Currently, issues such as education, prevention and timely and effective healthcare remain at the center of concerns about sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region continues to have the second highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world, with women under 20 accounting for almost 18%. In addition, maternal mortality is one of the three most common causes of death among adolescents between 15 and 19 years old.
Because it is a significant, complex and multifactorial problem that accounts for an average of 0.38% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the region, according to data from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which come from different sectors of society.
The launch of the Latin American Atlas provides a specific overview of access to effective contraceptive methods by country. Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez (Getty Images)
Multi-actor alliances: a differentiating factor with exponential impact
One of the main challenges for these initiatives to achieve the desired transformative impact is continuity, the implementation of plans and actions that maintain a firm commitment, but above all sustainable financing, linking official efforts with civil and civil associations can be. private initiative to achieve remarkable results, especially in countries where the incidence is higher, such as Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Peru, Dominican Republic or Guatemala.
In this context, Rafael Chaves, global managing director of public policy and sustainability at Organon, a global women’s health company, believes that these types of strategic alliances must be truly effective, transformative and replicable in other types of scenarios and regions in shaping your initiatives and The implementation of your measures must be measurable and quantifiable.
“If we are able to link the specific outcomes that link unplanned pregnancies to government interventions and private sector support mechanisms, a virtuous circle is created that allows for scaling and replication.” “Part of what we are in “What we want to do in several Latin American countries where we work on these projects is to take this recognition of good practices and scale them so that these types of interventions reach more young people across the region,” says the manager.
These initiatives aim to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes, thereby closing gender equality gaps and their impact on the region’s social development and economic growth. SDI Productions (Getty Images)
In this scenario, the publication of the Global Atlas of Contraception, prepared by the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) in collaboration with other organizations such as UNFPA, Organization of American States (OAS), Organon, EPF and Feminist FOS, FP2030 , Choose Youth Network, among others. Awards countries points in three strategic axes: public policy, financing and effective access.
For example, in this last axis, the regional expert group assessed policies that ensure access to family planning services and long-acting reversible contraceptive methods (also known as ARAP or LARC), which must be in accordance with the evidence-based selection criteria The most modern and effective implants such as the single rod subdermal implant are the best option , so that girls and adolescents do not suffer unplanned pregnancy, as they are characterized by a three-year operation and allow an easy return to fertility.
Furthermore, efforts to achieve better outcomes in reducing teen pregnancy additionally require analysis of funding for public policies, programs, and sexual and reproductive health services. The Atlas allows interaction, comparison and downloading of all data related to the financing of these policies and programs and leads to the analysis of the financial sustainability of health systems in the face of this issue, generating evidence conducive to exploring innovative financing and payment options Art., among other things, based on results and/or social impact bonuses.
The Atlas will be presented this Monday, September 18, 2023, in the Main Auditorium of the Latin American and Caribbean Parliament (Parlatino) in Panama City, offering a unique opportunity to policymakers, researchers, activists and specialists working in the field of sexuality and reproductive health for the region. And in a powerful way, it gives way to a multifactorial discussion based on evidence that seeks to address the gaps in public policies, access and financing that Latin American countries have in the area of contraception, with the development of comprehensive and innovative strategies to better sexual health outcomes and reproduction, thereby closing gender equality gaps and their impact on the region’s social development and economic growth.