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

Thirty years ago, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), kept in Cairo, Egypt, highlighted the right of all individuals to achieve the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO released a reproductive health method – ratified by 191 Member States at the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly – that strengthened the midpoint of SRHR to societies and economies (Resolution WHA57.12). These structures are grounded in gender equality and acknowledge the imperishable importance of sexual health in attaining health for all.

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

– improving antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

– offering household preparation services

– eliminating risky abortion

– combatting sexually transferred infections (STIs).

– promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 additional informed SRHR policies and assisting documents in a number of regions and Member States. For instance, Latin America’s 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa’s Maputo Plan of Action from 2016 (structure upon the original 2006 strategy) both consist of language and concepts strengthening and upholding SRHR.

” The global 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 essential in contributing to guiding research top priorities and working with nations to develop beneficial resources to make sure detailed SRHR across the life course.”

Significant development has been made over the last twenty years within each of the five pillars, consisting of 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 fallen by 38% considering that 2010 alone, due in part to the Strategy’s focus on removing 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, significantly advancing efforts to remove cervical cancer as a public health threat.

– Prioritizing family preparation services and contraception access caused WHO’s Family planning: a global handbook for suppliers referral guide, which has been distributed over a million times. Accordingly, the percentage of females utilizing modern-day contraceptive techniques increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a larger 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 enhanced worldwide access to abortion, and over 60 countries have liberalized abortion laws in the previous 30 years in line with proof 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 produce essential clinical proof on SRHR that has actually contributed to some of these shifts. “A few of the excellent advances that we have actually 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 methodical generation of proof over these previous 2 years,” she said.

Despite early gains, however, current years have actually seen signs of stagnancy. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal death rate come by 34% worldwide – but a 2023 report discovered that development has mainly stalled considering that. The worrisome trend was illustrated during a current event showcasing worldwide datasets on the advancement of SRHR because ICPD. High maternal mortality rates persist in a couple of countries and sexual health concerns, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are or normalized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, researcher at WHO and HRP, noted in a recent commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR agenda stays unfinished and in some circumstances has actually regressed due to geopolitical tensions, financial recessions, the international food crisis, climate change, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging chances to catalyse development – for instance, by enhancing human rights-based methods in SRHR and embedding concepts like non-discrimination, including in crisis circumstances. Improving health systems with a main health-care technique can improve equity and expand access to extensive SRHR services. New innovations and alternative service delivery techniques can improve SRHR by broadening access, option and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus areas within SRHR include research on the transformative role of expert system and ingenious birth control techniques, more work on enhancing health systems, and the sustaining prioritization of positive pregnancy and giving birth experiences.

At a wider level, Dr Allotey called for a continued emphasis on the foundational significance of SRHR. “Sexual and reproductive health should never ever be relegated to the margins of healthcare, however acknowledged as crucial for the general well-being of individuals and the communities in which they live,” she said.