Up against eugenics: disabled women's challenge to receive reproductive health services.

The HIV epidemic has changed the face of women's reproductive health across southern Africa. In some circles, there have been calls for restrictions on women's reproductive rights, focusing particularly on the spread of HIV between sexual partners and from mother to child. However, during the past decade, public health attention and resources for the clinical care of HIV-infected individuals living in Africa have led to advances in women's reproductive health services. As many programs have recognized that effective HIV care and treatment services must link to other areas of primary care, key reproductive health services such as those providing contraception and barrier methods are commonly integrated into antiretroviral therapy services. In much of the region, this programmatic focus has helped increase attention on the ground to women's reproductive rights. However, in many settings, policies explicitly supporting the reproductive rights of HIV-infected women have lagged. Important gaps remain both in policy development and in the design, evaluation, and implementation of interventions promoting women's reproductive health and rights at the service delivery level.

In Ethiopia, violation of women's reproductive rights is both a cause and a manifestation of women's disempowerment. Obstacles to full realisation of Ethiopian women's reproductive health and rights include the persistence of harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, early marriage and abduction, as well as the disturbing prevalence of rape and HIV/AIDS. Unsafe abortion represents a particularly serious threat to women's health and lives. Ethiopia's status as a signatory to the Convention to Eliminate all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and its constitutional guarantee of women's equality demand more aggressive action to eradicate such practices and inequities. After years of lobbying by women's organisations, parliamentarians are now reviewing a draft of the 1957 penal code, which includes numerous provisions addressing some of these practices and other conditions that underlie women's poor social and health status.

Women's health challenges in post-revolutionary Egypt

The primary role of the Military Health System is to assure readiness by protecting the health of the force by providing expert care to wounded, ill, and injured service members. In addition to this mission, the Military Health System (both directly through its own personnel and indirectly, through TRICARE) provides health services to millions of military family members, retirees, and their dependents. Women's preventive health services are an important part of comprehensive health care to reduce rates of disease and premature death and were included in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's (ACA) expanded coverage of women's preventive health services, based on the best available evidence and guidelines. These guidelines were updated by the Health Resources and Services Administrations and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2016. However, TRICARE is not subject to the ACA, and therefore, TRICARE's provisions or the access of TRICARE's female beneficiaries to women's preventive health services was not directly changed by the ACA. This report compares women's reproductive health care coverage under TRICARE with coverage available to women enrolled in civilian health insurance plans subject to the 2010 ACA. Three recommendations are proposed to ensure that women who are TRICARE beneficiaries have access to and receive preventive reproductive health services that are consistent with Health Resources and Services Administration recommendations as implemented in the ACA. Each recommendation has strengths and weaknesses that are described in detail in the body of this paper. In covering contraceptive drugs and devices, TRICARE appears to reflect the scope of coverage found in ACA-compliant plans but, by not incorporating the term "all FDA-approved methods" of contraception, TRICARE leaves open the possibility that a narrower definition could be adopted at a future date. There are important differences in how TRICARE and ACA-compliant plans address reproductive counseling and health screening, including TRICARE's more restrictive counseling benefit and some limits to preventive screening. By not aligning with policies related to the provision of clinical preventive services established under the ACA, TRICARE allows health care providers in purchased care to diverge from evidence-based guidelines. Although the ACA respects medical judgment when providing women's preventive services, standards restrict the extent to which health care systems and providers can depart from evidence-based screening and prevention guidelines essential to optimizing quality, cost, and patient outcomes.

In low-income and middle-income countries, such as those in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the COVID-19 pandemic has had substantial implications for women's wellbeing. Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the gendered aspect of pandemics; however, addressing the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic comprehensively and effectively requires a planetary health perspective that embraces systems thinking to inequalities. This Viewpoint is based on collective reflections from research done by the authors on COVID-19 responses by international and regional organisations, and national governments, in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa between June, 2020, and June, 2021. A range of international and regional actors have made important policy recommendations to address the gendered implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's health and wellbeing since the start of the pandemic. However, national-level policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been partial and inconsistent with regards to gender in both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, largely failing to recognise the multiple drivers of gendered health inequalities. This Viewpoint proposes that addressing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in low-income and middle-income countries should adopt a systems thinking approach and be informed by the question of who is affected as opposed to who is infected. In adopting the systems thinking approach, responses will be more able to recognise and address the direct gendered effects of the pandemic and those that emerge indirectly through a combination of long-standing structural inequalities and gendered responses to the pandemic.

Abstract: Women's reproductive health issues are important and there are still obstacles in raising women's awareness of these issues.One of the efforts to overcome these obstacles is through social media, including Instagram. The Instagram account @blood.indonesia is the focus of this study which specifically raises the issue of women's reproductive health through educational content. This study aims to reveal audience framing related to reproductive health on the @blood.indonesia Instagram account. The research method used is qualitative research with an audience framing analysis approach. The results of this study identified four frames used by audiences, namely women's health frames, reproductive health knowledge and awareness frames, social construction frames, and media credibility frames. This research provides a deeper understanding of how audiences frame women's reproductive health issues on the Instagram platform. The results of this study can provide insights for practitioners and social media account managers in developing more effective communication strategies to increase women's reproductive health awareness and knowledge. This study contributes to broader education efforts related to women's reproductive health and the importance of providing access to accessible and accurate information.Abstrak: Isu-isu kesehatan reproduksi perempuan merupakan isu yang penting dan masih terkendala dalam meningkatkan kesadaran perempuan terhadap isu ini. Salah satu upaya untuk mengatasi kendala tersebut dilakukan melalui media sosial, termasuk Instagram. Akun Instagram @blood.indonesia menjadi fokus penelitian ini yang secara khusus mengangkat isu kesehatan reproduksi perempuan melalui konten-konten edukatif. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan pembingkaian audiens terkait kesehatan reproduksi pada akun Instagram @blood.indonesia. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan analisis framing audiens. Hasil penelitian ini mengidentifikasi empat frame yang digunakan oleh audiens, yaitu frame kesehatan perempuan, frame pengetahuan dan kesadaran kesehatan reproduksi, frame konstruksi sosial, dan frame kredibilitas media. Penelitian ini memberikan pemahaman yang lebih dalam tentang cara audiens membingkai isu kesehatan reproduksi perempuan pada platform Instagram. Hasil penelitian ini dapat memberikan wawasan bagi para praktisi dan pengelola akun media sosial dalam mengembangkan strategi komunikasi yang lebih efektif untuk meningkatkan kesadaran dan pengetahuan kesehatan reproduksi perempuan. Penelitian ini berkontribusi pada upaya pengedukasian yang lebih luas terkait kesehatan reproduksi perempuan dan pentingnya memberikan akses informasi yang mudah dijangkau dan akurat.

Offline: Gender and global health—an inexcusable global failure

“One is not born, but rather becomes, woman.” So wrote Simone de Beauvoir in her landmark 1949 book, The Second Sex. De Beauvoir's statement still remains an important principle for women and health. March 8 marks International Women's Day—a day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women worldwide. But International Women's Day also signals a moment to reflect not only on what has been achieved, but also what remains to be done. And there is, indeed, much more to be done if the goal of gender equity, Sustainable Development Goal 5, is to be won.

Towards evidence to secure reproductive rights

Reproductive and sexual health rights: 15 years after the International Conference on Population and Development

Kampung Sayang Ibu Anak (KSIA) is a program that aims to improve the quality of maternal and child health. One of the efforts made in KSIA is through the role of ambassador for breastfeeding and women's reproductive health. This research aims to analyze efforts to improve the quality of KSIA health through breastfeeding and women's reproductive health ambassadors in Kiarapedes Village, Purwakarta Regency, Indonesia. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. The data collection techniques used were in-depth interviews, observation and documentation. Data were analyzed using the Miles and Huberman model, namely data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The research results show that efforts to improve the quality of KSIA health through breastfeeding and women's reproductive health ambassadors in Kiarapedes Village have gone well. Ambassadors for breastfeeding and women's reproductive health have played an active role in providing education, counseling and assistance to pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and adolescent girls. The education and counseling provided by breastfeeding and women's reproductive health ambassadors has increased the knowledge and understanding of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and adolescent girls about exclusive breastfeeding and women's reproductive health. In addition, the assistance provided by breastfeeding and women's reproductive health ambassadors has increased the self-confidence and ability of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and adolescent girls to care for themselves and their families. In conclusion, efforts to improve the quality of KSIA health through breastfeeding and women's reproductive health ambassadors have had a positive impact on increasing knowledge, understanding, self-confidence and abilities of pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and adolescent girls.

The role of schools is an important factor in shaping human civilization. The phenomenon of the high number of high school marriages in Wonosobo with all the social changes that surround it, until 2019 marriages under the age of 19 (nineteen) years there were 430 cases including marriage dispensation. The Merried By Accident (MBA) case dominates all of these cases. The focus of this research is the analysis of the role of school in child marriage and women's reproductive rights, two things that influence each other and whether women's reproductive health rights include the right to abortion and to refuse pregnancy which often occurs in society. This study uses qualitative research by conducting in-depth interviews and discussion group forums which are analyzed and described using a symbolic interactionism approach. The results of the study found that there was a shift in the meaning of marriage for high school children, the high number of cases of child marriage was dominated by changes in social behavior and adolescent relationships, so that pregnancy before marriage led to dropping out of school. Women's reproductive health rights are especially not ready to give birth, take care of children so that the life cycle after giving birth to children does not get serious attention, and it is not uncommon for domestic violence (KDRT) to be a way out to solve problems that cause divorce at a young age. The role of schools has not shown significant results because there is almost no curriculum in schools that requires provisions about marriage. The ideal school role is in the form of providing early marriage education and reproductive health, having an effective school fee subsidy, providing regular health services, and motivating students in the spirit of learning at school.

Objectives: This paper examines the historical and political processes in which women's health emerged as a framework of reproduction issues, and asserts the concept of women's reproductive health is a hard-won and valuable achievement. The author also explores the challenges and prospects in Korean society when pregnancy and childbirth are viewed from the perspective of concern for women's health. Methods: The paper reviews the literature on reproduction, and documents published by international organizations on reproductive health. Reproductive Health Indicators in Korea are compared with international indices. Results: Women's reproductive health in Korea has been seriously neglected due to the emphasis on economic efficiency as it is defined in neoliberal ideology, and the lack of governance of new technologies. Though the maternal mortality ratio is on the rise, and neonatal health indicators have deteriorated as well, policies on reproductive health in Korea are still dominated by the logic of population control. Conclusions: There is an urgent need for Korea to take a more holistic approach to women's health; an approach encompassing physical, psychological, personal and social health issues, together. The current health status of Korean women should be identified as a first step, and the results taken into account in making population policies. Plans and policies should reflect the needs of contemporary Korean women, and feminist activists should actively engage in the process.

For most of human existence and in most societies, women have been considered to be property and subject to men. Throughout history, with such notable exceptions as Queen Boadicea, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth I of England, and Catherine the Great of Russia, women had little or no power until early in the 20th century when the women's suffrage movement was successful in the United States and in some European countries. As women have gained political rights, groups of women have sought sexual and reproductive rights, as exemplified by the feminist movement of the past few decades in the United States. Although marked strides toward achievement of reproductive choice have been taken in high-income countries, there remain major strictures to reproductive freedom for women in low-income countries. This area, which is replete with ethical and moral issues, has been addressed by the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF), which has worked to improve the sexual and reproductive health of women throughout the world. The IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights is a paradigm for both women's rights and human rights. Karen Newman is policy adviser with the IPPF and has codrafted the IPPF Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights together with two lawyers. She has held several positions within the IPPF, including medical researcher, press officer, and programme adviser in Europe, where she had responsibility for working with new family planning associations (FPAs) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At present, she is working to increase the capacity of IPPF member FPAs to undertake human rights-based advocacy for sexual and reproductive health and rights. Judith F. Helzner is director of Sexual and Reproductive Health at International Planned Parenthood Federation/Western Hemisphere Region, Inc., where she has worked since 1987. She holds M.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in International Relations and Demography. Her previous employment includes the Pathfinder Fund and the International Women's Health Coalition.

Canadian Contraception Consensus (Part 2 of 4).