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

Thirty years earlier, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), kept in Cairo, Egypt, underscored the right of all people to accomplish the highest standard 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 recognize the value of sexual health in accomplishing health for all.

WHO scientists dealt with Member States, civil society and communities throughout all regions to operationalize a Global Strategy to cover the 5 key pillars for improving SRHR:

– enhancing antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

– supplying household planning services

– getting rid of risky abortion

– combatting sexually transferred infections (STIs).

– promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 more informed SRHR policies and guiding files in several regions and Member States. For instance, Latin America’s 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa’s Maputo Plan of Action from 2016 (building upon the initial 2006 strategy) both consist of language and ideas enhancing and upholding SRHR.

” The global strategy is the fundamental policy file that centres WHO’s required 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 crucial in contributing to assisting research priorities and working with countries to develop beneficial resources to ensure comprehensive SRHR across the life course.”

Significant development has been made over the last 20 years within each of the 5 pillars, consisting of these examples.

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

– As of March 2022, 60% of WHO Member States have included the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in their routine immunization schedules, greatly advancing efforts to remove cervical cancer as a public health threat.

– Prioritizing family planning services and birth control access led to WHO’s Family planning: an international handbook for suppliers referral guide, which has actually been disseminated over a million times. Accordingly, the proportion of women utilizing modern-day contraceptive methods increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a broader series of contraceptive choices is now available.

A 2020 research study discovered that there has been an around the world reduction in unintended pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion routines have actually enhanced international access to abortion, and over 60 nations have liberalized abortion laws in the past thirty years in line with proof on the value of such efforts to make sure the health of ladies and teen women.

Professor Kate Gilmore, co-chair of the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Panel of HRP, credited the Strategy and WHO for assisting create essential clinical evidence on SRHR that has contributed to some of these shifts. “Some of the fantastic advances that we’ve seen – including the method civil society has actually used up the cause to argue for access to safe and legal abortion – are because of the Strategy and the methodical generation of proof over these past 20 years,” she said.

Despite early gains, however, recent years have seen signs of stagnancy. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal death rate dropped by 34% around the world – but a 2023 report found that progress has actually largely stalled because. The uneasy pattern was highlighted throughout a current event showcasing global datasets on the development of SRHR because ICPD. High maternal death rates continue in a few countries and sexual health issues, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are typically ignored or stabilized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, researcher at WHO and HRP, noted in a recent commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR program remains unfinished and in some instances has fallen back due to geopolitical stress, economic recessions, the global food crisis, climate change, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging chances to catalyse development – for example, by enhancing human rights-based approaches in SRHR and embedding principles like non-discrimination, including in crisis situations. Improving health systems with a primary health-care approach can enhance equity and broaden access to comprehensive SRHR services. New technologies and alternative service delivery approaches can enhance SRHR by expanding access, option and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus areas within SRHR include research study on the transformative role of expert system and innovative contraception approaches, further work on strengthening health systems, and the withstanding prioritization of favorable pregnancy and giving birth experiences.

At a broader level, Dr Allotey called for a continued focus on the foundational significance of SRHR. “Sexual and reproductive health must never ever be relegated to the margins of healthcare, but acknowledged as vital for the total wellness of individuals and the neighborhoods in which they live,” she said.