not slowing down , The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 24 May 2019
Implementation of proposals on family planning starts , The International News (Pakistan), 24 May 2019
Men in Humla adopting family planning methods , Kathmandu Post, 22 May 2019
Framing the abortion picture in the Arab world , The Jerusalem Post, 22 May 2019
The Harm Done for White Men , Rolling Stone/Medium, 21 May 2019
"Nunca tuvo intención de efectuar" el aborto legal , Pagina 12 (Argentina), 21 May 2019
Why I Left the Pro-Life Movement , Human Parts, 20 May 2019
Is the World Really Overpopulated? , Gizmodo, 20 May 2019
Fix the climate with smaller families , The Hill, 20 May 2019
Family planning is a basic human right , Daily Times (Pakistan), 18 May 2019
What Does It Really Mean to Be 6 Weeks Pregnant? , The New York Times, 18 May 2019
How Booming Population Is Challenging Africa , Bloomberg Businessweek, 17 May 2019
5 Ways to Help Support Reproductive Rights , Now This News, 17 May 2019
States with Abortion Bans Have Few Female Lawmakers , Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire, 16 May 2019
How Banning Abortion Will Transform America , Project Syndicate, 15 May 2019
Flora’s family planning mission to save mothers , The National (Papua New Guinea), 15 May 2019
Hollywood Reacts to Georgia Abortion Law , Color Lines, 13 May 2019
Family planning facilities still elusive for thousands , The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 10 May 2019
Abortion Is a Labor Issue , Splinter, 9 May 2019
Make modern family planning available to all , Financial Times, 8 May 2019
USA – You have to laugh or you’ll cry , International Campaign for Women’s Right to Safe Abortion, 8 May 2019
The 7 Best Condoms , Bustle, 7 May 2019
Why midwives should stand up and fight for women's rights, Thomson Reuters Foundation, 5 May 2019
Panel: Abortion Providers Are People, Too, MedPage Today, 4 May 2019
The Heartbreak of Alabama’s New Abortion Bill, Rolling Stone/Medium, 3 May 2019
HHS Issues Final 'Conscience Clause' Rule, MedPage Today, 2 May 2019
Reproductive Health Professionals Changing Lives