Sexual and Reproductive Health for All: 20 Years of The Global Strategy

Thirty years earlier, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), held in Cairo, Egypt, highlighted the right of all individuals to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO published a reproductive health technique - validated by 191 Member States at the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly - that enhanced the centrality of SRHR to societies and economies (Resolution WHA57.12). These frameworks are grounded in gender equality and acknowledge the imperishable significance of sexual health in achieving health for all.

WHO scientists dealt with Member States, civil society and neighborhoods across all areas to operationalize a Worldwide Strategy to cover the 5 essential pillars for improving SRHR:

- improving antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

- supplying family planning services

- eliminating risky abortion

- fighting sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

- promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 further notified SRHR policies and guiding documents in numerous areas and Member States. For example, Latin America's 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa's Maputo Strategy from 2016 (structure upon the original 2006 plan) both include language and ideas strengthening and supporting SRHR.

" The international strategy is the fundamental policy file that centres WHO's mandate for sexual and reproductive health to date," said Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the UN Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) and WHO's Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. "The text stays crucial in adding to guiding research study priorities and dealing with countries to develop useful resources to make sure extensive SRHR throughout the life course."

Significant development has actually been made over the last twenty years within each of the five pillars, including these examples.

- The Global strategy came about as the world was reeling from the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Today, the number of people acquiring HIV has fallen by 38% considering that 2010 alone, due in part to the Strategy's emphasis on eliminating STIs consisting of HIV.

- As of March 2022, 60% of WHO Member States have actually consisted of the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in their routine immunization schedules, greatly advancing efforts to remove cervical cancer as a public health hazard.

- Prioritizing household preparation services and birth control gain access to led to WHO's Family preparation: an international handbook for companies recommendation guide, which has actually been over a million times. Accordingly, the proportion of women utilizing contemporary contraceptive methods increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a wider variety of contraceptive alternatives is now offered.


A 2020 study found that there has actually been an around the world decline in unintentional pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion programs have actually enhanced international access to abortion, and over 60 nations have actually liberalized abortion laws in the past 30 years in line with proof on the significance of such efforts to ensure the health of ladies and adolescent ladies.

Professor Kate Gilmore, co-chair of the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Panel of HRP, credited the Strategy and WHO for assisting generate important scientific evidence on SRHR that has actually added to some of these shifts. "Some of the terrific advances that we have actually seen - consisting of the way civil society has actually taken up the cause to argue for access to safe and legal abortion - are due to the Strategy and the systematic generation of proof over these past 20 years," she stated.

Despite early gains, however, recent years have actually seen indications of stagnation. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal death rate stopped by 34% around the world - however a 2023 report found that progress has largely stalled because. The uneasy pattern was highlighted during a current event showcasing international datasets on the evolution of SRHR considering that ICPD. High maternal mortality rates persist in a couple of countries and sexual health problems, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are often neglected or normalized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, scientist at WHO and HRP, noted in a recent commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR agenda remains unfinished and in some instances has fallen back due to geopolitical tensions, financial declines, the international food crisis, environment change, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging chances to catalyse progress - for example, by boosting human rights-based methods in SRHR and embedding concepts like non-discrimination, consisting of in crisis situations. Improving health systems with a main health-care approach can enhance equity and expand access to comprehensive SRHR services. New technologies and alternative service delivery methods can enhance SRHR by broadening gain access to, option and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus areas within SRHR consist of research on the transformative function of artificial intelligence and innovative contraception methods, more work on strengthening health systems, and the sustaining prioritization of positive pregnancy and giving birth experiences.

At a more comprehensive level, Dr Allotey called for a continued focus on the foundational significance of SRHR. "Sexual and reproductive health must never ever be relegated to the margins of healthcare, however acknowledged as important for the overall well-being of people and the neighborhoods in which they live," she stated.