1 Sexual and Reproductive Health for All: twenty Years of The Global Strategy
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Thirty years ago, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), kept in Cairo, Egypt, underscored the right of all individuals to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO released a reproductive health strategy - ratified by 191 Member States at the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly - that strengthened the centrality of SRHR to societies and economies (Resolution WHA57.12). These frameworks are grounded in gender equality and recognize the unchanging value of sexual health in accomplishing health for all.

WHO researchers worked with Member States, civil society and neighborhoods across all areas to operationalize a Global Strategy to cover the 5 key pillars for improving SRHR:
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- enhancing antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care
- providing household planning services
- getting rid of hazardous abortion
- fighting sexually transferred infections (STIs).
- promoting sexual health.


Resolution WHA57.12 further notified SRHR policies and directing documents in numerous areas and Member States. For instance, Latin America's 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa's Maputo Strategy from 2016 (structure upon the original 2006 plan) both consist of language and ideas enhancing and maintaining SRHR.

" The international strategy is the fundamental policy document that centres WHO's required for sexual and reproductive health to date," said 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 guiding research top priorities and dealing with nations to establish helpful resources to make sure thorough SRHR across the life course."

Significant progress has been made over the last twenty years within each of the five pillars, consisting of these examples.

- The Global strategy happened as the world was reeling from the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Today, the number of people obtaining HIV has fallen by 38% since 2010 alone, due in part to the Strategy's emphasis on removing STIs including HIV.
- As of March 2022, 60% of WHO Member States have actually consisted of the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in their routine immunization schedules, greatly advancing efforts to remove cervical cancer as a public health danger.
- Prioritizing family planning services and contraception gain access to caused WHO's Family preparation: a global handbook for service providers reference guide, which has been shared over a million times. Accordingly, the percentage of females using modern contraceptive techniques increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a wider variety of contraceptive choices is now available.
A 2020 study discovered that there has been an around the world decrease in unintended pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion regimens have actually enhanced worldwide access to abortion, and over 60 countries have liberalized abortion laws in the previous thirty years in line with evidence on the significance of such efforts to make sure 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 assisting generate crucial scientific proof on SRHR that has actually added to some of these shifts. "Some of the fantastic advances that we have actually seen - consisting of the way 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 evidence over these previous 2 years," she said.

Despite early gains, nevertheless, current years have seen signs of stagnation. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal death rate stopped by 34% worldwide - but a 2023 report discovered that development has actually mostly stalled given that. The uneasy trend was highlighted during a current occasion showcasing international datasets on the development of SRHR given that ICPD. High maternal death rates continue in a few countries and sexual health concerns, such as endometriosis, and sexual erectile dysfunction, are frequently ignored or normalized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, scientist at WHO and HRP, noted in a current commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR agenda stays incomplete and in some circumstances has fallen back due to geopolitical tensions, economic slumps, the worldwide food crisis, climate modification, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging chances to catalyse progress - for instance, by improving human rights-based techniques in SRHR and embedding concepts like non-discrimination, including in crisis situations. Improving health systems with a main health-care method can enhance equity and broaden access to detailed SRHR services. New technologies and alternative service shipment methods can enhance SRHR by broadening gain access to, option and autonomy.
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Other future-looking focus locations within SRHR consist of research study on the transformative role of synthetic intelligence and innovative birth control techniques, more work on enhancing health systems, and the enduring prioritization of positive pregnancy and childbirth experiences.

At a more comprehensive level, Dr Allotey required an ongoing emphasis on the fundamental significance of SRHR. "Sexual and reproductive health should never be relegated to the margins of healthcare, however acknowledged as crucial for the general wellness of people and the neighborhoods in which they live," she stated.