Day 2: June 8, 2010
50 Years of Contraceptives: Where Are We And What’s Next?
On day 2 of the Women Deliver conference in Washington DC, leading researchers and practitioners once again gathered to discuss lessons learned and best practices in the area of improving maternal health. Conversations quickly turned to the role that technology can and does play in this battle, namely contraceptives.
The introduction of the modern contraceptive has been described as a catalyst of social change that has created lasting social change for women around the world. In the afternoon plenary session, where participants gathered to discuss this issue, Dr. Imane Khachani – a dynamic young medical doctor and public health practitioner – suggested that “contraception means choice.” For many women around the world, the inception of modern contraceptives 50 years ago has meant a choice to give and space births; in many countries it has allowed the right for one to make decisions about ones reproductive health. But still many lack the luxury of this choice.
Fifty years after the inception of modern contraception, the framework through which we work on family planning has evolved. Dr. Frenk, Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, reminded participants in the above session this afternoon that contraception was originally thought of as a means to strictly control population growth. Although, at the time, he added, women were seen as mere vehicles for reproduction. But in Cairo that all changed, and we now view contraception, in all its varying forms, as a component of a broader, more comprehensive framework that focuses on women and health rather than women’s health. For modern family planning, this simple paradigm shift changed everything.
Yet some wonder whether the 50-year mark is worthy of celebration – we still have a long way to go. Even as we gather at the conference, more than 200 million women around the world – the majority in developing countries – lack access to basic methods of contraception. And so much of today’s conversation addressed ways in which we can increase access to family planning services and products so women can have the choice that Dr. Khachani described above. Meg Galas, of PSI’s PASMO affiliate in Central America, presented PSI’s use of a total market approach to increase informed demand for long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) and supply of high quality services. In 23 countries, PSI is working with host governments to increase access to these products that can prevent unintended pregnancy for 5-12 years.
Like Cairo, the conversations happening in DC this week hold the potential to change the way we view family planning forever. The groundwork has been laid, but if we are to truly celebrate in another 50 years, we must come together to agree on a comprehensive framework that allows all women the dignity of choice that so many continue to lack.
Additional Information
- Daily Update Day 1
- Daily Update Day 3
- Learn more about PSI’s Reproductive Health programs.
