Ndola Prata, MD, MSC, presented at the Stanford WHSDM Women’s Global Health Forum. Dr. Prata is a Professor in Residence, Maternal Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Californina, Berkeley; Fred H. Bixby Endowed Chair in Population and Family Planning, Director, Bixby Center for Population, Health and Sustainability, Co-Director, Innovations for Youth (I4Y) School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley Co-Director, Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender and Empowerment University of California, Global Health Institute (UCGHI)
New Bixby Publication in The Royal Society about Making family planning accessible in resource-poor settings
Abstract
It is imperative to make family planning more accessible in low resource settings. The poorest couples have the highest fertility, the lowest contraceptive use and the highest unmet need for contraception. It is also in the low resource settings where maternal and child mortality is the highest. Family planning can contribute to improvements in maternal and child health, especially in low resource settings where overall access to health services is limited. Four critical steps should be taken to increase access to family planning in resource-poor settings: (i) increase knowledge about the safety of family planning methods; (ii) ensure contraception is genuinely affordable to the poorest families; (iii) ensure supply of contraceptives by making family planning a permanent line item in healthcare system’s budgets and (iv) take immediate action to remove barriers hindering access to family planning methods. In Africa, there are more women with an unmet need for family planning than women currently using modern methods. Making family planning accessible in low resource settings will help decrease the existing inequities in achieving desired fertility at individual and country level. In addition, it could help slow population growth within a human rights framework. The United Nations Population Division projections for the year 2050 vary between a high of 10.6 and a low of 7.4 billion. Given that most of the growth is expected to come from today’s resource-poor settings, easy access to family planning could make a difference of billions in the world in 2050.
To learn more, access the paper here.
Ndola Prata’s Research Presentation on Niger, West Africa
The UC and CSU Access to Reproductive Health Services Study
Student Advocacy Day for SB 24
Last week, students from the Bixby Center joined students from all over California to lobby senators at the Capitol in support of SB 24, a fully-funded bill that would mandate California UCs and CSUs to provide medication abortion. Community colleges and private institutions may opt-in to receive funding grants as well.
Trust students! Do not allow barriers to their healthcare access!
#justCARE #SB24 #caleg
Summer 2022 Funding Opportunity Deadline: March 15, 2022
International Conference on Family Planning
Presentation Schedule
Tuesday, November 13th
Combining structural and reproductive health to improve transition to adulthood: the Musanze Youth Center model
10:25am-11:45am | Session Room: MH 4
Presenter: Leopold Nirere
“It is not them, it is us”: how FP supply strategies in rural areas can improve demand and utilization of long acting methods
11:30am-2:30pm | Session Room: Auditorium terrace–Display #90
*Presenter at poster from 1:30-2:30pm
Presenter: Jean Utumatwishima
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Engaging men in FP: perspectives from married men in Lomé, Togo
3pm-6pm | Session Room: Auditorium terrace–Display #26
*Presenter at poster from 5pm-6pm
Presenters: Paul Tekou and Karen Weidert
Wednesday, November 14th
Time to act: Fertility preferences and modern contraceptive use among youth in Angola
8am-11am | Session Room: Auditorium terrace–Display #102
*Presenter at poster from 10-11am
Presenter: Ndola Prata
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Integration family planning and reproductive health services in primary health care: the Rwandan Model
10:25am-11:45am | Session Room: MH 4
*Presenter at poster from 5pm-6pm
Presenters: Paul Tekou and Karen Weidert
An Analysis: The Implementation Of Youth Centers In Musanze, Rwanda
Presentation by Bixby Summer Funding Award Recipient Kalee Singh
Kalee will present her analysis on the implementation of the Bixby Center’s youth center, based in the district of Musanze, Rwanda. The youth center model aims to utilize a multi-pronged approach–addressing both structural and social determinants–to improve the health and wellbeing of youth in Rwanda. The model, co- designed and managed by youth, strives to empower adolescents through the provision of comprehensive sexual education and linkages to high-quality, youth- friendly reproductive health services, livelihood skills, and general health information. The overarching goal of Kalee’s research was to develop a descriptive case study of the youth center model, documenting its effectiveness in addressing the health and wellbeing of adolescents and young adults in the Musanze district of Rwanda.
Combating Maternal Mortality: Ugandan lawsuit
New Bixby Publication in Dovepress about abortion history and modern contraception in Luanda, Angola
Women in sub-Saharan Africa often use abortion as a method of limiting their fertility and spacing births. However, it is not well understood whether having an abortion influences contraceptive behavior. The goal of this study was to examine associations between abortion history and use of a modern contraceptive method among women in Luanda, Angola. To learn more, access the paper here.