Sexual and Reproductive Health for All: 20 Years of The Global Strategy

Thirty years back, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt, underscored the right of all people to accomplish the greatest requirement of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO published a reproductive health strategy – validated by 191 Member States at the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly – that reinforced the centrality of SRHR to societies and economies (Resolution WHA57.12). These structures are grounded in gender equality and acknowledge the imperishable value of sexual health in achieving health for all.

WHO researchers worked with Member States, civil society and communities throughout all areas to operationalize an International Strategy to cover the five key pillars for improving SRHR:

– improving antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

– offering household preparation services

– getting rid of unsafe abortion

– fighting sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

– promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 additional informed SRHR policies and directing documents in a number of areas and Member States. For instance, Latin America’s 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa’s Maputo Plan of Action from 2016 (structure upon the initial 2006 plan) both include language and ideas reinforcing and promoting SRHR.

 » The worldwide strategy is the fundamental policy file that centres WHO’s mandate for sexual and reproductive health to date, » said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the UN Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) and WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. « The text stays essential in contributing to directing research concerns and dealing with countries to establish helpful resources to make sure detailed SRHR across the life course. »

Significant development has been made over the last twenty years within each of the 5 pillars, including these examples.

– The Global strategy came about as the world was reeling from the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Today, the number of people acquiring HIV has actually fallen by 38% because 2010 alone, due in part to the Strategy’s emphasis on getting rid of STIs consisting of HIV.

– As of March 2022, 60% of WHO Member States have consisted of the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in their regular immunization schedules, considerably advancing efforts to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health risk.

– Prioritizing family preparation services and birth control access resulted in WHO’s Family planning: a global handbook for companies referral guide, which has been distributed over a million times. Accordingly, the percentage of females using modern-day contraceptive methods increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a larger variety of contraceptive alternatives is now readily available.

A 2020 study found that there has actually been a worldwide decrease in unintended pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion regimens have actually improved global access to abortion, and over 60 nations have liberalized abortion laws in the past thirty years in line with evidence on the value of such efforts to make sure the health of females and teen women.

Professor Kate Gilmore, co-chair of the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Panel of HRP, credited the Strategy and WHO for helping create important clinical proof on SRHR that has added to some of these shifts. « A few of the excellent advances that we’ve seen – consisting of the way civil society has actually used up the cause to argue for access to safe and legal abortion – are due to the Strategy and the organized generation of evidence over these past 20 years, » she said.

Despite early gains, nevertheless, current years have seen indications of stagnation. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal death rate come by 34% worldwide – however a 2023 report discovered that development has actually mostly stalled because. The worrisome pattern was highlighted throughout a recent occasion showcasing worldwide datasets on the development of SRHR given that ICPD. High maternal death rates persist in a few nations and sexual health problems, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are typically overlooked or normalized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, at WHO and HRP, kept in mind in a current commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR agenda remains incomplete and in some instances has regressed due to geopolitical tensions, economic declines, the worldwide food crisis, environment modification, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging opportunities to catalyse development – for example, by enhancing human rights-based methods in SRHR and embedding concepts like non-discrimination, including in crisis situations. Improving health systems with a main health-care technique can enhance equity and expand access to comprehensive SRHR services. New innovations and alternative service delivery methods can improve SRHR by broadening gain access to, choice and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus locations within SRHR include research on the transformative role of expert system and innovative birth control techniques, more work on strengthening health systems, and the sustaining prioritization of favorable pregnancy and giving birth experiences.

At a broader level, Dr Allotey required a continued focus on the fundamental value of SRHR. « Sexual and reproductive health need to never ever be relegated to the margins of healthcare, but acknowledged as crucial for the total wellness of people and the neighborhoods in which they live, » she stated.