Center Communications

On Friday, October 20th, public health professionals from around the Triangle gathered at Duke to discuss how best to advance women’s health in the current political environment. Keynote speeches were given by Jen Kates, Vice President and Director of Global HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, and North Carolina Congressman David Price. Women’s health right now is in an era of uncertainty. Jen Kates focused on this as she outlined many of the questions that remain regarding how the Trump administration will implement many of its proposed changes to global health policy. Unfortunately, this uncertainty extends to women’s health domestically as well. Congressman David Price described expected and potential changes to the Affordable Care Act and the devastating effect these could have on women and girls across the United States. After hearing a broad overview, the afternoon concluded with two panels which honed in on specific impacts current and proposed policies will have. Lindsay Robinson of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic reminded...

This year, we will host a series of reproductive health talks. These talks are designed to expose audience members to a broad range of reproductive health topics, organizations, researchers, and projects. The first talk of the semester was facilitated by the co-conveners of Inroads. Kati LeTourneau and Katie Gillum gave an engaging presentation on their work and how individuals and organizations are combatting abortion stigma around the world. Rather than being a network of organizations, the Inroads network is comprised of individual members. Gillum and LeTourneau stressed the importance of this, because “we interact with stigma as humans and individuals first” so transforming and dismantling stigma must start on an individual level.  One of their goals is “to transform (stigma) by bringing people together who don’t often get together.” Each member brings their own expertise to the community, provides support to other members, and asks for guidance and feedback from the network. So why stigma? As Kati said, “Stigma is a barrier...

Cervical cancer is an example of a glaring health disparity between wealthy and poor countries, and remains an immediate health threat to many women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Evidence-based, cost-effective protocols recommended by the World Health Organization have not been widely implemented due to limited health care infrastructure augmented by a lack of funding and political will. Although there are some unique factors contributing to the disparity in cervical cancer outcomes between high and LMICs, there are some common root causes shared across health systems: poor health care infrastructure, lack of awareness of early signs or symptoms, lack of funding prioritization within local governments, and limited operationalization of proven technologies used in high-income countries. These root causes must be addressed through both innovation and adaptation of successful interventions to fit the target community and the priorities of local governments (i.e. be both low-cost and cost-effective). To achieve this, clinicians and researchers need to partner with policy experts and...

When you hear the words ‘reproductive health’ what do you think of? Some may think of pregnancy, others the prevention of pregnancy. Maybe you think about the risk of HPV and cervical cancer, or the choice to decide your reproductive future. These are among the most important facets of reproductive health for both men and women. However reproductive health has much broader implications, and achieving optimal reproductive health can be challenging in many parts of the world. Pregnancy, contraception, safe motherhood, cervical cancer prevention, fertility goals, abortion, and gender-based violence are all facets of reproductive health that impact women throughout their lifespan.  Access to education and youth-friendly health services help young women navigate the transition through adolescence to educational and economic empowerment while avoiding early pregnancy and exposure to STIs and HIV.  Economic empowerment and respectful prenatal care ensure that women have a greater chance of deciding when to reproduce and doing so safely.  Strengthening and streamlining health care infrastructure through innovative...