Geography
Reproductive Health
Reproductive health refers to the physical, mental, and social well-being in all matters relating to the reproductive system. It encompasses a wide range of issues such as family planning, maternal health, sexually transmitted infections, and access to reproductive healthcare services. Geographical factors can significantly impact access to reproductive health services and outcomes, making it an important consideration in geographic studies.
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9 Key excerpts on "Reproductive Health"
- I. Kickbusch, K. Hartwig, J. List, I. Kickbusch, K. Hartwig, J. List(Authors)
- 2005(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
Source: World Development Indicators, World Bank 2004. and internationally comparable data are not available, it appears that cross-border delivery of health services has increased through movement of personnel and consumers and through cross-border trade in data process- ing and other activities. 10 There has also been significant growth in foreign direct investment in the health sector. While trade in health services is modest at present, the continuing removal of some of the regulatory barriers to trade at the regional, multilateral, and national levels means that trade in health services is likely to take on greater importance in the future. 11 Reproductive Health and Rights Over the past decade, the concept of Reproductive Health and rights has broadened considerably, from a narrow focus on the control of fertility to a multidimensional framework encompassing demographic, medical, and sociopolitical components. 12 In its demographic aspects, Reproductive Health covers control over fertility, access to contraception, and safe abor- tion. In its medical aspects, Reproductive Health comprises safe pregnan- cies, lactation, better nutrition and child survival, and freedom from diseases of the reproductive tract and HIV/AIDS. Finally, Reproductive Health in its sociopolitical manifestation encompasses access to informa- tion and freedom to exercise reproductive choice, freedom from violence and threat, and the right to enjoy a healthy sexual life. Thus, Reproductive Health is a broad framework to analyze the needs of women and men in their sexual relationships and reproductive behavior. 13 Reproductive and sexual health cannot be accessed by women without the guarantee of a concomitant body of rights.
eBook - ePubUnderstanding Poverty and Well-Being
Bridging the Disciplines
- David Hulme, John Toye(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
II. The Emergence of Reproductive HealthAt the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994 in Cairo the governments of 180 nations endorsed a new approach to population policy centred on the concept of Reproductive Health. Conceptually, the term has come to describe an approach which sees women's health and well-being as important in their own right, not as a means towards the ends of fertility reduction or child health. In the interpretation of the ICPD, Reproductive Health addresses the broad determinants of women's and men's autonomy in making reproductive decisions and focuses on the legal-social and ethical contexts in which these decisions are made. As a panel of the American National Academy of Sciences concluded, robust Reproductive Health implies that: (1) every sex act should be free of coercion and infection; (2) every pregnancy should be intended; and (3) every birth should be healthy (Tsui et al., 1997: 13–14). The reality of human reproduction in developing countries is, of course, far from these goals, as is most visibly illustrated by the escalating HIV/AIDS epidemic.Programmatically, the RH approach calls for an expansion of the scope (in terms of health problems addressed) of Reproductive Health services, including, but not limited to, family planning. It also entails broadening the constituencies to which Reproductive Health services are addressed to include not only women in the childbearing age but also those from adolescence to post-menopause. Reproductive Health services that have been long been restricted to women should, it argues, open their doors to men. But the approach also makes a claim for inter-sectoral action to address gender inequality in social development more broadly.
eBook - PDFReproductive Health and Human Rights
The Way Forward
- Laura Reichenbach, Mindy Jane Roseman, Laura Reichenbach, Mindy Jane Roseman(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- University of Pennsylvania Press(Publisher)
Even more pertinently, reproductive ill health, as we understand it today, is much more than infection. Good Reproductive Health implies both the absence of illness as well as the presence of a sat-isfactory and autonomously determined sexuality. By extension, as de-fined in the Programme of Action, the right to Reproductive Health implies the right to Reproductive Health services certainly, but it also im-plies the right to autonomy and choice in the matter of preventing poor Reproductive Health and ensuring good Reproductive Health. The issue becomes even more complicated when Reproductive Health is defined in its fullest sense to refer to matters of healthy sexuality and to control over the timing and numbers of births. All these are outside the purview of a generally trained medical or paramedical practitioner. They require an understanding of and commitment to issues of ethics and equality that are not taught in a standard medical program, and therefore they require continuous reflection on and research on these larger questions in ways that go well beyond the powerful but introductory discourse on the subject in the Programme of Action. As for Brown’s question to women’s studies programs, Weigman (2005) responds with a question of her own. She asks why privileging ac-ademic disciplines like anthropology or sociology (into which Brown would like to introduce a strain of gender studies) is any more legitimate than privileging women’s studies (or some form of identity studies in general), in which the methods of sociology and anthropology are then incorporated. Brown’s criticism is less relevant to Reproductive Health because it has not (or at least not as yet) sought independent discipli-nary status for itself. Indeed, the very nature of Reproductive Health ped-agogy will be heavily influenced by its parent department or institution.
eBook - PDFSexual and Reproductive Health
A Public Health Perspective
- Paul Van Look, Kristian Heggenhougen, Stella R. Quah(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
A framework for implementing the WHO Reproductive Health Strategy was also developed (WHO Dept. of Reproductive Health and Research, 2006b). Conclusion A global overview of sexual and Reproductive Health pro-vides reasons for public health, development, and human rights concern. Improving the situation, alleviating the burden, and addressing the glaring inequity have been on the international and national agendas for many years now. Although progress has been made, it has been uneven, and major parts of the world still fall short of desired goals. The know-how is available. Cost-effective interventions are affordable. A sustained collaborative effort supported by political commitment, together with mobilization and rational allocation of resources, can bring about a brighter future for sexual and Reproductive Health. See also: Female Reproductive Function; Gynecological Morbidity; Maternal Mortality and Morbidity; Reproduc-tive Rights; Trends in Human Fertility. Citations Fathalla MF (2002) Implementing the Reproductive Health approach. In: Sadik N (ed.) An Agenda for People – The UNFPA through Three Decades , pp. 24–46. New York and London: New York University Press. Glasier A, Gulmezoglu M, Schmid GP, Moreno CG, and Van Look PFA (2006) Sexual and Reproductive Health: A matter of life and death. The Lancet 368: 1595–1607. Hill K, Thomas K, Abou Zahr C, et al. on behalf of the Maternal Mortality Working Group(2007) Estimates of maternal mortality worldwide between 1990 and 2005: An assessment of available data. The Lancet 370: 1311–1319. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2007) AIDS Epidemic Update . Geneva, Switzerland: UNAIDS and WHO. United Nations (1994) Report of the International Conference on Population and Development , Cairo, 5–13 September. (with Anastasion D) New York: UN. United Nations (1995) Fourth World Conference on Women Platform for Action and the Beijing Declaration , Beijing, China, 4–15 September.
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- 2011(Publication Date)
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)(Publisher)
By giving women and their families a chance to plan the number, timing and spacing of their children, access to Reproductive Health care also gives women a chance to better balance their reproductive and productive objectives, pursue higher education and combine child‐ bearing with employment. Finally, as the size of families declined, investments in each family member tend to increase. This has positive effects on the education of children, as well as the prospects of children to escape poverty (Box 3). 29 “Sexual and Reproductive Health interventions are a good investment and the benefits of such interventions are far‐reaching” (United Nations, 2010a). Yet, this area has suffered from considerable under‐investment, to the detriment to the poor and most marginalized populations. Investment in Reproductive Health care is further weakened by the often limited alignment between donor aid and country priorities, as well as unbalanced funding of different services, fragmentation and unpredictability, all of which have weakened national ownership and long‐term sustainability. Reproductive Health care and family planning is often undermined by poverty and gender discrimination. Violence against women and girls also negatively affects their sexual and Reproductive Health and can result in other chronic health and mental health problems. To address the multiple and interrelated challenges, UNFPA recently developed a Reproductive Rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health Framework which outlines four priority areas to accelerate achievement of universal access to Reproductive Health within a rights‐based, comprehensive and multi‐sectoral approach: i) support for the provision of a basic package of Box 3: Breaking the Trap by Addressing the Linkages between Population and Poverty and Improving Access to Reproductive Health Care Population is implicated in the determination of poverty in a number of ways, some more superficial, some more profound.
- Leroy C. Edozien, P. M. Shaughn O'Brien(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Where modern treatment is available, however, AIDS is no longer regarded as a lethal infection but as a chronic infection with which treated individuals can live prolonged lives. Nevertheless, even when a condom is used and a person’s viral load is low, so that the risk of transmitting HIV infection is low, nondisclosure of HIV positivity often remains open to prosecution, with a possibility, if not like- lihood, of conviction for aggravated sexual assault [9]. This possible liability is to provide strong assurance that individuals will not be deceived into unprotected sexual relations with HIV- infected partners. Fertility Fertility Control The World Health Organization published a comprehensive legal and human rights overview of sexual health in 2015 [10]. Its report notes that dis- crimination and inequality can impair enjoyment of sexual health, and recognizes that human sexuality includes many different behaviors and expressions, observing that accommodation of this diversity con- tributes to individuals’ overall sense of well-being and health. The report covers a wider area than the con- cept of Reproductive Health. This was defined at the UN International Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo in 1994, and adopted at the UN International Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. The full definition reads: Legal and Ethical Factors in Sexual and Reproductive Health 211 Reproductive Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system and to its functions and processes. Reproductive Health therefore implies that people are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life and that they have the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.
eBook - PDFAM:STARS International Health Issues in Adolescents
Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews, Vol. 20, No.3
- Robert T. Brown, David L. Bennett, Robert T. Brown, David L. Bennett(Authors)
- 2009(Publication Date)
- American Academy of Pediatrics(Publisher)
A Global Perspective of Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health: Context Matters Molly Secor-Turner, PhD, RN* a , Kari Kugler, PhD, MPH b , Linda H. Bearinger, PhD, RN, FAAN c , Renee Sieving, PhD, RN d a Center for Adolescent Nursing, School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 5-140 Weaver-Densford Hall, 308 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 b Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center; Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Medical School; University of Minnesota c Center for Adolescent Nursing, School of Nursing; Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Medical School; University of Minnesota d Center for Adolescent Nursing, School of Nursing; Healthy Youth Development Prevention Research Center; Division of Adolescent Health and Medicine, Medical School; University of Minnesota With over 1.5 billion young people between the ages of 10 and 25 in the world, ensuring the sexual and Reproductive Health of adolescents is essential for global health. 1 Over half of the world’s adolescents live in poverty; 70% live in developing countries. 1 As developing and developed countries become increasingly integrated, the sexual and Reproductive Health of adolescents has the potential for broad impact well beyond the geographical boundaries of individual nations. Sexual and Reproductive Health issues create substantial challenges to the health and well-being of adolescents. Globally, unsafe sexual behavior is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among adolescents. 2 In developing countries, risks associated with unsafe sexual behavior rank higher than unsafe water and poor sanitation, second only to being underweight. 2 Moreover, life skills related to sexual and Reproductive Health learned during the adolescent years set patterns for adulthood. 3 Despite increased globalization and cultural integration, wide variations in adolescent sexual and Reproductive Health behaviors and outcomes still exist between countries.
eBook - PDFNew Directions in African Education
Challenges and Possibilities
- S. Nombuso Dlamini(Author)
- 2007(Publication Date)
- University of Calgary Press(Publisher)
Raising the status of women by protecting and promoting their rights and empowering them so that they can make decisions, have choices, and exert control over their own lives is key to addressing the Reproductive Health concerns of women and the overall health and well-being of communities. International human rights law and principles stipulate the re-sponsibility of states to continuously take steps that improve people’s enjoyment of these rights. Furthermore, these principles affirm that no state is too poor to meet basic needs, and that the services that governments provide must be guaranteed to all of its citizens equally; otherwise, the state is in violation of its duties. International human rights laws thus open the doors for a variety of actors – be they in-dividuals, institutions, or groups – to process and articulate actions that are desirable to promote and protect the Reproductive Health and sexual rights of women. Reproductive Health rights imply the following: • The freedom for girls, women, and men to decide if, when, and how to engage in sexual relations and/or to have children. • The provision of information and services that enable girls, women, and men to meet their Reproductive Health needs. • The provision of prenatal, post-partum, and post-abortion care, so that women can safely experience pregnancy and childbirth. (This is a matter of right to life and survival for all women, which depends on the fulfilment of two things: access to facilities that can provide emergency obstetric care, as noted in Freedman [2003]; and, access to affordable, effective, and safe methods of family plan-ning.) • Access to knowledge and care to enable awareness and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, as well as anti-retroviral treatment for preg-nant women. N EW D I R E CTI O N S I N A F R I CA N E D U CATI O N 86 • Individual control over one’s own sexuality.
eBook - PDFReproduction and Adaptation
Topics in Human Reproductive Ecology
- C. G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor, Lyliane Rosetta(Authors)
- 2011(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
Yet, a host of social, cultural, and religious influences challenges the capacity and the likelihood of success in lowering sex- ual and reproductive risk for young people; norms related to expectations about sexual behavior, age of marriage, and fertility confound promotion, prevention, and treatment strategies, as well. Sexual and Reproductive Health issues for young women are especially chal- lenged by social norms as they assume responsibilities related to marriage and childbearing. For example, although there has been a recent global trend in Reproduction and Adaptation, eds. C. G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor and Lyliane Rosetta. Published by Cambridge University Press. c Cambridge University Press 2011. 246 Sexual and Reproductive Health needs of adolescents 247 delaying marriage and childbearing, early marriage and childbearing continue to be a reality in many developing nations, especially among young women liv- ing in poverty (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1998; Singh & Samara, 1996; World Health Organization, 2004a). Additionally, some girls in the developing world are pressured to become sex workers in order to financially contribute to family economies (McIntyre et al., 2002), which, in turn, substantially increases risk for negative outcomes, including consequences of violence (Bearinger et al., 2007). Sexual and Reproductive Health issues are entwined with other contempo- rary global challenges including poverty, environmental conditions, and health (Glasier et al., 2006). Economically, decreasing fertility may lower poverty rates, improve economic conditions, and increase women’s participation in the work force. Further, family planning contributes to increased environmental sustainability by decreasing the overall global population. And family planning contributes to the improved survival and overall health of mothers and children (Glasier et al., 2006). In sum, the benefits of access to and use of family planning are clear.
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