Insights & Updates – Page 33 – Global Reproductive Health at Duke

Experimental HIV vaccine could move to human trials next year

June 25, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

An HIV vaccine could be closer than we think. A study published in Nature Medicine earlier this month highlights significant progress in efforts by scientists at the National Institutes of Health to develop an HIV vaccine. By targeting a vulnerable part of the virus, scientists were able to elicit antibodies that neutralized almost one-third of HIV strains in mice. The vaccine produced a similar neutralizing response in guinea pigs and rhesus monkeys, suggesting that their approach is promising. The researchers will continue to optimize the vaccine in the coming months, and anticipate beginning a preliminary human trial of the new vaccine regimen in late 2019. - Anna Katz, Communications Intern...

Planned Parenthood lawsuit challenges abstinence-only sex education program

June 25, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

Planned Parenthood affiliates filed suit last week against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), challenging the administration's efforts to impose an abstinence-only until marriage (AOUM) curriculum on 1.2 million young people via the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPP program). The suit comes shortly after the administration announced its plans to drastically remake the TPP program with an emphasis on AOUM programming, which has been repeatedly proven ineffective and misleading. Established by the Obama administration in 2010, the TPP program was intended to reduce teen pregnancy by funding the evidence-based initiatives of individual communities and schools. The program, in combination with other pregnancy prevention initiatives, was effective--birth rates among teens aged 15 to 19 dropped by half from 2007 to 2017. The current administration's move to mandate AOUM curriculum, rebranded as "sexual risk avoidance," threatens to reverse this progress. If successful, Planned Parenthood's lawsuit will ensure that the TPP program continues to be guided by evidence-based principles and that recipients...

Brazilian protestors demand abortion be decriminalized

June 25, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

Hundreds marched in São Paulo last week protesting the criminalization of abortion and demanding that authorities take steps toward change. Abortion is currently a crime in Brazil, except when the pregnant person's life is in danger, in cases of rape, and when the fetus has anencephaly, a congenital brain disorder. Yet as many as one in five women in Brazil are estimated to have had an abortion, risking up to three years in prison if they are caught. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Brazilian women risk their health and lives to end their pregnancies. Protestors emphasized the grave consequences of the country's restrictive laws. "The rich have abortions, the poor die," one protestor's sign read. Brazil's Supreme Court will hold a public hearing in August to discuss the decriminalization of abortion within the first trimester. - Anna Katz, Communications Intern...

Self-Induced Abortion in Times of Crisis, Part One

June 22, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

Dried henna powder. Animal feces. Bleach. Grain alcohol. The wire coat-hanger. These are some of the many methods women throughout history have used to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. When the safe method for ending a pregnancy--a surgical or medical abortion--is not available, women turn to these alternative techniques, often risking their bodies and lives in the process. Such methods for terminating a pregnancy or inducing a miscarriage are hardly relics of the past. Improvements in contraceptive access, sexual education, women’s empowerment, and abortion access, though significant, have been disparate. In many places around the world, cultural, legal, and financial barriers continue to prevent women from accessing basic healthcare services like contraception and abortion. These obstacles are often magnified in times of crisis. Natural disasters, wars, economic crises, and a host of other factors can all further infringe upon women’s reproductive freedom. Women may lose access to healthcare services, or become uniquely vulnerable to violence. When faced with an unplanned, unwanted,...

India reduces maternal mortality ratio by 77 percent

June 15, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

The World Health Organization (WHO) commended India earlier this week for making a groundbreaking reduction in maternal mortality. The country reduced the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by 77 percent, from 556 per 1,00,000 live births in 1990 to 130 per 1,00,000 live births in 2016. The present MMR is below the Millennium Development Goal target, and the country is on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target of an MMR below 70 by 2030. WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia Poonam Khetrapal Singh attributes India's success to a focus on improving access to maternal health services, an increase in institutional deliveries for both urban and rural women, an emphasis on mitigating the social determinants of health, and increased cooperation between the public and private sectors. "These factors alone have enabled Indian women to better control their reproductive lives and make decisions that reflect their own interests and wants," Singh said. Nations around the globe can look to India as an example of...

In Argentina, lawmakers move to expand reproductive freedom

June 14, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

Lawmakers in Argentina's Congress narrowly approved a bill to legalize abortion earlier today, marking a hard-won victory for abortion rights activists. The bill, which would allow women to terminate pregnancies during the first 14 weeks, now moves to the Senate where it will face an even greater challenge. Yet many Argentinian women remain inspired and hopeful. Valencia García, a 39-year-old teacher, was moved to tears by the victory: "I have this indescribable sense of freedom." ...

New study shows low, declining HPV vaccine follow-through in U.S.

June 14, 2018October 14, 2024 by Anna KatzNo Comments

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections, and causes about 31,500 cancers in the United States each year. It also has a vaccine--but many Americans aren't being vaccinated. The HPV vaccine is already underutilized in the United States, and a new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina found that HPV vaccine follow-through is declining over time. The vaccine, which is highly effective at preventing the development of abnormal cells that can progress to cervical cancer, is delivered in a series of doses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all children ages 11-12 should get two doses of the vaccine six to twelve months apart; adolescents older than 14 should get three shots over four months. Yet the survey of more than a million privately-insured Americans showed that vaccine follow-through declined from 2006 to 2014. The decrease was especially prominent among female patients, from 67% in 2006 to 38%...

RTI team provides key advice to Duke Big Data for Reproductive Health Team

June 13, 2018October 14, 2024 by Megan HuchkoNo Comments

On Monday afternoon, the Big Data for Reproductive Health Data+ Team met with Alex Pavluck and Alison Mitchell LeFew from RTI to describe their project and get direction in how to develop a “minimally viable product.” The meeting represents one of the first educational engagements of the Duke-RTI Collaboration. The goal for the 10-week Data+ project is to build a web-based application that will allow users to visualize and analyze contraceptive calendar data from the DHS. Students presented their research on currently available tools, identifying core elements they liked and key areas a new tool could improve. Pavluck, a senior manager for information and communication development for the Global Health Division of the International Development Group at RTI, shared his experience and provided advice on how to develop an MVP for user testing. The active discussion ranged from big picture needs to the technical details necessary to move the project forward. The meeting was a great example of key stakeholder...

LGBTQ Rights are Reproductive Rights

June 11, 2018October 14, 2024 by kb330@duke.eduNo Comments

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? June rainbows! Each June in the United States, individuals across the nation join in celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month, a time marked by celebration, protest, activism, and, of course, the bright rainbow Pride flag. The tradition was born out of the 1970 Gay Pride March, which took place in New York City to commemorate the Stonewall uprising. As the LGBTQ movement grew, so did Pride marches and within a few years, this form of political protest had spread across the United States, eventually expanding from a single march to a month of events for all LGBTQ people. Over the years, Pride has shifted from primarily a political protest, to a more celebratory occasion. The increasing sociocultural acceptance of LGBTQ people and same-sex relationships has played a role in this shift, and the recent Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality is undoubtedly worth celebrating. Yet queer communities certainly remain marginalized...

Australia establishes abortion clinic protections

June 11, 2018October 14, 2024 by kb330@duke.eduNo Comments

Australian state New South Wales (NSW) has passed a law establishing 150-meter “safe access zones” around abortion clinics. Protesters who intimidate or harass patients within 150 meters of the clinic could face jail time and other punishments. The bill also makes it illegal to film any person within the safe access zone without their consent. NSW is the fifth Australian jurisdiction to establish safe access zones and prohibit harassment of people seeking reproductive services. The bill’s passage marks an important stride toward reproductive freedom in Australia and a victory for reproductive health advocates around the globe. Photo credit: Peter Rae/AAP...

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