MPTs Combine Contraception With HIV And Other STI Prevention

The world became a better place recently when world leaders adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a milestone United Nations statement that will shape world policy for the next 15 years to reduce poverty and set us on a more equitable and sustainable trajectory. Sewn centrally into this extensive policy fabric is improving the status of women through expanding reproductive health and rights, achievements that clearly impact equity, educational attainment, and the well-being of women and families. Women’s ability to determine the timing and spacing of children and to avoid sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, is key to ending poverty and fulfilling the range of interlocking SDGs that shape our interconnected futures. Current sexual and reproductive prevention methods have significantly improved the health and well-being of women and their families, but they are not sufficient. Worldwide, there are 85 million unplanned pregnancies, 21.6 million unsafe abortions, and nearly 300,000 maternal deaths from complications related to pregnancy and birth every year. In addition to the personal costs, unplanned pregnancies impose a formidable economic strain for individuals and governments. In 2010, in the United States alone, the public cost of births, abortions, and miscarriages resulting from unplanned pregnancies nationwide totaled $21.0 billion. Furthermore, HIV remains the leading cause of death of women of reproductive age worldwide, with the highes...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Equity and Disparities Featured Global Health Long-term Services and Supports Public Health Quality family planning HIV/AIDS Reproductive Health sexually transmitted infections sustai Source Type: blogs