Insights & Updates

Article by Jackie Vicksman Earlier in 2019, the Trump Administration granted $1.7 million in Title X funds to a group of healthcare facilities in and around California, called Obria Medical Clinics. Title X was designed to provide funds for family-planning resources in lower income populations. Obria is a “Christian medical chain” which claims to provide reproductive healthcare services and is seeking to replace Planned Parenthood as a go-to service provider. Although Obria’s website makes no mention of a religious background, it does illustrate the chain’s emphasis on holistic care and “well-woman” services. Additionally, the woman that runs the organization, Kathleen Eaton Bravo, has been open about her pro-life views. The clinic itself does not perform abortion care services, nor does it provide condoms or hormonal birth control options for patients. Instead, the clinic focuses on more “natural” methods of family planning that consist of timing menstrual cycles and an emphasis on abstinence-only sex education. Critics fear that the government-funded group’s misleading...

Article by Jackie Vicksman On October 2, 2019, Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri announced that it is planning on opening a new facility in Illinois, near the Missouri border, in order to increase access to reproductive healthcare (specifically family-planning and abortion services) for women in this region. The large facility will replace a smaller one in the region and will expand care to provide both medical and surgical abortion services. This plan comes after several restrictive abortion laws have been passed in Missouri, where state legislature officials also attempted to make abortion after eight weeks illegal. This move failed in court but other restrictions such as a 72 hour waiting period and parental consent for minors, are currently in place to reduce women’s access to abortion and abortion care services. There is currently one facility that provides abortion services in Missouri, and Planned Parenthood officials believe that this new “mega-facility” will address access issues for women living...

Article by Jackie Vicksman On March 19, 2019, the FDA approved a new drug called Zulresso (brexanolone), manufactured by a company called Sage Therapeutics. The drug is meant to treat moderate to severe postpartum depression (PPD) and claims to begin alleviating symptoms in 2.5 days. It is also the first FDA-approved drug for PPD. At this point, the FDA has only approved the drug for distribution in a closely-monitored program known as Zulresso Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) at an enrolled health-care facility. This is due to the fact that Zulresso’s side effects include “excess sleepiness” and “sudden loss of consciousness” which can prove dangerous and/or fatal while patients drive or operate heavy machinery. While the drug has proved successful in treating PPD, it is difficult to obtain for lower income populations. The drug is not covered by Medicare, and costs $34,000 for one round of treatment. Medicare covers up to 50 percent of births in America and therefore, while...

From November 10-12, Kenya hosted an international conference with over 9,500 participants from more than 170 countries with a single shared purpose: to achieve the ICPD25 goals. These goals were termed “the three zeroes” - zero maternal mortality, zero unmet needs for family planning and zero tolerance towards gender-based violence. The conference seemed to be a massive success, generating over 1,250 commitments by governments, donors, businesses, non-governmental organizations, civil society and other actors to support work towards the three zeroes. This summit marks the 25th anniversary of the first International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo. It sought to ensure the continuation of the global promise to prioritize women made at that first conference, where the world agreed that sexual and reproductive health is a human right. Although the support initiated by the conference is promising, there are some challenges to meeting these ambitious goals. According to Dr. Joia Crear Perry, President of the National Birth Equity collaborative in the...

Article by Diya Ginjupalli In May of 2019, the White House released the first U.S. Global Health Security Strategy. This document outlined the United States Government’s approach to preventing and responding to infectious diseases both domestically and globally. In November of 2019, the White House released the annual report "Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda: Results and Impacts of U.S. Government Investments," which illustrated their continued efforts towards global health. The report specified the current strategies used by the United States Government to ensure global health security. The United States is currently partnering with 32 countries and has pledged over one billion dollars in funding for these countries. The focus for the upcoming year falls in eleven "Global Health Security Action Packages": antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, biosafety & biosecurity, immunization, national laboratory system, real-time surveillance, reporting, workforce development, emergency operations centers, linking public health with law enforcement & multisectoral rapid response, and medical countermeasures & personnel development. These action packages span...

Article by Jackie Vicksman In 2017, two weeks after Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria hit the already-struggling Caribbean. Hurricane Maria was a category 5 storm that affected several islands, including Puerto Rico. After a natural disaster, births rates normally rise due in part to increased sexual activity, but more-so a lack of access to adequate contraceptives and other reproductive services. With pharmacies, hospitals, and free clinics closed down, women have very limited options when it comes to family planning after a natural disaster. This includes abortion services. In the case of Puerto Rico, only one of six abortion clinics was still open after the hurricane hit. Vale Moreno, the director of the clinic, explained that the biggest challenge for women seeking abortions in the aftermath of the hurricane was transportation. The journey to the clinic from more rural areas was uncertain, as road conditions were often poor, which made getting an abortion much more difficult. Additionally, women were realizing that they were...

Article by Jackie Vicksman Since 2008, the UNFPA has been supporting “husbands schools,” where facilitators lead conversations and lessons with men in local communities in order to improve their general understanding of women’s unique experiences and hardships. Lessons focus on women’s health risks, empowerment, and human rights. The schools serve as a component of the Sahel Women’s Empowerment and Demographic Dividend project (SWEDD), a region-wide program financed by the World Bank and implemented in seven of the countries that make up the African Sahel region. Its objective is to reduce intimate partner violence, expand girls’ education, and generally improve the social standing of women and girls. One such school in the Mamboué village of Burkina Faso has had strong results. The school meets weekly, with 16 men and 2 facilitators. One woman whose husband participates in the program spoke of how his work improved their relationship. She explained that prior to his participation, “there was discord in [her] household,” and after,...