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

Thirty years earlier, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt, highlighted the right of all individuals to accomplish the greatest standard of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO published a reproductive health strategy – ratified 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 frameworks are grounded in gender equality and recognize the constant significance of sexual health in achieving health for all.

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

– improving antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

– providing household planning services

– removing risky abortion

– combatting sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

– promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 more notified SRHR policies and assisting documents in a number of areas and Member States. For instance, Latin America’s 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa’s Maputo Strategy from 2016 (building upon the initial 2006 strategy) both include language and concepts strengthening and maintaining SRHR.

” The worldwide strategy is the fundamental policy file that centres WHO’s required for sexual and reproductive health to date,” stated Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the UN Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) and WHO’s Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. “The text remains crucial in adding to assisting research study priorities and dealing with nations to establish beneficial resources to guarantee thorough SRHR throughout the life course.”

Significant progress has actually been made over the last 20 years within each of the five pillars, including these examples.

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

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

– Prioritizing household preparation services and birth control gain access to caused WHO’s Family planning: a global handbook for providers recommendation guide, which has actually been disseminated over a million times. Accordingly, the proportion of women utilizing contemporary contraceptive methods increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a wider variety of contraceptive choices is now available.

A 2020 research study found that there has been an around the world decline in unexpected pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion regimens have actually enhanced global access to abortion, and over 60 nations have actually liberalized abortion laws in the past thirty years in line with evidence on the significance of such efforts to guarantee the health of ladies and adolescent girls.

Professor Kate Gilmore, co-chair of the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Panel of HRP, credited the Strategy and WHO for helping create essential scientific proof on SRHR that has contributed to some of these shifts. “Some of the great advances that we’ve seen – consisting of the method civil society has taken up the cause to argue for access to safe and legal abortion – are due to the Strategy and the systematic generation of evidence over these previous 20 years,” she said.

Despite early gains, nevertheless, current years have actually seen signs of stagnation. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal mortality rate visited 34% around the world – but a 2023 report found that progress has actually mostly stalled since. The worrisome pattern was shown during a recent occasion showcasing worldwide datasets on the advancement of SRHR considering that ICPD. High maternal death rates persist in a few nations and sexual health concerns, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are typically neglected 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 agenda remains incomplete and in some instances has fallen back due to geopolitical tensions, financial declines, the international food crisis, climate modification, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging opportunities to catalyse development – for instance, by improving human rights-based methods in SRHR and embedding concepts like non-discrimination, including in crisis circumstances. Improving health systems with a primary health-care technique can boost equity and expand access to thorough SRHR services. New technologies and alternative service delivery methods can enhance SRHR by expanding access, option and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus locations within SRHR consist of research on the transformative role of artificial intelligence and innovative birth control methods, further work on reinforcing health systems, and the enduring prioritization of favorable pregnancy and .

At a wider level, Dr Allotey required a continued emphasis on the fundamental value of SRHR. “Sexual and reproductive health need to never be relegated to the margins of healthcare, but recognized as important for the overall wellness of people and the communities in which they live,” she said.