Reproductive Health News and Research

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Family planning summit plans to ensure women’s unmet need for contraception is met by 2020

The London Summit on Family Planning takes place on July 11th. Led by DFID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the summit will announce an unprecedented global commitment to advancing the cause of family planning. The intent: to ensure that by 2020, 120 million women’s unmet need for contraception is met.

9 Jul 2012

Expert panel discusses family planning issues in Guardian podcast

In this global development podcast, the Guardian's Annie Kelly is joined by Julia Bunting, head of the U.K. Department for International Development's reproductive health team; Yasmin Ahmed, senior regional director for Asia at Marie Stopes International; Neil Datta, coordinator of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development; and Gita Sen, professor at the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, for a discussion about family planning ahead of the July 11 London Summit on Family Planning.

4 Jul 2012

Working to increase access to reproductive health services in Ghana

In the second post in a series titled "Imagine a World...," posted on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Faustina Fynn-Nyame, director of Marie Stopes International in Ghana, discusses reproductive health in Ghana, writing, "For some women here, choices about reproductive health are something they take for granted," but "other women in Ghana -- indeed most -- are not able to do this."

4 Jul 2012

Perinatal mortality risk in IVF reduced by single embryo transfer

A policy of single embryo transfer (SET) reduces the risk of perinatal mortality in infants born as a result of IVF and ICSI. The conclusion emerged from an analysis of more than 50,000 births recorded in the Australian and New Zealand Assisted Reproduction Technology Database between 2004 and 2008, where the introduction of an SET policy has been associated with a reduction in overall perinatal mortality for IVF and ICSI babies.

4 Jul 2012

Cigarette smoke reduces production of Fallopian tube gene - BAD

Cigarette smoke reduces the production of a Fallopian tube gene known as "BAD", which helps explain the link between smoking and ectopic pregnancy. The finding, from scientists led by Drs Andrew Horne and Colin Duncan at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Centre for Reproductive Health in Edinburgh, UK, was described today at the annual meting of ESHRE (European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology) in Istanbul.

4 Jul 2012

Women with higher intake of dietary saturated fats have fewer mature oocytes available for IVF

Women with a higher intake of dietary saturated fats have fewer mature oocytes available for collection in IVF, according to results of a study from the Harvard School of Public Health funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

3 Jul 2012

Philippines to spend nearly $12M on contraceptives to bolster family planning, reduce maternal mortality rate

The government of the Philippines plans to spend nearly $12 million on contraceptives this year in an effort to "save its 'failed' family planning program and drastically cut maternal deaths," according to the Department of Health, IRIN reports.

3 Jul 2012

Working to reduce adolescent pregnancy in Zimbabwe

As part of a monthly series of posts guest edited by FHI 360 on behalf of USAID'S Interagency Youth Working Group (IYWG), this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog by Primrose Nanchani Manyalo, a field officer at Restless Development, discusses how "adolescent pregnancy is a harsh reality that many young girls encounter."

2 Jul 2012

Despite new constitution, much work remains to bring reproductive health care to all Kenyans

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, editor Amie Newman, a communications officer at the foundation, notes that in 2007, "Kenya enacted a new constitution which ... declares reproductive health care the right of all citizens," and writes, "Kenya's climb towards broad contraceptive coverage, and with that the hope for increased empowerment for women and girls and an improved economic situation for all, seems steep but scalable."

28 Jun 2012

Stillbirth rates higher among least well off in England

The rate of stillbirths in England is twice as high among the least well off as it is among the most affluent, shows research published in the online journal BMJ Open.

26 Jun 2012

GlobalPost examines women's health in Myanmar amid country's recent political reform

"Since Myanmar gained independence from the British in 1948, it has been wracked by armed conflicts and fragile ceasefires with civilians and ethnic rebels," and "[t]he health of Myanmar's women has been one of the biggest casualties," GlobalPost reports.

26 Jun 2012

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton defends women's reproductive rights at conclusion of Rio+20 conference

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "took a stand for women's reproductive rights during the Rio+20 United Nations conference on Friday, saying 'women must be empowered to make decisions on whether and when to have children' if the world is to attain agreed-upon sustainable development goals," the Associated Press/ABC News reports.

26 Jun 2012

BV treatment: full enrolment for phase 2 and first phase 3 trial

Starpharma Holdings Ltd (ASX:SPL; OTCQX: SPHRY) is pleased to report that recruitment is now 100% complete for its Phase 2 clinical trial to investigate the ability of VivaGel® to prevent the recurrence of BV, and also for the first of two pivotal Phase 3 studies of VivaGel® for the treatment of BV.

25 Jun 2012

Women discuss intersection of sustainability, environment and empowerment, reproductive health at Rio+20 side event

In this post on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Vicky Markham, founding director of the Center for Environment and Population (CEP), summarizes a Rio+20 side event that took place on Thursday, titled "Rio+20 and Women's Lives: A Cross-General Dialogue."

23 Jun 2012

Reproductive health advocates react to Rio+20 draft document in opinion piece, blog

Representatives meeting at the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday "announced that they have reached an agreement [.pdf] on the outcome document," the U.N. News Centre reports.

22 Jun 2012

Guardian blog profiles work of Brazilian family planning organization

"In the 1990s, when the U.S. shifted its aid policy away from family planning, and from Latin America, the Brazilian NGO Bemfam found itself with a yearly funding hole of $2 million," the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" reports in a profile of the NGO and family planning in Brazil.

22 Jun 2012

Blog, opinion piece, press release address health aspects of Rio+20

More than 100 world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, are meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, this week for Rio+20, the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, to address ways to reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection.

20 Jun 2012

Reproductive health, family planning have central role in comprehensive Rio+20 strategy

"As members of the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, we call on the negotiators at the Rio+20 conference to ensure that reproductive health and voluntary family planning have a central role in any comprehensive strategy for sustainable development," Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil;

19 Jun 2012

First U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X

The first U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, suggests the mutation in the gene - and its associated health risks - may be more common than previously believed.

15 Jun 2012

Mich. House approves abortion restrictions bill; AFL-CIO asks Mo. Gov. to veto abortion coverage bill

The Michigan bill would tighten regulation of abortion clinics and providers while making it a crime to coerce women into having an abortion. In Missouri, a union asks the governor to veto legislation that would allow employers to opt out of providing abortion or contraception health insurance coverage.

15 Jun 2012

Reproductive Health News and Research

Family planning summit plans to ensure women’s unmet need for contraception is met by 2020

Expert panel discusses family planning issues in Guardian podcast

Working to increase access to reproductive health services in Ghana

Perinatal mortality risk in IVF reduced by single embryo transfer

Cigarette smoke reduces production of Fallopian tube gene - BAD

Women with higher intake of dietary saturated fats have fewer mature oocytes available for IVF

Philippines to spend nearly $12M on contraceptives to bolster family planning, reduce maternal mortality rate

Working to reduce adolescent pregnancy in Zimbabwe

Despite new constitution, much work remains to bring reproductive health care to all Kenyans

Stillbirth rates higher among least well off in England

GlobalPost examines women's health in Myanmar amid country's recent political reform

U.S. Secretary of State Clinton defends women's reproductive rights at conclusion of Rio+20 conference

BV treatment: full enrolment for phase 2 and first phase 3 trial

Women discuss intersection of sustainability, environment and empowerment, reproductive health at Rio+20 side event

Reproductive health advocates react to Rio+20 draft document in opinion piece, blog

Guardian blog profiles work of Brazilian family planning organization

Blog, opinion piece, press release address health aspects of Rio+20

Reproductive health, family planning have central role in comprehensive Rio+20 strategy

First U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X

Mich. House approves abortion restrictions bill; AFL-CIO asks Mo. Gov. to veto abortion coverage bill

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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