Marie Stopes International News

International Development Journalism Competition 2010 Launched

03/03/2010 14:38:16

London - The Guardian and Marie Stopes International have launched the third annual International Development Journalism Competition.

This unique competition was the brainchild of Marie Stopes International and was designed, in partnership with the Guardian and with support from UKaid from the Department for International Development (DFID), to motivate and encourage new and existing journalists to write about some of the most important issues facing the developing world today.

The success of the competition to date has lead to unprecedented news coverage for some key development issues such as access to maternal health services in Nepal, the devastating impact of drought in northern Kenya and how climate change is affecting pastoralist communities in Africa.

Marie Stopes International CEO Dana Hovig said “We are delighted to be leading the NGO consortium on this competition for the third consecutive year. International development is such an important area and we must work together to ensure that the voices of the underserved people in the world are heard and their stories told.”

The International Development Journalism competition is supported by a consortium of NGOs including CBM UK, Hives Save Lives Africa, Leonard Cheshire Disability, Malaria Consortium, ORBIS, Saferworld and Save the Children.

For details of the competition, including information on how to enter, visit www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition, the deadline for entries is Friday 30th April 2010.

Another life saved in Timor Leste

18/02/2010 16:10:42

Dili - Marciana is 38 and has eight children. She’d just miscarried her ninth child when she heard that the MSI Timor Leste outreach team was coming to a village (Atsabe) near her home in a few days time. Atsabe is a remote mountain village about six hours drive from the capital Dili and the nearest hospital. The MSI team have recently begun working in the area with the support of SUCO (the Ministry of Health).

Marciana had never had access to family planning before but worried about getting pregnant again so soon, so she wanted to find out more about family planning. She also brought four of her children along to the session so they could also have a health check at the same time. Having listened to Fernanda, the MSI Timor Leste midwife, explain about family planning and the options available, Marciana decided to have an IUD inserted.

However, when Fernanda examined Marciana she immediately realised that the miscarriage wasn’t complete. The foetus was stuck in Marciana’s cervix and she was bleeding heavily, although Marciana hadn’t realised this because all the blood was blocked from escaping by the stuck foetus. Another few hours or so and an infection would have set in and Marciana would have died.

Fernanda immediately gave Marciana an injection to help stop the bleeding and delivered the foetus. With the foetus removed, the blood that had been building up was able to freely and safely flow from Marciana's body. There was a lot of it and it took some time to staunch the flow and clean Marciana up. Once she was clean and comfortable, Fernanda safely inserted the IUD and gave Marciana antibiotics to take home with her. The MSI team then took Marciana home; otherwise she would have had to walk several miles.

Every day, MSI is making a difference to the lives of women, men and children in Timor Leste and if Fernanda and MSI Timor Leste team had not been in Atsabe that day, Marciana would have died leaving a husband with eight children to care for.

Danish Government approves €4.4million in general support to Marie Stopes International

08/02/2010 08:18:53

London - Marie Stopes International (MSI) today announced that the Danish Government has decided to support MSI with a grant of €4.4million (DKK 33million). The grant will support MSI’s voluntary contraception and safe abortion services through September 2011.

“This grant clearly demonstrates the leadership Denmark is providing on the important issue of women’s health” said Dana Hovig, MSI Chief Executive. “We warmly welcome this new partnership with the Danish Government to increase women’s access to quality services in Africa and elsewhere.”

Hovig explained that over 500,000 maternal deaths still occur each year from largely preventable causes, almost entirely in the developing world. Despite renewed efforts to combat this high toll through action around Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 (Improve Maternal Health), little progress has been made on a global level and MDG 5 shows the least progress of all the MDG targets.

“The issue of sexual and reproductive health and rights is taboo in many places,” said Ms. Ulla Tørnæs, Danish Minister for Development Cooperation. “Our support will help Marie Stopes International overcome these taboos by providing millions of women and men with quality contraceptive information, products and services.”

Approximately 215 million women want an effective method of contraception but cannot access it. Today, an estimated 67,000 women, almost all of them in developing countries, die each year as a direct result of an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions. Many thousands more are left injured, disabled or infertile due to unsafe procedures. Nearly all of these deaths and injuries could be prevented through adequate access to sexual and reproductive health and safe abortion services.

Speaking from the European Parliament, Michael Cashman MEP said “Within the European Union there are many countries with different views on sexual and reproductive health. Denmark, however, is at the forefront of women’s rights as demonstrated by its funding of non-government organisations that focus on this area. It is time that Governments throughout the world follow the example set by Denmark.”

Record increase in family planning and safe abortion services in 2009

03/02/2010 09:19:10

London - Marie Stopes International’s (MSI) programmes protected the equivalent of 17.8 million couples from unintended pregnancy in 2009, a 33% increase over the previous year and the largest annual growth in the organisation’s 33-year history, according to preliminary figures released today.

MSI family planning and reproductive health services across 43 countries averted over nine million unintended pregnancies, 2.6 million unsafe abortions, and nearly 35,000 maternal deaths, reducing global maternal mortality by about six percent. Most of MSI’s health impact in developing countries occurred in rural areas or urban slums, where the need for family planning and reproductive health services is greatest.

MSI’s family planning and safe abortion services spared individual households and national health budgets in developing countries more than US$1.5 billion in 2009.

“MSI continues to expand and evolve while maintaining our principles and our commitment to quality,” said MSI’s Chief Executive Dana Hovig. “Our focus on improving the quality, efficiency and impact of our programmes globally has produced the third consecutive year of robust growth in our contribution to reducing maternal deaths and achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5.”

Hovig attributed MSI’s 2009 results in part to increased investment by international donor partners such as the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

“The decision of the Dutch Government and UNFPA to increase their investment in MSI has had a direct effect on our ability to expand choice – of contraceptive method and of provider – for low-income women in the developing world,” he said.

Last year, Marie Stopes International:

added 55 clinics to an existing network of 560 clinics, and hundreds more outreach sites in rural areas and urban slums
expanded and improved the quality of its BlueStar social franchising network, launched in 2007, to over 1,000 private sector franchisees in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Madagascar and Viet Nam
provided over 1.6 million women or men with long-acting and permanent methods of contraception, a 33% increase on 2008
delivered over 920,000 safe medical and surgical abortions, a 56% increase on the previous year’s results
accounted for 20% of all modern method contraceptive use in Malawi, Sierra Leone and Tanzania, and 10% of all use in Kenya, Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda and Yemen.

“Achieving record results in 2009 cannot be an excuse for complacency,” said Hovig. “Quite the contrary, there is so much for all of us to do. We will continue to strive until every one of the 215 million women who want to use modern contraception but cannot access it is able to do so.”

Marie Stopes International calls for a bold programme to address Afghan women’s sexual and reproductive health at London conference

28/01/2010 10:37:52

London - As delegates representing world governments, the United Nations and NATO gather for today’s ‘Afghanistan: The London Conference’, to discuss the future of the troubled Asian state, Marie Stopes International has issued a call for far greater resources to be set aside for promoting women’s health and rights.

Marie Stopes International was one of the first aid agencies into Kabul following the allied military intervention in 2002, bringing desperately needed family planning and sexual and reproductive health services to Afghan women who had been denied such services under the previous regime.

Farhad Javid, a native Afghan, is Programme Director of Marie Stopes International Afghanistan. He acknowledges that whilst life has improved for women since the departure of the Taliban, a huge amount of work remains to be done before they achieve anything like the status they deserve.

“According to official statistics, Afghanistan still has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world,” said Farhad.

“The fact is that more Afghan women die every year from pregnancy related causes in the country – an estimated 17,280 - than the total number of civilians killed each year as a result of the war on terror, which is estimated at approximately 2,000 . The war to preserve women’s health and lives is the most under resourced conflict of all.

“Of course, security remains key to all future development in Afghanistan. Without security, the many measures needed to address reproductive health would simply not be possible.”

Marie Stopes International Afghanistan is calling for the development of a dedicated strategy for reproductive health security and commodities for the country, which would include:
• the appointment of provincial reproductive health co-ordinators throughout
  Afghanistan
• the legalisation of emergency contraception, particularly in the current climate of
increasing use of sexual violence against women and
• increased co-operation and partnership between the Government health system
and specialist sexual and reproductive health agencies operating in Afghanistan.

“The women of Afghanistan were denied status, education, and proper health care for decades,” continued Farhad.

“It’s time for the new Afghanistan to demonstrate commitment to its women and initiate a bold programme of reform.”

1. Based on an estimate contained in an evaluation by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission http://www.aihrc.org.af/Evaluation_Rep_Gen_Sit_Wom.htm

2. Based on figures from the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
http://unama.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?tabid=1741

Baroness Kinnock, Minister for Africa, visits Ethiopia programme

26/01/2010 17:42:00

Addis Ababa - Baroness Kinnock took time out from her visit to Ethiopia this week (26 January) to visit the Marie Stopes International programme here. The Baroness, who is in Ethiopia for the bi-anuual African Union meeting, was keen to see the programme in action as well as visit some of the other development initiatives supported by the British Government.

Together with the British Ambassador Norman Ling and DFID Health Advisor Ali Forder, she spent time at MSI Ethiopia’s busiest clinic in Tekle Haimanoit and took part in a community education programme in Addis Katama. Addis Katima is one of the capital’s one poorest neighbourhoods and home to many sex workers and rural migrants who have come to Addis Ababa seeking work.

The education programme was held during one of the community’s popular coffee which attract many local people, proving a perfect opportunity to communicate important health messages. Baroness Kinnock was warmly welcomed at the ceremony and during it took time to speak to a number of the women and children present.

At the end of her visit, Baroness Kinnock praised the work that MSI Ethiopia is doing and said: "I am a great supporter of Marie Stopes International’s work both in Ethiopia and globally”.

Reaching out to the homeless

21/01/2010 14:48:58

Dhaka – Using mobile services, Marie Stopes Clinic Society is reaching out to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of the homeless.

Imagine you are homeless. You don’t know where you will find a place to sleep tonight or when you will get your next meal. With limited access to even such basic needs how would you begin to get help if you were pregnant or had a sexually transmitted infection?

That’s where Marie Stopes Clinic Society (MSCS) comes in. Through its mobile health teams MSCS is providing much needed sexual and reproductive health services for homeless people in a variety of locations in Bangladesh. In 2009 alone, MSCS reached nearly 14,000 people through this initiative.

Each evening and throughout the night in Dhaka, Chittagong and Khulna, MSCS’ mobile teams can be found at railway stations, boat terminals, and other locations where the homeless gather. The MSCS teams offer a range of services, from family planning and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and reproductive tract infections through to general health check ups, and basic treatment for gynaecological problems. They also refer people on for more detailed health services at one of MSCS’ static clinics if needed. Many of the people that the team see are victims of violence or have been forced into sex work and so they often also refer people onto other agencies for additional help.

To increase health knowledge amongst homeless people the mobile teams also regularly hold special sessions using film screenings, puppet shows, and group meetings to get health messages across in an engaging and fun way. The messages are specially tailored for this target group so that they can be easily understood and remembered.

Since launching the mobile homeless initiative in 2002, MSCS has reached more than 113,830 homeless people, many of whom would otherwise had no or very limited access to sexual and reproductive health services and information. However, now that the funding for this initiative has finished these vital services are under threat.

MSI Ethiopia launches Behaviour Change Communication campaign

20/01/2010 17:12:00

ADDIS ABABA - Marie Stopes International Ethiopia (MSI Ethiopia) has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the family planning choices available to Ethiopian families. The Behavioral Change Communication campaign (BCC) will explain how families can choose convenient methods of contraception that give long-lasting protection from pregnancy.

Launching the campaign, Grethe Petersen, Country Director of Marie Stopes International Ethiopia, said:

“Many people will be surprised to know that MSI Ethiopia is one of the country’s leading providers of family planning, as well as safe abortions. We are proud to save many women’s lives each year by offering safe abortions within the law to women who need them. But we know that most of these women would prefer not to be pregnant in the first place. Family planning prevents unwanted pregnancy. Too many Ethiopian women die in pregnancy or in childbirth, because they have children too young, too old, too many and too soon.”

The Behavioral Change Communication Campaign is in two-phases and will use a variety of media, including fliers, posters, negotiation guides, radio and TV advertisements, stickers, and T-shirts, in two languages Amharic & Oromiffa.

Grethe Petersen continued to say “Family planning enables women to start having children later, to stop when their family is big enough, and to protect their health by leaving a longer gap between children. Families in Ethiopia have a range of different choices for family planning, but many people do not know what they are. Our campaign will help to ensure that the Ethiopian public know much more about their options and will help them to make an informed choice about the best method of family planning for them.”

The Kindest Cut campaign

01/12/2009 07:38:53

London - To mark World AIDS Day (1st December), Marie Stopes International is launching The Kindest Cut campaign to increase awareness of male circumcision in combating the spread of HIV infection and increase availability of male circumcision services for men in Sub Saharan Africa.

Through the year long campaign MSI also aims to encourage greater investment from the international donor community - particularly European donors – in programmes to provide male circumcision in Sub-Saharan African countries that have a high HIV prevalence.

As part of the campaign MSI is releasing a new 6 minute film on male circumcision as well as a fact sheet. The film was shot in Malawi and features health professionals and clients stating the case for including male circumcision programmes as part of an arsenal of interventions to combat HIV/AIDS.

Between 2002 and 2006, several randomised controlled trials in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa found that male circumcision can reduce the rate of HIV in men by up to 60% . Both the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS have named male circumcision as a key intervention in halting the spread of HIV in Africa.

MSI responded rapidly to these findings by launching a model for delivering male circumcision in outreach settings in 2007. Within 18 months, MSI’s team in Kenya had performed over 5,300 procedures and raised awareness amongst over 100,000 Kenyans in Nyanza province about the benefits of male circumcision, and the need to continue practicing safer sex using condoms after the procedure has been carried out.

“It is essential that these programmes convey the need for safer sex practices to continue after circumcision,” said Heidi Quinn, MSI’s Male Circumcision Technical Advisor. “Being circumcised is not a charter for young men to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse. The protection offered to men by circumcision is significant, but not entire, and condom usage must continue if the health and wellbeing of men and women is to be safeguarded.”

Quinn also pointed out that male circumcision is an ideal entry point for encouraging men into a more informed and healthy reproductive and sexual health lifestyle, by encouraging them to consider broader screening and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; checks for testicular cancer; HIV counselling and testing; and information on family planning and services for their partners.

Following the success of its pilot in Kenya, MSI has already started rolling out its model across Sub-Saharan Africa, and now has male circumcision outreach programmes running in Malawi, Zambia and Swaziland and is looking to countries such as Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Mozambique to expand its programme.

“Making male circumcision available to vulnerable male populations is a cost effective intervention, and can be introduced within existing sexual and reproductive health centres and mobile outreach facilities if training for staff is provided,” added Heidi Quinn.

“Through MSI’s Kindest Cut campaign, we hope to encourage other providers, and both local and national health systems across Sub-Saharan Africa to recognise the importance of male circumcision in HIV prevention, and to make it available to men throughout the region.”

“In order to do this, greater engagement from the donor community is required, which is another aim of this campaign.”

Read more about MSI’s male circumcision programme.

Family planning to tackle climate change

27/11/2009 13:08:32

London - Marie Stopes International is leading the global discussion on the ways in which family planning could be used to combat climate change.

MSI has been at the forefront of the debate and was mentioned heavily in the global media recently thanks to a ground-breaking paper on the links between climate change and women’s reproductive health needs in developing countries. The lead researcher and author of the article, published in November’s Bulletin of the World Health Organisation (WHO), was MSI’s Leo Bryant.

Climate change continues to be a hot topic, particularly With the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen coming up in early December. However the link between family planning and environmental impact has been largely overlooked. Some have suggested family planning could help to reduce carbon emissions while others are concerned that this is tantamount to ’blaming climate change on the fertility of the poor’. But MSI is not an organisation to shy away from difficult and neglected subjects.

The angle MSI has taken does not focus on reducing carbon emissions but on empowering women to cope with climate change. This ‘adaptation’ approach reflects concerns articulated by governments in developing countries who will be worst affected.

The research published in the Bulletin is based upon a literature review of climate change adaptation strategies – or ‘National Adaptation Programmes of Action’ (NAPAs) – written by developing country governments. The findings highlight that 37 of the 40 strategies sampled identified ‘rapid population growth’ as a factor that either causes or exacerbates environmental damage. The article concludes that efforts to improve voluntary access to family planning should therefore be integrated into climate change adaptation strategies in order to better support communities struggling to cope.

The release of the research generated at least 50 articles worldwide and was covered by major news sources including Reuters, Bloomberg, Fox News and The New York Times. It also generated a number of articles on websites ranging from pheethiopia.org to catholicnewsagency.com as well as postings on various blog sites. The UK’s leading medical journal The Lancet also ran an editorial picked up by further newswire services including The Associated Press and The Daily Telegraph.

With the UN Copenhagen conference on climate change already grabbing headlines this discussion will continue to be a hot issue and MSI is at the forefront.

You can view the full article on the WHO website.

Guardian International Development Journalism Award winners announced

20/11/2009 17:29:00

London – On 19th November the winners of the prestigious Guardian International Development Journalism Competition were announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society for the Arts.

After the success of last year’s Guardian Development Journalism Competition, Marie Stopes International (MSI) partnered again with the Guardian newspaper for the 2009 awards. The Department for International Development (DFID) backed the competition as part of an initiative to raise public awareness of developing issues.

The awards encouraged journalists to cover underreported aspects of global poverty that deserve greater media exposure, such as maternal mortality in Nepal, deforestation in Tanzania, HIV in Lesotho and the plight of girl soldiers in Uganda returning home after conflict.

The articles entered for the competition have highlighted to the British public what is really happening around the world - making faraway issues more real, and helping locals understand the great work going on to strengthen societies in the developing world.

“Stories create connections and shrink the world reminding us that we are all one. And through such connections, we can motivate and inspire individuals to make a difference – to their own communities and to communities and countries around the world,” said MSI Chief Executive Dana Hovig at the Awards ceremony held in the end of November at the esteemed Royal Academy in London’s Piccadilly.

Hundreds of entrants submitted articles this year, and were narrowed down to sixteen finalists – eight amateurs, eight professionals. The finalists were then flown to a developing country and given assignments guided by a consortium of eight international NGOs led by MSI. The finalists’ articles were published in two Guardian newspaper supplements as well as on the Guardian online.

Nash Colundalur won the amateur category with his piece on the devastating impact of drought in northern Kenya. Preeti Jha was the professional winner with an article about how climate change is affecting pastoralist communities in the same region of Africa.

Alison Buckler received a special commendation in the amateur category for her piece for MSI about maternal health in Nepal. Mary Griffin received a special commendation in the professional category for her report on the Dalit women of Bangladesh and their struggle to end generations of oppression.

New for 2009 was an inaugural award for the people who have made a positive difference to the lives and livelihoods of some of the world's most marginalised people. The Guardian Achievements in International Development Award was a further way to bring the stories of some of the unsung heroes helping to reduce poverty around the world to the attention of the British public.

The public voted on a shortlist of five candidates for this new category, and chose Maggy Barankitse. Barankitse, nominated by ActionAid, runs Maison Shalom (or ‘House of Peace’), a home for children orphaned by conflict and HIV/Aids in the small town of Ruyigi in Burundi. Barankitse has helped over 30,000 children and families, including many orphaned or wounded in the massacres of the Burundian civil war or the genocide in Rwanda.

“The Guardian is delighted that with this new award, we can share these outstanding local success stories with our global audience,” said Elisabeth Ribbans, managing editor of the Guardian.

For further information on the achievements awards, and Barankitse’s Maison Shalom, please visit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/achievementsaward.

New measurement tool provides clear evidence of the impact of family planning

17/11/2009 17:24:00

Kampala – at the recent International Family Planning Conference 2009 in Uganda, Marie Stopes International (MSI) launched a new measurement tool which will enable government health departments, hospitals, NGOs and other agencies to accurately calculate the effect of family planning programmes on the wider health, economic, environmental and societal aspects on the communities and countries in which they work.

The Impact Calculator integrates several validated and commonly used models and formulae into a single, user friendly application which allows any organisation to calculate the impact of its own family planning services on a community, national, regional or global level.

Using the tool, it is possible to calculate demographic and health impacts such as the number of pregnancies and abortions averted; the number of maternal, infant and under-5 deaths prevented; economic impacts such as the total savings made to household, community and health systems’ budgets; and environmental impacts, such as the ecological footprints averted (the sum of land and sea required to provide food and resources consumed by each person, to provide space for infrastructure and to absorb waste).

Using the Impact Calculator to calculate the effect of MSI’s own programmes in 43 countries worldwide, Michael Holscher, MSI’s Director of External Relations & Strategy revealed that, to date in 2009 MSI’s family planning services have:
• prevented almost seven million unplanned pregnancies
• averted more than two million abortions
• saved household, community and health system budgets over US$1 billion
• prevented over four million ecological footprints.

“When the Impact Calculator becomes available to third party agencies in 2010,” said Holscher, “it will enable anyone working in the field of sexual and reproductive health to demonstrate persuasively to governments and donors how an investment in family planning programmes can have a transformative effect at every level of society – from saving lives and improving the living conditions of families and whole communities to improving national health outcomes and contributing to economic and ecological sustainability.”

The Impact Calculator will become available to third party agencies in the New Year.

MSI signs €2.45 million agreement with EU to deliver services in Viet Nam and Cambodia

05/11/2009 15:50:14

Hanoi – Marie Stopes International (MSI) and the European Union (EU) have just signed a €2.45 million (US$3.6 million) project to help improve the sexual and reproductive health of poor rural communities in Viet Nam and Cambodia.

The project, which begins in January 2010 and will run for three years, will strengthen the capacity of State and non-State providers of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services in southern Vinh Long and central Thua Thien-Hue provinces in Viet Nam, and the Svay Rieng and Ratanakiri provinces in Cambodia increasing the accessibility and quality of SRH services for remote and rural populations in those provinces.

Under the project, the management and co-ordination of those services at a grassroots level will also be improved and partnerships and networks strengthened. A voucher scheme will also be piloted in the Vietnamese provinces. The EU has provided most (€1.8million) of the funding for the project with MSI and ATLANTIC Philanthropies (Viet Nam) Limited providing the remainder.

Dirk Meganck, Director for Asia of the EuropeAid Office of the European Commission, said, "The project aims to set up a new public-private partnership model in a number of poor provinces in Viet Nam and Cambodia to ensure that quality reproductive healthcare services will be delivered to the people in an affordable and sustainable way."

He added, the project will also try to reduce poverty by improving people’s SRH and women’s maternal health.

Hang Bich Nguyen, MSI Viet Nam’s Programme Director signed the contract with the EU on behalf of MSI at the signing ceremony held in Hanoi. Speaking to Opendoor shortly after the ceremony Hang said, “This is an important project for us, not least because of the new partnership with the EU. MSI in Viet Nam is very much looking forward to delivering on this project through close collaboration with our partners, MSI Cambodia and the governments of both Viet Nam and Cambodia.”

Che Katz, MSI Cambodia’s Programme Director who was also at the ceremony, echoed these sentiments saying, “By testing new ways of delivering critical services to those in need and sharing the findings between its partners, MSI will be well placed to increase its impact in the region.”

Making migrants’ move to Qingdao healthier

15/10/2009 15:22:58

Beijing - A number of innovative partnerships help MSI China reach out to vulnerable migrant communities in the booming city of Qingdao.

Qingdao in Shandong Province is one of China’s most prosperous cities. Each year, hundreds of young people move there from the countryside to look for work. Many have never been away from home before and reaching the big city they feel isolated and alone. Many sleep rough and are poorly educated. As a result, they are more prone to poor sexual health and unplanned pregnancy than those who have lived in the city all their lives.

These migrants are often hidden to the authorities and to health services and reaching them can sometimes be a challenge. Enter the MSI China team at the ‘You&Me’ Centre in Qingdao who have been developing a number of innovative partnerships with several public and private authorities over the past year. All of these partnerships are designed to reach out to this forgotten population and each is making a real difference to the lives of the migrants.

One such partnership is with five of Nike’s factories where many of the young migrants work. Through this the MSI China team take services direct to the factories on to the shop floor. In the last year alone, more than 2,000 migrant Nike factory workers have benefitted from on-site well women and well man checks.

The Qingdao Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and the local police are other key partners helping MSI China overcome barriers when reaching out to commercial sex workers and those working in restaurants, bars and the entertainment industry. In 2008, the MSI team provided STI tests, treatment and information to over 1,000 service industry and sex workers.

“Collaborations like these have created greater awareness of MSI China’s services and mission in the broader community, and has helped us reach previously inaccessible populations,” said Lily Liqing, MSI China’s Programme Director.

“When MSI China first started working in Qingdao in 2003, we saw 50 clients a month. Today, we average 500 per month. Many more are helped through on-site visits to young migrants’ work places, helping to move us towards our target of being the biggest and best family planning organisation in China.”

Turning policy into action

14/10/2009 15:05:23

Lusaka - MSI Zambia helps develop new guidelines that will lower maternal deaths and unsafe abortion numbers.

Sometimes a liberal abortion law is not enough to reduce unsafe abortions, which is what MSI Zambia found. Most people in Zambia, including many health practitioners, didn’t know about or understand the abortion law and were reluctant to use safe abortion services, contributing to the country’s high maternal mortality rate. So MSI Zambia joined forces with the Ministry of Health and others to develop new guidelines to make the law, and therefore services, more accessible.

Over the past year or so, the MSI Zambia team made significant contributions to the development and drafting of The Standards and Guidelines for Reducing Unsafe Abortion Morbidity and Mortality in Zambia. These new guidelines have recently been published and will help to provide a means through which the policy - the Zambia Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1972 - can be translated into action.

The guidelines tackle the challenges of unsafe abortion through the implementation of a comprehensive abortion healthcare package. Abortion can now be performed in the interests of a women’s physical or mental health; nurse practitioners can now provide medical abortion and first trimester abortion; and women no longer have to have an overnight stay in hospital after an abortion.

Zambia has long been faced with the challenge of high maternal morbidity and mortality rates. In urban and rural areas alike, women were dying needlessly as a result of pregnancy-related complications. Zambia’s mortality ratio currently stands at 591 per 100000 live births. The contribution MSI Zambia made to the guidelines is a major result. Their proactive approach enabled them to be a part of the vehicle of change which will lead more women to use safe abortion services and access family planning; reducing the number of unsafe abortions and maternal deaths in the country.

The next objective is to ensure that the Standards and Guidelines are widely disseminated to all stakeholders and implemented, and MSI Zambia is doing its bit to ensure they are. In tandem with the objective of saving the lives of women and offering services to prevent unplanned pregnancy, MSI Zambia has continued to expand its programme by signing network agreements with strategic private partners and has offered the Marie Stopes Medical Process training for each respective partner. The MSI team is also working with local district management teams and local NGOs to further increase access to family planning safe abortion services in Zambia.

Protecting the nation’s protectors

07/10/2009 14:54:00

Dili - As the newest and poorest nation in Asia, Timor Leste is particularly vulnerable to a HIV/AIDS epidemic. Some of the most at risk groups include members of Timor Leste’s uniformed services, many of whom regularly engage in risky sexual behaviour.

In January 2008, MSI Timor Leste was contracted by the Ministry of Health to address this challenge by implementing its Global Fund supported HIV/AIDS and STI prevention and risk reduction programme for the national police and military.

What was initially meant to be straightforward project was soon thrown into turmoil when Timor Leste was struck by another national security disaster in February 2008. An attempted assassination was made on the President, and rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was shot dead. The endorsement of a HIV/AIDS and STI prevention workplace agreement was hardly priority for the uniformed services at this time.

However, through sheer perseverance and many meetings, MSI Timor Leste nevertheless successfully implemented its HIV/AIDS and STI Peer Education training programme with the national police and military throughout 2008.

Thirty four master trainers were trained, who in turn trained three hundred and ninety peer leaders across 13 districts. Close to 4,000 peers have now received HIV/AIDS and STI prevention information through this project, and for the first time in Timor Leste, family planning and contraception modules were also included in this training programme.

Following the principle that education must be integrated with access to SRH service provision, MSI Timor Leste established six static centres and nine mobile centres at police and military sites.

By June 2009, 20% of the uniformed services or their families had received SRH clinical services. MSI Timor Leste continues to be the sole provider of condoms to the uniformed services in Timor Leste, and so protects the nation’s official protectors from poor sexual health and unwanted pregnancies. This partnership continues to strengthen with further clinical training and supervision of uniformed services clinicians taking place later in 2009.

10 new clinics open in South Africa townships

23/09/2009 13:10:31

Cape Town - Marie Stopes South Africa (MS South Africa) has opened 10 new mini-clinics in townships around Durban and Johannesburg, bringing health services direct to the heart of the squatter areas. People living in townships such as Groutville and Ivory Park in the KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces now no longer have to travel miles to access sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) services.

Life in the townships is hard, with high unemployment, few prospects and little or no access to basic amenities, such as electricity or running water. These problems are compounded by a shortage of trained medical staff, little awareness of SRH and a public health system that’s overstretched and struggling to deliver even basic services.

The opening of the ten new mini-clinics marks a huge step forward in helping to meet some of the vast unmet need for SRH services in these underserved squatter areas. Using small pre-fabricated buildings stocked with basic essential equipment and furnishings, and staffed by a small but highly efficient team, the mini-clinics are extremely cost effective to set up and run so the model can be replicated at low cost.

The clinics provide a number of services, including short and long-term methods of contraception, safe abortion services, HIV counselling and testing, STI infection treatments and pregnancy testing. Clients requiring more specialised services like vasectomies, and sterilisations are referred to one of MS South Africa’s main centres.

“Placing these clinics directly in the heart of the squatter areas will make a huge difference to the people of these ten townships”, said Laila Abbas of MS South Africa. “We can offer services, like long-term methods of contraception that simply aren’t otherwise available to women and which give them choice about when they have children. In areas such as these, that choice can have an enormous impact on not only the women themselves, but their whole families.”

And it isn’t just the health professionals who are helping to make a difference in the townships. MS South Africa plans to attach a Community Based Educator (CBE) to each mini-clinic to raise awareness in the community about a wide range of SRH topics. By telling people about the different types of contraceptives available; the dangers of illegal abortion; and the benefits of male circumcision in helping to prevent the spread of HIV, the CBEs will be playing a key role in promoting safer sex and helping people to make an informed choice about their health.

The opening of these 10 new mini-clinics is part of a wider initiative by Marie Stopes International around the world to ensure that people in even the most marginalised communities have access to high quality SRH services.

Innovation leads to success in Pakistan

21/09/2009 17:53:17

Karachi – Marie Stopes Society (MSS) in Pakistan is on track to serve over 170,000 women and men with long-term and permanent contraceptive methods (LTPMs)* this year. That will be double the number of LTPMs delivered by MSS in 2008. This increase is a result of MSS’ national expansion project, begun in 2007, which is deploying a multi-pronged approach to reduce maternal mortality by significantly expanding access to contraceptive methods.

Over the last two years, MSS has expanded its geographic spread and now has clinics across all of Pakistan’s four provinces. Forty nine new sexual and reproductive health (SRH) clinics have been opened, bringing the total number of MSS clinics in the country to 90.

At the same time, MSS also introduced Mobile Service Units (MSUs). These MSU’s, each manned by a driver and nurse, take reproductive health services direct to scattered populations in remote, hard to reach areas. Built for rugged terrain, there are currently four MSUs in operation, in Multan, Peshawar and Khairpur. In just under two years, the units have reached 13,400 people, some of whom had never had access to services before.

Using localised marketing has been key to MSS winning the acceptance and confidence of communities, especially those in the most remote areas. MSS developed the Urdu brand ‘Behtar Zindagi’. The brand uses the Marie Stopes International (MSI) blue door symbol, which stands for quality health services the world over. This local adaptation of the brand, combined with the Urdu words for ‘Better Life’, have helped MSS to reach out to remote communities.

MSS is also working with existing private healthcare providers to expand access to SRH services in the most cost effective way. The Suraj network started just eight months ago and now has more than 100 franchisees. MSS’ has trained the franchisees to government and MSI standards in the provision of IUD (intrauterine devices) services. The number of IUDs provided to women by MSS will jump from just under 51,000 in 2008 to an expected 100,000 or more in 2009; around 34% (34,000) of these will be provided by Suraj franchisees. .

Delivering high quality services via a multi-pronged approach, combined with marketing initiatives tailored to the local population, has proven to be a winning formula for MSS. Under the national expansion project, the number of people being reached by MSS is growing rapidly year on year. This year alone, the team has already reached 307,000 clients. Although there is still a long way to go, these results are a real testimony to the MSS team’s ability to meet unmet need, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

* LTPMs include intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants and female and male sterilisation.

MSI and UNFPA sign agreement to address unmet need

18/09/2009 11:20:49

London – Marie Stopes International (MSI) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have just signed an agreement to expand access to contraception in underserved communities in Africa and Asia. Under the agreement, UNFPA will provide $2.5million worth of family planning supplies to MSI programmes around the world. The supplies will be used in MSI programmes in a number of countries including Sierra Leone, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Nepal and Tanzania.

“This support is vital to the continued efforts of MSI country programmes to provide quality family planning to underserved women in rural areas and urban slums," said Dana Hovig, MSI’s Chief Executive. “These supplies will not only enable us to make services generally available, but also to offer the greatest range of contraceptive choice for women."

More than 200 million women around the world want to use contraception but don’t have access to it, often due to supply shortages.

MSI estimates that it will protect 88% more couples from unplanned pregnancy this year compared to 2006. This rapid growth has strained the supplies that MSI receives from governments, international donors and MSI's own resources.

"This agreement with the UNFPA will help to address the supply shortages and enable us to continue serving the underserved in the countries where we operate", said Hovig. "It could not have come at a better time.”

The MSI-UNFPA agreement comes just days before this year's World Contraception Day (26 September), which will shine a light on the growing need for contraception globally.

Burkina Faso programme launched

09/09/2009 16:25:19

Ouagadougou: Marie Stopes International (MSI) recently launched its newest programme, Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries and with only 10% of women there using a modern method of family planning and an overall fertility rate of 6.3, the reasons for MSI’s expansion into Burkina Faso are clear.

“There is a vital need for MSI’s services in Burkina Faso,” said Sally Hughes, MSI Burkina Faso Country Director. “Every three hours a woman dies from pregnancy-related complications. MSI Burkina Faso will be crucial in increasing reproductive and sexual health choices for the Burkinabé population.”

To mark the start of MSI providing services in this part of West Africa the MSI Burkina Faso team held a national launch ceremony in the capital Ouagadougou. Speaking at the ceremony, Claire Morris, MSI’s Senior Regional Director for Africa & Latin America said: “We are delighted to expand our work to this country and join forces with the government and others to improve the sexual and reproductive health of the Burkinabè population.”

In typical Burkinabé style the event also included a variety of entertainment. As well as dancing and street theatre from a top local theatre troupe who performed a funny skit on the benefits of family planning, a leading Burkinabé singer sang a specially composed MSI song. The national launch was followed by five community launches in the rural areas served by the programme’s first outreach team.

A pro-population growth stance and religious beliefs predominate in Burkina Faso. To help raise awareness, provide correct information on family planning methods and generate demand for the MSI outreach services, social marketing agents have been recruited to work in the villages and communities in which the MSI Burkina Faso outreach team will operate.

Each village has a chief and their involvement and support are critical to the success of MSI Burkina Faso’s work. Sally and her team have already got them on side as demonstrated at the first launch, where the village has two rather than one chief. Both chiefs attended to show their support of MSI’s arrival and endorse the benefits of using family planning; one is a Catholic with four children and the other a Muslim with 21 children!

“We are thrilled to be serving clients” said Odile Fande, Centre Coordinator at MSI Burkina Faso’s first centre. With such an impressive start and with so vital and energetic a Country Director as Sally Hughes in charge, MSI Burkina Faso looks set for rapid growth and will undoubtedly soon be having a huge positive impact on the lives and wellbeing of the Burkinabé population.

Austrian government endorses work of MSI Partner pro:woman

04/09/2009 14:50:28

Confirmation of the commitment of the Government of Austria to womens rights and choice was illustrated in Vienna last night at celebrations to mark 30 years of the Marie Stopes International pro:woman Clinic, the leading Sexual Reproductive Healthcare organisation in Austria.

Police estimated upwards of 700 demonstrators for and against Choice were outside the Vienna Town Hall where the reception hosted by the Vienna City Government and attended by Government and City officials was held, with video links to Austria’s highest Government representative, Barbara Prammer, and the Womens Minister Heinisch-Hosek. Both of whom made passionate speeches in support of the provision of abortion services, which received standing ovations from the 200 plus guests, including MSI representatives from London.

The whole event has been the subject of intense Media interest including television, radio and press coverage and is confirmation of the pro:woman/MSI position as the leading influence and a growing partnership with the Government in Sexual Reproductive Healthcare in Austria.

Workshop delivers new opportunities for Pacific outreach teams

28/08/2009 10:09:00

Suva - MSI Pacific’s participation in the Building Sustainable Partnerships Workshop with the Ministry of Health has led to a number of very promising new opportunities for the MSI outreach team.

The workshop attracted all head nurses and family planning nurses from Fiji’s Western division, giving the MSI team a great opportunity. During the workshop, the delegates assessed the current level of SRH services provided in the Western division.

The next step was to design a joint work plan to identify and respond to unmet need. This plan has now been ratified and circulated to all nurses in the division. As a result of the workshop, MSI Pacific now has new partnerships with all six Western sub-divisions: Sigatoka, Rakiraki, Lautoka, Ba, Nadi and Tavua.

As of June, the MSI Pacific outreach team will be spending three weeks per month in the Western - and later Central – districts of Fiji, providing family planning services to remote village areas. Their key objective is to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancy and STIs, including HIV, among the islanders, by providing access to quality SRH services and - crucially - condoms.

This initiative will target over 400,000 Fijians, including women, men, commercial
sex workers and men having sex with men.

Legal, but they don't know it

26/08/2009 17:18:33

In the hot sun of a Zambian winter, amidst the bustle of the traffic, beneath billboards promoting abstinence and hand painted signs advertising condoms and Coca-Cola, a young girl is fighting for her life.

In the emergency ward of the University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, "Grace" a child-like young woman is haemorrhaging, struggling to breath and dangerously close to death. Her sister, apparently complicit in Grace's nightmare, is sobbing next to her. Dr Kamanga, a staff Obstetrician and Gynecologist tries to coax what has happened out of the terrified girl.

After the desperate chaos that often surrounds emergency healthcare, Dr Kamanga removes a large part of cassava root, a potato like vegetable, from the girl's bloodied and damaged cervix.

Grace is one of the lucky ones. She survived.

According to the World Report on Women's Health 2006, nearly 200 women die every day from unsafe abortions in sub-saharan Africa. In Zambia 80% of these are under 19. Of course, these statistics can only cover those who make it to hospital. In a rural country with a population of over 11 million, the real figure is probably much higher. Zambia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, and 1/3 of these are estimated to be from unsafe abortions.

The terrible irony of all of this is that Zambia is one of the most liberal sub-saharan African states on the issue. It has an extensive law which permits abortions under certain conditions, for socio-economic, physical or mental health reasons. The Ministry of Health also launched new standards and guidelines in June 2009 to help confront the problem.

Loosely based on the laws of their former colonial ruler, England, The Zambian Termination of Pregnancy Act 1972 permits abortion where the continuation of the pregnancy can be proved to be detrimental to the mother, or the child, or both, and where this is agreed on by 3 medical practioners.

But Zambia is also a staunchly Christian nation many of whom are Roman Catholics and as poverty in the country worsens, mainly due to the world's dwindling desire for copper, far-right evangelical churches are becoming commonplace. Because of the sociological and cultural pressures, most women in Zambia consider abortion illegal. And whilst only 126 legal terminations were carried out in 2008, over 10,000 women were treated for the consequences of unsafe abortions.

"Lusaka is one thing", Holo Achonda, Clinical Director of the Planned Parenthood Association, Zambia tells me. "Here we have services, we have a hospital, we have physicians trained to terminate pregnancies. We also have counsellors, although due to their personal beliefs they often only try to persuade the girl to keep the baby. But imagine the situation in the countryside".

"Louise" is a 14 year old sex worker in Mpika, a truck stop on the Great North Road that runs from Cape Town to Cairo. Orphaned by AIDS at 9, her life has been one big scramble for survival, peppered with desperate tales of rape and hunger. Having left school when her parents died, and unable to get a job, she sells her body for 80p an hour, £1 without a condom. She uses the money to care for and feed herself and her sick older sister and nephew.

When she discovered she was pregnant, unable to find the 3 physicians to authorize the procedure or able to afford the medical care, Louise crushed up some glass, boiled it with coca cola and drank it, whilst inserting a cassava root deep into her cervix.

Others will visit traditional doctors whose remedies range from the insertion of twigs and sticks to remove the foetus to concoctions of fatally poisonous bark. Self-treatments include overdoses of paracetamol, drugs used for stomach ulcers or battery acid. Of course, anything that procures a miscarriage in this way, will also usually kill or severely injure the mother.

The Zambian state is trying to address the issue. In a significant speech in 2009, the permanent secretary for Health, Velepi Mtongo stated that "we still need to ensure that not a single woman dies from a pregnancy related condition" adding that it was worrying that so many of these cases involved teenage girls. It is adopting a holistic approach – not only providing safe post-abortion care to pick up the pieces when things go wrong, but also adopting a comprehensive care programme, integrating contraceptive, sexual health care with the reduction of the risk for unwanted pregnancies.

But in the next phrase, reference was made to protecting "the innocent child". This shows the inherent contradiction Zambia is grappling with on this issue. The government is faced with an impossible task; to protect women undergoing a procedure which runs inherently against the beliefs of the vast majority of the nation.

"We need to find a way to make a safe termination of pregnancy acceptable to the Christian community" Holo tells me. "We need to educate boys, as well as girls that condoms don't only prevent AIDS. We need a reliable health care system which people can access."

"We need to talk about abortion" adds Dr Kamanga. "We need to develop sensitization campaigns so that women know they don't need to put their lives at risk".

Grace made it. "I am so grateful" Grace tells her Dr. "I can now finish school without having a child to look after". She had a full hysterectomy following an infection she developed. She is now infertile and lucky to be alive. Grace is 15.

Back in the emergency room, the door crashes open as another young girl is rushed to Dr Kamanga, hemorrhaging and drifting in and out of consciousness. "A woman who needs an abortion has a right to safe care" he says hurriedly before turning back to attend to her. "Their lives depend on it".

Family planning award recognises efforts in the Philippines

20/08/2009 14:49:00

Manila – In June, Population Services Pilipinas Incorporated (PSPI), through its team in Ozamiz, received an award for its long-standing efforts providing SRH and family planning services in the municipality of Glan in Saranggani Province on the island of Mindanao.

Only 38.6% of women of reproductive age use a modern family planning method in Glan, which has an estimated population of 103,000. The partnership between the municipality and the Marie Stopes Ozamiz team, which started in 1996, is a direct result of PSPI’s commitment to provide high quality, safe, effective, and muchneeded family planning services to citizens who live some distance from town centres. As a result, the Marie Stopes team travels hundreds of miles in order to reach this and many more municipalities desperately requiring services.

The recognition, which was awarded by Mayor Enrique B. Yap, Jr. during his State of the Municipality Address, is an acknowledgement of PSPI’s “invaluable and unsurpassed dedication . . . in providing bilateral tubal ligation and pap smear services …..for the betterment of our people and society”.

The population of the Philippines is distributed widely over the archipelago which can make reaching people very difficult. However, undaunted by such a challenge, PSPI overcomes barriers of distance and time to provide longacting and permanent contraceptive methods to women and men in as many as a thousand cities and municipalities around the country. This strong commitment to service delivery continues to save the lives of thousands of Filipino women each year.

USAID visits Marie Stopes Kenya

20/08/2009 10:26:00

Nairobi - Signaling the new commitment to global SRH and rights under the US Obama administration, delegates from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) recently visited Marie Stopes Kenya (MS Kenya) to find out more about the programme.

The four member delegation was led by Dr Scott Radloff, Director, Office of Population and Reproductive Health Bureau for Global Health. Accompanying Dr Radloff, were
Patricia MacDonald, Senior Technical Adviser, Service Delivery Improvement
Division Population Leadership Program / Public Health Institute; Dana M. Vogel, Service Delivery Improvement Division; and Lynne Krueger Adrian, Director, Office of Population and Health.

Programme Director, Cyprian Awiti, welcomed the delegates and provided them with an overview of the Kenya programme’s work before handing over to Jared Mogushe who spoke about demand generation activities. The delegates were also very interested to find out more about MS Kenya’s involvement in Pathfinder’s AIDS, Population and Health Integrated Assistance (APHIA) programme and about MS Kenya’s outreach model (choice camps).

Visiting one of the outreach sites, the delegation witnessed firsthand how the outreach teams are overstretched both in the distances they have to cover and in the huge numbers of clients they serve.

Dr Radloff made it known that he was personally delighted by the lifting of the Bush imposed Mexico City Policy, which had undermined health systems and endangered the lives and health of the poorest and most vulnerable women by denying them
access to life saving services.

Ultimately, it is hoped that the new found dialogue and accord with USAID may eventually translate into substantive US financial support for the crucial work of MS Kenya and other members of the MSI Global Partnership.

Ten years on

17/08/2009 11:57:40

Phnom Penh - MSI Cambodia recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of service to the women and men of Cambodia with a gala dinner held at the Cambodiana Hotel in the capital.

Attended by government representatives, partners, the donor community and celebrity goodwill ambassadors, as well as MSI team members from around the country, the celebration marked the programme’s progress from its humble beginnings to today’s organisation which now has a strong presence in more than half the country!

During its first year of operation, MSI Cambodia, then known as the Cambodian Women’s Clinic, reached a total of just 49 clients. Over the past nine years, however, the organisation has steadily grown and now has six clinics in five provinces as well as clinical outreach activities in 10 provinces reaching the poor, vulnerable and under-served. Last year, 22,719 clients walked through the world-famous MSI door to receive high quality, affordable SRH services.

But what of the future? Over the next year or so, MSI Cambodia will focus on expanding access to medical abortion, with a view to branding and franchising
the drugs and training local counterparts in their safe use. Currently, Cambodian women prefer medical rather than surgical abortion for a range of cultural reasons.

However, due to a number of reasons including the poor quality of the drugs available and poor information, many medical abortions end up incomplete and some end up in fatalities. By extending the availability of affordable, reliable and safe medical abortion, backed by MSI’s global reputation, MSI Cambodia hopes the benefits of medical abortion will reach the overwhelmingly rural population
who are currently drastically under-served.

Stimulating demand will also be high on the agenda. The programme will move away from the dominant general health promotion awareness approach to more strategic, targeted and evidence based models in partnership with small urban
businesses.

The team will also be expanding the networks it has with entertainment workers and garment factory workers; and develop more, stronger mass media advocacy
initiatives. To help reach young people, MSI Cambodia has also ‘adopted’ Cambodia’s first couple of entertainment, Yuthara Chhany and Chorn Chanleakhena, as Goodwill Ambassadors.

Both stars are excellent role models for family planning for young - and not-soyoung
- Cambodians. Other activities identified to help reach the youth target group are radio, television, telephone hotlines, email, SMS campaigns and pop concerts.

Male involvement is also high on the agenda and the programme is currently in the process of identifying a sports star to advocate for vasectomy. In recognising the good work MSI Cambodia has done over the last ten years, Programme Director Che
Katz refl ected on the challenges and highlights of working in SRH in a post-conflict country such asCambodia.

“Thanks to the support of the Government of Cambodia, MSI Cambodia is now looking forward to growing and surrounding itself with the best people in order to assist all Cambodian women to have a brighter future.”

Midwives deliver family planning as well as babies

17/08/2009 10:44:31

Sana´a – MSI Yemen is increasing the number and quality of IUD services provided in the public and private sectors through its successful countrywide training scheme.

Aimed at midwives, the second wave of providers started their training recently. Over the coming 12 months, 150 midwives across nine governorates will be trained. During the two-day course, the midwives learn techniques for IUD fitting and removal; client counselling; information giving; infection prevention and client referral systems.

As well as the theory side of the course, trainees hone their practical skills on models first before moving on to work with clients under supervision. In order to pass the course, each trainee is assessed fitting 10 IUDs and removing five.

Once training is complete, each ‘graduate’ receives a midwife’s kit in an awards ceremony, courtesy of the MSI Yemen social marketing programme. To select suitable candidates to go on the course, MSI Yemen has targeted specific cities and areas where need is highest and worked with local Ministry of Public Health offices to identify prospective trainees.

Through the roll-out of the training scheme, MSI Yemen is making great strides towards improving the quality of IUD services in the public and private sectors and expanding services in those sectors. Last year, 320 midwives from 11 governorates within Yemen successfully completed the course, with a further 150 being trained over the next 12 months, MSI Yemen is making a real impact!

Storming ahead

13/08/2009 11:31:00

Abuja - Marie Stopes Nigeria’s (MS Nigeria) outreach team has been storming ahead since beginning to provide services in late April.

In the team’s first three months of operation, MS Nigeria has delivered more than 1800 Couple Years of Protection (CYPs). Services have been delivered in and around Abuja (the Federal State capital); some have been delivered in Kwali, 50km south west of the capital, and others in the busy market areas of Wuse and Garki, in the capital itself.

Jadelle and Implanon implants and tubal ligation services have proved particularly popular with clients. As well as delivering services themselves, the team has also been training state sector health workers to do the same, doubling their impact in a short space of time.

These initial outreach services have helped MS Nigeria test its supply chain, transport regime and stores system in preparation for the opening of its first centre in a few weeks.

MSI provides majority of safe abortion services in Nepal

12/08/2009 17:01:00

London - A new study by international reproductive health organisation Ipas into abortion care in Nepal has shown that not only are complications rare in general, but services offered by Marie Stopes International (MSI) are the safest of all.

Researchers interviewed more than 7,000 women who received abortion care at public, private and NGO clinics over a three-month period. The study found that:

77% of these women received care at Marie Stopes International’s Sunaulo Parivar Nepal (SPN) centres
overall the complication rate among all women was low (2%)
women receiving care at SPN centres were significantly less likely to have complications than women receiving abortion services from all other types of clinics: 1% at SPN compared to 5.6% at other facilities.

Abortion has been provided throughout Nepal since it was legalised in 2002, with more than 200,000 women seeking abortion services in the years since then. The Ipas study was undertaken to document the extent of complications arising from comprehensive abortion care in order to improve the quality of services.

The study was conducted as a cooperative project of the Family Health Division, Department of Health Services of the Ministry of Health and Population, the Population, Health and Development Group (a local research organisation), the Technical Committee for the Implementation of Comprehensive Abortion Care and Ipas. The findings were officially released in Nepal on 30th July.

MSI opened its first centre in Nepal in partnership with SPN in 1994. Today, MSI Nepal has grown into a leading family planning and reproductive health service provider with a service network across 45 of the country’s 75 districts. Among non-government providers, MSI Nepal has been instrumental in expanding the uptake of modern family planning methods and provided 92,800 safe abortions from 2004 to 2007. The organisation has not only saved the lives of many women but has also made an important contribution to the decline in maternal mortality in Nepal.

Download a 4-page summary of the report.

Download a full copy of the report.

BlueStar Ethiopia introduces medical abortion

11/08/2009 10:40:00

Addis Ababa - MSI Ethiopia has recently started taking medical abortion outside of its own centres through its growing BlueStar franchise network. Initial results are very promising.

MSI Ethiopia has provided MSMP services through its own centres for some time now. However, when it decided to roll out the service and increase access to medical abortion outside of MSI Ethiopia centres, utilising BlueStar franchisees was an obvious solution.

Earlier this year, MSI Ethiopia provided medical abortion training to selected franchisees in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar. It also established a new service referral network to tackle complications which, although rare, can arise following a medical abortion procedure.

BlueStar franchisee clinics that are close to MSI Ethiopia centres are linked with those centres for referral. Those franchisees which are not near MSI Ethiopia centres, but are close to a public facility or to another franchisee with someone who is trained on surgical abortion procedures are linked to either of those institutions.

Franchisees which are both distant from a MSI Ethiopia centre and appropriate public or private facilities will be trained on both medical and surgical procedures to enable
them to handle complications by themselves.

The franchisees provided a total of 997 medical abortions between January and May 2009. It is anticipated that many more will be trained over the next six months giving the women of Ethiopia even greater access to a vital SRH service.

The Guardian Journalism Competition finalists announced

11/08/2009 10:13:00

London: The Guardian International Development Journalism Competition 2009 has now reached its final stages with the announcement of the 16 finalists.

The finalists (eight professional and eight amateur journalists) will be given final assignments relating to international development issues and taken on trips to various countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean so that they can experience and investigate these issues first hand.

The competition is a collaboration between the Guardian, Marie Stopes International and seven other non-government organisations (NGOs) and was launched in April with the financial support of the Department for International Development and Glaxo Smith Kline. Both amateur and freelance professional journalists were encouraged to submit articles on key development issues before the June deadline.

One of the finalists from the professional category, Rebecca Stewart, wrote on one of Marie Stopes International’s themes, focusing on the appalling toll unsafe abortion has on young women’s lives in Zambia: Legal but they don’t know it. Another, Candida Beverage, wrote a disturbing piece on women’s rights in Sumatra: No money, no baby.

The winners – one professional and one amateur – will be announced at an award ceremony in November, after which all the final assignments will be published by the Guardian newspaper in special supplements.

The other NGO partners in the project are Amref, British Red Cross, Farm Africa, Find Your Feet, International Childcare Trust, One World Action and Panos London.

To view the articles, visit www.guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition.

Medical Abortion: finally an option for Australian women

10/08/2009 16:56:00

London: Australian women have finally been given the option of medical abortion for early termination of pregnancy, following the launch of this service by Marie Stopes International.

Access to medical abortion in Australia has been an issue of intense political debate. Prior to 2006, the Federal Health Minister had exercised his power to veto any application to allow the drug mifepristone to be used in Australia. In February 2006, control was passed to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) which now monitors all access to the drug.

Under the TGA, mifepristone can be prescribed by selected Authorised Prescribers for the purposes of medical abortion in the first trimester (below nine weeks) at Marie Stopes International’s centres in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, the ACT and Western Australia.

“Access and choice are constant issues women face with all sexual and reproductive healthcare services,” said Jill Michelson, National Clinical Adviser for Marie Stopes International in Australia. “Our service will now increase the choices available to Australian women faced with an unplanned pregnancy.”

Medical abortion using the drugs mifepristone and misoprostol has been recommended by experts as the most effective and safest method for terminating early stage pregnancies. Experience in the UK has shown that about half of all women having a termination within the first nine weeks of pregnancy choose a medical treatment over a surgical procedure.

“While surgical abortion is a very safe procedure and is the preferred choice for many women, medical methods of abortion also have a number of advantages,” said Michelson. “Our clients say that the most important features of a medical abortion are that it is non-invasive and private. In addition, no surgery or anaesthetic is required during a medical abortion.”

Currently no pharmaceutical company has applied for approval to import and distribute mifepristone in Australia. Marie Stopes International has imported the drug (Miffee®) from a pharmaceutical company in Europe after receiving an import permit from the TGA.

Medical abortion has been used by millions of women in over 30 countries since the late 1980s, and Marie Stopes International has been using medical abortion in the UK since 1996.

Below you can view some of the media coverage that followed the launch of medical abortion in Australia.

Physician, circumcise thyself!

01/08/2009 09:53:00

Lilongwe - It had been a very busy week at Banja La Mtsogolo’s (BLM) Kawale Centre. Over the course of just five days, 61 men had been circumcised and six clinicians re-trained in BLM’s new male circumcision (MC) technique.

The 62nd client was just about to be circumcised… enter Charles Movete, one of BLM’s own clinicians! Charles is normally based in Salima and was at the Kawale Centre, in Lilongwe, for the week long MC training course.

According to Charles, he hadn’t planned on getting circumcised when he first arrived for the course. “As the week went on, I became more and more convinced that circumcision could provide me with some protection against the current HIV pandemic,” said Charles.

And he isn’t alone. He is the third clinician to finish off a MC training week in such dramatic style, certainly an endorsement of the quality of BLM services!

Since 1987, BLM has been the leading private provider of SRH services in Malawi. With thousands of minor surgical procedures being carried out each month in its network of 31 centres, BLM is looking to continue its SRH leadership by spearheading efforts in the country to provide safe and affordable MC services to
Malawian men. BLM currently has 19 clinicians trained in MC.

Driving the MC initiative are HIV prevalence rates in Malawi that near 20% among some age groups. New research shows that MC can reduce the chances of getting HIV up to 60%.

Despite a long week of work and with a three-hour bus ride ahead of him to get back to Salima, Charles had no regrets and was even more keen to promote MC than he was before. “Now that I have undergone the procedure myself, I will have no
problem promoting circumcision!” Charles concluded.

Putting training into practice

31/07/2009 09:04:43

Bamako - After taking part in the Marie Stopes Ligation* (MSL) training in Kenya, Dr Mariam Diaucoumba and midwife Djenebou Kone performed their first MSL for MSI Mali at the Sougounikoura Centre in June.

In Mali, MSLs will be performed primarily in outreach settings, but the team did their first few cases at a centre to ensure a more controlled setting while they built up their confidence in doing the procedure on their own. Their first client was Mme Traoré Selikenè Diarra from Kati Malibougou, a small town 20km outside of Bamako. Selikenè is 34 years old and has seven living children; the eldest is 18 years old, the youngest six months.

She first came into contact with MSI Mali’s outreach team four months ago, when the team began visiting her local healthcare centre on a monthly basis. At first she considered using long-acting reversible contraception, but after discussions with her husband, decided it was better to go for a permanent solution.

“When there is poverty,” Selikenè told MSI Mali just before her surgery, “it is difficult to look after the children. At first, I just wanted to space my next child, but when I heard about having a MSL, I decided to stop all together.” Selikenè travelled the 20km with her husband and youngest daughter for the procedure in Bamako. In Mali, written permission from the husband is required in order for a woman to undertake a MSL.

Now that the team has had its first taste of success, they will be putting their newly acquired MSL skills to good use for many Malian women in the months ahead!

*Marie Stopes Ligation is Marie Stopes International's client focused approach to female sterlisation.

Using Misoprostol to save lives in Madagascar

27/07/2009 16:08:00

Antananarivo - Marie Stopes Madagascar (MS Madagascar) has just commenced a three month trial using Misoprostol, which should significantly reduce mortality rates amongst women undergoing unsafe abortion or who suffer from severe bleeding following birth.

In June, MS Madagascar, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Planning (MoH) and Venture Strategies Innovation (VSI) officially launched the trial and rollout plan. Participants at the launch were given an overview of the appalling impact of inadequate treatment for post-partum haemorrhage (PPH) and unsafe abortion by Dr Serge Raharison of the MoH. Dr Thierry Ramanantsoa, Project Manager - Misoprostal for MS Madagascar and Dr Jean-Pierre Rakatovao of VSI spoke about the trial.

The trial, called "Saving the lives of Malagasy women", will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the Misoprostol - branded MISOCLEAR in Madagascar - in preventing and treating PPH and treating incomplete abortion. Eight MS Madagascar doctors newly-trained in the use of Misoprostol will train doctors in five neighbouring public health centres.

They will also train local community health volunteers to recruit women participants and administer a client satisfaction questionnaire. This will provide data to support the case for registering the MISOCLEAR brand. MS Madagascar currently uses Oxytocin for prevention and treatment of PPH. However, public health centres and their clients cannot always afford Oxytocin, nor is the necessary refrigerated storage always available. As a result, such centres do not usually use any drugs for PPH.

Lack of treatment for PPH is the major cause of maternal mortality in Madagascar. In this trial, some public health providers will be trained to use Misoprostol, which is cheaper than Oxytocin and does not require refrigeration. Results for women who received no drugs (the current public practice), and those who receive Misoprostol and Oxytocin will be compared.

For treatment of incomplete abortion, MS Madagascar already uses Misoprostol. Neighbouring public health centres will now be trained to follow the same protocol. Data collected from MS Madagascar and public health centres will give evidence of the safety and effectiveness of Misoprostol in treating incomplete abortion, which is
also a major cause of death and injury to Malagasay women.

At the end of the launch, participants were given sneak previews of the packaging and marketing materials for the MISOCLEAR brand. MS Madagascar is confident that the evidence this research will generate will make a compelling case for registering Misoprostol and rolling it out to all public health centres in Madagascar.

Marie Stopes Mexico City celebrates first anniversary with a big splash

23/07/2009 11:35:00

Mexico City - Marie Stopes Mexico City (MS Mexico-DF) held its 1st anniversary ceremony in June. The event attracted many luminaries of the SRH world, including
representatives from the Ministry of Health, and leading NGOs. Over a dozen representatives of the national press also attended.

Speakers at the event included Dr Armando Ahued, Director of the Ministry of Health in Mexico City; political and social analyst and well-known author Denise Dresser; as well as MSI’s CEO Dana Hovig.

The speech from the Ministry of Health was particularly groundbreaking as it represented the first time an official government spokesperson had spoken publicly in support of the safe and legal abortion services MS Mexico-DF provides. Dr Ahued recognised the programme as the Ministry’s partner in the provision of safe abortion to the women of Mexico City.

Dana Hovig thanked the City on behalf of MSI: “I applaud the bravery and humanity of the legislators of Mexico City in recognising the fundamental importance of safe abortion to the lives and wellbeing of its female citizens.”

Denise Dresser gave a poignant and heartfelt speech about the desperate need for women in the rest of the country to have access to the same safe and legal abortion care that women in Mexico City are now able to access, thanks to the decriminalisation of abortion up to 12 weeks.

The liberalisation of the law only applies to the State of Mexico City, and since liberalisation there been a conservative backlash in other parts of the country. Thirteen states are now taking more conservative measures towards restricting women’s SRH and rights.

The need for MSI’s good work is clear. In Mexico, complications from unsafe abortions are the fifth highest cause of maternal mortality. An estimated 875,000 abortions take place each year in Mexico, which means that approximately 33 out of every 1000 women between 15 and 44 will have an abortion annually, the majority of them unsafe.

MS Mexico-DF, with three clinics, two of which are in low-income areas, has provided nearly 1,200 safe abortions in its first year. The event generated fantastic media coverage. There was coverage by a local TV station, six national radio stations and three local radio stations. Seven news articles also appeared, including a story in leading national newspaper El Milenio.

All of this publicity will help ensure that more women are aware of the services and help offered by MS Mexico-DF.

New partnership scales-up male circumcision

21/07/2009 13:07:40

London - MSI has joined forces with Population Services International (PSI), Jhpiego, and The Population Council, to dramatically expand access to Male Circumcision (MC) services in Zambia and Swaziland over the next five years.

Working closely with the governments of both countries, the MC Partnership estimates that it will provide voluntary MC services to more than 650,000 men in one of the largest roll-outs of MC services ever. The programme will include extensive behavior change communications for both women and men to highlight the need for safer sex practices and continued condom use.

The MC Partnership is sponsored by PSI with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Scientific research has shown that MC reduces HIV infection among men by 60%, more than any vaccine currently under development. Both the World Health Organization and UNAIDS have named MC as a key intervention in halting the spread of HIV in Africa.

“Safe male circumcision in combination with other prevention programs has a critical role to play in the global effort to fight HIV/AIDS,” said Regina Rabinovich, Director of Infectious Disease Development in the Gates Foundation Global Health Program. “Studies confirm that safe, voluntary male circumcision has been shown to reduce HIV transmission rates and help save lives.”

MSI has helped to pioneer the delivery of MC services in Africa during recent years, beginning with a pilot MC outreach programme in Kenya. MSI’s role in the MC Partnership’s programme in Zambia and Swaziland is to establish national networks of public, private and NGO health service providers. Special emphasis will be placed on reaching remote, rural areas via outreach teams. Under the MC Partnership, MSI Zambia has already begun to deliver MC services.

At the end of the five-year period, research findings and lessons learnt by the MC Partnership will be widely disseminated. MSI and its partners expect that this initiative will provide answers on how to effectively scale up MC and how effective it can be in battling the AIDS pandemic.

Providing the answers in Uganda

20/07/2009 15:40:00

Kampala – Marie Stopes Uganda (MS Uganda) is working with Google and the Grameen Foundation to provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information to people in rural areas of Uganda through a mobile phone network.

The service, which was launched a few weeks ago, is part of a project called the Application Laboratory (AppLab). Five different information applications have been launched under the project, including Google Trader, which matches buyers and sellers of agricultural produce and commodities, and the Clinic Finder Tool, which helps people locate nearby health clinics and their services.

To get answers to their SRH questions users send their questions, such as “will implants make me infertile?” by text message to the service number (6001). The system then analyses the message using Google’s SMS search technology and immediately sends the appropriate answer.

As one of the leading providers of SRH services in the country, MS Uganda was approached by the Grameen Foundation to write the responses to questions about SRH and provide information for the Clinic Finder Tool. The MS Uganda team prepared answers on a huge variety of SRH topics and the recently launched service is already attracting a healthy volume of enquiries.

One health worker found that women could broach SRH subjects more easily with their daughters: ‘some women said that 6001 helped provide an avenue through which they can comfortably teach their daughters about SRH. To them, sitting down and sharing thoughts and questions on such issues using a phone is less embarrassing.’

Another health worker in Katanga, heard about the service and now promotes it, 'being in a Christian church, many youths with STD's keep silent because they think they will be seen as sinners and adulterers. I taught my son how to use 6001. From him many Christian youths have embraced the service, seeking help and advice in private'.

The system is available across Uganda to anyone who can access the MTN mobile phone network, which is the largest network in Uganda. This includes a large number of people in rural areas who are able to use mobile phones through a network of Village Phone operators (VPOs). There are currently more than 10,000 VPos in Uganda, so the service will allow people without access to landline telephones, regular newspapers or the internet to still get SRH advice and information.

Africa is now the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world with more than 280 million subscribers. That figure is expected to double in the next three years.

BlueStar proving a social franchising success

17/07/2009 11:23:00

Social networking is all the rage via websites such as Facebook and Twitter, but Marie Stopes International (MSI) is also setting an encouraging new trend: combining ambitious social service-provision goals with a franchise model, and targeted social networking of its own.

As much of the developing world has to rely on private sector healthcare to provide contraceptives and sexual and reproductive healthcare, MSI has pioneered the use of social franchising under the BlueStar brand to significantly expand access to high quality services through existing local providers.

Arising out of a trial in Kenya named AMUA (“decide” in Kiswahili), BlueStar has expanded significantly over the last year, and has now reached almost 120,000 clients across eight countries. This has not only resulted in vital services reaching more communities faster than via organic growth; it has also empowered around 900 social businesses in a replicable and sustainable model that provides hope to reach even more of the developing world in the future.

Social Franchising in family planning
MSI identifies local health providers who have the skill and the will to upgrade to a new level of service delivery in sexual and reproductive health. They are provided training, access to relevant products and association with an increasingly recognised network. On-going monitoring ensures high standards that conform to the BlueStar name. In BlueStar, MSI is encouraged by the progress of a potentially winning formula for everyone involved.

First and most importantly, the targeted population gets access to an international quality standard of sexual and reproductive healthcare services at an accessible cost, right within their community and from local healthcare professionals they recognise.

For the dedicated independent health provider on the ground, the BlueStar programme provides a way to take their healthcare practice to the next level. They receive access to excellent training, marketing expertise and great value family planning products – including contraceptives and pregnancy kits that can be co-branded with their practice, and help them build their practice further.

For the investment in time and resources, MSI is able to reach communities at a scale that would not have been possible through MSI clinics, while maintaining a high level of service delivery. The BlueStar brand not only provides a recognised asset for the local healthcare provider that they help build, but also retains an appropriate distance from the brand of MSI’s own managed clinics.

“Quality of care is everything!” says Senanu Arkutu, BlueStar Ghana Manager. “It goes far beyond technical competence in terms of clinical service delivery into areas such as state of the outlet, customer care, and staff management.”

Promising progress
Following the AMUA programme in Kenya, MSI launched BlueStar in Ethiopia, Ghana, Viet Nam, Malawi and the Philippines in 2007, most recently adding Pakistan* and Sierra Leone, with more countries planned.

Increasingly, independent health providers are realising the benefits of a facilitated social network: through a streamlined central organisation and highly devolved decision-making and operation, MSI has been able to bring together everyone from private clinicians, pharmacists, midwives, non government organisations and government representatives for the sharing of ideas, plans and knowledge. For example, BlueStar Sierra Leone’s Advisory Committee, which provides expert advice and direction and strengthens advocacy for the BlueStar network in Sierra Leone, has several high profile members including the first lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Koroma.

Though relatively early days in many of the BlueStar countries, MSI is energised by the success of achieving even greater impact through increased access through the BlueStar social franchise network. This sustainable model provides hope that this positive impact will only increase further in the future.

*The brand is known as Suraj in Pakistan

Viet Nam/Laos training is a huge success

15/07/2009 15:28:00

Hanoi and Vientiane – Thanks to funding from AUSAid, 20 government health service providers from Laos recently travelled to Viet Nam to be trained in IUD insertion by MSI.

The trainees were welcomed by the manager of MSI Viet Nam’s Nghe An Centre, who, in collaboration with the provincial health authorities, facilitated the five-day course.

The trainees, a mix of doctors, midwives and nurses, arrived with varying degrees of experience and skill in performing the procedure. By the end of the training, however, all were able to deliver the service to a high standard. Two days of theoretical training, including practical sessions using models, were followed by three days of hands-on experience during which more than 230 local women had an IUD fitted.

The trainees were accompanied by two representatives from the Mother and Child Health Centre of the Laos Ministry of Health who were impressed with the quality of training and the techniques used by MSI Viet Nam service providers. They also indicated they would be interested in implementing a similar approach to IUD training in Laos.

The landlocked and mountainous country of Laos is one of the poorest countries in the region. It has one of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in the area and access to contraceptives and family planning services is limited, particularly in the remote parts of the country.

If the training conducted by MSI Viet Nam is adopted and rolled out by the Laos Ministry of Health, it could have a significant long term impact on Laos’ contraceptive prevalence rate.

Achievements in International Development Award

11/07/2009 13:03:00

Do you know of someone who has made an exceptional contribution to efforts to alleviate poverty in the developing world? Someone who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make a positive difference to the lives and livelihoods of some of the worlds most marginalised and impoverished people??

The Guardian Achievements in International Development Award 2009 is sponsored by the Department for International Development and Marie Stopes International. The award aims to honour the unsung heroes of international development. And we need your nominations.

Nominations are welcome for individuals (not organisations) of any nationality and based anywhere in the world. Nominees for the Award will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

the extent to which their activities and achievements have had a demonstrable and positive impact on poverty alleviation – either directly or indirectly
the sustainability of their achievements in terms of longevity, legacy and impact
the extent to which the nominee's activities and achievements have changed social situations, public attitudes, structures or policies that may be behind the poverty, exclusion or disempowerment of the people affected
the ways in which the nominee has demonstrated inspirational leadership.

After the deadline, 24 July 2009, a highly qualified judging panel will select a shortlist of five finalists. Descriptions of the five finalists will be featured on the Marie Stopes International site and you will be invited to vote for the candidate you think most deserves the award. The public voting process will run between 24 August – 25 September 2009.

The winner will be announced jointly with the winners of the Guardian International Development Journalism Competition 2009 at an awards ceremony on 19 November 2009 in London.

Nominate someone

World Refugee Day

20/06/2009 12:51:00

London - Today (20 June), is World Refugee Day. For the 42 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world, everyday life can be a major struggle and many basic services, like healthcare, are difficult to access. Today is a day to remember that struggle and galvanise support for people like Odette, an IDP from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Marie Stopes International works with refugees and IDPs in countries such as Nepal, Uganda and Afghanistan. Help us to help them.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - Odette was from the eastern part of the country, and as fighting swept across the east, Odette scared and heavily pregnant, was forced to flee her home. Like millions of others across the world, she had suddenly become a displaced person.

Shortly after fleeing, Odette went into labour and for three days was in indescribable pain. The labour was obstructed and Odette desperately needed help. She tried to reach a hospital, first by foot, and then by boat, but not long after setting off the boat’s engine broke down. Along with all of the other passengers, Odette was stranded, floating aimlessly in the middle of the lake.

By sheer coincidence, a team of NGO medical staff, including a midwife, were on a motorboat going to one of the local health clinics only accessible by water. Seeing the motorboat, the stranded passengers flagged it down and Odette was immediately transferred onto it. Writhing in pain, she was examined by the midwife who quickly realised the seriousness of the situation. The baby had already died, and Odette’s life was also in great danger. Turning the motorboat around, the medical team made their way to the district hospital, an hour’s journey away.

When the boat arrived at the port, Odette was transferred to a car for the ten minute ride to the hospital. The hospital is the main referral one for a large area. Run by the Ministry of Health, it also receives long-term support from an international NGO.

When the car carrying Odette arrived, there were doctors waiting for her. They had been alerted by a radio call from one of the medical staff on the motorboat as it made its way to port.

Inside the hospital, electricity supplies were erratic and there were no sterile surgical supplies, no anaestectic or antibiotics, no IV bags or tubing.

Despite the doctors’ best efforts, Odette died.

Odette went into labour under particularly difficult circumstances, but had she had access to the appropriate healthcare and treatment when she first felt the baby coming, she and her unborn child may have survived.

MSI Zambia launch generates frank support from government

16/06/2009 17:35:34

Lusaka - Marie Stopes International Zambia has hosted an official launch event in Lusaka to mark its first year of operation. At the launch, which included guests from the government, the donor community, media, and civil society, MSI Zambia Country Director, Emma Warwick and a representative from the Ministry of Health outlined how the programme is reducing unsafe abortion and preventing HIV.

According to the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey, 54.6 per cent of the sexually active 19 year olds have already begun childbearing. Research has indicated that up to 80 per cent of all women who are treated for complications of unsafe abortions are under 19 years old.

The permanent secretary to the Ministry of Health, Dr Velepi M’tonga, noted in her speech that the problem of high unsafe abortion morbidity and mortality was of great concern to the government and that it was developing new standards and guidelines to help to protect women.

“We still need to ensure that not a single woman dies from a pregnancy related condition. What is saddening is that in Zambia, of all the women that die from pregnancy related conditions, about 30% of them are because of unsafe abortions,” she said.

In her speech, Dr M’tonga also welcomed MSI Zambia, saying the government was pleased to see that MSI had stepped in to provide more choices in sexual and reproductive health services.

Emma Warwick outlined how MSI Zambia was working towards sustained strengthening of the reproductive health sector. As part of this, the MSI Zambia team has established a number of partnerships with local district health management teams, private sector practitioners and fellow NGOs to increase access to all methods of family planning, provide post-abortion care and male circumcision services.

Senior Advisor to the MSI Global Partnership, Getachew Bekele, explained how the MSI Partnership as a whole aimed to achieve financial sustainability and set quality of care standards to increase client satisfaction and help improve standards across the reproductive health care sector.

MSI Zambia Clinical Services Manager, Dr Ameck Kamanga, then gave a moving testimony of his experience in the Emergency Gynaecology ward at Lusaka’s University Teaching Hospital where he worked for eight years. He said most women referred to the ward were young or girls who had undergone unsafe abortion services. “Firstly, we want fewer abortions to occur. We want to prevent abortions by meeting the unmet need for family planning. We want to increase access to family planning, particularly for young women and for older women for whom pregnancy may be risky, in both rural and urban areas.”

Dr Kamanga went on to explain that the reality was that unsafe abortions went on everyday. MSI Zambia didn’t advocate abortion, but advocated for increased access to family planning and for expanded access safe comprehensive abortion care.

The launch was a huge success and attracted good coverage throughout Zambia including articles in the main commercial and state national newspapers and on both TV and radio via Zambia’s public broadcaster, ZNBC. All of which has helped to raise awareness of sexual and reproductive health issues and the MSI Zambia’s commitment to providing a range of quality services to the men and women of Zambia.

Murder of Dr George Tiller

04/06/2009 09:12:55

George Tiller, a highly respected American doctor who had provided abortion services to women for many years was shot dead on Sunday whilst attending a church service in his home town of Witchita, Kansas.

Marie Stopes International's Dr Kate Worsley, who knew George personally, paid the following tribute:

"I knew George from various meetings over the years, and he was a very gentle and generous man, who had put up with the constant threats against his personal security over many years, in order to provide women with a choice of abortion. He always tried to ensure that abortion services were provided with the upmost respect and care for the women and their partners requesting services.

"He was one of the very few people who provided the later abortions to women that needed them in the States, and as a result of his commitment to providing women with this choice had experienced years of threats against his personal security: he'd been shot and stabbed before; had his clinic bombed, flooded and vandalized; received decades of death threats; wild lawsuits; and was the unfortunate target of conservative media that hounded him. He persisted despite all of this, until yesterday.

"It is particularly shocking to know someone who has been murdered because he was an abortion provider. I think we'd all thought that this kind of violence that had been in the 1990’s in the US had gone away - and was a thing of the past. Unfortunately it seems that it isn’t."

May global news round-up

31/05/2009 14:08:00

THE PUSH JOURNAL MEDIA SUMMARY
June, 2009

Murder of Dr. George Tiller: Multiple media outlets reported and published op-eds and blogs May 31-June 11 on the murder of Dr. George Tiller, one of very few late-term abortion providers in the United States. Most discussed the impact of his death and the subsequent closure of his clinic on women, health providers and policy debates. In an editorial, the Washington Post (USA) wrote, "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is offering U.S. Marshals Service protection for abortion clinics and the doctors who staff them. It's the right call, but one that underscores the urgency of coming up with better solutions for the delivery of abortion services." Vicki Saporta of the National Abortion Federation said, "What made Dr. Tiller unusual was that he specialized in seeing women who found out late in very wanted pregnancies that they were carrying fetuses with anomalies that were incompatible with life." For his patients, "there was really no good choice. They needed to terminate their pregnancies to protect their own health, and he provided both the emotional and physical care for women in that situation."

Illegal Abortions Have Deadly Toll in Tanzania: The New York Times (USA) reported June 1 on the links connecting a lack of contraception, restrictions outlawing abortion and a shortage of medical personnel to Tanzania's high maternal mortality rate.

Vietnam Makes Progress Toward MDGs: VOVNews (Vietnam) reported June 2 that after eight years of working to integrate the Millennium Development Goals into its economic development agenda, Vietnam has made substantial progress toward reducing poverty and promoting education and gender equality.

Renewed Calls to Honour Pledges on Reproductive Health and Rights: IPS reported on June 6, The Boston Globe (USA) published an op-ed by rights advocates Alica Al-Yamin and Mary Robinson on June 4, and The New York Times (USA) published an editorial May 30 on calls by reproductive health advocates for renewed attention to reproductive health as a human right. IPS reported on the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and its "groundbreaking shift in the approach to reproductive health: women's reproductive capacity was to be transformed from an object of population control to a matter of women's empowerment to exercise personal autonomy." The Boston Globe noted "As a new member of the Human Rights Council, the United States has the chance to lead the way in promoting a woman's right to go through pregnancy and childbirth in safety and, just as important, to back up that assertion with adequate funding commitments." The New York Times highlighted that far too many people are still dying of preventable causes because there is a lack of resources and argued, "Wealthy countries promised nearly a decade ago to help the world's poorest to emerge from the deepest poverty. This is the wrong time to stop."

*New Oral Contraceptive Pill Launched in Europe: On June 9, Healthcare professional websites Hay Pharma and PharmiWeb.com featured articles regarding a new oral contraceptive pill launched in Europe. The pill, called Qlaira, delivers a hormone identical to that found naturally in a woman’s body. Dr Kate Worsley, Head of Medical Development at Marie Stopes International welcomed the increase in choice of contraceptive pill options, allowing women to ‘find an option that best suits her individual needs’.

New HIV Infection Rate Falls Among South Africa Teens: The Associated Press reported June 9 on a Human Sciences Research Council finding that the rate of new HIV infections has fallen dramatically among adolescents in South Africa. Olive Shisana, an author of the report, credited the decline to an increase in condom use among young men.

Obama Policy Moves Target Reproductive Health Policy: NPR featured an analysis June 9 by health correspondent Julie Rovner on Obama administration moves in recent months that relate to reproductive health and family planning. These include repeal of the Global Gag Rule, reinstatement of funding for UNFPA, moving to repeal the HHS Federal Refusal Rule and the selection of Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. It also noted that next month's hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor will likely focus on abortion.

Zambia to Invest in Midwives: The Times of Zambia (Zambia) reported June 9 on a government-sponsored campaign titled "Investing in Midwives" that seeks to accelerate progress toward the health-related Millennium Development Goals, numbers 3, 4 and 5.

*Male Circumcision Partnership Launch: Widespread African media outlets covered the June 11 launch of the Male Circumcision Partnership, a massive scale-up of voluntary male circumcision services in Swaziland and Zambia. Population Services International and partners including Marie Stopes International estimate that the project will provide voluntary male circumcision services to nearly 650,000 men.

Report Urges East Timor to Decriminalize Abortion and Promote Contraception: The Associated Press reported June 11 on a report that recommended the government loosen restrictions on abortion and promote contraception in order to combat the country's high incidence of maternal mortality. It was sponsored by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund; the Alola Foundation; East Timor's Health Ministry; and the Graduate School for Health Practice at Charles Darwin University, Australia.

*Economic Benefits of Using LARCs Highlighted in Kenya: The Standard (Kenya) reported June 11 on Sino (a contraceptive implant and long acting reversible contraceptive method, or LARC) being offered by Marie Stopes Kenya, and funded by Family Health International and the Gates Foundations. The article considers the cost-effectiveness and benefits of the implant, after the head of The Division of Reproductive Health in Kenya presented a costing slide at a meeting regarding long-acting contraceptive methods.

Kenya Programme Seeks to Make Hospital Birth Affordable: IPS reported June 12 on the Kenyan government's Reproductive Health Output-Based Approach, which seeks to combat maternal mortality by increasing the number of women who give birth in hospitals. The programme provides low-cost vouchers for women seeking skilled care during delivery, as well as access to prenatal and postnatal services from accredited health clinics.

Health Experts Develop AU Plan of Action: IPS reported June 12 that public health experts met in Mozambique to develop a plan to implement comprehensive reproductive and sexual health services throughout the continent. The plan will be considered for ratification by the African Union when it meets in September.

UN Addresses Financial Crisis, Announces New Funds For Achieving Millennium Development Goals: IPS reported June 15, 23 and 27 and NPR reported June 15 on United Nations efforts to address development issues in the midst of the global economic crisis. At a UN General Assembly conference on the crisis, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon criticized Western governments for providing less foreign assistance while at the same time providing funds to prop up financial institutions. The conference itself drew criticism for a lack of explicit attention to gender issues and the effects of the crisis on women. June 15 also marked the launch of a new UN initiative to provide funding for countries' efforts to meet the health-related Millennium Development Goals, which target children's and mothers' health, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other communicable diseases.

US Teen Pregnancy Draws Concern: ABC News Primetime (USA) featured an hour-long report on June 17 exploring the experiences of teen parents. A June 18 New York Times (USA) editorial focused on factors that contribute to the U.S.'s high teen pregnancy rate: "According to a new report from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, contraceptive use by teens has declined while their sexual activity has remained unchanged. This is a worrisome shift-and it has bearing on the coming budget battle in Congress."

Study Finds 25 Percent of Men in South Africa Admit to Committing Rape: The Guardian (UK) reported June 18 on a study by South Africa's Medical Research Council (MRC) finding that, of men surveyed, a quarter admitted to having committed rape. "The social space for debating these gender issues is now smaller than it was a few years ago. We need our government to show political leadership in changing attitudes. We need South African men, from the top to the grassroots, to take responsibility," said study co-author Professor Rachel Jewkes.

Report Finds Unintended Births Rise in Nigeria: Voice of America (USA) reported June 17 that despite major advances in women's education from 1990 to 2005, unintended pregnancy, early marriage and early births have increased in Nigeria, according to a Guttmacher Institute study.

UN Human Rights Council Passes Resolution on Maternal Health: The Hudson Valley Press (USA) reported June 18 and The Lancet (UK) published an editorial June 27 on the UN Human Rights Council's passage of a landmark resolution that recognizes preventable maternal mortality and morbidity as a human-rights issue. The Lancet wrote "The move is important because a human-rights approach to maternal health places specific legal and ethical obligations on states, such as the establishment of effective mechanisms of accountability."

Pregnant Women Face Risks in Pakistan Conflict: The Statesman (India) reported June 22 on the added risks faced by pregnant women displaced by conflict in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province. The Huffington Post published a blog June 19 by Bill Ryan, UNFPA Regional Communications Adviser for Asia and the Pacific, who noted "The hardships of flight and camp life, compounded by restricted mobility, increase the normally high risks women face during childbirth in this part of the world."

Politics and Women's Health in Kansas After Dr. Tiller: National Public Radio (USA) reported June 22 on the repercussions of the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller on women's health and activism related to abortion rights in Wichita, Kansas. It has been at the centre of the abortion debate for decades, but since Dr. Tiller's death activists wonder what will happen. Dr. Tiller was the only abortion provider in Wichita and the clinic he ran closed after his death.

US House Committee Approves Bill Increasing Funds for Family Planning: Congressional Quarterly Weekly (USA) reported June 22 that House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee approved $50 billion for international affairs programmes, including $648 million - $50 million above the request - for "basic reproductive health services," while retaining a ban on the use of US funds to provide abortions.

Reducing Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: The Daily Triumph (Nigeria) published an op-ed by Cyrus Nyengibi Lilian on June 23 highlighting the broad causes of maternal deaths and outlined strategies for combating them, including improving access to medical care, including delivery care and safe abortion.

*Department of Health Denies Cervical Screening Equality to English Women: Widespread UK media, including The Daily Mail, The Sun, The Guardian and The Times reported, June 24, on the UK’s Department of Health announcement that women under the age of 25 will not be routinely screened for cervical cancer in England, despite the fact that the national screening programme for women in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales begins at 20. This followed months of high-profile campaigning initiated by Marie Stopes International and others urging that the screening start age to be lowered, particularly after the sad death of celebrity Jade Goody from cervical cancer at the age of 27. Marie Stopes International announced its disappointment in the Government’s decision. Liz Davies, director of UK and Europe at MSI, also featured on ITV news and BBC Radio 1.

Few Rural Women Using Family Planning Services in Afghanistan: IRIN reported June 24 that, while family planning services are available in more than 90 percent of health facilities in Afghanistan, few women use them. Experts interviewed cited factors such as taboos around sex and contraception and a shortage of female health care workers.

Appeals Court Upholds Virginia Abortion Restriction: The Washington Post (USA) reported June 25 that a federal appeals court upheld, by a 6-5 vote, a law making it a criminal offense for doctors to perform a rare procedure often known as "partial birth" abortion.

Abortion Restrictions Imposed in Slovakia: IPS reported June 26 on new limits on women's access to abortion. These include: reporting requirements on doctors who perform abortions, limits on the time period when women can undergo the procedure and increasing the age at which women can obtain abortion without parental consent from 16 to 18.

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

First Ugandan "Healthy Baby" born

26/05/2009 09:59:51

Kampala - It was all smiles for the midwives and the mother who recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, using the new MSI Uganda Healthy Baby vouchers to claim her medical assistance.

Jeninah Komugisha, 35 and pregnant with her fifth child, walked into the Angella Domiciliary Clinic with labour pains, showed her Healthy Baby voucher to midwives and requested assistance. A few hours later, and she was the mother of a beautiful, healthy baby girl. “I feel very grateful to the Healthy Baby scheme…. there are many more mothers who ordinarily would find it difficult to access such facilities when delivering simply because they lack the money,” said Jeninah.

The HB scheme is part of the wider output-Based Aid (OBA) initiative in Uganda, which financially empowers patients to make choices about where they receive their healthcare. The vouchers are part of Phase II of the initiative. Phase I, which began in 2006, provides vouchers for STI diagnosis and treatment and to date over 26,000 treatment episodes have been reimbursed through the STI OBA voucher programme.

Under the HB scheme women like Jeninah purchase a voucher for 3,000 Ugandan shillings (approximately US$1.50) from a network of Community Based Workers (CBW).

Having purchased a voucher the woman then submits it to her chosen healthcare provider in return for four antenatal visits, delivery services (including surgery if needed), and one postnatal visit. The scheme targets the very poorest in the community to ensure that they have access to quality services and providers that they would otherwise not have.

In turn, the healthcare provider submits the completed claim form and voucher to MSI Uganda, who, as the scheme’s management agency, pays the hospital or clinic for the cost of services provided to the woman. MSI Uganda also manages the distribution of the vouchers, activities and information to encourage behaviour, fraud control, quality assurance, and provider accreditation.

The project is a public/private partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Health, with funding provided through the German Development Bank (KfW) and the Global Partnership for Output Based Aid (GPOBA), a World Bank Trust. “It is wonderful to have welcomed the first OBA baby into the world,” said Christine Namayanja, Programme Director of MSI Uganda. “Since then, five other babies have been born! The HB scheme is proving to be a great success.”

Aasha Pai, Regional Director, East & Southern Africa, said, “This is great news. MSI Uganda has worked hard to expand this project and this is what it’s all for: to increase access and choice for women who seek a safe delivery. There’s increasing interest in OBA approaches from donors and governments to make aid more transparent, and there’s so much other MSI Partners can learn from MSI Uganda’s experiences.”

Challenging homophobia in Cambodia

20/05/2009 11:08:00

Phnom Penh - MSI Cambodia is one of the few organisations in Cambodia responding to the service needs of men who have sex with men (MSM) by providing HIV testing and STI treatment in three locations: Phnom Pehn, Kendal and Siem Reap.

Supported by the Global Fund, the project targets those at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS among the MSM population. In Phnom Penh, the risk is as high as 8.7%. Because MSI Cambodia recognises that MSM are a hidden population in Cambodia, and that many MSM are also often involved in bi-sexual relationships, this project takes a male involvement approach.

Comprehensive SRH information and services are provided alongside general family planning services in the three centres. Discussions about sexuality – and particularly homosexuality - remain taboo in Cambodian society.

To raise awareness about these issues, Cambodia held its biggest ever Pride Festival in May. The week long festival was a huge success and presented a realistic and nuanced picture of gay and lesbian identity in Cambodia. MSI Cambodia MSM Project Manager Srun Srorn helped to organise the event and spent the week promoting male involvement in SRH and the pioneering work of MSI Cambodia’s MSM project.

A rural outreach initiative co-sponsored by MSI Cambodia and other local health and community organisations, is also helping to increase awareness of the issues and improving access to vital services for isolated homosexual and bisexual individuals in the provinces.

MSI Cambodia also leads the way in improving SRH services to lesbian and bisexual women. Evidence shows that women who have yet to come out as a lesbian, in a culture that is openly hostile, are more likely to engage in sexual risk taking, sometimes resulting in unwanted pregnancies.

MSI Cambodia provides family planning and safe abortion services to this group
of women, and is working toward promoting a better understanding.

Candles throw light across the shadow of HIV/AIDS

18/05/2009 10:36:00

Beijing - MSI China launched the AIDS. Art. Life Contemporary Art Exhibition in Beijing in May as part of the annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial.

The exhibition, supported by the UNDP China and Zeshan Foundation of Hong Kong is an important part of the “AIDS.Art.Life” project, an on-going collaboration between
HIV positive volunteers from the MSI China Positive Talks Project and the contemporary artists’ community in Beijing.

In front of an audience of 400 community, NGO and government representatives, three HIV+ volunteers took to the stage to share their stories and call for equal and respectful treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS.

“HIV/AIDS is not far from the public,” said one. “People living with HIV are not bad people, we need equal rights and dignity just as ordinary people.” Khalid Malik, UN Resident Co-ordinator in China told the audience: “This event serves to remind us that we cannot work alone but rather need joint efforts and sustained commitment and action from all walks of society to find a solution to HIV/AIDS. The art community’s involvement plays a unique role because art is a powerful tool to change people’s mindset and behaviour.”

MSI China Programme Director Lily Liu added: “As long as HIV/AIDS is prevalent in China, it is not the issue of a single individual. We hope that through this event, more people will join in the fight against HIV/AIDS to create a healthier and more respectful society.”

In the month following the launch, a series of themed activities took place in the exhibition space which provided the public with a chance to further engage with these
contemporary artists and the People Living With HIV Volunteers. When the exhibition closes in Beijing, the organisers are hoping to take it to other cities in China.

Geri Halliwell helps launch parliamentary report

07/05/2009 15:34:15

Pictured are: Baroness Jenny Tonge, Geri Halliwell and Christine McCafferty MP

London, 6 May - In celebration of International Day of the Midwife, Marie Stopes International (MSI) was delighted to join Sarah Brown and Geri Halliwell in the launch of ‘Better off Dead?’, the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health (APPG) Maternal Morbidity Hearing Report.

Geri, who is a UN Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has helped to highlight maternal mortality and sexual health issues in the developing world on previous occasions through her work with MSI.

“Women are at the heart of their families, communities and countries. Their health and survival has a huge impact on the economy and the environment, and on peace and stability” said Geri Halliwell.

Every year, millions of women and girls are affected by long-term physical, psychological, social and economic problems due to the illnesses and injuries suffered as a result of pregnancy and childbirth. Many of them are abandoned, ostracised and alone.

"MSI was involved in the publication of this report every step of the way and we are very proud to have played a part in drawing attention to this devastating yet little known issue. The lives of millions of women are destroyed unnecessarily by injuries that are easily preventable.

"Solutions to improving maternal health already exist: better access to family planning, safe abortion, skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care. All we need now is sufficient political will and resources to put an end women’s suffering. We hope that this report will act as a catalyst for change" said Anne Quesney, Head of Advocacy.

The event was held in collaboration with the White Ribbon Alliance and International Planned Parenthood Federation.

For a copy of the report, please visit www.appg-popdevrh.org.uk

Cyclone Nargis: one year on

05/05/2009 14:53:45

Yangon - A year on from Cyclone Nargis and signs of the devastation wrought by one of the most powerful storms in history remain in many parts of the Irrawaddy Delta and Yangon. Reconstruction is painfully slow and thousands are still without housing, fresh water or work. With the monsoon rains on the way, people are extremely vulnerable.

Despite the devastation it’s obvious that life goes on and people continue to have sex and have children. By providing essential family services, MSI is providing people with a choice; a choice which is even more necessary than ever as people struggle to rebuild their lives economically, environmentally, and socially. To do this successfully, they need to plan the number of children they have.

MSI’s Regional Director for Pacific Asia, Ary Laufer, visited the country recently to find out how the MSI team there were getting on one year on from the Cyclone.

“After a couple of day with the MSI Myanmar team in Yangon I spent the next two days with one of our outreach teams as they made their way from village to village providing much needed family planning, reproductive healthcare services and basic medical assistance. The work they are doing is amazing and having a real impact on the lives of the people affected by Cyclone Nargis.

After loading up the MSI vehicle with family planning and other supplies we set off and very shortly moved off the highway onto unmade roads as we made our way to the first village. After bouncing along for three hours we transferred to a Sampan boat for the final two hour part of the journey. As we arrived at the village we were warmly greeted by the villagers, many of whom had lost loved ones during the cyclone. Looking around it’s possible to see some progress has been made in helping to repair the village but it’s still hard to get clean water and food is limited. Basic services also aren’t yet back in place.

We set up camp in the Buddhist Monastery Seminary and despite the fact that today was a day when many of the 7,000 villagers were remembering their dead, large numbers still turned up to see us. Although there was only a curtain for privacy people were just happy that MSI was there. Over 50 women waited patiently to get an injectable contraceptive and the demand for short term contraceptive methods, counselling and education was huge. As was the number of safe birthing kits we distributed to pregnant women. I met one 39 year old mother of seven, who beamed when she came out of the monastery having just had an intrauterine device (IUD) fitted. In all, we spent four hours in the village and saw well over a hundred people before we moved onto the next village which was awaiting us.

Over the two days I was with the outreach team I visited many villages where MSI’s outreach services were often the only source of assistance they receiving. The devastation, the poor living conditions and the near homeliness is widespread. In one area we provided 90 women witb injectables and were immediately asked to come back a few weeks later to provide 70 women with IUD’s. The need for the services we provide is great and recognition of the impact that the MSI team has had since the cyclone is the warmth of the welcome we received every time we arrived at a new village.

Despite the challenging environment in which they are operating, the MSI team continue to demonstrate the utmost professionalism and dedication as they go about their work. The support that we’ve had since the Cyclone from donors like AusAID, the Hewlett Foundation and Direct Relief International has been invaluable and has helped us to achieve the impact we’ve had.”

April global news round up

30/04/2009 12:44:00

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

*”Family Planning is So Easy, Yet So Little is Invested in it”: On April 1, The Guardian (UK) featured a key note interview with Marie Stopes International’s Chief Executive Dana Hovig, covering all the recent developments on the international and domestic sexual and reproductive health (SRH) agenda. Dana took the opportunity to respond to those critics of MSI and the broader SRH agenda: “….the Daily Mail shouldn’t decide for women. The Pope – a man who has never had sex – shouldn’t and MSI shouldn’t. We should all provide information and facts and trust women to make their own decisions.”

Financial Crisis Threatens Development Gains: IPS reported April 2 and 8, on the annual session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, declared, "We will not eradicate extreme poverty, hunger and inequality, and achieve the other Millennium Development Goals, unless greater attention is paid to population issues and more resources are devoted to women's empowerment and reproductive health," she said. The CPD recommended a tripling of investment in family planning, revising targets set in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action.

Chile Debates Decriminalizing Some Abortions: IPS reported April 2 that, ahead of presidential elections, a debate has arisen around decriminalizing therapeutic abortion.

Plan B May Soon Be Available to U.S. Adolescents: The Los Angeles Times (USA) reported April 5 that the emergency contraceptive Plan B may soon be approved for over-the-counter sale to women regardless of age.

*South African Women Warned Against ‘Dodgy’ Abortion Clinics: Eyewitness News (South Africa) reported April 6 that Marie Stopes South Africa (MSSA) was collaborating closely with police authorities to apprehend several; suspects under investigation for offering ‘backstreet abortions’. MSSA spokesperson Laila Abbas advised women looking for abortion to “look for a landline telephone number, not just a cell phone number. They must look for a proper brand like Marie Stopes. The facility needs to have a fixed address, not just a street corner.”

*Roman Catholic Archbishop Speaks Out Against Advertising Abortion: On April 10 and 11, The Irish News (Ireland) and The Birmingham Mail, The Belfast Telegraph and other UK media reported that the soon to be appointed Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev. Vincent Nichols called upon followers to oppose the proposed advertising of abortion and sexual health services on television. He said: “I doubt that any intended adverts about abortion would be fully truthful and tell the whole truth of the effects of abortion in a woman’s life.” The media reported that Marie Stopes International had welcomed the announcement and has said it would immediately consider running advertisements.

Spain Battles Itself on Abortion: The New York Times (USA) reported April 11 that proposed changes to Spain’s abortion laws would make abortion available on demand through 14 weeks gestation and through 22 weeks in cases of congenital fetal disorders or where continuing the pregnancy would endanger the woman’s life. The Catholic Church opposes the new law. Equality Minister Bibiana Aído called the new law “modern and sensible,” despite the fact that it does little to resolve disputes over abortion after 22 weeks, which is banned in all circumstances.

Proposed Repeal of “Conscience” Clause Attracts Opposition: The New York Times (USA) published a blog April 12 by Stanley Fish exploring philosophical and legal precedents for the debate over the Health and Human Services “conscience clause,” instituted on the last day of former President George W. Bush’s term. The Washington Times reported April 9 and CNN reported April 8 that “Freedom to Care,” an umbrella organization of Christian medical professionals, is opposing the rule’s repeal. The group claimed that repealing the rule, which grants medical professionals broad rights to refuse to participate in any procedure they find “morally objectionable,” would be a sign that the government had become “totalitarian and dangerous.”

Abortion Restrictions Advance in Oklahoma and Arizona: The Tulsa World (USA) reported April 15 that Oklahoma HB 1595, was passed by the state senate. The bill would require doctors to report to the state information such as how an abortion was paid for and why a woman chose to terminate her pregnancy. The Tucson Citizen (USA) published an op-ed April 13 by state senators Paula Aboud and Linda Lopez (both D-Tucson), opposing Arizona HB 2564, a bill that imposes multiple restrictions on women seeking reproductive health services, including emergency contraception and abortion.

USAID Directors Ask President Obama for More Family Planning Funding: Women’s eNews reported April 22 U.S. News and World Report published a blog by Paul Bedard on April 17 reporting that five former directors of USAID were set to issue a report requesting that funding for family planning services around the world be tripled, to $1.5 billion annually. The authors of the report, “Making the Case for U.S. International Family Planning Assistance,” argued, "It is time to reverse the decline in U.S. political and financial commitment.”

*First British TV Advertisement for Emergency Contraception Creates Controversy: The Independent, The Sun, The Daily Mirror (all UK) and other national media reported April 23 / 24 on the screening of the first UK TV advertisement promoting emergency contraception. The advertisement generated widespread debate polarized along the usual lines. Marie Stopes International welcomed the advertisement, which provides women with clarity about the treatment available to them should their regular contraception fail.

Clinton, Verveer Reiterate U.S. Support for Reproductive Health and Rights: The Associated Press and AFP reported April 23 on statements made by two Obama administration officials, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Melanne Verveer, ambassador for international women’s issues. Speaking at an event honoring Nafis Sadik, former executive director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, Ambassador Verveer, said that the Obama administration’s recent contribution of $50 million to the agency "will send an unambiguous signal to the world” that the U.S. is committed to goals to improve reproductive health and rights everywhere. In testimony before the House Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Clinton endorsed comprehensive reproductive health care, including safe abortion.

Mexico City Abortion Reform Hailed, “Personhood” Laws Raise Ban Fears: The News (Mexico) reported April 23 and April 20 on Mexico’s abortion laws, which vary by state. In the two years since Mexico City legalized abortion and made the procedure available for free, health officials have noted dramatic drops in emergency hospital visits for women suffering complications from unsafe abortions, as well as reports of abandoned newborns. However, several Mexican states have implemented legislation defining embryos as people, and abortion rights advocates worry that a federal ban on abortion may be in the works.

Legislature Passes Anti-Abortion Amendment in Dominican Republic: IPS reported April 23 that, despite strong opposition from the groups of health professionals and women’s rights advocates, the legislature, under intense pressure from the Catholic Church, passed a constitutional amendment declaring that “The right to life is inviolable from conception until death.” The amendment, Article 30, would outlaw abortion without exception, including in the case of ectopic pregnancy, and likely prohibit several forms of contraceptives. Dr. Lillian Fundera, a gynecologist said the amendment "will increase maternal mortality. Many more women will die. Why? Because women will still seek abortions as they have always done.”

FDA Approves Over-the-Counter Access to Plan B for 17-Year-Olds: The Baltimore Sun published an editorial April 24 and The New York Times (USA) and the San Jose Mercury News (USA) published editorials April 23 endorsing a decision by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand over the counter access to the emergency contraceptive Plan B to seventeen-year olds, and the The New York Times reported April 23 on the FDA’s move, which complied with a federal judge’s ruling. The Mercury News argued, “Avoiding unwanted pregnancy is a desirable social goal, but the FDA has acted because Plan B is safe and effective, not because of ideology. It's a relief to see that standard return”

Lack of Access to Birth Control Remains Concern in Philippines: Xinhua reported April 24 on the prevalence of unintended pregnancy in the Philippines and the Philippine Daily Inquirer published a column April 17 by Rina Jimenez-David supporting a bill pending in the Philippines’ legislature to extend public funding for family planning.

*Clearing the Way for Compulsory Sex Education in the UK: The Guardian, Eastern Daily Press, Liverpool Daily Post, Express and Star and Catch 21 Westminster TV (all UK) and numerous other UK media sources reported April 27 government minister Sir Alasdair Macdonald’s announcement that sex and relationship education (SRE) is expected to become a compulsory part of the English national curriculum by 2011. Marie Stopes International was widely reported as welcoming the plans.

Family Planning Campaign Uses Grassroots Approach: The New Times (Rwanda) reported April 28 on an effort in to promote family planning, using community outreach to educate the public on the potential consequences of the country’s current rapid population growth.

Reproductive Health Advocates Assess Obama’s First 100 Days: The Associated Press and Reuters reported April 29 on statements President Barack Obama made regarding abortion rights during a press conference to mark his first 100 days in office, while multiple media outlets, including BirthControlWatch.org, Ms. Magazine and the Huffington Post published editorials and blogs April 28-April 30 by reproductive health advocates assessing the President’s progress. Addressing the news conference, Obama said, "I would like to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies that result in women feeling compelled to get an abortion, or at least considering getting an abortion, particularly if we can reduce the number of teen pregnancies." The editors of Ms. Magazine declared, “The Obama administration has taken giant strides for women in terms of employment, reproductive health and elevation of women’s rights domestically and globally.”

HIV & AIDS

Obama Administration Launches “Act Against AIDS” Campaign: The Washington Post (USA) published an editorial April 14 and reported April 8 on “Act Against AIDS,” a five-year, $45 million public awareness campaign to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

*Netball Helps in Awareness Drive: The Fiji Times reported April 19 that the National netball team had undergone HIV testing in Suva to help raise awareness of the disease. The tests were varied out by members of the Marie Stopes International Fiji team as part of the STOP HIV group.

Obama Picks Leader for Global AIDS Effort: The New York Times reported April 27 that President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Eric Goosby to run the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Dr. Goosby is a professor at the University of California San Francisco, and previously served in the Clinton administration. Read: The New York Times

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

China Birth Limits Create Gender Gap: The Associated Press reported April 12 that a study published in the British Medical Journal has found that China currently has 119 male births for every 100 girls and that this gender gap is likely to lead to civil unrest in years to come.

Afghan Shiite Personal Status Law Draws Protest, Foreign Opposition: The Associated Press reported April 15 that Afghan protestors opposing the country’s new Shiite Personal Status Law were met with violent opposition and accusations of foreign meddling. The Guardian (UK) and the Washington Post (USA) reported April 5 that Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to review the law, which grants men wide-ranging rights to restrict their wives’ activities and to demand sex every four days.

Irish Women Challenge Abortion Ban in European Court: The Irish Times (Ireland) reported April 21 that three women were set to challenge Ireland’s abortion ban in the European Court of Human Rights. The women’s case argues that the ban violated four articles in the European Convention on Human Rights, including protection from “inhuman or degrading treatment” and freedom from discrimination.

Health Care Reform is a Necessity for Women: The Huffington Post published a blog by Marcia Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center arguing that, for health care reform to work for women, it must include provisions to make care more affordable and universally accessible, and provide comprehensive benefits, including preventive and reproductive care.

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS

Book, Columnists Advocate Investment in Women and Girls: The New York Times (USA) published a column April 5 and a blog April 15 by Nicholas Kristof, and National Public Radio’s Fresh Air (USA) featured an interview with Michelle Goldberg, author of The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World arguing that investment in women and girls’ well-being is essential to economic and social development. Kristof exerpted a passage from Goldberg’s book: “Women’s rights must not be treated as trivial adjuncts to great questions of war and peace, poverty and development. What’s at stake are not lifestyles but lives.”

Editorials Urge End to Abstinence-Only Funding: The Chattanooga Times Free Press (USA) published an editorial April 13 and the Boston Globe (USA) published an editorial April 10 urging Congress to invest in comprehensive sexuality education. The editorials noted the United States’ rising rates of teen pregnancy and STI infection and linked them to the government’s funding of abstinence-only programs.

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

MSI reports major expansion of family planning and safe abortion services

29/04/2009 09:58:06

London - Marie Stopes International (MSI) programmes served 6 million clients in 2008, one million more than the previous year, according to an annual management report released today. MSI programmes averted 7 million unwanted pregnancies, 5 million unintended births and 1.9 million unsafe abortions during the period January-December 2008. Most of MSI’s health impact occurred in rural areas or urban slums in developing countries.

MSI’s family planning and safe abortion services saved 1.8 million years of productive life due to premature mortality or disability, and spared individual households and national budgets nearly £600 million in costs, or £20 for every £1 invested by MSI in the developing world.

“MSI service delivery and other efforts made a large-scale impact on the lives of millions of women, men and children globally in 2008,” wrote MSI chief executive Dana Hovig in his annual letter to the MSI Global Partnership. “We continue to expand and improve the quality, efficiency and impact of our programmes. We are striving to do more and to be better.”

Last year, MSI:

added nearly 100 clinics to an existing network of 464 clinics and hundreds more outreach sites in rural areas and urban slums
expanded its BlueStar social franchising network, launched in 2007, to 575 private sector franchisees in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, the Philippines and Viet Nam
provided approximately 1.2 million women or men with long-acting and permanent clinical contraception, a 16% increase. Implants more than doubled (122%) and intra-uterine devices increased by more than 30%
delivered 592,715 safe medical and surgical abortions, inside and outside MSI clinics, a 29% increase
accounted for at least 10% or more of all modern method contraceptive use in seven countries: Malawi (35%), Tanzania (29%), Uganda (19%), Yemen (17%), Sierra Leone (16%), Kenya (14%), and Nepal (11%)
launched operations in five new countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan and Zambia
led efforts to defeat a bill in the UK Parliament that would have restricted abortion rights

“We must continue to learn, adapt and improve so we can be a global solution for the 200 million women worldwide who are still waiting to exercise their right to quality family planning and reproductive healthcare,” said Hovig.

India leading the way in medical abortion

27/04/2009 13:47:04

Delhi - New research just released by Marie Stopes International (MSI) concludes that replicating India’s approach to medical abortion could revolutionise access to abortion services around the world, helping to reduce the huge number of women who die or are disabled each year as a direct result of having unsafe surgical abortion*.The study also found that medical abortion, which involves a woman taking two drugs**, is a more cost effective alternative to surgical abortion.

The research, Medical Abortion in India: a Model for the World?, found that medical abortion is provided widely in India and that there is broad support – within clinical communities and the general public -- for further increasing access. Eighty percent of healthcare providers (medical practitioners and pharmacists) thought it is an effective method for ending a pregnancy and a similar percentage of women who had a medical abortion were satisfied with it as a method. The researchers also found that there were less serious complications and need for hospitalisation following medical abortion***. It was also up to five times cheaper than the surgical alternative.

Areas of concern
However, the research did uncover some areas of concern. Very few women, for example, were provided with all the information they needed, including what side effects to expect, before having a medical abortion. In addition, only 46% then went on to use contraception after having a medical abortion, compared to 59% of those who had had a surgical abortion.

Interestingly, although medical abortion is widely used in India, approximately two thirds of women thought it was illegal as did three out of four pharmacists, indicating that more needs to be done to educate all communities about its legal status.

To help improve medical abortion services, the researchers recommended that:

healthcare providers should be trained in: the number of pills required; the dosage and how and when to take the pills; common side effects; the need for family planning after an abortion; counselling; referral systems and follow-up
women and men are educated about their reproductive health rights and family planning in general, and
medical abortion products should always meet the highest standards of quality and efficacy.

Findings
What the research found overall is that India’s model is a lesson to the many other countries that struggle with high rates of unsafe abortion and the unacceptably high levels of maternal morbidity and mortality linked with unsafe procedures.

The health and well-being of women, particularly those in low income and rural settings, would be greatly improved by rolling out this method of abortion more widely. Between 60% and 95% of unsafe abortions take place in developing countries, compared to eight percent in developed countries****. There are also huge opportunities for increasing access to medical abortion via out-of-clinic settings through the use of mid level providers like pharmacists.

Read the full report: Medical abortion in India, a model for the world?

*Each year, 52 million abortions take place around the world; 19 million of those are unsafe resulting in the deaths of around 67,000 women and millions more suffering long term damage or disease.

The majority of abortions that take place each year are surgical abortions, and like any surgical procedure, surgical abortion carries with it a certain amount of risk.

**The WHO recommends using Mifepristone and Misoprostol as the standard regimen for early medical abortion.

*** Around the world, complications from unsafe abortion lead to the hospitalisation of more than five million women each year.

**** Alan Guttmacher Institute. Facts on Induced abortion worldwide. In Brief. New York: Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2008

Marie Stopes Nigeria offers first services

25/04/2009 16:26:00

Lagos - Marie Stopes Nigeria provided its first ever family planning services (via outreach) to women in Kwali, located 50km south west of Abuja, the site of Marie Stopes Nigeria's future first clinic and head office.

When the team arrived in Kwali last Thursday the services were in such high demand that 75 women were already waiting. This is promising news, as Marie Stopes Nigeria looks to make a significant contribution to the country’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) sector over the coming years.

With between 65-75% of all health care currently being delivered by the non state sector, the Government of Nigeria is making serious noises about the need for greater engagement with other sectors. Linked to this is an intention to undertake a number of pilot projects focused on subcontracting out essential services from the State to other sectors.

This could provide just the setting that Marie Stopes Nigeria needs to make a sizeable contribution in Africa’s most populous nation. And there is little doubt that Nigeria has some serious SRH challenges to face up to:

the population is set to reach 179 million by 2015
45% of the population are aged between 10-19
23% of the population are aged between 15-24
women of childbearing age constitute 23% of the population
maternal mortality rate in some parts of the country is 1,000 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
40% of pregnant women experience pregnancy-related health problems during or after pregnancy or childbirth
a contraceptive prevalence rate of just 8.6%

Having now delivered their first family planning services, and with the inaugural clinic set to open in Kwale in the next two months, Marie Stopes Nigeria hopes to help the Government rise to these challenges.

MSI welcomes Clinton support for reproductive health and safe abortion

23/04/2009 16:30:35

Washington D.C. - Hilary Clinton speaking at a Congressional hearing on the Obama Administration’s foreign policy priorities

Marie Stopes International welcomes US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's statement expressing unequivocal support for reproductive health services and safe abortion in the developing world. The statement came during a Congressional hearing on the Obama Administration’s foreign policy priorities.

Under sharp questioning from anti-choice Republican Congressman Chris Smith, Secretary Clinton stated the following:

"…When I think about the suffering that I have seen of women around the world. I’ve been in hospitals in Brazil where half the women were enthusiastically and joyfully greeting their babies and the other half were fighting for their lives against botched abortions. I have been in African countries where 12 and 13 year old girls are bearing children. I have been in Asian countries where the denial of family planning confines women to lives of oppression and hardship… We happen to think that family planning is an important part of women’s health and reproductive health includes access to abortion that I believe should be safe, legal and rare.

"…I’ve spent a lot of my time trying to bring down the rate of abortions and it has been my experience that good family planning and good medical care brings down the rate of abortion. Keeping women and men in ignorance and denied the access to services actually increases the rate of abortion.

"… We are now an Administration that will protect the rights of women, including their rights to reproductive health care."

We have provided the transcript of the question and Secretary of State Clinton’s answer on a separate page.

You can listen to the full hearing on the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs website.
The segment included in the transcript commences at 45.01 minutes into the recording.

March global sexual health news round up

07/04/2009 00:00:00

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

*Research shows rise in demand for abortion by South African teens after school holidays: On March 2, The Mercury (South Africa) reported on new research from Marie Stopes South Africa showing a 40% rise in demand for abortion services by teens after the winter and summer school holidays. The article did go on, however, to observe that greater numbers of young people were more aware ofsafe services and fewer were resorting to backstreet unsafe abortion.

*Teen pregnancy rates rise in UK for first time in five years: On March 5 and 6, widespread British media outlets reported the release of conception figures for 2007, which showed a rise in the rate for the first time in five years. Many media outlets noted that the number of births had remained static however, implying that more teens were opting for abortion. A spokesperson for Marie Stopes International said: “Hopefully this means that these young women have aspirations for themselves, rather than becoming mothers at 15 or 16 years of age. These ae young girls who have found themselves in a situation and have decided to deal with it, and we should not be judging or condemning them for that.”

*Australia overturns abortion aid ban: On 10 March, Agence France Presse (France) and all major print and broadcast outlets in Australia reported on the Australian Government’s decision to end a controversial ban on funding overseas family planning agencies which provide abortion. Numerous agencies, including Marie Stopes International Australia had been calling on the Australian government to act following US President Barack Obama’s decision to end a similar ban in the USA in January.

*More young women coming forward for cervical screening in UK: On 14 March, The Independent (UK), The Northern Echo (UK) and other British media reported on the UK government’s decision to review the case for lowering the age for the cervical screening programme to commence in England from 25 to 20 following the tragic high profile coverage of reality TV star Jade Goody’s battle with terminal cervical cancer. The experience of Ms Goody had prompted a national campaign initiated by Marie Stopes International to bring England into line with the rest of the UK, which starts screening at 20.

Kansas legislature passes abortion restrictions: The Associated Press reported March 17 that the Kansas Senate had passed a bill that would impose new restrictions on abortion providers, including a requirement that they make available ultrasound images or sonograms for women seeking abortions. The Kansas City Star (USA) reported March 27 that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, had signed the measure into law.

“Personhood” bill debated in North Dakota: The Associated Press reported March 17 that the North Dakota Senate was debating House Bill 1573, which would extend the legal definition of personhood to fertilized eggs. Fargo Senator Tom Fiebiger opposed the change, saying it would make it tougher for doctors to treat complications associated with pregnancy because the fetus and the mother would have equal status under the law

Teen birthrate increases for second consecutive year: The Washington Post (USA) reported March 18 on the recent finding that both regional and national rates of teenage pregnancies rose in 2008 for the second consecutive year. Following decades of decline, “we've now had two years of increases," said Stephanie J. Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics, which issued the report. "We may have reached a tipping point. It's hard to know where it's going to go from here."

*Obama ends contraceptive ban in Africa: On March 19, Africa News and other media reported that US President Barack Obama had reversed a decision by his predessor to ban the supply of US funded contraceptives to seven African based family planning organisations. The ban had initially disrupted the supplies to MSI Partners in Zambia, Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. MSI Chief Executive Dana Hovig praised the new US head of state’s “policy reversal [which] is the latest example of the Obama administration’s commitment to put people before politics.”

Pope condemns violence against women, legal abortion: The Associated Press reported March 21 that during a visit to Angola on his recent tour of six African countries, Pope Benedict XVI condemned sexual violence and discrimination against women and girls, but added that he was particularly concerned with the "irony of those who promote abortion as a form of 'maternal' health care." The Pope was referring to an African Union agreement signed by Angola and 44 other countries that abortion should be legal in cases of rape, incest or when the mother's life is endangered.

Tennessee senate approves amendment restricting abortion: The Associated Press reported March 24 that the Tennessee Senate voted to change the state constitution so that the legislature might impose restrictions on abortion previously deemed unconstitutional. In an effort to derail the proposal, Senator Doug Jackson (D-Dickson) proposed an unsuccessful amendment that would have allowed future General Assemblies to enact laws necessary to ensure a woman the right to abortion if her life is in jeopardy.

Judge rules FDA must reconsider restrictions on Plan B access: NPR reported March 24 and the Washington Post (USA) reported March 23 that Federal District Court Judge Edward Korman ruled that the FDA must allow 17-year-old girls access to the so-called morning after pill (Emergency Contraception) without a prescription. Further, the agency must reconsider its ruling that over-the-counter access to the pill should have age limits at all. Korman found that the FDA’s restrictions on women’s access to emergency contraception were motivated by “political and ideological” concerns. Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights called the ruling “A very clear indictment of the politics in women's reproductive health decisions during the Bush administration.”

U.S. restores funding for UNFPA: The Associated Press reported March 25 and UN News Centre reported March 12 that the recently-released $50 million US contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund will allow the agency to “maintain its life-saving work, particularly improving maternal and reproductive health in the world’s poorest communities, especially during this financial crisis,” according to UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid. The funds were included in the 2009 omnibus spending bill recently signed by President Barack Obama.

Economic crisis puts focus on reproductive health care: The Associated Press reported March 25 and NPR reported March 19 that family planning providers are reporting an increase in women seeking services, including subsidized family planning and abortions. However, that also means that "We're seeing a receptivity among our legislators to hear about prevention policies," said Lori Lamerand, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Mid- and South Michigan. "Folks who wouldn't have opened the doors to a Planned Parenthood representative are now willing to talk to us."

*Abortion clinics to advertise on British television: On March 25, The Daily Telegraph (UK), The Independent (UK), The Evening Standard (UK) and most national newspapers and broadcast outlets in the UK reported on the The Broadcasting Committee on Advertising Practice and the Committee on Advertising Practice’s joint decision to launch a consultation into allowing agencies offering counseling and information on abortion to advertise on television and radio. The review will also look at allowing advertising of condoms before the current 9pm watershed. The proposals were criticized by opponents of abortion and welcomed by proc-choice agencies. Julie Douglas from Marie Stopes International welcomed the initiative as a progressive move to help deal with teenage pregnancy. “I don’t know if we could afford to do it on prime time TV,” she said, “but it would be a very interesting thing to do.”

Public commentary deadline nears on HHS “conscience clause”: The Christian Science Monitor (USA) reported March 26 that the period for public comment on revising the sweeping Health and Human Services Department’s “conscience clause,” enacted on the last day of President George W. Bush’s term, was set to expire April 9. Gretchen Borchelt, senior counsel for the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), said the current rule would let providers opposed to contraceptives withhold birth control from patients by failing to define abortion and “basically allowing individuals' beliefs about what constitutes abortion to take precedence."

Spain’s proposed abortion law reform sparks debate: The Guardian (UK) reported March 28 that the Spanish government’s effort to liberalize abortion laws has fostered public disputes between supporters and conservatives, led by the Catholic Church. "It's inconceivable that in Spain, which has some of the most progressive laws in the world, women are still being treated like children," said gynecologist Dr. Isabel Serrano, a member of the State Network of Feminist Organizations.

*Scottish women lose right to free pregnancy testing: On March 28, Aberdeen Press and Journal (UK) and Aberdeen Evening Express (UK) reported that free NHS pregnancy testing in parts of Scotland were to be scrapped as part of a cost cutting measure. Patients would now be expected to pay for urine-based tests over the counter, although some could still access blood tests for pregnancy. A spokesperson for Marie Stopes International said the policy was “regrettable”. “it’s a very basic service that should be available on the NHS via a GP.”

Amid rise in sexual violence, Brazil debates abortion: The New York Times (USA) reported March 28 that Brazil is paying new attention to increased reports of sexual violence following a recent highly publicized case in which the Catholic Church excommunicated doctors for performing an abortion on a nine-year old girl who was raped by her stepfather. The church rigidly opposes abortion in all cases and supports efforts to criminalize abortion in Brazil, where restrictions are already among the tightest in Latin America. “A part of Brazilian society still doesn’t want to stop treating women like they are property,” said Jefferson Drezett, a gynecologist and coordinator of services for sexual-abuse victims at Pérola Byington Hospital. “This has to change.”

UNFPA director urges focus on population and development: Xinhua (China) reported March 31 that Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, urged the international community to recommit financial and political will toward poverty reduction and population issues. "The financial crisis is now threatening to wipe out this hard-won progress in improving health and reducing poverty. Relatively small reductions in financing could lead to a loss in momentum that could take decades to repair," Obaid said.

HIV & AIDS

AIDS activists, medical journal and others condemn Pope’s remarks: The Associated Press reported March 27 and The Toronto Star (Canada) reported March 17 on reactions by The Lancet (UK) medical journal and leading HIV/AIDS activists to a recent claim by Pope Benedict XVI that condom distribution contributes to the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Lancet demanded the Pope retract the statement, arguing that anything less would be “an immense disservice to the public and health advocates, including many thousands of Catholics, who work tirelessly to try and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide.” The Canberra Times (Australia) published an editorial on March 21, The Times (UK) published an editorial and CNN.com (USA) published a column by Roland Martin on March 18 also condemning Pope Benedict’s claim. The Times (UK) wrote, “Many devout Catholics are convinced that the Vatican must amend its position on AIDS. They are right. The scientific process of observation and evidence demonstrates the effectiveness of condoms in preventing AIDS.”

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Clinton says women’s rights should be a priority: The Associated Press reported March 28 on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent address to the national conference of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America in Houston, TX, where she accepted the organization’s Margaret Sanger Award. Clinton said, “A society that denies and demeans women's rights and roles is a society that is more likely to engage in behavior that is negative, anti-democratic and leads to violence and extremism.”

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS

The New York Times (USA) published an editorial March 17 applauding a provision in the 2009 omnibus spending bill that restores incentives for pharmaceutical companies to supply contraceptives to Planned Parenthood clinics, college health services and other family planning centers at reduced costs. Since the original incentive was eliminated, it said, “Washington’s dawdling in making the simple fix has had a stark effect, driving up the price of brand-name contraceptives on some college campuses from about $5 per month to $40 or even $50 a month.”

The Washington Times (USA) published an op-ed by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) on March 17, highlighting President Barack Obama’s recent efforts and his own move, as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to create a subcommittee on global women’s issues as a tool to promote women’s equality. Kerry argued, ”It's up to all of us to ensure that this economic crisis does not become a global women's crisis, too.”

The Des Moines Register (USA) published an editorial March 31, the Los Angeles Times (USA) published an editorial on March 25 and the Huffington Post published a blog March 23 by author Cristina Page applauding the recent federal court ruling that requires the FDA to reconsider whether emergency contraceptive Plan B should be made available without a prescription for all women. The Des Moines Register argued, “Curtailing access to routine birth control and emergency contraception is more likely to lead to abortion than abstinence.”

Salon published a column by Nancy Goldstein March 20, Time (USA) published a column by Amy Sullivan Anderson on March 19 and The Chicago Sun-Times (USA) published an op-ed March 14 by Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen noting the two-year rise in teen pregnancy rates and calling for comprehensive sexuality education. Quindlen pointed out that “Nearly 90 percent of those sampled in several recent polls support the notion of sex ed in schools.”

The Baltimore Sun (USA) published an op-ed March 18 by former Rep. Connie Morella and Ritu Sharma, director of Women Thrive Worldwide, urging President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to reform the United States’ approach to international development. They argued, “Sensible reforms that emphasize investing in women and that direct aid to those who need it most would mean both women and men can contribute to lifting themselves and their countries out of poverty.”

Women’s eNews published an op-ed on March 19 by Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, deputy director for Africa at the United Nations Millennium Campaign, who wrote about his sister’s recent death from complications of childbirth and the inadequate and inequitable healthcare infrastructure and misplaced political priorities that make pregnancy and childbirth so dangerous for so many women. Abdul-Raheem wrote, “The vast majority of these deaths are preventable and their prevention is definitely less costly than death, in both human and material terms, to the families involved and to society in general.”

USNews.com published a blog post by columnist Deborah Kotz on March 13 on the recently-created White House Council on Women and Girls. Kotz outlined some of the tasks on the council’s agenda and noted that the council’s structure and mission echo those of an office established by President Bill Clinton and eliminated by George W. Bush. She wrote, “I'm thinking this ’new’ Obama initiative is simply an untying of shoelaces tied up by Bush.”

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

Helping to reduce maternal mortality in Ghana

22/03/2009 00:00:00

Dana Hovig shakes hands with Vice-President, Mr John Mahama

Marie Stopes International CEO Dana Hovig's recent trip to Ghana was covered by the country's most widely read newspaper, the Daily Graphic:

Marie Stopes to help reduce maternal mortality

Story: Mussah Yahaya Jafaru

The Marie Stopes International Ghana, a group working on sexual and reproductive health care, is to collaborate with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.

The Chief Executive of the group, Mr Dana Hovig, and the Country Director, Mrs Faustina Fynn-Nyame, made the commitment when they called on the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, at the Castle, Osu, yesterday.

According to Mr Hovig, one-third of women in Ghana needed family planning and contraceptives but could not afford them.

He said, for instance, that about 30,000 women died from unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions last year and appealed to the governments to increase investment in the area of family planning to enable many women to have access to contraceptives and safe abortion.

Mrs Fynn-Nyame said the group wanted to give women the choice of contraceptives by making them accessible and affordable to them.

She said the organisation was committed to reducing the rate of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions in the country.

Mr Mahama noted that family planning was an issue in the country, especially in the remote areas and assured the delegation of the government's support to reduce the rate of maternal mortality in the country.

Obama reverses Bush ban on contraceptive supplies to MSI

19/03/2009 00:00:00

London - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) today (19 March) reversed a Bush Administration policy to block African governments from providing US-funded contraceptive commodities to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world’s leading family planning organisations.

The Bush decision had disrupted MSI operations in six of the affected countries - Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe – including some where MSI delivers nearly a third of all family planning services nationally. The move both astonished public health experts and outraged advocates for women’s rights, who accused the Bush government of playing politics with women’s lives.

“Today’s policy reversal is the latest example of the Obama Administration’s commitment to put people before politics,” said MSI chief executive Dana Hovig. “It is also a sign of their determination to return science to the heart of US public health policy.”

Hovig noted that lack of access to modern contraception contributes to the deaths each year of more than half a million women – or 1,500 per day - from pregnancy-related causes. Nearly one in four women in sub-Saharan Africa would like to access family planning but are unable to do so.

“There has been clear evidence over many years that voluntary access to contraception is one of the best ways to reduce the number of maternal deaths in Africa, including those from unsafe abortions,” Hovig said.

“Research has shown that for every 100 IUDs made available to our programmes as a result of this decision, we will avert nearly 315 unwanted pregnancies, 45 unsafe abortions and two maternal deaths.”

The Bush Administration justified its September 2008 policy by falsely accusing MSI of being complicit in “coercive abortion and involuntary sterilizations” through its role as implementing partner to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in China.

Globally, MSI manages sexual and reproductive health programmes in 43 countries. In 2008 alone, MSI programmes protected the equivalent of 13 million couples from unwanted pregnancy, a 40% increase over 2006 and the single largest two-year growth in the organisation’s 32 year history. A majority of MSI’s family planning impact is in rural, underserved areas where women are particularly vulnerable and lives are most at risk from unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

Bangladesh team reaches out to the unreachable

16/03/2009 00:00:00

Dhaka - In a joint initiative with the Bangladeshi government, Marie Stopes Clinic’s Society’s (MSCS) Roving Teams are now delivering sterilisation services in some of the most remote areas in the country.

Before the Roving Teams became involved, village women had often travelled long distances to Government clinics only to find no doctors were available to provide the service they needed. The Roving Team took on the challenge, and now the teams and the government health services jointly plan and organise regular ‘Choice camps’.

The Roving Team provides technical support and skilled doctors and the government health service provides the facilities and clients. Now those in these remote areas know that when they travel to a clinic they will be seen and get the service they want.

Each Roving Team is made up of a doctor, paramedic and a field co-ordinator covering a wide, remote rural area of the country. To bring services to clients, the teams travel long distances, often under very difficult conditions, using any available mean of transport, from motorbikes and rickshaws to boats.

In some areas, there is no other alternative except to walk across kilometres of muddy roads to get to where they are setting up camp. Given the distances they travel, the teams set off early in the morning and often don’t return until after midnight, sometimes staying overnight in a health centre as there are no guest houses or hotels.

A typical day
Six o’clock in the morning. The eastern sky grows red, signalling that the sun is about to rise. The atmosphere is calm except for the chirping of a few birds and the roar of waves. The rickshaw carrying the Roving Team reaches the river bank after an hour’s journey from Kishoregonj. The team is on its way to the Mithamoin Health Complex to provide sterilisation services and long term family planning methods. It’s a three hour journey by trawler.

The boat starts out and only the 'chug-chug' of its engine breaks the morning’s silence. Some team members try to catch up on sleep, others talk about the day ahead. After two hours, the engine suddenly stops. The boatman tells the team that the rudder won’t move and dives into the water to take a look at it. Unfortunately, it’s broken and for the final part of the journey he has to manually oar the trawler up river.

At last, after noon, the team reach their destination. Waiting for them are clients and their referrers. They, too, have travelled far. As the heat of the day takes hold, the team quickly sets up camp and begin to see clients.

The Government and MSCS are delighted with how the initiative is working, as are the clients who are finally getting the services they want.

Fertility rate reduced in Nepal

01/03/2009 00:00:00

Kathmandu – New research shows that Marie Stopes International (MSI) outreach teams in Nepal played a pivotal role in helping to dramatically reduce the country’s fertility rate. Between 2001 and 2006, the rate dropped from 4.1 to 3.1 births per woman. This reduction was due almost entirely to the drop in fertility rates in rural areas, where the outreach teams are most active.

The outreach teams from Sunaolo Parivar Nepal (SPN), MSI’s Partner in Nepal, go deep into remote, rural areas raising awareness of family planning and reproductive health issues, as well as providing access to family planning methods. Setting up mobile clinics, often in tents, the teams provide a range of modern contraceptives including intrauterine devices (IUDs), implants and condoms.

As a result of these efforts, SPN has helped to significantly increase the use of contraceptives in remote areas. By 2006, nearly one in 10 women reporting using a modern form of contraception got their contraception from SPN.

Providing permanent family planning
For those who want a permanent form of family planning (sterlisation) SPN is also able to provide that option.

Between 2001 and 2006, SPN performed 50% all female sterilisations and 45% of all (male and female) sterilisations in Nepal. The total number of sterilisations provided by SPN increased from 11,453 to 35,278 during those years.

One of those clients treated by SPN was a 36 year old man from Kalikot District:

"I’m a father of three and I wanted to have a vasectomy after my second child. But, because I live in a remote part of Kalikot District, there aren’t any hospitals nearby which offer the procedure and to get to the nearest one that did I’d have to work for a whole day to get there. As I didn’t know if it would be possible to then walk home after the vasectomy I didn’t go to have it done.

"Then, SPN brought an outreach vasectomy camp to my village and I was able to have a vasectomy very close to my home. Thank you SPN."

Offering access to safe abortion
Since abortion was legalised in Nepal, SPN has worked closely with the government to provide access to safe abortion. Between March 2004 and June 2007, SPN averted 92,800 unplanned births through safe registered abortions. Delivering more than 70% of all registered abortions in Nepal, SPN is now the largest provider of safe abortion in the country.

MSI and SPN have played a major role in expanding the use of modern contraception methods among key hard-to-reach groups of rural women and those with no formal education. It is anticipated that their continuing work in this area will achieve an even greater uptake in the next few years

Reaching out to rural women in the Philippines

27/02/2009 00:00:00

A new MSI strategy to reduce high fertility rates in the Philippines has produced a 500% increase in the use of intrauterine devices (IUDs) over two years.

MSI Partner, Population Services Pilipinas (PSP) enlisted more than 70 IUD workers to deliver IUDs directly to women in rural areas, where unmet need is greatest. PSP’s approach has helped to increase and sustain access to this proven and effective contraceptive method, bringing about a five-fold increase in just two years. The number of women accessing the IUD services grew from 10,700 in 2005 to over 56,000 in 2007.

PSP outreach teams contacted rural village governing councils and local health committees in advance to spread the word of MSI’s arrival and the service options available. The teams also demedicalised the delivery of the service, using nurses and midwives and MSI trained professionals to make it less threatening to the villagers.

Consistent high-quality treatment was ensured through the use of an IUD Outreach Kit, which provided standardised equipment, such as sterilised instruments and antibiotics.

Discontinuation of the method by women has been avoided by post-insertion follow up, including complication management and regular scheduled visits and mobile phone communication with village contacts.

As the project expands, there is significant potential to make an impact on contraceptive prevalence rates across the whole of the Philippines, ensuring accessibility to contraceptive services for those communities most in need.

February global sexual health news round up

22/02/2009 00:00:00

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

*African Communities React to Obama Repeal of the Global Gag Rule: On February 1-5, The Guardian (UK), New Vision (Uganda) and numerous print and web based media reported on the widespread reaction across Africa to the new US administration. “It’s a welcome move,” says Dr Anthony Mbonye, assistant commissioner for reproductive health in the Ugandan Ministry of Health. “the policy was unpopular and inconveniencing. When USAID banned us from giving their contraceptives to Marie Stopes International, we had to go to the National Medical Stores to separate their contraceptives. It was cumbersome, time wasting and inefficient.”
Dr Mbonye added: “They were punishing MSI because of abortion-related activities in China, but abortion is illegal in Uganda. MSI does not conduct abortion here. It offers reproductive health services to our women.”

Australia Debates Abortion Advice Aid Ban: ABC (Australia) reported February 5 that members of the country’s Green party are seeking to repeal a ban on foreign aid funding for organizations that perform or offer counselling on
perform or offer counselling on abortion. “The bulk of what we're talking about is giving people and organizations the ability to talk [about] contraceptive options, sexual health, ensuring that families understand the link between chronic
maternal health issues and the health of their children,” said Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

Obama, Democrats Take Gradual Approach to Abortion Laws: The Washington Post (USA) reported February 5 and The Los Angeles Times reported February 9 that recent moves by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress signal a gradual approach to laws related to reproductive rights and health. The reports said that any large-scale effort involving abortion, a polarizing issue, requires spending political capital, something the Obama White House needs in abundance at the moment to ensure the survival of its economic policies."We deal in reality," said Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. "You have to be pragmatic, realistic and, in the end, strategic." Instead, Democrats are concentrating on rolling back Bush administration policies on abortion and contraception. The Washington Post also reported that Obama is attempting to nudge the abortion debate toward a goal he hopes both sides can endorse: decreasing the number of women who terminate their pregnancies by addressing the reasons they might choose the procedure.

Philippines Debates Contraception: CNN reported February 8 on a bill pending in the Philippine House of Representatives that would allow government funds to be used to promote contraceptives. "The bill is not about religion. It is not about morality," said Congressman Edcel Lagman. "It's about rights, health and sustainable human development."

*Let’s Talk About Sex: On February 9, IRIN reported on Papua New Guinea’s only youth friendly sexual and reproductive health helpline run by Marie Stopes International PNG. PNG has the one of the highest HIV and sexually transmitted infection prevalence rates in Pacific Asia, and lack of awareness and education among younger people has been cited as a major contributory cause.
“All of this is preventable,” says MSIPNG Programme Directore Jet Riparip, “but there is a lack of correct information and a lot of myths and rumours.” Social conditions and cultural practices make PNG a particularly difficult operating environment, yet the helpline service and dedicated centre are proving particularly popular.

United Arab Emirates Hosts Conference on Reproductive Health: The Khaleej Times (Dubai, UAE) reported February 11 that the recent Yasmin Forum on reproductive health focused on the importance of empowering women in reproductive health decisions. "Even in countries with a lot of birth control options, there are many unintended pregnancies and abortions. This is either because women are not part of the decision [on birth control] or they are not well informed and counseled about the best options for them," said Johannes Bitzer, Head of the Department of Social Medicine at the University Clinic and Women's Hospital in Basel, Switzerland.

Catholic Church Campaigns Against Mythical FOCA Legislation: Time (USA) reported February 18 on the U.S. Catholic Church’s crusade against the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). The Church is imploring Congressional members to oppose it, despite the fact that no FOCA bill has been introduced in the 111th Congress. It noted how some American Catholics are finding it both curious and troubling that their church has launched a major campaign against a piece of legislation that doesn't exist. James Salt, director of organizing for Catholics United, an abortion-rights organization, argued, "Right-wing organizations are deliberately misleading people in order to stoke the culture war.”

Spain Likely to Legalize Abortion: The Daily Telegraph (UK) reported February 21 and the Associated Press reported February 20 on the Spanish government’s likely liberalization of
abortion laws. "What we are talking about is for women not to face persecution when they decide about their own motherhood," said Carmen Monton of the ruling Socialist party.

Report Urges Boost in Public Funds for U.S. Family Planning: The Associated Press reported February 24 on a Guttmacher Institute report finding that Title X, which provides public funding for family planning, prevents nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies and more than 800,000 abortions annually. Report co-author Rachel Benson Gold called Title X "smart government at its best.

*2007 Teenage Conception Statistics Show Rise in UK: On 26 February various UK print and broadcast media reported that the 2007 conception rate among women aged under 18 in England and Wales had shown the first rise since 2002. The under-18 conception rate increased from 40.9 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15-17 in 2006 to 41.9 in 2007. A spokesperson for Marie Stopes International pointed out that rises and falls in the rate across the country very much depended on the effort being put in by local agencies. “The evidence is clear that when the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is prioritised, real reductions in teenage pregnancy rates can be achieved. We need to endeavour to prioritise sexual health to ensure the 2009 conception rates reach an all-time low.”

Obama Taking Steps to Rescind HHS “Conscience Clause”: The Los Angeles Times (USA) reported February 27 and the Associated Press reported February 18 on the Obama administration’s likely repeal of a Department of Health and Human Services regulation that attacked birth control under a broad “right to conscience” for health care providers. The rule, instituted on the day President George W. Bush left office, allows providers to refuse to participate in any procedure they find morally objectionable, such as family planning or reproductive health
counselling. According to an anonymous administration official, the regulation “created confusion about the scope and original intent of the law” that allows health care providers to opt out of providing abortion services.

SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES

Unsafe Abortion Persists in Kenya: Ms. Magazine(USA) reported February 3 on the
prevalence of unsafe abortion in Kenya and the lasting impact of the global gag rule. The Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya (FIDA Kenya) is leading an effort to change government policies, including a ban on abortion in most cases. “The government is mostly concerned with post-abortion care,” said Claris Ogangah-Onyango, legal counsel for FIDA Kenya, “but they’re not doing anything to stop [unsafe] abortions."

African Union Official Urges Focus On Maternal, Child Health: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) reported February 4 on remarks by African Union Commissioner for Social Affairs Biencé Gawana, who said, "much more needs to be done to reduce maternal and child mortality on the continent."

Increase in Allocations Needed to Achieve MDGs: Inter Press Service reported February 11 that representatives from 143 member organizations of the African Civil Society Coalition on HIV/AIDS and Allies met in Johannesburg, South Africa, to lobby African health ministers drafting the Africa Health Strategy 2007-2015. The NGOs urged governments to allocate 15 percent of their budgets for health care, which would fulfill commitments made in the 2001 Abuja Declaration. “HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other diseases are really the issue. It is about systems to deliver health care. This should be the starting point to meeting the MDGs," said Eve Edete, policy officer at Oxfam Kenya office.

*Marie Stopes International leads calls for uniform cervical screening programme throughout the UK:
On 17 February, The Independent (UK) reported that Marie Stopes International (MSI) is calling for the standardisation of cervical screening at 20 across the UK. MSI had pointed to the fact that whilst cervical screening begins at age 20 for women in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, women in England have to wait until they are 25. MSI’s campaign coincided with the high profile case of reality television star Jade Goody, who is battling with terminal cervical cancer at age 27. Three days after this story, The Sun (UK) launched its Jade’s Legacy campaign, backed by Jade Goody and endorsed by MSI, which is calling for cervical screening to start at 20 throughout the UK. To date The Sun’s petition has drawn a massive 74,000 signatories.

Hope for Some Following Devastating Birth Injury: On February 24, The New York Times (USA) ran a long feature on the front page of the Science section on two surgeons’ efforts to treat obstetric fistula patients in Dodoma, Tanzania. “Fistula is the thing to follow” in judging a country’s maternal and newborn health situation, said one of the surgeons, Dr. Jeffrey P. Wilkinson of Duke University. “If you find patients with fistula, you’ll also find that mothers and babies are dying right and left.”

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Bolivian Women Adapt to Urbanization: The Christian Science Monitor reported February 11 on the impact that moving from rural to urban settings has on poor women in Bolivia, who make up the majority of the current wave of urban migrants. "Migration can empower women," said Norah Quispe of Gregoria Apaza, an NGO in El Alto. Women migrants are vulnerable, but living in cities creates opportunities for civic involvement unavailable in the countryside.

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS

The Providence [R.I.] Journal-Bulletin (USA) published an editorial February 3 that supported President Obama’s repeal of the global gag rule. “In lifting the restrictions, Mr. Obama correctly
noted that more than abortion was at stake. He linked empowering women, and protecting their health, to promoting global economic development.”

The Guardian (UK) published a column February 8 by Yvonne Singh, and The Tennessean published an op-ed 9 February by Frank H. Boehm, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Vanderbilt Medical Center, on the lasting impacts of the global gag rule. Singh noted that repeal of the rule will not be enough to guarantee women’s access to good reproductive health services in countries like Kenya and Nepal. She quoted Melissa Upreti, a legal adviser to Nepal’s Center for Reproductive Rights, as saying, "The practical impact was sweeping. It happened on so many levels: the data and research that was lost over seven years; the lack of resources invested and the expertise lost – it all adds up.”

The Sydney Sun-Herald (Australia) published an op-ed February 8 by Leslie Cannold urging repeal of the country’s ban on foreign aid funds to organizations that perform or counsel on abortion. She urged readers to call for repeal on grounds that leaving the ban in place would “ensure we remain the only country in the world that limits its
foreign aid in this way.”

Newsweek (USA) published a column February 10 by Anna Quindlen on RU486. The non surgical method of abortion, which, according to the column, accounts for 14 percent of U.S. abortions, has been significant in altering the nature of the procedure. It is, she argued, “a glass of water, some pills, a decision that may be pragmatic or painful or both, but is, above all, personal.

RHRealityCheck.org published a blog February 12 by Emily Douglas applauding Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Jan Schakowsky, for their resolution that would treat women’s reproductive health as a central component of well-being. The resolution would commit Congress to passing "within 18 months, legislation that guarantees health care for women and all individuals and establishes coverage that enables women to attain good health that they can maintain during their reproductive years and throughout their lives."

RHRealityCheck.org published a blog February 12 by Maurice Middleberg, vice president for policy at the Global Health Council, and Foreign Policy in Focus published an op-ed February 5 by Yifat Susskind, communications director for MADRE, urging President Obama to make reproductive health a foreign policy priority. Susskind argued, “Funding women's reproductive health initiatives isn't an act of charity; it's a cornerstone of global economic development.” Middleberg discussed the Global Family Health Action Plan being developed by the Global Health Council, which would be a model for “building health workforces and strengthening health systems in developing countries.”

The Lancet (UK) published an op-ed February 20 by Adrienne Germain, President of the International Women’s Health Coalition, who questioned the representation of women and AIDS in the medical journal’s December special report, "What next for UNAIDS?" Germain questioned a claim made by an anonymous researcher who blamed “attention to the feminization of HIV/AIDS for failure to address the epidemic in men who have sex with men.” Germain added, ‘We are not aware of any evidence for this assertion.”

The New Internationalist (UK) published a column by Chris Brazier on February 25 on the fact that maternal deaths continue to top 500,000 per year worldwide. He argued, “Mothers are dying unnecessarily because the world is unprepared to stump up the relatively meager resources required to protect them.”

The Guardian (UK) published on February 27 a column by Madeleine Bunting that highlighted the success of sexuality education programmes to reduce teen pregnancy in two areas of London. She argued that, contrary to popular assumptions, “where there has been a concerted local push to invest in services for teenagers that are accessible and appropriate, and where sexual education has been well-delivered in schools, the most unexpected areas have shown dramatic improvements.”

Women’s eNews reported February 27 on Mother’s Day Every Day: A Campaign for Health Moms and Newborns, launched by the White Ribbon Alliance and CARE. The bipartisan campaign calls for more domestic and foreign aid to reduce maternal deaths, which claim 1 in 7 women in the poorest nations. Specifically, they hope the United States will be a greater force in a global initiative to reduce maternal mortality by 75 percent and to provide women around the world with universal access to reproductive health services by 2015. The Huffington Post published on February 25 a blog by University of Miami President Donna Shalala on “Mother’s Day Every Day,” that highlighted the campaign and noted “As groups working in the developing world already know, women -- and more specifically mothers -- are the key to overall global health, self-sufficiency, economic growth and peaceful sustainability…In short, when mothers survive childbirth, they give birth to healthier families, communities and nations.”

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

Global Gag removed

18/02/2009 00:00:00

© Mary F. Calvert/The Washington Times

Following US President Barack Obama’s decision to rescind the Mexico City Policy, also known as the “Global Gag Rule”, Marie Stopes International has featued heavily in a range of media outlets' coverage of the story:

CTV: Marie Stopes International's CEO, Dana Hovig, speaks to CTV about President Obama's decision to lift the "Global Gag Rule"

BBC News, Obama's funding repeal brings big changes : "This politicisation of family planning aid causes many problems for organisations, especially small projects which don not have alternative sources of funds. Many complain that they are trapped in a cycle of boom or bust - which makes long-term strategic planning very difficult."

The Guardian, Ban on US abortion funding lifted as Bush ideology is rolled back: "Women's health advocates hoped yesterday's decision would be the first in a series by Obama to roll back Bush administration policies on abortion. They are hoping to see cuts in funding for abstinence education, a pet project of Bush, and a restoration of funds for sex education and mothers' health."

Washington Post, Obama to Lift Global Abortion 'Gag Rule': "The decision had been eagerly expected by family planning groups, women's health advocates and others, who hoped it would restore millions of dollars of funding to programs providing health care, contraceptive services, HIV prevention and other care around the world."

January global sexual health news round up

05/02/2009 00:00:00

THE PUSH JOURNAL MEDIA SUMMARY
January, 2009

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

Health and Human Services So-Called “Right to Refuse” Rule: Several US outlets reported January 3, 6, and 7 on the Health and Human Services Department’s final issuance of a “right of conscience” regulation, which would allow health care providers broad leeway to refuse to participate in any medical procedures they find “morally objectionable.” The articles noted that the rule, aimed at decisions related to abortion and contraception, could also affect procedures including childhood vaccinations. Stories also covered options available to Democrats seeking to overturn the rule and reactions by instructors and students at nursing schools. President-elect Barack Obama opposed the regulation, saying, “We need to restore integrity to our public health programs, not create
backdoor efforts to weaken them.”

Curbing Indian Population via Call Centre: On January 5, The Washington Post (USA) reported that India's National Population Stabilization Fund sponsors a call centre to provide reliable information about family planning, contraception and reproductive health. "This is the first line of call for many young men and women who would otherwise end up going to street-corner quacks, use inappropriate contraception methods or not use any," said Shailaja Chandra, Executive Director of the National Population Stabilization Fund. The article noted that counselors work in a larger centre to avoid harassment by anti-contraception activists.
Family Planning Strained in Pakistan: On January 6, IRIN reported that family-planning experts are concerned about the strains that rapid population growth places on economic resources, development and security, and that current family planning services are inadequate and inaccessible. "Everything depends on population: the economy, security, progress, values, culture," said Farid Midhet of the Safe Motherhood Pakistan Alliance.

Church Blames Birth Control for Ecologic Devastation: On January 7, The Guardian (UK) reported on an article in the Vatican Daily L'Osservatore Romano by the president of the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, José María Simón. Simón claimed that his association’s research had found that the pill "worked in many cases with a genuinely ... abortive effect," and has had “devastating ecological effects,” including an increase in male infertility. The Vatican story also trumpeted the regrets of Carl Djerassi, one of the scientists responsible for formulating the pill, who said he feels responsible for an “epidemic” decline in European fertility rates.
Abortion Rate Increases Among Asian Women in UK: On January 12, the BBC (UK) reported that the number of Asian women seeking abortions in Britain was 15,197 in 2007, compared with 10,084 in 2003. Carolyn Phillips of The Calthorpe clinic in Birmingham called for “campaigns targeting Asian women, even if it's not quite within their culture and it's something their parents won't be happy about. These women need to know that they feel very, very safe and this is something they can access."

Prevention First Act: On January 14, The Denver Daily News (USA) reported on the Prevention First Act introduced by Reps. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Diana DeGette (D-CO). “It is imperative that we implement a comprehensive, medically accurate, science-based approach to reducing the need for abortion,” said DeGette. “The United States has a much higher rate of unintended pregnancy than other developed nations. The Prevention First Act is the key to changing that.”
Lawsuits Over “Provider Conscience” Rule: On January 15 and 16, Associated Press and The Washington Post reported that seven states joined women’s rights advocates in filing lawsuits to block the Bush administration’s rule allowing health care providers broad leeway in refusing to perform procedures they find morally objectionable. "On the way out, the Bush administration has left a ticking political time bomb that is set to explode literally on the day of the president's inaugural and blow apart women's rights," said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who filed suit on behalf of that state, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island. He was joined by Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, acting on behalf of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association.

*Obama Repeals Mexico City Policy and Pledges to Restore UNFPA Funding: Multiple outlets reported January 19-24 on the Mexico City Policy, or global gag rule, which President Barack Obama repealed on January 23, following speculation that, he would act quickly to repeal therule taking office January 20. The rule barred groups that perform or provide counseling on abortion from receiving federal foreign aid funds, even if they use their own money to do so. President Obama also pledged to reinstate funding for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. “For too long,'' he said, ''international family planning assistance has been used as a political wedge issue, the subject of a back-and-forth debate that has served only to divide us. I have no desire to continue this stale and fruitless debate.'' Family planning organisations praised the decision to lift the ban. Diana Hovig, the chief executive of Marie Stopes International, said that the Bush era policies had been a disaster; under them, her organisation, as a provider of sexual healthcare services, had been denied funding. "This marks the beginning of a new era of realism over dogma in serving the public health needs of women. President Obama is off to a flying start."

Roe v. Wade Anniversary: Multiple outlets reported January 21-23 on activities and developments related to the January 22 anniversary of Roe. v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling which legalized abortion nationwide thirty-six years ago. NPR and The Associated Press highlighted contrasts between former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, including the latter’s statement supporting the rights established under Roe, and the former’s recent establishment of a “National Sanctity of Life Day.” Rep. Diana DeGette, (D-CO), a lead sponsor of the Prevention First Act, said "our efforts should be focused on finding common ground to prevent unwanted pregnancies so you won't have to worry about abortions in the first place.”

UNFPA Looks to New U.S. Funds: Reuters reported January 27 that UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, welcomed President Barack Obama’s January 23 pledge to restore funding to the agency, which accompanied his repeal of the Mexico City Policy. The article reported, “UNFPA says its does not promote or support abortion. But Bush ended funding for it in 2002, saying it supported a one-child-per-family policy in China that was carried out partly through enforced abortions. UNFPA denied that it did so.” UNFPA executive director Thoraya Obaid said Obama's action would "provide support to women in the poorest countries of the world,” and noted that Congress will likely be asked for $40-$60 million in appropriations for UNFPA.

*Bid to end Australia’s abortion aid ban: On January 29, The Australian (Australia) and other media outlets reported that BOB McMullan, parliamentary secretary for international development assistance, is strongly urging the Government to follow the Obama example and end the ban on aid money funding abortion advice or services. The new President's lifting of the US ban has left Australia on its own. The Rudd Government has had the issue under consideration for nearly a year but is now on the spot. The ban puts a fetter on Australia's international health aid policy. Marie Stopes International Australia yesterday urged the Government to lift the ban. "It is a disgrace that Australia is expecting women in developing countries, who live under circumstances of poverty and hardship, to not have the same rights as women in Australia," the organisation's executive officer, Ary Laufer, said.

*Women are recycling used condoms: On January 30, The Daily Monitor (Uganda) reported that some women in Uganda were recycling the female condom and putting men’s lives at risk, because of the prohibitive cost of the method. Fears grow that the practice of reusing female condoms – particularly by commercial sex workers, could increase the chance of STI transmission, including HIV/AIDS. Although 1.2 million condoms have been distributed by the World Bank and Marie Stopes International, the price per unit is relatively high and prohibits many women using the item for a single act of sexual intercourse.

SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES

Maternal Mortality Rates Rise in Liberia: On January 11, Agence-France Presse (France) reported that Liberia’s maternal mortality rate increased from 578 per 100,000 live births in 1998 to 994 per 100,000 in 2007. The increase “is due to a shortage of trained midwives and delays in getting medical care for the women if there are problems with traditional home births," said Sybille Jaloux, a midwife with Medecins du Monde, a medical humanitarian organization.
Imams Help Promote Birth Spacing in Afghanistan: On January 12 IRIN reported on an effort by religious leaders to promote two-year gaps between births and to discourage child marriage in order to improve women’s and children’s health. "Some people wrongly think birth gaps are not Islamic. We want to tackle such ignorance with the help of mullahs [imams]," said Hosai Wardak, a gender specialist working with UNFPA in Kabul.

Nepal on Track to Achieve Maternal Health MDG: On January 13, IPS News reported that, according to recent estimates by UNICEF, Nepal’s maternal mortality ratio fell from 540 per 100,000 live births in 2001 to 280 at present. To meet the Millennium Development Goal of cutting maternal death rates by three-quarters by 2015, the ratio needs to decline to 213 per 100,000. According to John Brittain of UNICEF, "Nepal is in line with meeting the MDGs." The improvements are linked to measures that include a 2001 loosening of abortion restrictions and improvements in health service delivery, including immunization, iron supplementation, and increases in skilled birth attendance and antenatal care.

UNICEF Releases State of the World’s Children Report: IPS reported January 15 on the launch of UNICEF's "State of the World’s Children 2009: Maternal and Newborn Health." The report is one of the first comprehensive reports that UNICEF has released on maternal and newborn health, and found that Niger holds the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality. "What is really important about maternal health is the recognition that underlying those medical issues is a whole series of nutritional, water and sanitation, HIV related issues," said Peter Salama, UNICEF Chief of Health. "Underlying that even further, are what we call the basic issues of maternal and child deaths: issues around education, poverty, the state of the women and their rights to basic things such as the financing to get to a hospital, the transport costs to get to a health facility."

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS

On January 3, The Philippine Daily Inquirer (the Philippines) published an op-ed by Rina Jimenez-David arguing that the country’s likely failure to meet several MDGs is linked to a failure to prioritize maternal and reproductive health: “the present leadership has chosen to view ‘reproductive health’ as a code word for abortion only.”

On January 6 and 14 RHRealityCheck.org published blogs by Emily Douglas and Christina Page on The Prevention First Act, which was introduced on the first day of the Senate’s new term. The bill would raise funding for Title X, the U.S. family planning programme, and require health insurance companies to cover contraceptives. Page argued, “This legislation will hopefully end the reckless Bush years, which pushed ideology over tried and true methods to address the problem.”

On January 13, AlterNet published an op-ed by Patty Skuster demanding that Congress repeal the Helms Amendment, which states, "no foreign assistance funds may be used to pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.” Skuster argued, “U.S. administrations have applied the Helms language not only to effectively prohibit any use of foreign assistance funds for safe abortion care, but also to prevent dissemination of information about abortion or the purchase of equipment to treat abortion complications.” Oliver suggested that reinterpreting the Helms Amendment’s restrictions could allow the Obama administration to ensure quality reproductive health services even if Congress does not repeal it.

On January 14, RHRealityCheck.org published a blog by Lindsay Oliver of the Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project, which provides financial assistance for women seeking abortions. Oliver advocated repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion services. She warned, “we know that women in Virginia will be forced to continue their pregnancies or resort to self-abortion through unsafe methods because the option of a safe, legal abortion is no longer feasible based purely on affordability.”

RHRealityCheck.org published on January 15 a blog by Sharon Camp, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, The Huffington Post published an op-ed by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and the Politico published an op-ed by Nancy Keenan, President of NARAL, on January 22 all marking the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Camp advocated expanding public funding for family planning services, beginning with the passage of the Prevention First Act, which President Obama cosponsored in the Senate in 2007 and was reintroduced in early January in both houses of Congress. Rep. Slaughter, used the occasion to urge passage of the Prevention First Act as a tool to “provide medically accurate, science-based information to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and therefore, reduce the need for abortions.” Keenan wrote, “the abortion rights movement finds itself on the cusp of a tremendous opportunity: not only to make significant headway into reversing some of former President George W. Bush’s worst policies, but also to start advancing abortion rights initiatives.”

Women’s eNews published an op-ed on January 21 by Caryl Rivers, urging President Obama to make reversing many Bush-era policies on reproductive rights and health priorities, since achieving changes will take a great deal of work. She warned, “clearing away the underbrush of laws, rules and policies harmful to women that Bush leaves will be a tough job, given how tangled up they are with an array of federal agencies”

Multiple outlets published editorials, op-eds, and blogs January 21-29 on the Mexico City Policy, which President Obama repealed on January 23. The New York Times declared, in a January 24 Editorial, that “Mr. Obama’s executive order lifting the financing ban will mean fewer deaths from unsafe illegal abortions.” The Palm Beach Post proclaimed, “President Obama has restored access to basic health care to millions of women across the globe. That's not just good foreign policy; it's good human policy.” Amie Newman writing in RHRealityCheck.org, disputed an argument by the “religious left,” that supported keeping the rule in place. Instead, she argued, the repeal would mean “more women will be able to prevent unplanned or unintended pregnancy if they desire, women will be able to plan for their children, women will be able to gain economic self-sufficiency in greater numbers, women will have more control over their health and lives.”

Multiple outlets published blogs and columns January 26-29 opposing the decision by President Obama and House Democrats to remove from the economic stimulus bill a poposed provision allowing states to use Medicaid money for family planning in the economic stimulus package. Emily Douglas, writing in RHRealityCheck.org outlined the provision’s importance: “women are losing their jobs; with their jobs, they say goodbye to their health insurance; with that, their ability to afford contraception. As they downsize and plan how to cover costs in the future, doesn't it seem like a good idea for them to know how many kids they're including in the household budget?” Columnist Ellen Goodman questioned the viability of President Obama’s pledge to start a “fresh conversation” on reproductive health, when, “searching through the economic stimulus plan for a villain, the balky Republican leadership jumped on a provision to allow states to expand family planning under Medicaid.” Goodman argued, “the disheartening thing is how swiftly Obama caved.”
Slate published a column on January 29 by Michelle Goldberg on “abortion jurisprudence - the court cases that define rights and restrictions for the procedure,” which have increasingly “gone global,” as cases have gone before the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Further, a recent African Union treaty explicitly treats abortions for medical reasons, or in the case of rape or incest as a human right. As women who have been denied abortions have won compensation and acknowledgement that the restrictions violated their human rights, national laws imposing total bans on abortion have been challenged. Goldberg noted, anti-abortion rights movements have expanded, often using language that equates international rulings and treaties with cultural imperialism. She concluded, “These cases pit feminism and multiculturalism, both cherished values on the left, against each other.”

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

Marie Stopes International hails Obama decision to end 'gag rule'

23/01/2009 00:00:00

London: Marie Stopes International (MSI) applauds President Barack Obama’s decision, which he is expected to make today (23 January), to rescind the Mexico City Policy, saying it marks a turning point in the global fight to reduce the deaths of women in the developing world.

“We applaud the new Administration for rescinding a policy that has been an unmitigated disaster for the world’s poorest women,” said MSI’s chief executive Dana Hovig. “This marks the beginning of a new era of realism over dogma in serving the public health needs of women. President Obama is off to a flying start.”

The Mexico City Policy, also known as the “Global Gag Rule”, was first imposed by the Reagan Administration in 1984 and directed the United States Agency for International Development to withhold funds from foreign NGOs that provide abortion information or counselling to women or lobbied foreign governments to legalise or make abortion available. The policy had been in effect from 1985 until 1993, when it was rescinded by President Bill Clinton. President George W. Bush reinstated the policy in 2001.

“We know from available evidence that voluntary access to contraception is the best way to reduce the number of abortions in the developing world,” said Hovig. “We now have an opportunity to demonstrate this fact once and for all and put an end to the tit-for-tat politics that have played havoc with women’s lives over the past 25 years. We see this as the beginning, not the end, of our fight.”

MSI, which operates nearly 600 reproductive health clinics and hundreds more outreach teams across 43 countries, has been profoundly affected by US policy over the past eight years. Having refused to sign the “Gag Rule” on principle, MSI was denied funding that would have enabled the organisation to provide general family planning and reproductive health services, forcing the closure of MSI health centres and the withdrawal of outreach workers in some of the poorest areas of Ethiopia and Kenya.

“Over the past decade, women without access to contraception have shown up in MSI centres after experiencing an illegal or unsafe abortion,” Hovig explained. “Some drank poisonous substances, while others put bleach and sharp objects into their uterus, resulting in severe bleeding, infertility, psychological harm and often death. Whatever your view of abortion, surely we can all agree such suffering must end.”

More than half a million women die from pregnancy related causes - including unsafe abortion - every year. That is an average of 1,500 women dying each day, most of whom could be saved.

For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact Diana Thomas on 020 7034 2317 or Tony Kerridge on 020 7034 2365

Marie Stopes Sierra Leone is the "Mother of Health"

21/01/2009 00:00:00

Freetown – Sierra Leone currently sits at the foot of the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index. However, it’s a place it should not hold for much longer, if Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) has the impact it anticipates on the nation’s health.

In its drive to become the biggest, best and most sustainable family planning organisation in MSSL is now regarded by many in the country as ‘De Mammy For Welbodi’, which is Krio for ‘The Mother of Health.’

As part of its goal to achieve nationwide coverage by the end of 2009, MSSL has opened four new centres, established three new outreach teams and secured 76 BlueStar franchisees in the last six months alone.

One of those centres is in Kailahun, the town from which the Revolutionary United Front launched its decade-long war in 1991. Even after seven years of peace, this community remains one of the most remote and deprived in the country and MSSL was immensely proud to open the centre here.

Yet MSSL’s expansion has not just been on the supply-side. It has also placed new emphasis on evidence-based demand generation, with radio commercials promoting the benefits of long term and permanent methods.

The programme continues to also be known for its innovations. Thanks to MSSL, women can now get implants and emergency contraception for the very first time. It’s also taking a leading part in the MSI pilots for the Inflow Inventory System and the Research & Metrics Dashboard, both of which will lead to improved operational performance.

Developing the already positive relationship with the Ministry of Health & Sanitation has also been on the agenda. MSSL took the Deputy Health Minister and two of his staff to Kenya recently, to consider both that country’s and Marie Stopes Kenya’s progress.

Country Director for Kenya, Cyprian Awiti and his team were impeccable hosts, setting up a meeting with the Kenyan Health Minister, as well as convincing the team from Sierra Leone about the power of social franchising and the urgent need to paramedicalise tubal ligation.

In the opinion of a recent Medical Development Team auditor, MSSL’s Obstetrics Centre in Freetown continues to provide excellent care in an incredibly challenging environment. Both donors and government now recognise its importance not only as “the best place to have a baby in Freetown”, but also its vital role as the ‘de facto’ emergency obstetrics care facility in the country. Soon the centre will have the equipment to match the skills of its team and the role it is being asked to play.

Sierra Leone’s renaissance continues!

Marie Stopes International celebrates Obama inauguration

20/01/2009 00:00:00

Women like Rachel have been waiting eight years for a US President who recognises their right to control the size and spacing of their family.

Marie Stopes International (MSI) has worked every day for 30 years, providing quality family planning and sexual health services all over the developing world. In 2008 alone, MSI programmes protected the equivalent of 13 million couples from unwanted pregnancy.

A majority of MSI’s family planning impact is in rural, under-served areas where women are particularly vulnerable and at risk of dying in pregnancy and childbirth. MSI stands ready to work with the Obama Administration and all those who believe in a woman’s right to quality
reproductive health care.

December global sexual health news round up

05/01/2009 00:00:00

THE PUSH JOURNAL MEDIA SUMMARY
December, 2008

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA): On December 2, the Christian Science Monitor reported on Roman Catholic Church plans to launch a postcard-writing campaign opposing the Freedom of Choice Act, which President-elect Obama has pledged to support. The article focuses on the church’s argument that FOCA would undermine existing “conscience clause” provisions and force Catholic hospitals to perform abortion. In its current form, FOCA makes no mention of conscience clauses and would repeal the right of doctors and nurses to refuse to perform abortions.

Philippine City Passes Reproductive Health Code: On December 3, UNIRIN reported on a new law in Olongapo, in the northern Philippines, that would mandate sex education for high school students and mass condom distribution while promoting condom use by sex workers. The Roman Catholic Church opposes this and a similar national measure under debate in Congress.

*Free Condoms for Christmas Offer: During the week commencing December 8, multiple UK print, internet and radio outlets reported on Marie Stopes International’s Wrap Up For Christmas Campaign. In an effort to stem the traditional surge in abortion numbers seen every year in the wake of the festive celebrations, the agency offered young people the opportunity to text a special number to receive free condoms in advance of the party season. Julie Douglas, Head of Marketing at MSI, said: “Our message to all revelers this year is: take condoms with you, and if you are going to have sex, please play safely.”

Obama, Abortion and Health Care Reform: On December 11, as part of its series "Memos to the President-elect,” National Public Radio (USA) reported that Barack Obama’s stated goal of finding “common ground” on the issue of abortion is unlikely to be possible. The report interviewed Nancy Keenan of NARAL, Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood and Douglas Johnson of the National Right to Life Committee and portrayed the goals and tactics of both sides as divisive.

Planned Parenthood Funding Targeted: On December 11, the Associated Press reported that the anti-contraception Family Research Council is seeking to halt state and federal funding for Planned Parenthood, claiming the organization is wealthy enough to go without taxpayer support. "Our audits look pretty fat and they've used that against us," said Barbara Zdravecky, chief executive of the Planned Parenthood chapter covering southwest and central Florida, which recently lost $30,000 in public subsidies for its sex-education programs. The effort is reportedly also targeting programs in Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky.

*Recession Causing Rise in Abortions in Ireland: On December 12, The Irish Herald (Eire) reported that the current recession was causing a surge in the numbers of Irish women seeking abortion. Gabrielle Malone, Programme Director of Marie Stopes Reproductive Choices called on the Irish Government to change the law: “It’s about time that Ireland started taking responsibility and stopped shipping its problems out of the country,” she said.

FDA Panel Backs New Female Condom: On December 12, Reuters reported that a 15-person board of advisors to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has unanimously approved the Family Health Company’s new female condom, FC2, for public sale. The design is similar to one approved in 1993 but uses a less expensive material and a cost-saving production method. If approved by the full FDA, the device “will allow women in general to take even more control of their ability to protect themselves," said Michael Thomas, a panelist from the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine.

Church Issues New Bioethics Document: On December 13, several media outlets, including The New York Times (USA) and the Washington Post (USA), reported on the Roman Catholic Church’s release of a document outlining official positions on several bioethics issues. It condemns as immoral the destruction of human embryos to obtain stem cells or treat infertility, and the use of IUDs, emergency contraception and RU-486. It adds for the first time that vaccines originally developed through use of cells from aborted fetuses are acceptable.

Bush Administration Broadens “Right of Conscience”: On December 15, 18, and 19, multiple outlets reported on a Bush administration regulation broadening the so-called "right of conscience" to allow virtually any health care facility employee to refuse to deliver any service or information on ideological grounds. The rule denies federal funding to any entity that does not accommodate doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other employees who refuse to participate in procedures they find morally objectionable. It does not require health practitioners to give reasons or tell patients they are doing this nor to refer them to providers who will provide the care they seek.

Italy to Make RU486 Available: On December 16, The Times (UK) reported that despite opposition by the Vatican and Italy’s current center-right government, the Italian medical agency AIFA is expected to grant final approval to hospital use of RU486 to perform medical abortions. The approval process was set in motion in February by then-Premier Romano Prodi. Silvana Mura of the center-left Italy of Values party said the Prodi government had decided "in the interests of women. They will now have an alternative to surgery."

Bush-Era Rules Face Likely Reversal: On December 17, The Wall Street Journal (USA) reported on health policies that the incoming Obama administration will likely reverse. The actions include rescinding the Global Gag Rule, restoring funding for UNFPA, removing the new “provider conscience” rule, cutting funds for abstinence-only sex education, and overturning a regulation that makes fetuses eligible for health coverage under the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

*Health Agencies Join to Address US Contraceptive Ban in Africa: On December 18, The African Press Organisation and others reported that Marie Stopes International and the UNFPA had signed an agreement to continue the supply of family planning commodities to MSI’s programmes in eight African countries that were requested by the Bush Administration to cut US funded government supplies to MSI. Under the arrangement UNFPA will fund 7.1 million units of family planning commodities for MSI programmes in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

SAVING WOMEN’S LIVES

Combating Maternal Mortality in Afghanistan: On December 2 and 5, The Star-Ledger News (USA) and The Chicago Tribune (USA) profiled a health ministry effort in Afghanistan to train women to assist births in remote areas. Zahir Fazil, a physician who directs UNICEF in Faizabad, said the remote Badakshan province had only 14 clinics and one hospital in 2002 but has 52 clinics and a second hospital today, clear evidence of progress.

Gates Foundation Gives 3.5 million for Global Health News Coverage: On December 9, The New York Times (USA) reported that the U.S. Public Broadcasting System program “The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer” recently received a Gates Foundation grant of $3.5 million to help produce 40 to 50 reports over three years on malaria, AIDS, tuberculosis, measles, neglected diseases and other global health issues. Patti Parson, News Hour managing producer, said the grant had “no strings” and would not restrict coverage of the foundation.

HIV and AIDS

World AIDS Day: On December 2, Xinhua News (China) reported on speeches by many UN officials marking World AIDS Day, including those by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto and UNIFEM Executive Director Ines Alberdi. Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, declared “AIDS thrives on injustice and inequality,” and urged a human rights-based response to AIDS prevention and treatment. The same article reported UN findings that two million people living with HIV have received anti-retroviral treatment, a 40 percent increase over last year’s number.

UN Foundation Advocates Joint Work on AIDS-and Family Planning: On December 2, CNS News reported that Timothy Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation, had called for a coordinated global assault on AIDS and the need for family planning. “If you look at the dramatic increase in the amount of money going to AIDS and AIDS treatment, it’s a very good step . . . On the other hand, we’ve seen the scales move in just the opposite direction related to women and family planning.”

*HIV Epidemic Grows in Papua New Guinea as Funding Falls: On 22 December IRIN reported that PNG faced a growing HIV crisis, caused by both cultural issues and the decline in funding for HIV prevention work. Poverty, diverse languages and other deep set societal practices such as early sexual debuts, multiple partners and unprotected sex heightened the problems faced by the population, experts claimed. Condom usage was associated with loose living and promiscuity, particularly among females according to Corlis Gamoga, a Marie Stopes PNG peer educator, who admits that encouraging other young people to use condoms is a difficult sell. Social scientists argue that PNG’s response to the crisis must go beyond mere behaviour change tools developed in isolation in the capital, Port Moresby, but that those involved in prevention must start to engage and work with communities at local level.

EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS

On December 1 and 2, The Huffington Post (USA) and The Reporter (USA) published articles praising President-elect Obama’s support for UNFPA re-funding and repeal of the Global Gag Rule, as well as his selection of Senator Hillary Clinton to be Secretary of State. Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the Clinton choice “an enormous shift represented by the selection of a champion of women’s health and rights to be in charge of American foreign policy.”

On December 9, the New York Post (USA) ran a column by Ray Kerrison calling the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) “the most radical social legislation in decades.” He called FOCA “war” against the Catholic Church and raised the prospect of excommunication for Catholic politicians who support FOCA’s passage.

On December 8, The Baltimore Sun (USA) published Susan Reimer’s column on a recent review of research on “post-abortion syndrome,” the “debilitating regret” often alleged to follow abortions. Dr. Robert W. Blum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and three colleagues concluded after reviewing 700 papers written over the past 20 years that they "had findings that were mostly neutral, suggesting few, if any, differences between women who had abortions and their respective comparison groups in terms of mental health."

On December 12, RHRealityCheck.org published a blog post by U.S. Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), arguing for the repeal of the Global Gag Rule. “President Obama and the new Congress can place American foreign policy firmly on the side of free speech, of women's health, and of doctors and care providers, who understand that family planning is a cornerstone of social stability, economic growth, and public health in the developing world. And we can do it quickly, simply, cleanly, without a penny of cost to the taxpayers.”

On December 15, RHRealityCheck.org published Ramona Vijeyarasa’s blog post analyzing the recent liberalization of abortion laws in the Australian state of Victoria that retained a 24-week gestational limit to legal abortions. The law is “a step forward for women's rights” but “should not cloud the need for legislative reform across Australian states,” she wrote.

On December 16, 18, 19, and 22, multiple outlets published op-eds, blogs and editorials opposing the “right of conscience” rule finalized by the Health and Human Services Department on December 19. Writing in RHRealityCheck.org, Scott Swenson contended, “arguing religious freedom is moot, because even Catholic teaching on the subject of conscience clauses says that when there is a conflict between the medical provider and patient, the patient's conscience is the one that should be respected, because they rely on the state-licensed professional for the care they need.” The Philadelphia Daily News (USA) noted that, “in order to undo these regulations, the new Congress could resort to something called the Congressional Review Act, which has been used only once. Or the new HHS secretary, Tom Daschle, could restart the rule-making process, which will take months.”

On December 18, The Washington Times (USA) published an editorial urging President-elect Obama to refuse recommendations that advocates for reproductive rights and health made to him in a recent policy paper. The paper, “Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration," was briefly made public by the presidential transition team. The editorial argues, “Pro-choice groups want to pull out all the stops, and their wish list has no bounds. The policy paper even calls for more funding for the U.N. Population Control program.” The editorial demands Obama “not bow to pressure and lift restrictions on abortion. Pro-life Americans voted for him too.”

With the exception of those items marked with an asterisk (*) all the summaries above are produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700.

Health agencies join forces to address contraceptive ban in Africa

22/12/2008 00:00:00

London – Marie Stopes International (MSI) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have signed an agreement to continue the supply of family planning commodities to MSI programmes in eight African countries that were requested by the Bush Administration to cut US-funded supplies to MSI last September.

Under the agreement, UNFPA will fund, procure and deliver 7.1 million units of family planning commodities, valued at $1.5 million, to MSI programmes in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The agreement was concluded with the support of the UK Department of International Development (DFID), the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and other European governments.

“This agreement is a lifeline for MSI programmes and the millions of women we serve in these countries,” said Dana Hovig, MSI’s chief executive. “It will replace – IUD for IUD, implant for implant – the commodities cut by the Bush Administration.”

According to Hovig, many of the affected MSI programmes have already begun to stock-out of key commodities, and are actively seeking short-term supplies wherever they can find them. “Our priority is to maintain the greatest range of contraceptive options for women for as long as we can,” he said. “This agreement with UNFPA could not have come at a better time.”

UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid expressed UNFPA’s support for MSI, saying “it is of the utmost importance for all to enable women and men in Africa and all parts of the world to access family planning supplies through channels of their own free choice.”

-end-

For more information, please contact:

Michael Holscher –michael.holscher@mariestopes.org
Samantha Guy – sam.guy@mariestopes.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7636 6200

Categories: Ghana; Kenya; Madagascar; Malawi; Sierra Leone; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe; Africa; Europe; Contraception; Family planning; Social marketing

Message of support from Douglas Alexander MP, UK Secretary of State for International Development

10/12/2008 00:00:00

Dear Marie Stopes International supporters

I’d like to send this short note of sincere thanks for the hard work you have done over the past year.

I have huge admiration for people who have turned compassion for the billions of children, women and men who live abject poverty in developing countries, into practical support for changing those lives. There has been immense progress over recent years – more children getting good educations, better health care, growing democracy. But as I have seen first hand during my travels, so much remains to be done.

We’ll all feel the impact of the global economic downturn during 2009, but nobody more acutely than those already living on the edge. Those, for whom $1 a day must feed their family, pay school fees, buy essential medicines. I’m proud of the UK’s leadership on international development and our continued determination to fight poverty at home and abroad.

I’m also proud to be in partnership with Marie Stopes International in the fight against world poverty. Seasonal greetings and best wishes for 2009.

DOUGLAS ALEXANDER
Department for International Development (DFID)

Providing direct relief

02/12/2008 00:00:00

London – MSI’s relationship with Direct Relief International (DRI) began in 2005 and over the past few years has gone from strength to strength. As a result, more and more MSI Partners and the clients they serve are benefitting. But who is DRI and how did this successful relationship begin?

DRI is a US based NGO which focuses on providing medical assistance to those affected by poverty, disaster, and civil unrest throughout the world. It works to strengthen the in-country health efforts of its partners by providing essential material resources – medicines, supplies and equipment.

The partnership between MSI and DRI began when in response to an earthquake in Pakistan, DRI offered to send a container of equipment and supplies to MSI's Partner in Pakistan, Marie Stopes Society (MSS). The contents of that container were worth nearly a million US dollars and were of great help to MSS as they worked with the victims of the earthquake.

Fast forward to 2007and DRI were supplying medical materials to MSI programmes in Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Malawi, the Philippines and Bolivia worth over $3 million. This year so far, MSI and DRI have collaborated on getting supplies to six MSI Partners with many more shipments going out during the last quarter of 2008.

From DRI’s perspective, the relationship with MSI means that they are able to inject vital resources into already strong, local networks in-country which are focused on sexual and reproductive health and mother and child health and which reach the most underserved populations with consistently quality services.

“It’s both MSI’s ability – infrastructure and capacity-wise – to reach rural populations and urban slum populations and the promise of quality services from well-trained medical staff that motivates Direct Relief to work with MSI affiliates.” said Sarah Thurston, DRI Support Manager.

Earlier this year, DRI was able to help MSI Myanmar following the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis. DRI responded quickly and committed both a cash donation and goods in kind to assist the relief effort. Since that initial response, they have also sent additional shipments of medical supplies which have helped the MSI Myanmar team to provide much needed clinical services including treating acute respiratory tract infections, malaria, skin infections and wounds, as well as providing much needed services, such as antenatal care. This support has enabled the team to fill certain gaps in services and commodities for the healthcare of those affected after the unprecedented cyclone and storm-surge ruined infrastructure.

DRI approached MSI after the earthquake in China and pledged their help. In response, MSI China immediately facilitated contact between their contacts at the National Population and Family Planning Commission and DRI, with the result that DRI airfreighted a consignment of much needed supplies to the people of Sichuan Province where the earthquake took place.

Brett Williams from DRI was able to share these experiences and DRI’s mission and vision at the RAISE conference in Uganda, where he sat on a panel with the UNFPA to discuss procurement and logistics issues during humanitarian crises.

The mutual benefits and growing trust and respect between DRI and MSI looks set to have an increasing impact on the health and well-being of some of the world’s poorest people in the months and years ahead.

Midwives on motorbikes

01/12/2008 00:00:00

Dili - the last 12 months have been a year of firsts for MSI Timor Leste. Not only did it open the first ever sexual and reproductive health (SRH) centre in the country, which attracted more than 1000 clients through its doors, but it also successfully implemented a pilot outreach project, affectionately known as “midwives on motorbikes”.

On their distinctive MSI blue motorbikes wearing matching blue helmets, MSI Timor Leste’s midwives have become a familiar site in three key target locations in and around the capital of Dili over the past year.

During their daily travels, often on un-made roads and through mountain passes, the three midwives on motorbikes have been very successful in raising awareness of SRH and basic family planning services. In their first year on the road they have reached nearly 5,000 people through community information and awareness raising sessions and activities. One woman who came to one of the sessions said: “I walked from 6am to get here – it has taken me four hours. I have nine children, one of whom died. I brought four of my children with me today and I’ve come because I am happy with the help I get from MSI.”

Of those attending the sessions, 42% had never heard about contraception before and 54% had never previously heard about STIs. As well as raising awareness, the midwives have been providing family planning services as well. Four hundred of the people from the information sessions have gone on to access services and given that 75% of them had never used contraception before, that's a great result.

The family planning services themselves were delivered in the local communities in locations that were easy to get to. Sometimes this was at the home of the Head of the Village, or in the client's home or sometimes under a tree, in a community building, or in a church.

By explaining to these communities about SRH and the choices available to them, the midwives on motorbikes have helped people that otherwise wouldn't have had access information and services to do so - a small victory in one year in a country where reproductive choice is a new concept, fertility rates are amongst the highest in the world (7.8), and contraceptive prevalence is only 9%.

As the pilot project has proved so successful, the MSI team in Timor Leste have been working hard to find additional funding. This has now been secured which means that not only will the project be expanded in the Dili area but over the next three years, the Midwives on Motorbikes will become an equally familar site in other districts in the country as well!

The write stuff - The Guardian International Development Journalism Competition winners announced

22/11/2008 00:00:00

London – On 20th November the winners of the prestigious Guardian International Development Journalism Competition were announced at an awards ceremony at the Royal Society for the Arts attended by DFID’s new Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Mike Foster MP.

The Guardian, in Partnership with Marie Stopes International and with support from DFID and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), launched the competition earlier this year to help highlight the UN’s eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGS).

As well as Marie Stopes International there were seven other non government organisations involved in the initiative: Camfed International, International HIV/Aids Alliance, HelpAge International, Plan UK, the Malaria Consortium, Sightsavers International and WaterAid.

The competition, which had amateur and professional journalism categories, attracted more than 20,000 hits on the dedicated microsite and over 400 entries from journalists and aspiring writers.

Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for Internatiional Development said: "I was delighted by the high calibre of the entries and congratulate both overall winners on their outstanding contributions. Informed and balanced journalism plays a crucial role in raising the profile of international development. I am sure this competition has inspired the entrants and other UK journalists to write more about the issues surrounding global poverty. "

The 400 entries were then whittled down to the 16 finalists, each of whom then went on assignment to a developing country to write about their MDG-related topic. Marie Stopes International’s two finalists were aspiring writer, Sophie Elmhirst who went to Bangladesh and professional journalist Jenny Holden who visited MSI programmes in Ghana and Ethiopia.

The standard of writing produced by all 16 finalists was extremely high and the judges had a tough choice to make. However, Sylvia Rowley emerged as the winner of the amateur category for her article on how community-based organisations are helping to promote safer sex in India whilst in the professional category, Ben Willis won with his article on climate change and the Philippines.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Michael Holscher, Director of External Relations at MSI said: “The response to this unique journalist competition far exceeded our expectations when we conceived the competition many months ago. On behalf of all our NGO partners, we congratulate the winners for inspiring both readers and writers alike to seek out more in-depth understanding of development issues that might otherwise be forgotten.”

To find out more about the competition, read Ben’s and Sylvia’s winning articles and those of the other 14 finalists go to: http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition

To read more about DFID's involvement with the competition go to: DFID

MSI Zambia Raising awareness on World AIDS Day

22/11/2008 00:00:00

Lusaka, Zambia - Today on World AIDS Day (1 December), MSI Zambia team members were out in force promoting HIV / AIDS awareness in Lusaka's largest mall, Manda Hill. Any clients referred from the promotion today to MSI Zambia will be offered a free HIV test.

Working together with another local non government organisation, Kara Counselling, the theme of the awareness promotion is Protect Yourself – Circumcize, Condomize.

Although using a condom is a well known way of preventing the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, a less well known way of preventing the infection from spreading is male circumcision. Recent studies have shown that being circumcised can lead to around a 60% reduction in the risk of acquiring HIV infection.

Marie Stopes Kenya welcomes Michelle Obama

22/11/2008 00:00:00

Kisumu, Kenya – A day after Barack Obama was elected 44th president of the United States, Mourine Oriko gave birth to her second child in Marie Stopes Kenya’s Nursing Home in Kisumu, near the village where the president-elect’s father was born and where his paternal grandmother still lives.

To honor Obama’s historic election, Oriko and her husband, Zaddock Otieno, named their newborn daughter after the president-elect’s wife, Michelle Obama.

Baby Michelle’s birth in the clean, safe conditions of Marie Stopes’ health facility was strikingly different than the arrival two years earlier of the couple’s first child, who was born at home in the Manyatta slum area of Kisumu because the parents could not afford the high fees charged by a local hospital.

Baby Michelle’s birth under the careful watch of qualified Marie Stopes doctors and nurses was made possible by a unique Output-Based Aid (OBA) programme for reproductive health sponsored by Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Through this OBA programme, Baby Michelle’s parents received vouchers entitling them to a free delivery at the Marie Stopes Nursing Home, one of several quality health facilities in the area designated to provide such services under the programme. When the service was completed, all costs were reimbursed to Marie Stopes Kenya by the programme’s management agency.

This voucher scheme represents a demand-side approach to financing health care that subsidizes low-income health care clients directly, while disbursing funding only after services are actually delivered. The client is free to choose any designated service provider -- public, private or a non-governmental organization (NGO) -- from a list of approved health facilities.

In 2007, Marie Stopes Kenya provided more than 17,000 safe deliveries in Kisumu via the OBA voucher programme. This accounted for 95% of all safe deliveries by Marie Stopes in the Kisumu district that year.

Globally, Marie Stopes International is at the forefront of output-based approaches to healthcare delivery. The Kenya OBA programme, and a similar programme in Uganda, will be dramatically expanded in the coming year with increased support from KfW. In addition, Marie Stopes Internationational uses output-based sub-contracts with its affiliates in 23 countries to deliver approximately one million units of long-term and permanent contraceptive methods for family planning annually.

Find out more about Marie Stopes Kenya's work

Marie Stopes International pays tribute to Dr Allan Rosenfield, pioneer in reproductive health

22/10/2008 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International is deeply saddened by the recent death of Dr Allan Rosenfield, former dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health; a true pioneer in the field of reproductive health and an inspiration to many.

Renowned for his groundbreaking work on women’s health and human rights, Dr Rosenfield’s innovative work in family planning, maternal health and HIV/AIDS has been instrumental in shaping today’s thinking around reproductive health and women’s rights.

His tireless efforts to put women at the centre of public health and his persistent advocacy for family planning and sex education have changed the public health field forever.

Dr Rosenfield was among the first to call for specific attention to maternal health as an objective in itself, rather than an adjunct concern to children's health. In 1985, he co-authored the seminal paper published in the The Lancet: “Maternal Mortality — A Neglected Tragedy: Where is the M in MCH?”, in which he drew attention to the focus of providers on child health in maternal and child health (MCH) programmes at the expense of the health, and often lives, of women.

Speaking at the World AIDS Conference in 2000 in Durban, South Africa, he again demanded attention for maternal care, highlighting the ethical imperative to offer HIV-positive mothers ongoing care and treatment for their HIV infection, rather than only anti-retrovirals during pregnancy to prevent transmission to their newborns.

Dr Rosenfield’s calls for action resonated among many international health groups and policy makers around the world and resulted in an increased focus on addressing universal shortage of effective maternal health care, including through major new initiatives, such as the Safe Motherhood Initiative, the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD) and the MTCT-Plus Initiative.

Despite his illness, Dr Rosenfield continued to fight for the lives and reproductive choices of women up till the last days of his life. Marie Stopes International is humbled that just a few days before his passing, he insisted on leading a statement from public health professionals criticising USAID’s recent decision to force governments in multiple African countries to discontinue the provision of US-funded contraceptive commodities to Marie Stopes International. It was a precious reminder of a great man and all he stood for in his long career.

His legacy will be carried forward through the work of the numerous organisations and public health professionals he inspired and who learned from his leadership. We continue to be committed to our shared goal of saving lives and promoting choice of every women every where.

Bush administration bans contraceptive supplies to MSI

22/10/2008 00:00:00

London – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has instructed its staff to force governments in several African countries to discontinue the provision of US-funded contraceptive commodities to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world’s leading family planning organisations.

The USAID instruction, issued by Assistant Administrator for Global Health Kent Hill, said the action was necessary because MSI works with the Chinese Government, whom the US State Department accuses of “coercive abortion and involuntary sterilisations”.

MSI chief executive Dana Hovig stated emphatically today that MSI does not support coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation in China or elsewhere. “To the contrary, MSI is one of the few organisations that has worked over the past decade to increase the availability of voluntary, client-centred family planning services in China,” said Hovig. He blasted the USAID decision as “purely political and dangerous to the lives of women.”

Hovig said the USAID instruction will “seriously disrupt” MSI’s family planning programmes in at least six African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe - including one where the organisation delivers 25% of all family planning services nationally. Women in these countries will be left with few options other than abortion, the majority of which will be unsafe and will likely result in their death or disability.

“At a time when world governments have pledged to increase their commitment to improving the health of women, only the Bush Administration could find logic in the idea that they can somehow reduce abortion and promote choice for women in China by causing more abortion and gutting choice for women in Africa,” said Hovig. “This senseless decision is likely to have only one clear consequence: the death of African women and girls. And the Bush Administration should answer for that.”

Hovig explained that, according to formulas developed by the Guttmacher Institute, MSI’s family planning services prevented 5-7 million unwanted pregnancies in 2007 alone, thus preventing 1-1.5 million abortions. Most of these abortions would have been unsafe, putting women’s lives at risk. “For every two intra-uterine devices (IUDs) the US government denies MSI, an unsafe abortion could result unless MSI is able to find alternative supplies,” Hovig explained.

In its instruction, USAID justifies its bullying of African governments under a little-known provision of US law called the Kemp-Kasten Amendment which prohibits US foreign aid to any organisation that, according to the President, "supports or participates in the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation". Republican Administrations dating back to President Reagan have used the law to deny funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) because of its work with the Chinese government.

The current Bush Administration reviewed UNFPA’s activities in 2001, determined the agency was not in violation of Kemp-Kasten, and provided $21.5 million to UNFPA. In July 2002, however, President Bush reversed his position and invoked Kemp-Kasten to justify canceling the $34 million appropriated by Congress for UNFPA in fiscal year 2002, despite the fact that there had been no change in UNFPA's activities during this entire period. The Bush Administration has maintained its ban on UNFPA funding ever since.

“The Bush Administration’s position over the years with respect to the UNFPA programme in China has been purely political, and their harmful politics are now being extended to MSI and the women we serve,” said Hovig. “USAID needs to decide what its purpose is: playing politics or saving lives.”

MSI has worked in China since 1998, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) and the Ministry of Health, to implement UNFPA’s Country Programme. This programme aims to increase availability of quality, integrated, client-centred, and gender-sensitive reproductive health and family planning information and services, including those focusing on HIV/AIDS and client rights, for women, men, young people and migrants.

Globally, MSI manages sexual and reproductive health programmes in 43 countries. In 2007 alone, MSI programmes protected the equivalent of 12.5 million couples from unwanted pregnancy, a 30% increase over the previous year and the single largest year-on-year growth in the organisation’s 32 year history. A majority of MSI’s family planning impact is in rural, underserved areas where women are particularly vulnerable and lives are most at risk from unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

To read the press release, please click here.

Marie Stopes International takes a leading role in World Contraception Day

26/09/2008 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International (MSI) has joined together with five other international and regional sexual and reproductive health organisations, including the Population Council and the Asia Pacific Council on Contraception in a show of support for World Contraception Day (WCD) – 26 September 2008.

This second year of WCD is especially poignant, as it marks the 40th anniversary of the United Nations declaration that contraception and family planning is as a basic human right. The Day, sponsored by Bayer Schering Pharma, highlights the impact of unplanned pregnancy and the importance of young people making informed choices about contraception.

MSI’s contribution in the lead up to the event included getting a variety of key healthcare providers involved; helping to distribute key literature about the contraceptive options and spreading the word about WCD through global networks.

The 2008 campaign aims to raise awareness amongst young people under the campaign motto ‘Your body, your life, your choice’. Seventy countries on four continents have been involved in educational activities and events to raise awareness of the importance of family planning and the UK is no exception.

Chief Executive of MSI, Dana Hovig warnsof the particular challenge that the UK faces: "Here in the UK we have the highest pregnancy teenage rate in Western Europe; twice that of Germany, three times the teenage pregnancy rate of France and five times the teenage pregnancy rate of the Netherlands. So we have a solution in contraception and some countries are getting this right, but we need to do better."

Pauline Beddoes, Nurse Manager at MSI, urges couples to adopt MSI’s mission statement of ‘children by choice, not chance’:

“Couples are focusing on the heat of the moment and not the potential consequences of their sexual encounters. It is vital that couples discuss contraception before having sex. We hope World Contraception Day encourages people to consider their contraceptive choices and the many contraceptive options available.”

MSI were delighted when media personality, Kelly Osbourne, agreed to act as this year’s global ambassador for WCD:

“This campaign is important because it empowers young people to make informed choices about contraception,” says Kelly Osbourne. “Today, young women face many pressures and challenges when dealing with relationships and sex, but my message is simple when it comes to contraception: it’s your life, it’s your body and it’s your choice.”

A study carried out by Kudos Research on behalf of MSI has worryingly showed that while Londoners are most likely to use contraception, nearly 43% of residents in the Midlands did not use protection.

This research has also highlighted the lack of communication between sexually active partners. More than 52% of sexually active people in the UK also admitted not talking to their partner about contraception before having sex.*

“When to have a baby is one of the biggest decisions in your life, says Osbourne. “Talk to your partner and your doctor about the best contraception and protection to empower you to make a conscious family planning decision.”

Hovig reiterates MSI's commitment to helping women to prevent unwanted pregnancies: " We are asking governments to invest more in family planning and sexual and reproductive health education. We are asking donors to invest more in family planning and to support private sector initiatives which can make a greater contribution to unwanted pregnancy an unsafe abortion because we know that family planning and providing choices saves lives."

* Kudos Research independently surveyed 1,000 men and women about their views on contraception and family planning, on behalf of Marie Stopes International.

To read the press release, please click here

Global outrage

22/09/2008 00:00:00

Uniting together, health organisations from around the world have condemned the US administration's ban on supplying contraceptives to MSI.

The ban was imposed in late September under the Kemp Kasten amendment and re-iterated in a USAID press statement on October 10th. Since being imposed, MSI has been inundated with statements of support from organisations within the US and from the rest of the world. Below are just a few of those statements along with some of the stories that have appeared in the media highlighting the effects that this ban is having on some of the poorest people in the world.

Letter from Ms Nina Lowey, Chairwoman, US Sub committee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs to Condeleezza Rice, US Secretary of State

"I write to register my strongest concern for the recent State Department decision to withhold US funded contraceptives from Marie Stopes International...by ordering six partner governments in Africa to stop providing US donated contraceptives and supplies to MSI is an extreme policy..."

to read further...

Statement from the Global Health Council

"The Global Health Council is requesting U.S. government authorities to provide evidence that MSI has violated Kemp-Kasten and is in conversation with representatives of African governments to determine whether U.S. pressure will impact the delivery of reproductive health services."

to read further...

Statement from the European network of sexual & reproductive health organisations (EuroNGOs)

"Given that Marie Stopes International is a global leader in reproductive health care and in many countries provides a significant proportion of all family planning services, USAID’s decision is likely to endanger the lives of thousands of women. "

to read further...

Statement from the Guttmacher Institute

"This is the latest move by the Bush administration in a progression of increasingly restrictive family planning policy decisions that put politics first and women’s needs last. Though the stated purpose of this action is to reduce abortion, the effect will likely be the opposite."

to read further...

Population Action International joins European Partners in condemning U.S. Government’s ban on contraceptives to Africa

"The European NGOs for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Population and Development (EuroNGOs) issued a statement today shocked about a recent decision by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."

to read further...

Center for Health and Gender Equality

"Today, CHANGE strongly condemned the Bush administration for its efforts to ban contraceptive supplies donated to national governments from reaching Marie Stopes International (MSI)."

read further...

Statement from US public health professionals

"We deplore this callous and politically questionable action. This nearsighted maneuver will have direct and dire consequences for women in the affected countries – Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe – and will translate almost immediately into increased maternal death and disability. "

to read further...

Press release from MSI Uganda

"We have an exceptional and long relationship with the Ministry of Health, as well as our other partners and stakeholders in Uganda. We will continue to work with the MoH and our other partners and stakeholders to ensure we are fulfilling our mission to provide reproductive health services in Uganda and that there is minimal disruption in the supply of contraceptives to women in Uganda."

to read further...

For media response to the Bush ban, please click here

Bush administration ban on contraceptive supplies to MSI condemned by global health agencies

22/09/2008 00:00:00

More than 40 health agencies around the world have strongly condemned the move by the Bush administration to discontinue the provision of U.S.-funded contraceptives to Marie Stopes International (MSI). Criticism rained on the Bush administration from both within the US itself and from countries including France, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden.

The ban, which was issued by USAID Assistant Administrator for Global Health Kent Hill, will seriously disrupt essential maternal healthcare and family planning services in at least seven African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. All of these countries already have high maternal mortality rates and the ban will most likely lead to an increase in maternal deaths and abortions.

Members of EuroNGOs (the European Network of Non Government Organisations) and several other international NGOs said in a joint statement that they were: “appalled to learn of USAID’s decision” and said it “is likely to endanger the lives of thousands of women”. They also called for their country governments to “challenge USAID on this decision by informing the US government of their objections and support the affected countries in rejecting this USAID pressure.”

In the USA itself, Amy Coen, President / CEO of Population Action International said. “Once again President Bush has shocked and disheartened the European community by playing politics with poor women’s lives. This directive will prevent poor women in many African countries from accessing much needed pregnancy care and modern contraceptives – both important health services that we take for granted in the United States, but that are often out of reach for women in Africa.”

USAID says the ban has been imposed because MSI works in China, and so, it says, is guilty under the terms of the Kemp-Kasten amendment to have “support[ed] or participate[d] in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.” However, there’s no evidence to support this accusation and MSI strongly denies it. In fact, over the past decade, MSI is one of the few organisations that has worked in China to increase the availability of voluntary, client-centred family planning services in China.

Earlier this year, USAID renewed its long running ban on funding the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) under the same amendment.

The RAISE Effect

22/09/2008 00:00:00

London - Two years since it was officially launched, the contribution of the Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative to MSI’s core objectives are well established.

Opening new doors and fostering dialogue and partnerships with non-traditional reproductive health actors, including humanitarian agencies and policy bodies, means that RAISE is playing an increasingly important role in expanding support for SRH, especially family planning and post abortion care (PAC), both at policy and operational levels.

RAISE increases the capacity of MSI partners and other agencies to provide the full range of SRH services in emergency settings. It also encourages policies and funding that support SRH in emergencies.

“By addressing the SRH needs of refugees and internally displaced women and girls, RAISE directly contributes to MSI’s core objectives of serving the underserved, catalysing change, expanding family planning and safe abortion services and ensuring the highest quality of care,” says Michael Holscher, MSI’s Director of Strategy & External Relations.

RAISE’s financial and technical support - including clinical training at the RAISE Training Centre at Marie Stopes Kenya - has enabled partners to improve their services both in scope and quality. RAISE funding, for example, has enabled Marie Stopes Uganda and other RAISE partners to expand services and networks to new geographic areas.

RAISE has also provided technical and financial support ($50,000 in initial funding) to Marie Stopes Kenya to support its response to the recent political and social violence in the country. Another encouraging development is the dramatic increase of the number of new family planning clients in countries involved in the RAISE Initiative since the completion of the baseline study.

In the wake of the recent conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation, RAISE was invited by the European Parliamentary Forum to join a fact-finding mission to Georgia, to assess the emergency reproductive health needs of IDP’s in the region.

"RAISE’s work is becoming increasingly known at a variety of different levels, which is reflected in the growing demand for its services," says Holscher, adding, “This directly enables MSI to leverage funding from donors that are interested in issues such as fragile states and humanitarian emergencies."

To read about RAISE and the fact-finding mission to Georgia, please click here.

Marie Stopes International takes a leading role in World Contraception Day

22/09/2008 00:00:00

As you find yourself looking out the broken window at the billowing smoke, listening for gunfire, you exchange glances with your husband, look at your children huddled in the corner of the room - and know you have no choice but to flee your home.

This family, along with thousands of others, have become victims of the recent conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation. In Georgia, there are approximately 192,000* ‘internal displaced persons’, also known as IDP’s - desperate to find shelter and aid in their homeland. There are an estimated further 30,000 internally displaced Georgian women are of reproductive age, and of these, 1, 400 are pregnant.**

In the wake of the crisis, Marie Stopes International (MSI) is the only NGO which was called upon by the European Parliamentary Forum to join a fact-finding mission to Georgia, to assess the emergency reproductive health needs of IDP’s in the region. The other attendees were all MPs and MEPs, including British MEPs Jean Lambert and Neena Gill.

So why was MSI been included in this fact-finding mission? MSI, together with Columbia University, manages a multi-agency, multi-country programme which brings together 10 leading service delivery and advocacy organisations to scale-up comprehensive reproductive healthcare services in crisis settings. The programme - known as the Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies (RAISE) Initiative, helps refugees, IDP’s and returnees in crisis areas such as Colombia, Northern Uganda and Darfur in the Sudan.

Louise Lee-Jones, who represented RAISE on the two-day trip, explained: “IDP’s lack the protection of ‘refugee’ status, which exacerbates the problem of meeting basic needs. Naturally food, water and shelter are paramount concerns, but the SRH needs of internally displaced women cannot be neglected. Health concerns particular to women in crisis situations include the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery because of the destroyed infrastructure and health facilities. There will be a lack of sanitary supplies and contraceptive methods and unfortunately an increased risk of sexual and gender based violence, unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions and sexually transmitted infections.”

MSI, through the RAISE initiative, is working closely with United Nations and other humanitarian agencies including UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) to positively influence policy and funding support for comprehensive SRH in crises throughout the world. Tamar Khomasuridze, the head of UNFPA’s in Georgia said, “In order to effectively assist these people, we need better statistics on situations regarding gender-based violence, and reproductive health, such as the number of pregnant women affected by the conflict.”

The fact-finding mission included a visit to emergency shelters in Gori, the region most affected by the military interventions, and the capital, Tiblisi.

“RAISE will continue to increase awareness of best practice for comprehensive SRH delivery in the context of our global involvement in such crises,” says Lee-Jones. ”We hope to share our experience with parliamentarians, in the hope that they will continue to galvanise support for SRH care in crisis situations. Although this need is recognised in terms of humanitarian guidelines, it must remain a priority at the level of policy-making.”

*according to a recent survey by the Georgian authorities and UNHCR (United Nation Refugee Agency.

** statistics from the World Health Organisation – Georgia Interagency Health and Nutrition Working Group Situation Report No.2 26 August 2008.

Read more about the RAISE Initiative

Competition finalists visit Marie Stopes International Projects

22/09/2008 00:00:00

Dhaka (12 September) - FInalists Sophie Elmhirst and Jenny Holden find themselves visiting an MSI project in Bangledesh, and MSI projects in Ghana and Ethiopia, respectively, in the final stages of an exciting journalism competition which began earlier this year.

Sophie and Jenny are two of the journalists who submitted articles on key development issues for this innovative competition organised by Marie Stopes International (MSI) in partnership with the Guardian, the Department for International Development (DFID), and other non government organisations (NGOs).

Out of the thousands of entries received, 40 semi-finalists were initially selected from both the amateur and professional journalist categories. The final selection comprises 16 finalists, from which two overall winners will be chosen.

The last stage of the competition requires each finalist to write on a given theme, in an allocated country. The finalists have the opportunity to visit projects in their assigned country – in Africa or Asia - accompanied by a representative from one of the eight NGOs which International HIV/Aids Alliance and WaterAid.

Jenny Holden, a finalist in the amateur category is visiting projects in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and Ghana (Accra) to look at the issue of unsafe abortion and moves on the African continent towards liberalising laws governing access to safer services.

MSI have established nearly twenty clinics in Ethiopia, providing a full range of sexual and reproductive health services. In fact, 90% of all Ethiopians who have had an abortion at an MSI clinic leave with a family planning method.

MSI Ghana is a relatively new project, but is already making a real difference, with three clinics and outreach services. There are plans to rapidly extend this network throughout the country. In both Ethiopia and Ghana, MSI have enrolled healthcare providers in its social franchising programme, to significantly improve access to quality sexual and reproductive health services through existing private providers.

Professional journalist, Sophie Elmhirst, is visiting projects working with the urban poor in Bangladesh (Dhaka) and India (Mumbai).

MSI Bangladesh is the largest programme in the MSI global partnership with multiple outreach sites and mobile services covering over a third of the country. MSI have ambitious plans to increase that number and have recently opened a premium clinic offering maternity/obstretic services.

One of the leading reproductive health providers in Nepal, Sunaulo Parivar Nepal, has carried out 44% of all sterilisations and 70% of all abortions. MSI plans to extend the number of clinics offering a full range of sexual and reproductive health services. There will be 60 by the end of the year!

MSI Senior Communications Manager, Tony Kerridge, says: “Through this competition we hope to encourage a new generation of journalists’ interest in writing about development issues, and through their efforts to engage with the wider public. Visiting programmes in the field and seeing first hand the hard work being done to alleviate poverty, enrich lives and meet the Millennium Development Goals.”

All 16 finalists will have their feature articles published in the Guardian, after the winners have been announced at a gala event in London, in November.

To view all the finalists, please see:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/journalismcompetition/finalists

To read Guardian Editor, Sue George's blog on the competition, please click here

Research paints bleak picture of Australian women's reproductive choices

22/08/2008 00:00:00

Melbourne - MSI Australia has called on the Australian Government to focus on contraception education after research showed that a majority of women were using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy.

“Of 2,041 women who commenced the study, 1,033 women confirmed having experienced an unplanned pregnancy, and 60% of those were using at least one form of contraception at the time,” said Jill Michelson, operations Manager for MSI’s Australia centres.

“These figures are proof of the need to increase the range of contraceptive options in Australia, invest in research to improve contraceptive efficacy and implement a dedicated contraceptive user education campaign.”

Other key findings in the report Real Choices: Women, Contraception & Unplanned Pregnancy, which was commissioned by MSI and carried out by WebSurvey, include:

• at the time of their unplanned pregnancy, the largest group of women using contraception were on the pill (43%), while 22% were using a condom

• nearly half of all women do not take into consideration protection against sexually transmitted
infections (STIs) when choosing their method of contraception

• one in 10 women either ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ felt comfortable to ask their partner to wear a condom

• 36% of women who were not using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy had not been planning or expecting to have sex

• 17% of women who hadn’t used contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy believed they weren’t fertile, or wouldn’t become pregnant

• more than one in five (21%) of the women using contraception at the time of their unplanned pregnancy were using more than one method.

“Unplanned pregnancy is clearly a key health issue for Australian women and this research provides insight into the reality of reproductive choice – a reality that the Rudd Government
needs to address urgently,” said Jill.

Real Choices: Women, Contraception & Unplanned Pregnancy can be downloaded from
www.mariestopes.com.au

From sex worker to Marie Stopes volunteer - Kohinoor's story

22/08/2008 00:00:00

“Life was getting harder and harder. I often had to face a lot of physical violence, plus there was no security or food. Marie Stopes Clinic Society (MSCS) has given me and my child an opportunity of having meals three times a day.”

Dhaka - Kohinoor Begum, 35, is a homeless woman in Dhaka. Her story is similar to that of hundreds of other homeless women in the city. She arrived hoping to earn a living, after being abandoned by her husband and in-laws, but like so many before her, she became a sex worker, as it quickly brought her cash in hand.

Now, however, thanks to MSCS, she is a volunteer for the organisation and earns regular money by improving the lives of others. “I was amazed and happy that MSCS chose me to work as a volunteer to raise awareness among poor people about sexual and reproductive health. I know the suffering they go through due to not being able to afford proper treatment.”

Reaching out to the most vulnerable and socially excluded people through Marie Stopes Volunteers (MSVs) has proved an enormously successful strategy for MSCS. MSVs are selected from within the community and given extensive training. It’s amazing to see the gradual transformation of these volunteers into a responsible and empowered homogonous group, truly committed to working for the community to which they belong.

MSVs are responsible for the day to day management and maintenance of their centre, the promotion of centre services and for changing attitudes using picture based information, education and communication (IEC) materials. They also provide counselling and assist the centre's paramedic or doctor.

MSVs provide an essential bond between the service providers and the community, making clients feel at home and helping to meet their expectations.

Seal of approval in Pakistan

22/07/2008 00:00:00

Karachi - Marie Stopes Society in Pakistan has achieved another milestone - certification by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy (PCP) for meeting high standards on Internal Governance, Financial Management and Programme Delivery.

Established in 2001, the PCP is an independent, non-profit support organisation which is leading the promotion of philanthropy in Pakistan. One of PCPs central objectives is to mobilise resources from the private sector, in particular the corporate sector, for development initiatives. In doing so, the PCP also supplements the government's poverty reduction agenda. The Centre itself does not engage directly in philanthropy but instead facilitates the efforts of others.

PCP certification is a 'seal of good housekeeping' for organisations that exhibit exemplary standards in organisational effectiveness. As well as helping non profit organisations to diversifying their resource base and so expand their programmes for social development, certification also gives them extra credibility as well.

MSS applied for certification in March 2007 and underwent an extensive evaluation by PCP against three sets of standardised parameters in Internal Governance, Financial Management and Programme Delivery. The evaluation comprised a detailed desk review of organisational documents, visits to MSS’ head office and SRH centres in Karachi and Gujranwala.

This process helped identify organisational strengths and weaknesses, emphasised institutionalisation of systems and processes, and allowed policy inputs / recommendations for further improvement in MSS’ internal governance, financial management and programme delivery structure.

PCP has recommended that MSS place progress reports on its website so that more people have access to them. It is believed that once this step is taken it will help increase the organisation’s credibility and build its overall image in the public eye.

Over the years, an important and consistent source of funds for MSS has been MSI. However, PCP has recommended that MSS’ diversifies its resource base to ensure a steady in flow of funds. One option that MSS may consider is formal fundraising events at national as well provincial level.

With a large team of dedicated professionals, MSS is clearly geared to become one of the leading and enduring contributors towards the improved SRH of people in Pakistan.

BlueStar franchises launched in Ghana and the Philippines

22/06/2008 00:00:00

Accra - MSI Ghana has enrolled more than 100 healthcare providers in its BlueStar Healthcare Network as part of a new social franchising strategy to improve access to quality sexual and reproductive health services through existing private providers. The BlueStar network includes licensed chemical sellers (shopkeepers), pharmacists, midwives and doctors.

To ensure quality, MSI trains BlueStar providers in state-of-the-art service delivery and then regularly monitors quality to ensure agreed standards are met. Providers receive training in areas such as family planning knowledge, counseling, clinical skills, marketing and business management. Facilities are refurbished and branded with the BlueStar logo, which is then promoted to clients to assist them in identifying and accessing quality services. Franchisees will soon be able to buy family planning methods for their centres at reduced prices, ensuring better profit margins.

“The BlueStar Healthcare Network is a novel approach to harnessing the existing resources and infrastructure of the private health sector to expand the population's access to quality reproductive healthcare," explained Ruth Addison, a representative of the Ghanaian Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC). "By doing so, we can contribute to the achievement of four of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

Meanwhile in the Philippines, Population Services Pilipinas Inc. (PSPI) launched their BlueStar programme at the end of March. Technical training for franchisees is now well underway.

MSI's programme in Ghana
MSI's programme in the Philippines

MSI voucher scheme protects sexual health of Uganda’s poor

22/06/2008 00:00:00

Kampala - Marie Stopes Uganda is spearheading an innovative new voucher scheme to help thousands of poor Ugandans in the southwestern district of Mbarara enjoy a life free from sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

With financial support from Germany's KfW Entwicklungsbank, MS Uganda distributes Healthy Life vouchers in more than 120 poor communities. Each voucher entitles the holder to comprehensive STI treatment services at quality private health clinics across Mbarara. More than 21,216 vouchers have been redeemed to date.

In this pilot phase, MS Uganda has trained and accredited 18 private and nongovernmental (NGO) providers to offer quality services to voucher holders. Private providers then claim back the costs of those services through MS Uganda’s operating partner, Microcare Health Insurance.

The MS Uganda team is now working to build on the success of this pilot phase. A pending agreement with KfW and the World Bank’s Global Programme on Output Based Aid (GPOBA) will provide further funding to expand distribution of the vouchers through 2011.

Under the new agreement, MS Uganda plans to also distribute more than 100,000 vouchers for pregnant women to access comprehensive safe delivery services at approved private maternity clinics across the region. The scheme will specifically target low-income populations, who are most likely to experience potentially fatal complications in childbirth.

MSI's programme in Uganda

MSI opens first centre in Mexico City

22/06/2008 00:00:00

Mexico City - MSI's first mini-centre in Mexico City opened its doors on 28 April to clients seeking first trimester abortion services. The MSI centre is located at an existing health facility for adolescents in a centrally located neighbourhood. Over the next 15 months, MSI plans to set up five additional mini-centres in lower income neighbourhoods on the periphery of the city.

A call centre to refer clients to a network of quality abortion providers is also planned, drawing on MSI's experience with similar call centres in the UK and South Africa.

Marie Stopes Mexico (Mexico City) is working with the Ministry of Health to change current requirements that abortion must be preformed in a surgical theatre, and by specialist providers such as surgeons, gynecologists or obstetricians.

The Mexico City Congress legalised first trimester abortion in April 2007, resulting in one of the most progressive abortion laws in Latin America. Anti-choice activists have mobilised quickly to challenge the constitutionality of Mexico City's law. The Supreme Court will determine if the law is constitutional and is expected to rule on the issue in August.

Concerted campaign protects UK 24 week abortion limit

22/05/2008 00:00:00

London - The UK parliament's House of Commons has voted down legislation in May that would have reduced the 24-week upper time limit for abortion in the UK. Despite an emotive and misleading campaign by anti-choice lobbyists, a majority of MPs (304 votes to 233) voted to protect women’s reproductive rights.

Later abortions in the UK are extremely rare – 1.45% of the total - and needed by women facing extremely difficult circumstances. The Commons vote was consistent with the views of a majority of British women of reproductive age, 61% of whom said in a recent poll that there are circumstances in which a woman should have the right to access an abortion between 20 and 24 weeks. The survey, published by Ipsos MORI ahead of the vote, showed that women were sympathetic to their peers accessing a later abortion. Circumstances leading to a later abortion included denial of pregnancy signs (usually in very young women), foetal abnormality, rape, risk to the health of the woman and National Health Service delays and other personal reasons.

In the next phase of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, several pro-choice amendments will be introduced to improve existing legislation.

MSI China assists in earthquake recovery

22/05/2008 00:00:00

Beijing - In the wake of the devastation caused by China’s strongest earthquake in 30 years on May 12, reports suggest that several government centres with which MSI China partners have been damaged or destroyed.

Hard on the heels of Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, vast areas of China’s Sichuan Province took the brunt of the huge earthquake. Despite many remarkable stories of survival against the odds, the expected death toll from this massive natural disaster has climbed to more than 70,000.

MSI China is working closely with MSI support teams in Australia and the UK, and has introduced the National Population and Family Planning Committee (one of MSI China’s government partners) to relief agencies offering emergency primary healthcare supplies to the affected population.

MSI's programme in China

MSI Ethiopia reports high rate of post-abortion contraception

22/04/2008 00:00:00

Addis Ababa – More than 90% of all clients who received an abortion at an MSI clinic in Ethiopia last year left with a modern family planning method, according to MSI’s 2007 management report. MSI chief executive, Dana Hovig, said this achievement is one example of MSI’s commitment to post-abortion contraception.

“This commitment shows MSI at its best: meeting the near term need of women with unintended pregnancies, while addressing the long term need for women to control their fertility and have children by choice, not chance,” said Hovig.

Client flow at MSI Ethiopia clinics is specifically designed to ensure that, prior to check-out, abortion clients receive a consultation to discuss the range of family planning options available to them. Clinic teams offer discounts on family planning methods taken-up immediately following an abortion.

MSI Ethiopia’s former programme director, Getachew Bekele, was recently appointed to serve as a senior adviser to the MSI Global Partnership, in part to ensure that lessons learnt in this area will be used to the benefit of other MSI country programmes.

MSI's programme in Ethiopia

Help needed for the victims of Cyclone Nargis

22/04/2008 00:00:00

The devastating cyclone which hit Myanmar on Saturday 3 May has claimed around 200,000 lives and left up to 2 million displaced. Thousands more are still missing, believed dead. In the wake of the devastation, Marie Stopes International, which has been working in Myanmar for more than a decade, is gearing up to help.

In emergencies such as this, the sexual and reproductive health of the affected communities is often neglected; one in five women in an emergency is likely to be pregnant and the need for assistance in these circumstances is only heightened. With its local knowledge and experience, as well as its experience of working with refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Bangladesh, Marie Stopes International is well placed to support the people of Myanmar in this incredibly difficult time. However, our resources to do so are limited and we need your help.

We need help to respond to the desperate immediate basic medical and reproductive health needs now and over the next months as the country begins the long process of recovery. Our office in Australia is co-ordinating our Myanmar appeal and funds donated will ONLY be used for the emergency and rehabilitation activites needed as a result of the cyclone damage. You can donate by telephone, please call us on: 00 61 (3) 9525 2411.

Thank you.

Permanent contraception expanding in Bolivia

22/04/2008 00:00:00

Santa Cruz – MSI Bolivia delivered more than 1,800 tubal ligations in 2007, nearly half of all such procedures carried-out in Bolivia last year and double the number delivered by MSI there in 2006.

Permanent contraceptive services are projected to grow further this year as MSI expands its network of mobile and clinic-based services from three regions to six, serving largely poor rural communities.

“We are working to meet the unmet need for permanent family planning, especially in poor rural areas, where many women have more than five children and would like to use this method but cannot do so because of long distances and discrimination”, said Ramiro Claure, MSI Bolivia’s country director.

However, Claure pointed out that Bolivia’s take-up rate for female sterilisations (6.5%) remains far lower than other Latin American countries such as Brasil (42.7%), El Salvador (32.4%), Colombia (26.4%) and Ecuador (22.5%).

“Demand for permanent contraception is high here in Bolivia. We will continue to extend our services wherever possible and plan to top 4,000 voluntary procedures this year,” said Claure.

MSI's programme in Bolivia

Medical abortion now available in 28 MSI country programmes

22/04/2008 00:00:00

London – The number of MSI country programmes providing medical abortion doubled to 28 during 2007, with Population Health Services India (PHSI) selling almost 100,000 medical abortion packs in late 2007 to women who would otherwise not have been able to access a safe abortion.

While medical abortion provides an additional option to women attending clinics where surgical abortion is also available, MSI is crossing new frontiers by taking this technology into rural areas beyond the catchment and referral areas of any clinic network.

“We are investing considerable resources to ensure that medical abortion reaches the women who most need it,” said Kate Worsley, MSI’s medical abortion specialist. “We expect this technology to greatly enhance MSI’s response to unsafe abortion and for our efforts to contribute to the efforts of others to decrease the number of unsafe abortions each year.”

According to Worsley, PHSI experience in getting medical abortion outside clinical settings is now being shared across MSI country programmes.

MSI's programme in India

Religious leaders raise reproductive health awareness in Pakistan

22/04/2008 00:00:00

Karachi – Local Muslim leaders in four provinces of Pakistan are showing greater receptiveness to sexual and reproductive health and rights issues following a three year DFID-funded project by Marie Stopes Society in Pakistan to raise awareness of SRHR issues among these leaders.

"Big families require a lot of money and resources to survive,” said one Muslim cleric in a Friday session. “It is often very difficult for a poor man to support a big family. That’s why the rate of suicide is increasing. Suicide is HARAM (forbidden) in our religion. So I recommend you plan your family according to your resources.”

Awareness sessions targeting young couples and covering issues such as family planning, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy and SRHR have also been met with a positive response although the restricted mobility of young married girls in particular has made continued attendance difficult for some. Strategies are in place to tackle this obstacle.

Although not part of the original project, female sex workers based in the red light area of Mirpurkhas were also identified as a particularly high risk group when it came to SRHR. This community has proved very responsive to sessions on HIV/AIDS, STIs and birth spacing methods and as a result members from this community took part in a comprehensive training of trainers course in September 2007.

Given the taboos and cultural restrictions associated with any interaction with sex workers, this initiative has demonstrated the confidence and commitment of the project team in addressing the needs of marginalised groups without jeopardising their relationship with the wider community.

MSI's programme in Pakistan

MSI joins forces with The Guardian to launch international competition

22/03/2008 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International (MSI) has teamed up with The Guardian newspaper and seven other development agencies to launch a groundbreaking journalism competition.

The Guardian International Development Journalism Competition, which runs until 6th May, was launched with the generous financial support of the Department for International Development (DFID). Douglas Alexander, International Development Secretary, said he is looking forward to this competition motivating a new generation of journalists to write about some of the most important global issues facing the developing world today.

“They will play a key role in helping to raise awareness and understanding among the UK public of the complexity of development issues, explaining how people are connected with people living on the other side of the globe.”

The seven other NGO partners are Camfed International, HelpAge International, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Sightsavers International and WaterAid.

For more details of the competition, visit:

www.guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition and

www.mariestopes.org/guardian_competition

Full press release

MSI achieves record expansion of sexual and reproductive health services in 2007

22/03/2008 00:00:00

London – MSI programmes worldwide delivered more than 12 million couple years of protection (CYPs) in 2007, a 27% increase over the previous year and the single largest year-on-year growth in the organisation’s 32 year history. This historic growth was powered in part by another milestone: MSI’s delivery of long-term and permanent contraceptive methods including intrauterine devices (IUDs), injectables, implants and sterilisations increased more than 30% almost reaching the one million mark for the first time ever.

“These figures demonstrate that MSI is learning, evolving and expanding to better meet the unmet need in family planning and reproductive healthcare around the world,” said Dana Hovig, MSI’s chief executive. “Our family planning services, for example, are making an important contribution to reducing poverty in numerous countries.”
Last year MSI:

added 46 new clinics to its existing network of 431 clinics, and thousands of outreach sites that serve rural, hard-to-reach communities
increased the number of female sterilisations by 27%, to 477,234
provided 430,000 surgical and medical abortions, just under a 7% increase on 2006
delivered medical abortion services in 28 countries across Asia and Africa
opened new programmes in Ghana, Mexico City, Papua New Guinea and Timor L’este
provided high level clinical training for 25 people who in turn trained a further 400 in the first phase of a training cascade which will see up to 4,000 people skilled up over the next four years
hosted a Global Safe Abortion Conference in London attended by 800 delegates from over 60 countries, and played a key role in advocacy efforts in the UK and internationally

In 2008, MSI will launch operations in five additional countries as part of its strategy to be operational in 48 countries by the end of 2010, protecting 20 million couples per year from unplanned pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

Health programmes

Countries we work in

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George Clooney admires UK celebrity's involvement with MSI

22/02/2008 00:00:00

Hollywood star George Clooney has cited Spice Girl Geri Halliwell as an unlikely source of inspiration for his charity work.

The pop star became a United Nations goodwill ambassador, attached to MSI in 1999, and Clooney claims her philanthropy efforts have spurred him on to campaign for issues which matter to him.

He says, "She was always my favourite Spice Girl; I loved her feisty approach and the fact she wasn't afraid to have an opinion.

"Her work with Unicef and (sexual health charity) Marie Stopes in the Third World was inspiring. And her address at a UN Youth summit in 2000 was brave - it's so easy to not get involved and she just gritted her teeth and went for it." (Source: www.wenn.com)

Clooney was named a United Nations Messenger Of Peace in January 2008.

As well as working alongside MSI in the Philippines, Geri Halliwell also took part in live a webchat to launch MSI’s innovative youth website www.likeitis.org. Since launch, the site has attracted well over a million hits. An Australian version of the site is also proving popular and a Spanish version aimed at teenagers in Latin America is due to go live in the next couple of weeks.

MSI Viet Nam contributes to reducing maternal mortality in remote Lao Cai Province

22/01/2008 00:00:00

Hanoi – MSI Viet Nam has been training and mobilising hundreds of health workers in the north west districts of Bao Yen and Van Ban over the past three years to reduce the region’s maternal mortality rate, which is double the national average. A major contributing factor is that women have historically given birth at home without trained support. However, as a result of MSI Viet Nam’s intervention, 92% of women in the two districts were able to access a trained birth attendant (TBA); 93% received ante and post natal care; and 73% had a delivery with a trained health worker present. The number of women that gave birth in commune health centres with trained support also increased significantly.

MSI Viet Nam trained provincial and district health authority workers in maternal and child health and helped them to develop monitoring and referral systems. These health workers, in turn, trained more than 332 TBAs and village health workers in family planning; ante & post natal care; how to recognise high-risk pregnancies and when to refer. The project also included the development of culturally appropriate information, education and communication (IEC) materials along with a manual for TBAs. Following the project, 80% of women in the two districts reported having had access to IEC materials.

MSI Viet Nam is keen to investigate ways of replicating the project, which was funded by NZAID, across the whole of Lao Cai province and neighbouring provinces.

Read more about MSI’s work in Viet Nam

Pioneering medical abortion in Mexico City

22/12/2007 15:17:00

MSI joined Gynuity Health, Population Council and leading health officials at a one-day high-level meeting in Mexico City during late November to discuss how to make medical abortion available to women in Mexico City.

MSI is pioneering the delivery of medical abortion in more than 20 countries to reduce the number of women who resort to unsafe methods because safe services are beyond their reach. Medical abortion provides an important option for women who attend clinics, but also women in rural sites who are beyond the catchment and referral areas of any clinic network.

"Medical abortion is perhaps the most exciting reproductive health technology since the pill or IUD was developed,” said Michael Holscher, MSI’s director of strategy and external relations. “It can truly transform by a power of 10 our response to unsafe abortion. This is why MSI is devoting significant time and resources to ensuring medical abortion reaches the women who most need it.”

MSI representatives briefed Mexico officials and others on the clinical standards that providers must meet in the nearly two dozen countries where MSI currently provides medical abortion.

MSI's work in Mexico

Marie Stopes Tanzania sets the blueprint for more partnerships with Local Government Authorities

22/12/2007 00:00:00

At a recent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) collaboration event hosted by Marie Stopes Tanzania, Canadian Minister for International Development, Beverley J. Oda endorsed its initiatives to improve SRH in rural communities.

At the meeting held in Dar es Salaam, District Executive Directors and District Medical Officers also expressed their wish to work with Marie Stopes Tanzania to provide vital services in an effort to boost maternal and child health and reduce Tanzania’s HIV prevalence rate of seven percent.

As well as district officials, Ministry of Health and development partners were also represented at the meeting, which was convened under a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) supported project for reproductive maternal/child health and HIV services.

The occasion proved an opportunity for Marie Stopes Tanzania to share with participants their experience of implementing SRH projects through public private partnership in Karatu and Iringa districts over the last two years.

Minister Oda called for more districts to look to the partnership with Marie Stopes Tanzania and adopt a similar approach with NGOs in order to maximise scarce resources.

MSI’s work in Tanzania

MSI spearheads dramatic increases in permanent contraception in Bangladesh

22/12/2007 00:00:00

The number of people in Bangladesh who chose a permanent method of contraception increased dramatically last year thanks largely to Marie Stopes Clinic Society’s rural outreach work.

Last year, 190,000 people opted for this method of contraception, 65,000 more than in the previous year. Marie Stopes Clinic Society provided 125,000 of those procedures (an increase of 80,000 over the year before); their work alongside the Government of Bangladesh proved directly accountable for this astonishing increase across the country.

Marie Stopes Clinic Society’s contribution represents an incredible 65% of all permanent contraceptive procedures delivered in the country. As if this performance alone weren’t impressive enough, it is likely that it contributed to the decline in the country’s fertility rate recorded over the same period, from 3.3 to 3.

Such gains don’t come easily in Bangladesh, where much of the population is spread over rural areas. The teams responsible for increasing access to permanent contraception services use all available transport methods to reach clients, including motorboats for those communities who are often cut off by seasonal water rises for months at a time. The resulting increase in Bangladesh’s overall contraception rate is a result of this extraordinary commitment to poor, rural, hard to reach couples.

MSI's work in Bangladesh

Partnership transforms family planning in China

22/12/2007 00:00:00

The Government of China has praised Marie Stopes International China (MSI China), currently working with Jiangsu Population and Family Planning Commission to transform the government family planning programme in Jiangsu province, making it more client-friendly and ensuring the highest clinical standards are met.

After a visit to Jiangsu’s re-launched family planning centres in Lianshui county, Dr Zhao Baige, Vice Minister of National Population and Family Planning Commission of China (NPFPC) spoke highly of the centre’s “pleasant environment” and the “personal service and affectionate care” offered by the staff.

This public private initiative was singled out by Dr Zhao as providing a superb contribution to family planning services in Jiangsu. The Lianshui centre provides a model for sustainable, client-focused family planning services that can be spread to other provinces in China, targeting clients in rural and hard to reach areas.

“This is a terrific acknowledgement by the Government of China of the potential impact of MSI’s work in the Jiangsu technical assistance project, in terms of remodelling the government approach,” said Julie Mundy, Regional representative of Marie Stopes International Australia. “MSI China is now replicating this work in a second province and has been approached by a third.”

With technical assistance from MSI China, the Provincial Commission aims to make all of Jiangsu’s 1,000 family planning clinics more attractive to clients, improve the quality of care and increase client numbers.

MSI's work in China

Marie Stopes Kenya offers special services to those affected by the recent violence

22/12/2007 00:00:00

Nairobi – Marie Stopes Kenya has reopened its clinics and outreach programmes following weeks of post-election violence in Kenya that has left more than 1,000 people dead, thousands more injured and hundreds of thousands homeless. With widespread reports of rape and other gender-based violence against women during recent clashes, MS Kenya clinics are offering special free services for women survivors including emergency contraception and the testing and treatment of sexually-transmitted infections.

In addition, MS Kenya is liaising closely with other agencies such as the Red Cross to ensure that sexual and reproductive healthcare is provided as part of the emergency services package offered in camps set up for those displaced by the violence. As well as MS Kenya team members providing services in the camps in the Nairobi and Rift Valley provinces, humanitarian agencies are referring survivors of gender-based violence to MS Kenya's clinics for emergency medical treatment. MS Kenya has also recently received support from the UNFPA to set up camps in Nyanza province.

The MSI Partnership has a long history of working in emergency settings, most recently through its RAISE (Reproductive Health Access, Information and Services in Emergencies) Initiative, a multi-agency, multi-country programme which brings together 10 leading service delivery and advocacy organisations to scale-up reproductive health services in crisis settings.

Read more about MSI’s programme in Kenya

Read more about the RAISE initiative

Race to reach Bangladesh cyclone survivors

22/11/2007 00:00:00

Marie Stopes Clinic Society (MSCS) is providing relief in the wake of Cyclone Sidr, which battered the southern coast of Bangladesh on 15 November. More than three million people are thought to have been affected, including hundreds of thousands left homeless, while the number of confirmed dead has exceeded 3,000 and is expected to continue to rise.

The scale of devastation is immense, with thirteen districts, mainly in the south western part of Bangladesh severely damaged by the cyclone. Rescuers say they have managed to reach all of the areas hit, but there are fears that the relief effort cannot cope with the needs of survivors.

Despite its programmes escaping the worst of the damage, MSCS is active in eight of the affected districts. In Bhola, Shariatpur and Barisal, the homes of Marie Stopes Community Volunteers have been flattened by the storm, trees uprooted, and crops completely destroyed. Some of MSCS’s satellite service outlets, including those located in brick buildings as well as tin and straw shaded structures, have been severely damaged or destroyed.

MSCS Programme Director, Yasmin Ahmed said, “There is urgent need for water, dry food, clothing and shelter. Wherever possible, our team members have mobilised and are currently taking relief supplies into affected areas, assessing the medical needs of survivors and providing basic health services.”

MSI's work in Bangladesh

Life through a lens - Marie Stopes Papua New Guinea empowering young people

22/11/2007 00:00:00

Through the PhotoVoice Project, Marie Stopes Papua New Guinea (MS PNG) is offering a new and exciting way to increase awareness of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues amongst young people as well as helping to empower them to make positive choices. PhotoVoice PNG is part of a wider PhotoVoice advocacy initiative been undertaken by Marie Stopes International in a number of countries around the world.

Involving seven churches in PNG, including the Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, United, Lutheran and Salvation Army churches, PhotoVoice PNG has captured the imagination of the young people who were involved. All were aged between 15-24 and at the start of the programme they were briefed on SRH before being trained on the use of disposable cameras. They then went out into their communities to record images. The resulting photos, which are being exhibited this month in the National Parliament, reveal the humorous, real, positive and yet at sometimes, shocking visual images that exist in PNG today.

MS PNG’s Communication and Social Marketing Manager Elizabeth Sowei explains, “PhotoVoice is an avenue through which young people highlight issues that affect them and their communities. The exhibition is aimed at highlighting to the leaders of this country, both at the national and community level, the issues of concern as seen through the eyes of our youth.

“It is MS PNG’s hope that the leaders, through the exhibition, will be able to see and understand the issues affecting their communities and hopefully address some of them through their community programs,” Mrs. Sowei added.

The photos taken focused on the lives of the young people, their world and their issues. They capture the beliefs, fears, struggles and celebrations in PNG life today. Most importantly, they also promoted dialogue amongst the young people and church leaders which have resulted in the young people developing a series of positive project ideas to address the key identified issues. These issues include drugs and alcohol, teenage pregnancy, sexual abuse, boredom, condom and health service accessibility, STIs and HIV/AIDS.

PhotoVoice is a tremendous example of a number of sectors in the community working together to achieve positive change.

More about MSI’s programme in Papua New Guinea

Making a difference in Afghanistan

22/11/2007 00:00:00

Working together, the Government of Finland and Marie Stopes International (MSI) have been helping to change the face of sexual & reproductive health (SRH) services and information in Afghanistan.

With funding from Finland and utilising MSI’s own resources, MSI Afghanistan has combined advocacy and communication initiatives with service delivery. As a result, the programme is reaching hundreds of thousands Afghani people and much more effectively than if just clinical services alone were provided.

This support has enabled MSI to develop its programme in Afghanistan into a significant, multi-faceted and successful programme which now provides nearly 12 % of the current contraceptive market in Afghanistan.

Key priorities

At the centre of MSI Afghanistan’s work are three key priorities:

Supporting the Government of Afghanistan in building a post-conflict health system
Promoting the sexual and reproductive health rights of poor Afghan families
Contributing to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of improving maternal health, combating HIV, reducing infant mortality

Originally established in 2002, MSI Afghanistan now provides quality sexual & reproductive health services and information through 15 clinics, 2 mobile units and 52 community based health workers. To date, nearly half a million people have benefited from information and services covering family planning, maternal & child health and safe post abortion care, HIV / STIs amongst other areas.

Information is provided in a variety of ways, from booklets and leaflets, T.V and radio educational dramas through to outdoor advertising, school visits and door to door visits.

The team in Afghanistan have also been using social marketing to expand access to contraception and ensure the on-going availability of contraceptive products. The Aramish range now includes condoms, pills, injections and intrauterine devices and the team is on target to sell 1 million condoms this year.

As well as its own services and information, MSI supports the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health to provide a standardised package of health services. These form the core of services in all primary health care facilities.

Key achievements

Directly provided SRH services to nearly half a million Afghani people; the vast majority of whom have been poor women, men and children. In 2006 alone, MSI reached 150,000 people; a 600% increase over the number reached in 2003
Trained over 1,000 health professionals from the public, private and NGO sectors
Reached more than 182,000 women through household visits by MSI community outreach teams. As well as providing high-quality health information the outreach teams increase awareness of reproductive health rights

What makes MSI Afghanistan unique?

MSI is passionate about providing choice to women concerning their reproductive health. While other organisations have left Afghanistan in recent years due to violence and instability, MSI is there to stay
In a country with the world’s highest maternal mortality rate, MSI is the only non government organisation providing sexual and reproductive health services directly to women and young girls, particularly outside Kabul
MSI’s role in influencing policy could not currently be filled by any other INGO or NGO in Afghanistan
MSI works in a cross cutting, multi-sectoral manner and has formed a range of broad partnerships- for example, most NGOs are just contracted by one ministry whereas MSI Afghanistan works with three different Ministries -- Women’s Affairs, Education and Religious Affairs - to promote gender equality and awareness of reproductive health issues.

There are on-going challenges working in Afghanistan, including of course security issues, but the MSI team is confident that with continued support those challenges can be met head on.

MSI’s Chief Executive declares “a time of hope and possibility”

22/10/2007 00:00:00

MSI’s Chief Executive Dana Hovig opened the Global Safe Abortion Conference, which took place in London during 23-24 October, with an optimistic message for delegates. “Despite a few islands of backwardness, such as Nicaragua and the current US administration, there is momentum, a growing consensus about the need for safe abortion.”

“Country after country is legalising,” said Hovig. “Portugal, Nepal, Ghana, Ethiopia. Mexico City has given life, light, and hope to women in Latin America. Access to safe abortion is increasing. Contraceptive use is rising. Medical abortion can transform our world, and dramatically increase access.”

“So now is the time to fulfil that promise. We put this conference on specifically because it is a time of great hope and possibility. With the wind at our back, we can do so much here, and hereafter.”

Join the call for action on abortion rights

22/10/2007 00:00:00

London – MSI is gathering signatures globally to demand that women be treated with respect and compassion and have full access to legal, voluntary, safe, and affordable abortions as part of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care. Millions of women continue to suffer severe injuries and trauma, and more than 66,000 die needlessly each year from abortions that are procured unsafely from unskilled providers or self-induced, almost all in developing countries. Still others are criminalised or imprisoned. You can support these women by signing the online Global Call to Action for Women’s Access to Safe Abortion, and getting your friends and colleagues to do the same.

The Call to Action was launched at the ground-breaking Marie Stopes International Global Safe Abortion Conference, in association with Ipas and Abortion Rights, in October 2007, which was attended by more than 700 delegates from 66 countries. The conference provided new impetus and renewed commitment to achieving the fundamental right to access safe abortion services for women all over the world.

MSI will present the collected signatures to world leaders on various occasions – local, regional and international – during 2008, culminating with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2008.

The Call to Action is now available online for all to sign at www.globalsafeabortion.org MSI is currently developing the Global Safe Abortion website as a key resource for those who are working to expand choice and services for women. The revamped site will provide a space for those who attended the conference, and others, to continue celebrating shared achievements and confronting our common challenges in ending the death and injury of women due to unsafe abortion. The site will include video and audio downloads of keynote speeches from the conference and copies of speaker presentations, and will in time offer a range of new features and resources to serve a growing global community of professionals working in reproductive health.

Support women and make a difference today by signing the Call to Action.

Global Safe Abortion Conference - laws must work for women

22/10/2007 00:00:00

In an international keynote session at the Global Safe Abortion Conference, which took place in London during 23-24 October, World Health Organisation (WHO) Director of Reproductive Health and Research, Paul Van Look, urged governments and health providers to do more in countries where abortion is legal but where women remain underserved. It is vital, he said, that they step up efforts to ensure that women know their rights within existing laws and demand the services to which they are entitled. He called for support to scale-up reproductive health services for women; to continually improve quality standards and accessibility; and also to expand the choices available to women, such as medical abortion.

Delegates also heard from speakers from Colombia, Mexico and Nepal, where key victories have been secured in the battle to liberalise restrictive abortion laws, A unifying theme was the importance of multiple stakeholders joining together in partnership to effect real change. Only when key groups including professionals, politicians, policy makers, the media and the general public are engaged and mobilised, can sufficient momentum be generated to reform restrictive laws. Similarly, such multi-stakeholder advocacy approaches can be used to hold governments accountable for providing services to women once legal restrictions are lifted.

Conference delegates were reminded of the importance of humanising abortion issues by continuing to tell the stories of women and the devastating effects that restrictive abortion laws have on their lives. In Mexico City, where first trimester abortion was legalised on demand in April 2007, the groups pushing for legislative change found crucial support from the press who ran stories of women’s suffering.

Output-based aid (OBA) forging partnerships between government and the private sector

22/10/2007 00:00:00

At the Global Safe Abortion Conference, which took place in London during 23-24 October, participants from numerous countries shared their experiences in providing health services through the use of Output-based aid (OBA). Whereas traditional health funding has provided inputs – including construction, staff and equipment – to hospitals and clinics, delegates heard examples of how OBA reimburses private providers for actual services delivered. A representative from West Bengal’s Department of Health and Family Planning in India expressed her view that using public money to provide health services through private providers benefits the end user – with greater access to services, delivered with greater quality and efficiency.

MSI is at the forefront of a growing trend toward OBA, with governments either contracting out MSI services or involving MSI Partners in voucher programmes. For example, Marie Stopes Kenya’s clinics and outreach services provide safe delivery and long term contraceptive methods to the holders of vouchers distributed in low-income areas. In Uganda, vouchers can be redeemed at MSI clinics for STI services, while in Pakistan, women will soon be able to access high quality services from over 300 private providers accredited by Marie Stopes Society. All these programmes help to focus attention on the ‘output’ of health sector spending: the number of people reached and the quality of the services provided.

Some delegates expressed the view that OBA programmes should be expanded in the developing world to additional countries, and existing programmes should be scaled-up to include a variety of services – including safe abortion, where legal.

Delegates heard from a representative of the UK National Health Service (NHS) Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust, who contracts-out safe abortion services to MSI in the UK. Not only does MSI provide safe abortion at an average of £250 less than the NHS services previously serving women in the area, but client satisfaction has vastly improved due to the higher standards, 24 hour booking service, counselling and choice of methods now available to women.

Download the Global Call to Action PDF
More about the Global Safe Abortion Conference
MSI’s partnerships with governments

Medical abortion can dramatically expand access to safe services

22/10/2007 00:00:00

Medical abortion emerged as one of the hot topics at the Global Safe Abortion Conference, which took place in London during 23-24 October. Gynuity Health President Beverley Winikoff described it as “the most important revolution in sexual and reproductive health since the contraceptive pill,” calling on donors and health providers worldwide to “seize the chance to benefit women everywhere”.

With improved dosages helping to make medical abortion more affordable and with increased usage by women in their own homes as well as in clinics, the method is becoming increasingly acceptable and accessible. Medical abortion is set to extend access to safe services where they are in short supply. In areas already served by safe surgical services, medical abortion will allow women to choose a method that best suits them.

MSI is pioneering the delivery of medical abortion through social marketing and rural outreach in order to reduce the number of (largely rural) women in developing countries who resort to unsafe methods because safe services are beyond their reach.

Download the Global Call to Action PDF
More about the Global Safe Abortion Conference
MSI’s work on unsafe abortion

Dutch Minister says it is time to “break the silence”

22/10/2007 00:00:00

At the Global Safe Abortion Conference, which took place in London during 23-24 October, the Netherlands’ Minister for Foreign Cooperation, Bert Koenders, called on fellow leaders to speak-up on the issue of safe abortion. “By any measure, this situation is deplorable,” said Minister Koenders in the closing plenary of the Conference. “Unsafe abortion is a major killer. Legal barriers serve only to make women wait longer and force them to seek clandestine and unsafe care.”

Minister Koenders echoed a theme heard frequently throughout the conference when he called for liberalising abortion laws, something The Netherlands – which reports one of the lowest abortion rates in the world – did in 1981.

Koenders said that he recognised that sexual and reproductive health and rights is a delicate matter surrounded by stigma and taboos. But in recent meetings with the US Congress he chose to take-up the US Mexico City Policy, which blocks US Government funding to organisations who counsel abortion or provide abortion services. And in a meeting with Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega, Koenders tabled concerns on Nicaragua’s new legislation criminalising abortion on medical grounds.

“I believe that a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and rights is a matter of common sense,” Koenders said. “I will not be silent. Not on sexual and reproductive rights, not on abortion. We can save the lives of women and girls around the world. Let us do so.”

Ground-breaking conference signals new phase in the fight for Global Safe Abortion

22/10/2007 00:00:00

More than 700 public health experts, government representatives and activists from over 60 countries attended the first-ever global conference of its kind in London on 23-24 October. The conference renewed commitment and strengthened alliances for expanding access to safe abortion care worldwide.

Organised by the world’s leading provider of safe abortion services Marie Stopes International, in association with Ipas and Abortion Rights, the Global Safe Abortion Conference confronted challenges and highlighted successes in ending deaths and injuries from unsafe abortion, the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity in the developing world.

In his opening address, Marie Stopes International’s Chief Executive Dana Hovig said:

“Despite a few islands of backwardness, such as Nicaragua and the current US administration, there is momentum, a growing consensus about the need for safe abortion.

“Country after country is legalising. Portugal, Nepal, Ghana, Ethiopia. Mexico City has given life, light, and hope to women in Latin America. Access to safe abortion is increasing. Contraceptive use is rising. Medical abortion can transform our world, and dramatically increase access.

Delegates signed a Global Call to Action for Women’s Access to Safe Abortion, which urges government authorities and donors to commit increased resources to ensuring the wide availability of comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care and safe abortion services in both the public and private sectors. Organisers will continue to collect signatures online and seek institutional endorsement of the Call to Action, which will then be introduced at key inter-governmental meetings as a tool to influence policy and generate funding to tackle the issue of unsafe abortion.

“By any measure, this situation is deplorable,” said Bert Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation in The Netherlands, in the conference’s closing plenary. “Unsafe abortion is a major killer.”

Minister Koenders echoed a theme heard frequently throughout the two-day conference when he called for liberalising abortion laws, something The Netherlands – which reports one of the lowest abortion rates in the world – did in 1981.

“Legal barriers serve only to make women wait longer and force them to seek clandestine and unsafe care,” he added. “The simple fact of holding an event like this helps us break the silence. We can save the lives of women and girls around the world.”

Sign the online Global Call to Action

MSI convenes first-ever Global Safe Abortion Conference

22/10/2007 00:00:00

London, 22 October – More than 700 public health experts, government representatives and women’s advocates from 52 countries will gather in London this week for the Marie Stopes Global Safe Abortion Conference.

This first-ever conference dedicated specifically to the issue of unsafe abortion will seek to build momentum around international efforts to reduce the unacceptable toll unsafe abortion has on women’s lives. Millions of women suffer severe injuries and more than 66,000 die needlessly each year from abortions that are self-induced or procured unsafely from unskilled providers, almost all in developing countries.

Conference speakers include Bert Koenders, the Netherlands’ Minister for Development Cooperation; Prof. Fred Sai of Ghana; Dr Eunice Brookman-Amissah, former health minister of Ghana and Ipas Vice- President for Africa; Jon O'Brien, President of Catholics for a Free Choice; Dr Akinrinola Bankole of the Guttmacher Institute; and Marie O'Riordan, editor of the influential UK Marie Claire magazine.

The Conference, in association with Ipas and Abortion Rights, will take place at the QEII Conference Centre in London between 23-24 October. For more information please visit www.globalsafeabortion.org

Sign the online Global Call to Action NOW!

Marie Stopes International and KfW host panel discussion

18/10/2007 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International and the German development bank KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW) jointly sponsored a panel discussion on demand-side financing at the Women Deliver Conference in London. The aim of the discussion was examine to what extent Output Based Aid (OBA) could be used for scaling up maternal health services and reducing maternal mortality.

Presenters included Cyprian Awiti, Country Director of Marie Stopes Kenya; Francis Kundu, from the National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development, Government of Kenya; Srabani Majumder, State NGO Coordinator, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, India and Carmen Nonay, Global Partnership for Output Based Aid, the World Bank.

Using practical case studies from Marie Stopes International and others, the speakers discussed voucher schemes and pay-per-client strategies from the perspectives of designer, implementer, provider, financier and government monitor. The discussion explored the lessons for introducing OBA on a wider scale and harmonising donor funding behind government health strategies to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5.

Cries & whispers: untold stories of unsafe abortion

16/10/2007 00:00:00

Today (16 October 2007) Marie Stopes International launched cries & whispers: untold stories of unsafe abortion featuring women's voices from across the developing world who have experienced illegal and unsafe abortion. Featuring the emotive photography of Susan Schulman and Peter Caton amongst others, the publication is a testament to the women for whom the choice of whether or not to undergo an abortion can be a matter of life and death.

"If I met a woman like me I would give her a hug and I would tell her that life is the most valuable thing that a woman has and it’s her choice and that whatever anyone tells her - her parents, her boyfriend, her doctor, God, whoever - her decision is hers alone."

Every year 20 million unsafe abortions occur.

Guest of honour at the launch was Marie O'Riordan, editor of Marie Claire magazine who wrote the foreword for the publication.

Cries and whsipers: untold stories of unsafe abortion

Press release

World Contraception Day

26/09/2007 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International Chief Executive, Dana Hovig was in Berlin at the European press launch in advance of the first ever World Contraception Day (26 September). Almost 200 European journalists attended the launch.

World Contraception Day is the first ever international awareness campaign aiming to reduce the high levels of unintended pregnancy that occur every year, through awareness raising, information and education. Marie Stopes International was the only global NGO partner in a consortium put together by Beyer Schering Pharma AG, the German pharmaceutical giant. Others involved included the European Society of Contraception, Centro Latinamerico Slud de la Mujer, the International Federation of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology and the Asia Pacific Council on Contraception.

Dana shared a platform with Hollywood actress Mischa Barton, who was the campaign’s official ambassador. Almost 200 European journalists attended the launch.

For more information visit the campaign’s official web site – www.your-life.com. This features stills and live footage of the launch event as well as comprehensive, extremely useful information about contraceptive methods.

Press release

Safe abortion services help to dramatically reduce maternal deaths in Nepal

18/07/2007 00:00:00

A recent survey by the Nepalese Government shows that maternal mortality in Nepal has almost halved in a decade, during which time abortion has been legalised in the country. Nepal has long suffered from one of the world’s worst levels of maternal mortality.

The news is particularly welcome given widespread concern that globally one of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - to reduce maternal mortality by 75% by 2015 - has yet to see progress.

"When abortion became legalised in Nepal,” said Kamala Thapa, Programme Director of Marie Stopes International (MSI) partner Sunaulo Parivar Nepal (SPN), “poor women no longer had to resort to life threatening techniques like drinking poisonous ‘remedies’."

"By combining legal reform with an effective programme for implementation based upon public-private partnership, Nepal has demonstrated that the fifth MDG is actually achievable," said Dana Hovig, MSI's Chief Executive. "Now we need to promote the fact that safe abortions are legally available so that no women die from ignorance. This will build upon the extraordinary achievement of the Ministry of Health and Population that has already seen maternal mortality almost halved."

Press release

New Director of External Relations

09/05/2007 00:00:00

Global sexual and reproductive health agency, Marie Stopes International has appointed Michael Holscher to head its Department of External Relations and New Business Development where he will be responsible for strategy, communications, resource development and advocacy. He succeeds Patricia Hindmarsh, who retired in December after 20 years of service to the organisation.

Michael comes to Marie Stopes International with over 15 years experience in the areas of family planning, HIV/STI prevention and rights advocacy. Prior to joining MSI, Michael was regional executive director of the Pan-American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO), a seven-country regional network in Central America.

"I am delighted that Michael Holscher has joined MSI,” said MSI Chief Executive Dana Hovig. Michael will help MSI to have a catalytic and transformative impact on the family planning industry globally."

"I am honoured to join MSI at an important moment in its remarkable history,” said Michael. “We have a unique business model and a powerful global platform comprised of courageous professionals who have made it possible for millions of women and couples to have children by choice, not chance. "

Press release

Mexico City Congress approves legalisation of abortion

24/04/2007 00:00:00

Today (24 April 2007) Marie Stopes International welcomed a decision by the Mexico City Congress to approve a bill legalising abortion in the city. The organisation also encouraged other states in Mexico and the wider Latin American region to follow suit.

In Mexico alone, official figures suggest that each year more than 1400 women die each year from the consequences of unsafe abortion. Worldwide, there are more than 19 million unsafe abortions performed each year, resulting in the deaths of 68,000 women.

"Marie Stopes International deals with the appalling consequences of unsafe abortion in many of its centres around the world," said Michael Holscher, Director of External Relations at MSI. "This landmark decision by the Mexico City Congress will save thousands of women from preventable death or permanent injury. We are delighted that the bill has been passed despite overwhelming external pressure to preserve existing restrictions."

Press release

New country programme opens in Ghana

13/04/2007 00:00:00

Marie Stopes International’s newest country programme opened today (13 April 2007). The launch of the programme was marked by an open day and event at the programme’s first centre in the capital Accra which was attended by over a hundred people.

Hajia Alima Mahama, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs welcomed MSI Ghana, and said that

"the government was committed to addressing the high levels of maternal mortality in the country ensuring that "every mother and child counts."

MSI Ghana is part of the R3M consortium of 6 NGOs and agencies: Engenderhealth; Ipas; Marie Stopes International; Population Council; WHO/HRP and the Willows Foundation. The aim of the consortium is to help support the government of Ghana in implementing its health strategy by increasing the capacity of the government and non government sectors in Ghana to provide high quality sexual and reproductive health services and information. By working in partnership with others the consortium aims to help catalyse change in sexual and reproductive health in three regions in Ghana.

Dana Hovig named as new Chief Executive

24/01/2007 00:00:00

Global sexual and reproductive health organisation, Marie Stopes International has named Dana Hovig as its new Chief Executive. Dana takes over from Dr Tim Black, CBE who founded the organisation in the mid 1970s.

"Dana Hovig is a global leader and innovator in applying private sector solutions to solve public health problems,” said Dr Black. "We are thrilled that he has accepted the appointment, and have every confidence that he will lead the team and organisation to new heights."

Dana joined MSI as Deputy CEO in January 2005, prior to that he was the CEO of Options Consultancy Services and was with Population Services International (PSI) for many years.

"It is an honour and a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Dr Black, who is a visionary, hero and icon in the family planning sector,” said Dana. “Tim and MSI have directly touched and improved the lives of hundreds of millions of women and couples over the years, enabling them to take control of their reproductive lives, and have children by choice, not chance. I look forward to continuing and building upon that proud tradition."

Press release