Title: A critical review of sexual and reproductive health.

POPLINE Document Number: 120282

Author(s):

Hardon A

Source citation:

In: Advancing women's status: women and men together? Gender, society and development. Amsterdam, Netherlands, Royal Tropical Institute, 1995. :120-56. (Critical Reviews and Annotated Bibliographies Series)

Abstract:

The 1990s marked a shift from family planning programs primarily intent on achieving fertility decline to a broader sexual and reproductive health approach to service delivery. At the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, reproductive health was conceptualized as the capability to have a safe and satisfying sex life and to reproduce under conditions of personal freedom. Implementation of this approach requires family planning and health administrators to plan cost-effective, available, integrated programs of high quality tailored to the specific needs of diverse clients in different settings. Central is awareness of reproductive health as a gender issue. Gender- based inequalities create unwanted pregnancies, unmet needs for contraception, lack of access to prenatal care, higher risks of maternal mortality and sexually transmitted diseases, and female genital mutilation. Implementation of a reproductive health care approach has been hindered by a lack of clarity on issues such as whether sectors outside of health and family planning should be involved, top down versus participatory administrative structures, selection of the most feasible interventions, and the role of cost- benefit analysis in determining priorities; other obstacles include a lack of empirical research on reproductive health and of indicators that can serve as outcome measures for program evaluation. The few studies that do exist (reported in an annotated bibliography) suggest that community-based approaches are most effective when they involve both men and women in defining problems and identifying action strategies.

Keywords:

Developing Countries
Literature Review
Critique
Bibliography
Family Planning Policy
Reproductive Health
Sexuality
Gender Issues
Family Planning Programs
Integrated Programs
Program Development
Changes
Family Planning
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Health
Personality
Psychological Factors
Behavior
Programs
Organization and Administration
Social Change