Craig Lissner
Acting Director of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research including UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction
If
you only click one link in this newsletter, I urge you to choose the HRP 2021 Annual Report,
hot off the press this month. A dynamic tour of a very busy year, the digital format makes it easy to read and easy to share: a powerful demonstration of HRP’s commitment to leading research and building research capacity for improving sexual
and reproductive health and rights.
The importance of generating and enabling use of high-quality evidence is more urgent than ever. Around the world, more than a third of women and babies do not currently receive any postnatal care during the critical hours and days after birth. A lack
of continuous and respectful care is not only a missed opportunity to support a growing family, it can be life-threatening – the majority of maternal and newborn deaths occur in these first hours and days.
In March, we put these complex issues and opportunities for care at the forefront by launching the first ever global recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience. The guidelines highlight the importance of postnatal care in the maternal and neonatal continuum of care, and offer comprehensive
guidance on how to provide the life-saving continuous and respectful care that everyone deserves.
Implementing global guidance requires understanding what is happening at a country level. Another landmark publication this quarter has been the first ever country level estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion rates for 150 countries. Produced with WHO and the Guttmacher Institute, the study highlights major disparities in access to sexual and reproductive health care and will further inform countries working to implement WHO’s new guidelines for quality abortion services.
As WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently tweeted, access to safe abortion saves lives, and women should always have the right to choose
when it comes to their bodies and health.
Research for impact is fundamental to HRP’s mandate across the UN system, as seen in a recent special supplement from WHO and HRP spotlighting how women and their newborn babies are treated during childbirth and offering a path to improved facility-based care. Women everywhere face violations of their rights during childbirth – including rights to privacy, informed consent, and the right have a trusted companion of choice throughout childbirth. The evidence provided by this study will strengthen steps towards reducing mistreatment worldwide.
Another exceptional contribution to quality, standardized data, and an example of partnership, can be seen in the Nigeria Maternal and Perinatal Database for Quality, Equity and Dignity (MPD-4-QED) programme, established
by WHO, HRP and the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria. This standardized electronic platform for the collection of routine maternal and perinatal data can be used for monitoring clinical care performance and quality improvement across Nigeria
– crucial to inform the design of interventions to help to safeguard health and well-being.
Of course, impact requires evidence and partnerships across many sectors, not only clinical spaces. HRP was honoured to contribute to the recent 144th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary (IPU), in a session of the Forum of Women Parliamentarians about
the impact of COVID-19 on health – including on sexual and reproductive health and rights. The IPU has a long history of improving parliamentarians’ understanding of and advocacy for sexual and reproductive health issues in their own countries,
and WHO has resources which can support parliamentarians in the COVID-19 response. Learn more about our work bridging the gap between science and policy here.
Earlier this month, we were delighted to welcome our Policy and Coordination Committee (PCC) to meet online. Thank you to all our members who shared their time, expertise and commitment with HRP. Together we reflected on achievements and scrutinized the significant work ahead required to achieve sexual and reproductive health and rights for all.