Melinda Gates’ New Crusade: Investing Billions in Women’s Health Melinda Gates this week pledged billions of dollars to be spent on improving access to contraception. In her many travels she repeatedly met women who were unable to gain access to something which most of the rest of the world take for granted. In an interview […]
Category: Public Health
News items from April
Better access to birth control would reduce stress on global resources as reported by Nigel Hawkes in the BMJ. The rich should consume less and the poor should procreate less, says the Royal Society in a new report. The report was produced by a working party chaired by John Sulston, who headed the UK part […]
NHS flouts national guidance on contraception as cuts bite:
new audit reveals shocking truth as 3.2m women face restrictions in access to contraceptives or services A new audit of the commissioning of contraceptive and abortion services in England has revealed a stark picture of inequality in women’s healthcare, with a third of women of reproductive age unable to choose from the full range of […]
All Party Parliamentary Group launches enquiry into restrictions in access to contraceptive services.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sexual and Reproductive Health in the UK (APPGSRH) has launched an inquiry and call for evidence into restrictions in access to contraceptive services. Examples have already been seen of commissioners cutting prescribing budgets for contraceptive methods to meet targets for savings, with consequences for choice and public health outcomes. In addition […]
Journal highlights – April issue
This quarter’s Journal includes the following: Redefinition of women’s health care Last year the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published ‘High Quality Women’s Health Care: a Proposal for Change’ that proposed a radical change to the structure of UK women’s health services. Andrew Horne and Johannes Bitzer discuss this exciting document from both a […]
CQC visits to Abortion clinics announced to media ahead of providers
This report from Jennie Bristow (editor, Abortion Review) 23 March 2012 UK: Health Secretary launches shock wave of inspections on abortion clinics The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, yesterday announced to the UK media that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) would be carrying out a series of ‘unannounced inspections’ on abortion clinics throughout the UK to […]
The UK Sexual Health Awards 2012 winners announced
The celebration, hosted by Nitin Ganatra (Eastenders), to mark the hard work and dedication of people involved in sexual health across the UK took place at Troxy, London. Celebrities, including Janet Ellis, Zoe Margolis, Sharon Marshall, Johnny Partridge and our own Susan Quilliam and Alison Hadley were in attendance to show support and present awards to: […]
Celebrating International Women’s Day
“This International Women’s Day, the world’s women have much to celebrate: maternal mortality rates are declining after years of stagnation; the importance of maternal health is receiving unprecedented attention; and one solution in our efforts to save women’s lives during childbirth, misoprostol, is gaining significant traction globally. But we have further to go for the […]
Online First and Emergency Contraception for Christmas
The latest article to be published at Online First is: Questions about intimate partner violence should be part of contraceptive counselling: findings from a community-based longitudinal study in Nicaragua by Mariano Salazar, Eliette Valladares, Ulf Högberg. Neelima Deshapande (Associate editor) writes: Effect of domestic violence on contraceptive choice Sadly, domestic violence against women continues in […]
Bits and Pieces
Consultation to lift ban on HIV-positive doctors and dentists: according to media reports last week the DH is set to launch a consultation on lifting the ban imposed 20 years ago. Many believe the ban to be discriminatory, no longer justified on public health grounds and ignored in most hospitals who reportedly have a ‘don’t […]