Insights & Updates – Page 27 – Global Reproductive Health at Duke

The Girl Child’s Present Colors Her Future: The International Day of the Girl Child

October 13, 2018October 14, 2024 by Carly JonesNo Comments

October 11th, 2018 marked the sixth annual International Day of the Girl Child, a celebration which works to establish investment in girls as essential to a sustainable and thriving community. This holiday occurred at a crucial intersection within both a domestic and global narrative. From the election of Brett Kavanaugh to the growing momentum of #MeToo and #WhyIDidn’tReport, sexual violence and other gender disparities have been thrust into the center of public dialogue, igniting the fires of social change. However, to dismantle the culture and practices which systematically devalue women in their present, we must first protect the girl child, as her condition, positive or negative, will ultimately inform her future. This year’s theme of the international day was “With Her: A Skilled GirlForce,” which drew attention to the 25% of unemployed youth, disproportionately consisting of girls. This disadvantaged demographic of girls in the workforce is especially vulnerable to both monetary and sexual exploitation. The very derivation of gender equality...

California Governor Vetoes Abortion Bill

October 11, 2018October 14, 2024 by Jessica WilliamsNo Comments

Governor Jerry Brown recently vetoed a bill that would have required all health centers at University of California and California State University schools to offer prescription abortion pills. Introduced in February 2017, Senate Bill 320 would have made California the first state to require access to medication abortion at public universities. Medication abortion was approved by the FDA in 2000, and currently accounts for one-third of abortions in the United States. A combination of two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, allows the patient to undergo the procedure in their own home. In spite of years of research deeming the procedure safe, thirty-four states heavily regulate medication abortion by requiring licensed physicians, rather than midwives or nurse practitioners, to administer the drugs. In spite of living in a state with otherwise progressive abortion legislation, women at public universities in California often have restricted access to abortion options. More than 500 women at California's public universities seek the abortion pill at off-site healthcare providers every...

WORLD CONTRACEPTION DAY CELEBRATION AT KISUMU COUNTY

October 10, 2018October 14, 2024 by Faith OtewaNo Comments

World Contraception Day annually takes place on September 26th. The worldwide campaign is centered on a vision where every pregnancy is planned and wanted. This year, Kisumu County joined the rest of the world in celebration at the Simba Opepo Dispensary. County officials and over 10 partners attended, with Deputy Governor Dr. Mathews Owino as the chief guest; he expressed commitment to the county leadership and its growth. The community came together to promote and echo important actions on Family Planning (FP) and contraceptives, improve awareness on contraception, and enable young people to make informed reproductive health choices. Healthcare workers were encouraged to support clients in selecting appropriate FP methods and discussing possible side effects. There is a need in the community for counseling on correct methods and their associated potential warning signs. Further, the celebration called for the mentoring of healthcare workers in order for them to have the right attitude towards youths. This attitude will allow patients to freely walk into...

The Alarming Incidence of Unsafe Abortion Worldwide

October 5, 2018October 14, 2024 by Carly JonesNo Comments

Approximately 56 million abortions are performed globally each year, with half of these procedures falling upon some continuum of danger that they pose. 97% of these unsafe abortions are performed in low-income countries within Africa, Asia, and Latin America, illustrating the enormous reproductive health disparity borne by geographic location. Abortions are classified by the World Health Organization as “safe”, “less safe”, and “least safe.” Many abortions conducted in developing countries are qualified as “least safe,” characterized by the insertion of foreign objects such as sticks and broken glass bottles, or the ingestion of harmful cleaning products. Ultimately, 6.9 million women each year are treated for complications attributed to unsafe abortions, and 23,000 women die from such complications. Yet, safe abortion procedures such as manual evacuation and abortion-inducing drugs are not financially out of reach even for low-resource countries. Thus, the solution to this horrific lapse in reproductive health lies in political discourse. While some countries, such as Ethiopia and Nepal,...

Partner Updates: Uganda

October 2, 2018October 14, 2024 by Megan HuchkoNo Comments

Our Ugandan colleagues at the Makerere College of Health Sciences have been busy over the past few months. Center members’ work has focused on various aspects of cervical cancer, from prevention to diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Miriam Nakalembe is still leading the NCI-funded effort to evaluate community-based strategies for cervical cancer detection, in partnership with Dr. Megan Huchko. Building on this work, she is a co-investigator on a recently funded two-year project through the Fogarty International Center. The grant seeks to develop a portable imaging technique, called a smartphone confocal endoscope. The new technology would visualize cellular details of human cervix in vivo without taking a biopsy, and after validation would be adapted to provide a low-cost diagnostic tool for other diseases in both resource poor and resource rich settings. Dr. Jane Namugga continues her work with Dr. Paula Lee. The pair have completed data collection for a project to determine rates of completion and adverse events associated with receiving chemotherapy...

Contemporary Birth Control Pills Reduce Risk of Ovarian Cancer

October 1, 2018October 14, 2024 by Emily WoodrowNo Comments

Ovarian cancer causes thousands of deaths every year- more than any cancer of the female reproductive system. In 2012, 238,719 women worldwide were diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 151,917 died from the cancer. A new study led by Lisa Iversen, a research fellow with the Institute of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom, hypothesizes that modern day birth control pills that contain both estrogen and progestogen may lessen the risk of ovarian cancer in women. A similar study was performed decades ago that applied to older contraceptives, although there was no evidence for a similar relationship and effects regarding modern day birth control. Iversen’s study included 2 million women aged 15-49 and found the women who had never used hormonal contraception had the highest risk of ovarian cancer compared to those women who had at some point used birth control. Researchers estimated that hormonal birth control prevented around 21% of women in the study...

Director’s Blog: Fall 2018

October 1, 2018October 14, 2024 by Megan HuchkoNo Comments

A month into the start of the new school year is a good time to reflect on the value the Center can bring to an academic setting like Duke. More salient is the recognition of the value that students and learners bring to Center. This is my third semester teaching Global Sexual and Reproductive Health, one of the core Center courses. The undergraduates continue to impress me with the experience and passion they bring to the classroom, to their research assignments and to their lives in the Duke community. Every year, I learn new things and gain new perspective from the discussions and viewpoints in brought forth in the course. This year, I’m leading two additional student research initiatives in which I already recognize that I’ll learn much more than I will teach the students. I have been working with students through the Big Data for Reproductive Health project since May, when Amy Finnegan and I helped manage a Data Plus...

Reproductive Health Waits for No One: The Women Forgotten During Times of National Crises, and How the UN is Helping

September 28, 2018October 14, 2024 by Carly JonesNo Comments

This past year, the sexual and reproductive health agency of the UN, known as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has devoted particular attention to providing accessible family planning and preventing maternal deaths and gender-based violence on a global scale. The UNFPA will now be opening an office in Geneva to further strengthen its global humanitarianism protocol during times of natural disaster and armed conflict, as many reproductive health issues are exacerbated amidst these crises (see link regarding gender disaster data). A hallmark of the UNFPA response to such adverse events are “female dignity kits,” devised to address the multitude of barriers to care faced by women in developing countries which are not immediately apparent to the homogeneous body of male humanitarian responders. These dignity kits include sanitary napkins, soap, underwear, and other toiletries. The new Geneva office will coordinate the efficient delivery of these kits and streamline all facets of the UNFPA’s humanitarian operations. For more information regarding the relationship...

Oregon Ballot Measure 106 would ban public reproductive healthcare coverage

September 27, 2018October 14, 2024 by Jessica WilliamsNo Comments

A state with a long history of supporting abortion rights, Oregon will have a constitutional amendment to limit state funding for abortions on the ballot this November. After narrowly gaining enough signatures to head to the ballot in late July, Measure 106 has inspired intense activism on both sides of the issue. Oregon is one of seventeen states that uses its own funds to provide abortions; the federal government prohibits the use of Medicaid funding. If Measure 106 passes, the state would only be able to fund abortion in cases necessary for the safety of the mother — as in ectopic pregnancies — or in situations of incest or rape. Although the Oregon Health Plan paid $2 million for abortions for 3,600 women in the last year, the official cost analysis of Measure 106 states that passage of the initiative could cost the state an additional $10 million each year. An estimated 271,833 women of reproductive age are covered by the Oregon...

Notes from the Field: Equipping Kenya County Health Facilities Remains a Challenge

September 26, 2018October 14, 2024 by Faith OtewaNo Comments

Cryotherapy is a method used to destroy precancerous cells to keep them from turning into cancer later on. According to medical experts, early detection and treatment of cervical cancer has demonstrated to dramatically improve the chances of survival. This is good news, as cervical cancer remains the most prevalent form of cancer in women in many developing countries, Kenya included and worst more to HIV+ women who are more likely to suffer from this type of cancer due to compromised immunity. There have been concerted efforts by both the Kenyan government and the private sector to raise awareness and scale up screening and treatment services across the country, which has led to a steady rise and improvement in treatment facilities. The ability of a patient to attend a screening clinic and to return to clinic follow-up evaluation and possible treatment is an important component to the success of a screening program. Once she surpasses the myriad barriers she may face in understanding...

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