The Sweeping Consequences of Abortion Restrictions on Sexual and Reproductive Health

The Sweeping Consequences of Abortion Restrictions on Sexual and Reproductive Health

  “There is more at stake than just protecting a woman’s choice to give birth.” Former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke of this reality during a Michigan campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris on October 26th.1   This November marks the first presidential election since the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the revocation of a once-established national right to abortion, an essential healthcare service. The resulting hostile restrictions on abortion and their devastating health impacts have propelled the issue to its current political salience.   Restrictions on abortion care are associated with increased maternal morbidity and mortality, with these burdens disproportionately harming Black birthing people.2 Further, a recent JAMA cohort study illustrated the detrimental impact of abortion bans on infant mortality, with researchers identifying an excess of infant deaths in Texas associated with the state’s 2021 abortion ban.3 These restrictions will also exacerbate inequalities and health systems barriers that prevent low-income patients, who are more likely to report an unintended pregnancy, from accessing...
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Peer Navigators for Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women Living With HIV in Tanzania

Peer Navigators for Cervical Cancer Screening Among Women Living With HIV in Tanzania

  Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women globally and the most common among women in Eastern and Middle Africa. Tanzania has one of the highest incidence rates of cervical cancer in this region: 34.3 cases per 100,000 women.1 Low-and-middle-income countries such as Tanzania bear a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality. These regions have not demonstrated the same reductions in cervical cancer rates that high-income countries have achieved with the introduction of the Papanicolaou smear and HPV vaccination campaigns. This disparity is largely fueled by resource limitations in screening programs and financial and social challenges to the acquisition, distribution, and acceptability of the HPV vaccine.2   "Low-and-middle-income countries such as Tanzania bear a disproportionate burden of cervical cancer incidence and mortality."   HIV infection imposes complex barriers to cervical cancer screening among women in Tanzania. Tanzanian women living with HIV are more likely to become infected with HPV and develop persistent infection leading to precancerous lesions. Patients living with...
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