Global Pulse Blog

Today, the second annual International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP)  in Dakar, Senegal began. This conference is co-hosted by The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Ministry of Health and Prevention in Senegal to bring together participants to share research, best practices, and progress on national strategies to deliver family planning services, with the ultimate goal of universal access to family planning.

Currently, over 215 million women worldwide want but do not have access to family planning tools. “We’ve made a lot of progress in putting maternal health on the global agenda; now we must call on leaders to put family planning on their to-do list. Every individual deserves this – women, men, and young people,” said Jill Sheffield, President and Founder of Women Deliver.

These speakers reinforced the importance of the demographic dividend – the concept that health and social development, enabled by full access to contraception, are inextricably linked with strong economic growth. They provide examples of success in Asia, where declining fertility, spurred by rising contraceptive use, have led to increased education, improved health, and market-driven economic policies which have allowed for significant income growth.  With an expanded world population of over seven billion, “Now is the time to prioritize family planning – as a strategy to reduce maternal mortality, to improve the lives of women and their families, and ultimately, to enable broad and enduring economic development,” said Dr. Amy Tsui, Director of the Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a lead conference organizer.

To proceed into the future, investments must be made in the health sector maintaining adequate numbers of midwives, OB/GYNs, facilities, etc. and examining past successes around the globe. As Hon. Stephen O’Brien stated, “having a child should bring joy” not dying in childbirth and women must be able to plan for the future. Family planning is smart and cost-effective. As Dr. Osotimehin stated, we must empower young people to take control of their futures along with the future of their countries and make sure that economic and social justice drives this process. Issues of family planning are issues of human rights.

According to Judy Manning from USAID, their priorities include: 1) Improve existing methods to make them more acceptable, easier to use and more affordable like injectable forms of contraceptives. 2) Develop new contraceptives to fill gaps such as duration of effectiveness between 3 month injectables and 5 year inserted rings. 3) Develop technologies that simultaneously prevent pregnancy, HIV & other STDs like the silk diaphragm which delivers tenofovir.

Clearly there is an immense need for family planning access, affordability, and effectiveness. Fortunately, there are also attainable solutions. Meetings such as ICFP brings together a wealth of scientific knowledge, family planning experience, and critical discussions to help ensure that universal access to family planning becomes a reality.

Figure 1.

For the first time in the 15 year-long search for an HIV prevention method that women can control, a vaginal microbicide gel called Viread has been shown to decrease the risk of HIV infection by as much as 54%.  Even though the microbicide does not prevent transmission in every woman who uses it, this is the first promising tool that women are able to use without the cooperation of the male partner.  This is an important consideration most of the new HIV infections in women living in Africa were acquired through forced sex with infected men who refuse to wear condoms. Women and girls represent 60 percent of the 22 million people infected with HIV living in Africa.

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If a pharmaceutical company produced an HIV vaccine that gave up to 40% protection against HIV transmission in men, it would be a pretty big breakthrough, wouldn’t it?  It turns out that there actually is something that can give men substantial protection against HIV transmission- circumcision! Studies have shown that circumcision gives men 44% protection compared to uncircumcised men (up to 70% more protection for men considered ‘high risk’, i.e. if they already  have STIs).  The study (read about it here) was conducted in Uganda.  They actually stopped the study early because the results were so dramatic that it was unethical to keep an uncircumcised control group.

However in the world of HIV/AIDS prevention, this information is INCREDIBLY UNDERUTILIZED!!!  Very few people are talking about circumcision as a protective measure for men against HIV, and that has to change.

Let me give you a real life example of how circumcision can reduce HIV rates.  In Mozambique, the coast is predominately Muslim, while the interior of the country tends to be Christian.  The Muslims also practice circumcision while their Christian counterparts do not.  If you look at a map of HIV/AIDS rates by district in Mozambique, there is a noticeably lower infection rate along the coast.  One major hypothesis for this is that people on the coast tend to be circumcised.

What should you take away from this story? Circumcision is an incredibly effective yet underutilized tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  Do your best to promote education about the benefits of circumcision!!

Brought to you by Linda and Friends @ Chicago Women’s AIDS Project (CWAP) & In Celebration of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day…

We are excited to invite you to: 

“Each One Teach One” 

What: A training day for all women and girls (high school-age and over) focused on how to be: A Female Condom Advocate and Involved in Sex Education Activism!

Sponsored by: Chicago Women’s AIDS Project (CWAP), Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH), PEARLS, and Global Girls!!! 

Who:  All women and girls (aged 14+)

When:  Saturday, March 21st, 10am-3pm

Where: Gary Comer Youth Center (http://www.gcychome.org/)

7200 S. Ingleside Chicago 60619  

Contact Information:

*RSVP to 773-271-2242

*Susan Lewis: slewis@globalpulsejournal.com 

*Linda Arnade, Chicago Women’s AIDS Project (CWAP) Advocacy and Support Service Coordinator

Office Phone: 773-271-2242 ext. 203

Work Cell: 773-329-3941

Fax: 773-271-2618

E-mail: larnadecwap@gmail.com  

Pope Benedict XVI is on a tour trip to Africa, his first visit to the continent. On Wednesday, he refused to soften the Vatican’s ban on condoms:

The pontiff reiterated the Vatican’s policy on condom use as he flew from Rome to Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, CNN Vatican analyst John Allen said.

Pope Benedict has always made it clear he intends to uphold the traditional Catholic teaching on artificial contraception — a “clear moral prohibition” — Allen said. But his remarks Tuesday were among the first times he stated the policy explicitly since he became pope nearly four years ago.

He has, however, assembled a panel of scientists and theologians to consider the narrow question of whether to allow condoms for married couples, one of whom has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Unbelievable. I understand, and respect, the argument about not using contraception for birth control, save for abstinence. However, assembling a debate to “consider whether to allow condoms for married couples is a bit difficult for me to understand. There are a myriad of ethical questions, but the thought of a married couple who know their partner has HIV/AIDS, and are sexually active, NOT using condoms based on a religious notion seems like a throwback to the Dark Ages.

What do you think?