- Comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health
- Family Planning
- Women, Girls, and HIV
- Maternal Health
- U.S. Foreign Policy & Funding
- Watch: Making U.S. Foreign Assistance Work for Women and Girls in Ethiopia
- Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Policy
- Family Planning Policy Restrictions and HIV
- U.S. Global Health Initiative
- Global Gag Rule
- Helms Amendment
- Foreign Assistance Budget
- Foreign Assistance Reform
- Kemp-Kasten Amendment
- Abstinence & Fidelity
- Anti-Prostitution Pledge
- Advocacy and Foreign Assistance
- Why Women and Girls?
Integrating HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services
"We must take AIDS out of isolation and provide young girls with opportunities to negotiate their sexual relationships and receive sexuality education so that they can protect themselves from infection... If we don't do this, our vision of zero new infections will remain a dream."--UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé at the 2011 Commission on the Status of Women.
HIV was responsible for approximately 60,000 maternal deaths in 2008, is among the leading causes of death of women of reproductive age, and sexual transmission remains the leading cause of infection. Despite this overlap of HIV/AIDS issues with reproductive rights and maternal health concerns, U.S. global AIDS programs continue to operate largely independently of family planning and other sexual and reproductive health programs.
Integrated sexual and reproductive health services--HIV prevention, treatment, and care; cancer screening and treatment; maternal health care; and family planning services – are essential in the fight against the HIV pandemic. Lack of integration results in critical healthcare gaps that limit the effectiveness of U.S. global AIDS programs and compromise women's health: Women living with HIV may go untreated because their family planning provider does not test for HIV. Others may receive treatment at an HIV clinic, yet face stigma if they seek prenatal care. Girls facing unintended pregnancy may receive prenatal and maternity care, yet no information on contraceptive methods.
In the last few years, some – including officials at USAID and the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) – have made an effort to promote integration of HIV/AIDS and reproductive health programs. In September 2011, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), in partnership with George W. Bush Institute, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and UNAIDS, launched the global Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon campaign, an initiative that integrates cervical and breast cancer education, screening, and treatment with HIV services. Evidence indicates that integrating family planning as well is the logical next step, yet U.S. global AIDS programs continue to operate from a non-integrated starting point, i.e. "Where does it make sense to integrate efforts?" as opposed to "Where does it makes sense to separate?"
Resources:
The U.S. Global Health Initiative and Sexual and Reproductive Rights: Integration (CHANGE)
What Does Family Planning Have to do With HIV? Everything. (CHANGE)
Related News
- The Promise of MPTs: An Integrated Approach to Women’s Health
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April 22, 2013 - Huffington Post: The Right to Fight AIDS
April 22, 2013 - HIV in breastmilk spikes at weaning
April 17, 2013 - Alicia Keys campaigns for HIV education
April 16, 2013 - Nigeria: Arrests of Sex Workers Hampers Control of HIV Rates
April 11, 2013 - One-in-four deaths in pregnancy due to HIV in worst-affected countries
April 9, 2013 - Huffington Post: Why the Global Fund Is a Terrific Investment
April 8, 2013
Related Publications
- U.S. Global HIV Policy: Combination Prevention
This paper outlines why the U.S. must support a true combination prevention strategy, one that scales up proven biomedical tools, integrates sexual and reproductive health services into HIV prevention, and addresses social barriers to HIV prevention. - Infographic: AIDS-free Generation? Not Without Women
We can't create an AIDS-free generation without women: Visualize the numbers. - Ficha técnica: ¿Qué tiene que ver la planificación familiar con el VIH? Todo.
La planificación familiar voluntaria es un componente indispensable de la prevención y el tratamiento del VIH. - What Does Family Planning Have to do With HIV? Everything.
Voluntary family planning is an indispensible component of HIV prevention and treatment. - Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Assistance: An Unfinished Imperative for Women’s Health
Female Condoms and U.S. Foreign Assistance: An Unfinished Imperative for Women's Health, summarizes U.S. support for female condoms, identifies barriers, and offers concrete recommendations for improving U.S. efforts to increase access and availability of female condoms. - Policy Recommendations: Married Women and HIV: Comprehensive Prevention
In the absence of community-based efforts to alter the social structures that promote infidelity, public health programs which aim to reduce married women’s risk by telling men to be faithful will not succeed. - Research Summary: Marital Sex and the HIV Risk for Women Worldwide
Globally, women’s risk of contracting HIV is heightened if they are married, largely due to men’s extramarital sexual relationships. Despite this clear risk, current efforts to prevent the spread of HIV fall far short of protecting married women. - Human Trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and the Sex Sector
Current U.S. foreign policy relating to adults in the sex sector violates basic human rights, distracts from effective anti-trafficking efforts, and directly impedes global health programs intended to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS.
Related Links
- Advocates for Youth
- AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth and Families
- AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS)
- AIDS.org
- American Social Health Association (ASHA)
- amfAR
- Campaign to End AIDS
- Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
- Cervical Barrier Advancement Society
- Contraceptive Research and Development Program (CONRAD)
- EngenderHealth
- Global Action for Children
- Global AIDS Alliance
- HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies
- HIV InSite
- Housing Works
- International AIDS Society
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
- International AIDS Women Caucus
- International Community of Women Living with AIDS (ICW)
- International Council of AIDS Service Organisations (ICASO)
- International HIV/AIDS Alliance
- International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
- International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC)
- JHPIEGO
- PEPFAR Watch
- Population Reference Bureau
- Prevention Now!
- Reproductive Health Matters
- The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
- The Female Health Company
- The Global Campaign for Microbicides
- Women, Children and HIV
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