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Meeting the Development and Health Needs of 215 Million Women: U.S. International Family Planning Goals
April 1, 2010
U.S. international family planning assistance is one of the great success stories in the history of U.S. development assistance. Unfortunately a large and growing need for family planning remains in many developing nations. While the world population continues to grow by 79 million people annually, 215 million women in developing countries seek to postpone childbearing, space births, or stop having children, but are not using a modern method of contraception. The United States can lead international efforts to meet the unmet need for family planning by appropriating $1 billion annually.
Why Family Planning and Reproductive Health are Critical to the Well-Being of Youth
October 23, 2009
An unprecedented number of young people are entering their reproductive years, most of whom live in the developing world. U.S. policymakers should assist in effort to ensure that youth worldwide are able to make informed decisions about their sexuality and receive the family planning and reproductive health care that they require. The U.S. should support these efforts by providing adequate funding for international family planning and reproductive health programs.
The Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage
November 19, 2008
Women now account for half of the 33 million people living with HIV around the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, home to two-thirds of the world's people living with HIV, women are even harder hit, making up 60 percent of those infected. Not only are women biologically more susceptible than men to HIV, many behavioral and social factors play into women's vulnerability.
A Measure of Survival
October 15, 2007
Pregnancy and childbirth are deadly to more than half a million women worldwide every year a fact that is unacceptable, but not unavoidable. Despite twenty years of campaigning to improve their sexual and reproductive health, the risk of dying in pregnancy or childbirth continues to show the largest gap between the rich and poor of all development statistics. That so little progress has been made in helping the world's poorest women survive pregnancy and childbirth should serve as a wake-up call to all of us.
Family Planning - A Crucial Intervention for HIV-positive Women
May 1, 2007
Each year, over 600,000 children around the world are infected with HIV through mother-to-child-transmission, totaling 2.3 million children living with HIV or AIDS today. The majority of these infections is occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and are acquired from mothers during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. While programs to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother-to-child (PMTCT) are invaluable, they currently are reaching only an estimated five percent of the HIV-positive population.
How Family Planning Protects the Health of Women and Children
May 1, 2006
Family planning dramatically improves the health and chances of survival of both women and their children. At the same time, when parents are more confident their children will survive, they are more likely to have fewer children and plan the size of their families. U.S. international development and humanitarian assistance should support both child health and family planning programs as complementary initiatives.
How Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services is Key to the MDGs
September 1, 2005
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) offer precise targets for reducing poverty and promoting global development, but they remain incomplete if they do not build from and incorporate the objectives of other major international agreements, particularly those reached at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing). At the 2005 World Summit and in the years leading to the 2015 milestone, the sexual and reproductive health community is taking every opportunity to advance this message: universal access to sexual and reproductive health services is essential to achieving the MDGs.
Contraceptive Use Helps Reduce the Incidence of Abortion
August 1, 2005
Nearly 80 million unintended pregnancies occur worldwide every year. More than half of these pregnancies end in abortion, often in countries where abortion is illegal and access to contraception is limited. Access to voluntary family planning services, including contraception, is essential in helping to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and, consequently, the incidence of abortion.
How Reproductive Health Services and Supplies Are Key to HIV/AIDS Prevention
June 1, 2004
Sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, are among the most important elements of the global effort to contain the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through a well-established infrastructure, they help provide the supplies, education and information that are known to be effective in preventing the spread of infection.
Why Condoms Count in the Era of HIV/AIDS
June 1, 2004
In 2007, more than 6,800 people became infected with HIV every day, and new HIV infections outnumbered persons receiving treatment by nearly 3 to 1. Comprehensive HIV prevention-including both condoms and contraceptives-must become a top priority in the continued fight against HIV and AIDS. Because most HIV epidemics are fueled by sexual transmission of the virus, behavior change-including condom use-is critical to stemming the number of new infections.
