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by Maria Dieter, Associate Content Manager, PSI @MariaDeets Ritika Yadav* sat facing her husband, Pradip. They were mid- conversation, speaking quietly as they sat in their home in the ancient, bustling city of Patna, India. “I’m …” Ritika was interrupted by her children playing a game in the next room, screaming with glee. She waited […]

Abortion was legalized in Cambodia in 1997, but remains somewhat stigmatized. As abortion became more widely available, abortion services were monitored for quality, such as whether women are receiving sufficient counseling. However, a women’s satisfaction in her experience is also an important measure of quality. PSI/Cambodia (PSI/C) therefore conducted a client satisfaction survey in order […]

In Uganda, about 8% of the maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortion. Abortion complications remain a significant contributor to MMR, 14 % of unintended pregnancies end up in abortion.  Since fertility resumes early, comprehensive PAC across all service points must include provider-initiated counselling on family planning and provision of modern contraceptives to improve on […]

Though abortion was previously legal in Laos, it was highly restricted. In practice, the provision of Manual Vacuum Aspiration (MVA) and Medical Abortion (MA) was widespread, but without the legal framework to support them, access to safe procedures was limited and providers were left untrained and un-monitored. As a result, many women turned to dangerous […]

Non-governmental organisations in India have been asked to self-declare that they do not perform abortions or provide abortion services while submitting proposals to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID is the body responsible for administering civilian foreign aid given by the US government. In January, soon after he came to power, US […]

Restrictive abortion laws and policies put women’s health in peril. Without access to safe abortion, women are forced to put their health and lives at risk when they decide whether or not to have a family. Each year, more than 22,000 women in the developing world die due to complications from unsafe abortion. See the […]

As a key component of safe abortion and post-abortion care, misoprostol is a World Health Organization-recommended method to treat incomplete abortion and manage early miscarriage (spontaneous abortion). Incomplete and spontaneous abortions require immediate treatment to avoid potentially fatal infections or permanent disability. Misoprostol can be used to safely treat an uncomplicated incomplete abortion, which is […]

Post-abortion contraception is a critical part of safe abortion and post-abortion care as a means of preventing subsequent unintended pregnancies. All women should be counseled and offered post-abortion contraception before leaving the healthcare facility, because fertility can return within a week. Most women are medically eligible to use all modern contraceptive methods immediately following an […]

Medical abortion involves the use of medications to provide safe abortion in countries where abortion is legal – and is a World Health Organization-recommended method – for women up to 12 weeks of gestation. Medical abortion using a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is a safe and effective method and preferred by many women to […]

Safe abortion is a critical component of ensuring women have access to comprehensive reproductive health services that meet their needs and life circumstances. In many countries, safe abortion is not widely available due to: laws that restrict, or even outlaw, a woman’s ability to end a pregnancy; the high cost of abortion care and services; […]

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 20 million unsafe abortions take place each year, the majority of which occur in developing regions. Lack of access to safe abortion is a leading cause of maternal death – every year, approximately 67,000 women die from unsafe abortion and an additional five million suffer long-term injuries or […]

Although the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act has been under implementation since 1972, unsafe abortions still account for 9% of maternal deaths in India. Medication abortion (MA) is a safe and effective means of early pregnancy termination that provides an alternative to a surgical abortion procedure.

Abstract: This paper uses focus group and survey data from the 1995 Yaoundé Family Formation Dynamics Study to examine gender differentials in premarital sexual behavior, condom use, abortion experience, and abortion intentions among single young men and women. The results indicate that many Cameroonian adolescents, males in particular, engage in unsafe sexual practices, such as simultaneously […]

How will global health change when she can use her voice, choice and agency? Find out in the New Issue of Impact Magazine The global health community sees the need for radical innovation to continue to build on the successes of the past as institutional funding shrinks and new technologies evolve. All around us there […]

by Karen Sommer Shalett, Editor-in-Chief, Impact Magazine @ksommershalett I set a day’s worth of bottles by the daycare sink before kissing my 11-month-old on the head and handing him to Princess, his caregiver. Princess’ eyes glided over me, and she smiled. “You’re pregnant!” I laughed and said, “Nope. This guy is turning one next week […]

Meet these 10 Women Deliver Young Leaders, youth advocates from around the globe active in the programs and policies that affect their daily lives, who believe that self-care is about more than health—it’s about taking #PowerInHerHands. We asked them how the power of self—care could transform sexual and reproductive health and rights in their communities. […]

by Ian Askew, Director, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, including the UNDP- UNFPA- UNICEF- WHO- World Bank Special Programme (HRP), WHO, Geneva, Switzerland @IanAskew_HRP and Manjulaa Narasimhan, Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland Self-care interventions for health—including self-testing, self- diagnosis, self-management, self-medication, self-monitoring and self-educating—can transform health systems and accelerate progress toward universal […]

by Andrea Fearneyhough, Director, Women’s Health Project, PSI It’s time to come together to better support a woman’s right to safe abortion and to remove the barriers that restrict her access. That’s why Marie Stopes International is creating a new, online knowledge hub in collaboration with co-founders PSI*, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Ipas and the […]

Across Francophone West and Central Africa (FWCA), young people too often face socio-cultural obstacles to accessing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, where and how they need. For young people in FWCA to have the adolescent and youth SRH choices they want and deserve, we must reimagine how we strengthen the market to reach […]

by Miles Kemplay, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation @CIFFchild For the last five years, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) has invested in improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of young people. During this time, we have spent over US$220 million to prevent unplanned pregnancies, unsafe abortions, HIV, sexually transmitted infections and sexual […]

by Martha Brady, Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health, PATH @PATHtweets We stand at the opportune moment for supporting women’s rights and capabilities by moving the self-care agenda forward with both enthusiasm and evidence. Self-care has been highlighted as among the most promising approaches to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. It has an important—yet largely […]

This post originally appeared on the Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) blog. By Maria Carmen Punzi (PSI/Europe), Odette Hekster (PSI/Europe), Chelsea Polis (Guttmacher Institute), Rubina Hussain (Guttmacher Institute) and Amanda Berry (Guttmacher Institute) Menstruation profoundly affects the way women and girls experience life, form their identities and make decisions about their bodies and sexualities. […]

Women Deliver 2019 is coming. Are you powered up?  The world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights and wellbeing of girls and women starts on June 3 in Vancouver, Canada. PSI will be right there in the center of the action, joining with some of the world’s greatest minds, strongest activists and […]

By Adaeze Okeke, WHP Coordinator, PSI and Emma Halper, LAC Assistant, PSI Marya is a passionate OB/GYN who lives in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador. An avid traveler and painter, her clinic is beautifully decorated with paintings and warmly glowing candles. “A lot of my patients are young, from age 13 to 22,” […]

As part of its commitment to the advancement of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for women and girls, Canadian Minister of International Development Marie-Claude Bibeau announced today at the International Conference on Family Planning CA$104.4 million in funding for projects that take a comprehensive approach to SRHR. PSI has been awarded $8 million […]

Across countries and health markets, public health’s modus operandi is to increasingly give voice to the young people we serve. Together, we’re making room at the table for adolescents and youth to contribute, not just as clients, but as equal partners with lived experiences that inform the health solutions we’re designing together. This is a […]

By Martine Moïse, First Lady of Haiti “I would have been able to avoid this disaster, if I had access to information. I knew nothing about sex, babies or life. At my age, I should have finished my studies first and had a job. Now, I am older than an old lady. I have four […]

By Dr. Jose G. Rimon II, Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, JHSPH and Director of The Challenge Initiative (TCI) Project, and Dr. J.M. Ian Salas, Assistant Scientist at the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health and Research Economist at the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive […]

By Chidimma Maduabum, Adolescents 360 Project Assistant, SFH Nigeria, and Christianah Aborisade, Adolescents 360 Young Designer, SFH Nigeria It’s not enough to have young people on the menu—they must have a seat at the table. Young people must be driving and shaping the health solutions that best serve them. And they are—in greater numbers and with greater power than ever before. […]