Reproductive Health
What We Do › Reproductive Health
“I think the most beautiful aspect of life is having children, so it is very important to me to help women become mothers. This can be a particular challenge in Ukraine, where the infertility rate among married couples is as high as 10 percent.”
Dr. Lydia Gumenyuk, gynecologist/endocrinologist at Odessa Oblast Hospital and director of the Odessa Family Planning Center (Odessa, Ukraine/Coney Island, New York, partnership)
According to WHO, improving access to sexual and reproductive health information and services can have a direct impact on whether or not many other Millennium Development Goals can be achieved, including those pertaining to maternal and child health, poverty, gender, education, environment, hunger, and HIV/AIDS. In fact, because HIV can be transmitted sexually or during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, the link between reproductive health and efforts to stem the AIDS pandemic cannot be stressed enough, particularly in developing and transitioning nations.
Another aspect of reproductive health is family planning—a woman’s ability to space or limit the number of her pregnancies. Family planning has a direct impact on a woman’s health and wellbeing, as well as the outcome of her pregnancy. In many situations, however, women do not have access to family planning services or face a limited choice of methods, lack of information, and concerns about safety or side-effects and partner disapproval. For other women, fertility issues are of paramount concern.
A wide range of AIHA partnerships and programs focus on improving access to high-quality sexual and reproductive health services, including patient education and community outreach as well as clinical care and prevention.
Projects
AIHA’s efforts to provide comprehensive reproductive health services are carried out through specific programmatic activities, including:
Russia Reproductive Health Partnerships
In 2004, two highly successful AIHA partnerships between US and Russian communities-Dubna/La Crosse and Volgograd/Little Rock-were awarded grants from USAID to expand their work in the area of reproductive health. Read more...
Women's Health Initiative
AIHA’s Women’s Health Initiative was designed to help partners in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia adopt an integrated, client-centered approach to women’s primary care. US and host country partners work together to establish Women’s Wellness Centers that provide not only diagnostic screening and clinical services for both acute and chronic conditions, but also much-needed patient and community health education and support programs. For the first time, women in these countries can come to a single place to seek treatment and advice on health-related matters, including reproductive health, family planning, and infertility services. Read more...
Reproductive Health Information Resources
Disseminating accurate, timely information rooted in evidence-based practices and sharing successful models and lessons learned plays an important role in AIHA’s strategy for sustainable healthcare programs. For more information about reproductive health, please visit the following links:
» EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network
» Women's Health Toolkit
» Healthy Communities Toolkit
» AIHA Clinical Practice Guidelines
» Articles
» Other Resources
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