Measuring availability of and facility readiness to deliver comprehensive abortion care: experiences and lessons learnt from integrating abortion into WHO's health facility assessments.

Routine assessment of health facility capacity to provide abortion and post-abortion care can inform policy and programmes to expand access and improve quality. Since 2018, abortion and/or post-abortion care have been integrated into two WHO health facility assessment tools: the Service Availability and Readiness Assessment and the Harmonised Health Facility Assessment. We discuss lessons learnt through experiences integrating abortion into these standardised tools. Our experiences highlight the feasibility of including abortion in health facility assessments across a range of legal contexts. Factors facilitating the integration of abortion include cross-country collaboration and experience sharing, timely inputs into tool adaptations, clear leadership, close relationships among key stakeholders as in assessment coordination groups, use of locally appropriate terminology to refer to abortion and reference to national policies and guidelines. To facilitate high-quality data collection, we identify considerations around question sequencing in tool design, appropriate terminology and the need to balance the normalisation of abortion with adequate sensitisation and education of data collectors. To facilitate appropriate and consistent analysis, future work must ensure adequate disaggregation of recommended and non-recommended abortion methods, alignment with national guidelines and development of a standardised approach for measuring abortion service readiness. Measurement of abortion service availability and readiness should be a routine practice and a standardised component of health facility assessment tools. Evidence generated by health facility assessments that include abortion monitoring can guide efforts to expand access to timely and effective care and help normalise abortion as a core component of sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Lessons learnt in scaling up evidence-based comprehensive health sector responses addressing female genital mutilation in highly prevalent settings.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) affects over 200 million girls and women. Its health complications include acute and potentially lifelong urogenital, reproductive, physical, mental health complications with estimated health treatment costs of US$1.4 billion per year. Moreover, there is a concerning rise in the trend of FGM medicalisation with almost one in five FGM cases being performed by a health worker.The WHO developed several evidence-based resources to apply a comprehensive health approach to strengthen FGM prevention and care services. However, there has been limited uptake of this comprehensive approach in FGM prevalent settings. To address this, a three-step multicountry participatory process was used to engage health sector players from FGM prevalent settings to develop comprehensive action plans, implement foundational activities and harness the learnings to inform subsequent planning and implementation. Support to adapt evidence-based resources and seed funding were also provided to initiate foundational activities that had potential for scale up.A total of 15 countries participated in this three-step this approach between 2018 and 2022. Ten countries developed comprehensive national action plans and eight WHO resources were adapted for foundational activities.This scale up approach can be strengthened by increasing the frequency of multicountry experience sharing meetings, identifying in-country champions to continuously advocate for FGM integration within (public and private) health services and securing stable funding to implement foundational activities. Documentation of each country's experience as case studies including monitoring and evaluation are essential to expand the learning and quality of the health interventions addressing FGM.

Availability of medical abortion medicines in eight countries: a descriptive analysis of key findings and opportunities.

BACKGROUND: In recent years a growing number of manufacturers and medical abortion products have entered country markets and health systems, with varying degrees of quality and accessibility. An interplay of factors including pharmaceutical regulations, abortion laws, government policies and service delivery guidelines and provider's knowledge and practices influence the availability of medical abortion medicines. We assessed the availability of medical abortion in eight countries to increase understanding among policymakers of the need to improve availability and affordability of quality-assured medical abortion products at regional and national levels. METHODS: Using a national assessment protocol and an availability framework, we assessed the availability of medical abortion medicines in Bangladesh, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and South Africa between September 2019 and January 2020. RESULTS: Registration of abortion medicines-misoprostol or a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol-was established in all countries assessed, except Rwanda. Mifepristone and misoprostol regimen for medical abortion was identified on the national essential medicines list/standard treatment guidelines for South Africa as well as in specific abortion care service and delivery guidelines for Bangladesh, Nepal, Nigeria, and Rwanda. In Liberia, Malawi, and Sierra Leone-countries with highly restrictive abortion laws and no abortion service delivery guidelines or training curricula-no government-supported training on medical abortion for public sector providers had occurred. Instead, training on medical abortion was either limited in scope to select private sector providers and pharmacists or prohibited. Community awareness activities on medical abortion have been limited in scope across the countries assessed and where abortion is broadly legal, most women do not know that it is an option. CONCLUSION: Understanding the factors that influence the availability of medical abortion medicines is important to support policymakers improve availability of these medicines. The landscape assessments documented that medical abortion commodities can be uniquely impacted by the laws, policies, values, and degree of restrictions placed on service delivery programs. Results of the assessments can guide actions to improve access.

Unsafe abortion is a leading cause of death and disability among women of reproductive age. Medical management of abortion with mifepristone and misoprostol pills, or just misoprostol, is a safe and effective way to end a pregnancy. Owing to an increase in the number of medical abortion products that have entered country health systems, we examined access to these medicines from supply to demand in selected countries. The overarching goal of the national landscape assessments was to produce evidence to support advocacy efforts and policymaking for improved access to quality medical abortion products that is appropriate to the needs of the country. This paper aims to describe key findings across eight country settings on the availability of medical abortion medicines and identify key opportunities to improve access to them across countries.

Sustainable strategies for Ebola virus disease outbreak preparedness in Africa: a case study on lessons learnt in countries neighbouring the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

BACKGROUND: From May 2018 to September 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experienced seven Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks within its borders. During the 10th EVD outbreak (2018-2020), the largest experienced in the DRC and the second largest and most prolonged EVD outbreak recorded globally, a WHO risk assessment identified nine countries bordering the DRC as moderate to high risk from cross border importation. These countries implemented varying levels of Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions. This case study highlights the gains and shortfalls with the Ebola virus disease preparedness interventions within the various contexts of these countries against the background of a renewed and growing commitment for global epidemic preparedness highlighted during recent World Health Assembly events. MAIN TEXT: Several positive impacts from preparedness support to countries bordering the affected provinces in the DRC were identified, including development of sustained capacities which were leveraged upon to respond to the subsequent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Shortfalls such as lost opportunities for operationalizing cross-border regional preparedness collaboration and better integration of multidisciplinary perspectives, vertical approaches to response pillars such as surveillance, over dependence on external support and duplication of efforts especially in areas of capacity building were also identified. A recurrent theme that emerged from this case study is the propensity towards implementing short-term interventions during active Ebola virus disease outbreaks for preparedness rather than sustainable investment into strengthening systems for improved health security in alignment with IHR obligations, the Sustainable Development Goals and advocating global policy for addressing the larger structural determinants underscoring these outbreaks. CONCLUSIONS: Despite several international frameworks established at the global level for emergency preparedness, a shortfall exists between global policy and practice in countries at high risk of cross border transmission from persistent Ebola virus disease outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With renewed global health commitment for country emergency preparedness resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and cumulating in a resolution for a pandemic preparedness treaty, the time to review and address these gaps and provide recommendations for more sustainable and integrative approaches to emergency preparedness towards achieving global health security is now.

Short Communication: Awareness of HIV Self-Care Interventions Across Global Regions: Results from a Values and Preferences Survey.

The high burden of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa places significant demands on health care services. Interventions such as HIV self-testing, and pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) could empower individuals to determine their HIV status and prevent HIV acquisition. In 2018, the World Health Organization disseminated an online, anonymous, global values and preferences survey to adults 18 years of age and older. The survey aimed to inform guidance on awareness, use, and preferences around self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using Pearson's chi-squared test to compare awareness of HIV self-testing, PrEP and PEP across five global regions. Our analysis included 814 participants from 110 countries. We noted that respondents from Africa reported higher awareness of HIV interventions than participants from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Asia. Our finding highlights an opportunity to expand self-care interventions for HIV prevention and management in Africa.

Assessment of country implementation of the WHO global health sector strategy on sexually transmitted infections (2016-2021).

BACKGROUND: In 2016, WHO launched the Global Health Sector Strategy on STIs, 2016-2021 (GHSS) to provide guidance and benchmarks for country achievement by 2020 and four global targets for achievement by 2030. METHODS: A country survey jointly developed by experienced technical personnel at WHO Headquarters (HQ) and WHO regional offices was reviewed and distributed by WHO regional advisors to 194 WHO Member States in September-March 2020. The survey sought to assess implementation and prioritization of STI policy, surveillance, service delivery, commodity availability, and surveillance based on targets of the GHSS. RESULTS: A majority (58%, 112/194) of countries returned a completed survey reflecting current (2019) STI activities. The regions with the highest survey completion rates were South-East Asia Region (91%, 10/11), Region of the Americas (71%, 25/35) and Western Pacific Region (67%, 18/27). Having a national STI strategy was reported by 64% (72/112) and performing STI surveillance activities by 88% (97/110) of reporting countries. Availability of STI services within primary health clinics was reported by 88% of countries (99/112); within HIV clinics by 92% (103/112), and within reproductive health services by 85% (95/112). Existence of a national strategy to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis (EMTCT) was reported by 70% of countries (78/112). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) monitoring for gonococcal infection (gonorrhoea) was reported by 64% (57/89) of reporting countries with this laboratory capacity. Inclusion of HPV vaccine for young women in the national immunization schedule was reported by 59% (65/110) and availability of cervical cancer screening was reported by 91% (95/104). Stockouts of STI medicines, primarily benzathine penicillin, within the prior four years were reported by 34% (37/110) of countries. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanisms to support improvements to STI service delivery through national-level policy, commitment, programming and surveillance are needed to operationalize, accelerate and monitor progress towards achievement of the 2030 global STI strategy targets.

Maternal and neonatal death surveillance and response in Liberia: An assessment of the implementation process in five counties.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the implementation of the maternal and neonatal death surveillance and response (MNDSR) system at county level in Liberia. METHODS: Secondary analysis of data from a cross-sectional study carried out in March 2016, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data in five counties based on set criteria. Three health facilities were selected in each county through the Health Management Information System (HMIS) by random sampling. The evaluation was also carried out in one catchment community per health facility and at the county referral hospital. Primary data were collected through individual interviews and a review of MNDSR tools and structure. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Implementation of the MNDSR system was very low in the five counties. Only two out of the five counties were currently conducting MNDSR. MNDSR guidelines and standard operating procedures were not available at the county level. Only 12 (23.5%) health facilities had a maternal and neonatal death review committee. Less than a quarter of the assessed community members could correctly give the definition of a maternal or neonatal death. CONCLUSION: The MNDSR system is weak in Liberia, at county, health facility, and community levels. Strong national commitment is needed in collaboration with diverse partners for successful implementation of the system.

Analysis of the implementation of maternal death surveillance and response in Chad.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze implementation of the maternal death surveillance and response (MDSR) strategy in Chad. METHODS: Secondary data analysis of results from a cross-sectional study involving semistructured interviews with decision-makers at central, regional, and district levels, health providers, and technical and financial partners, and a document review. Data collection took place from June-July 2017. RESULTS: Maternal death reporting was incorporated into the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system but did not include neonatal deaths nor maternal and neonatal deaths in communities. Underreporting of maternal deaths owing to fear of repercussions was evident, likely associated with maternal deaths reported at monthly meetings held by the country's President with stakeholders in the health sector. Maternal death reviews were only undertaken between 2015 and 2016 in four regions of Chad and ceased in mid-August 2016. Reasons include the departure of foreign obstetricians, lack of motivation among health workers, weak accountability at all levels of the health system, organizational issues, and nonimplementation of review recommendations. CONCLUSION: Strong action is needed by the Ministry of Health to revive implementation of the MDSR system.

Towards achieving the family planning targets in the African region: a rapid review of task sharing policies.

BACKGROUND: Expanding access and use of effective contraception is important in achieving universal access to reproductive healthcare services, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), such as those in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Shortage of trained healthcare providers is an important contributor to increased unmet need for contraception in SSA. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends task sharing as an important strategy to improve access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services by addressing shortage of healthcare providers. This study explores the status, successes, challenges and impacts of the implementation of task sharing for family planning in five SSA countries. This evidence is aimed at promoting the implementation and scale-up of task sharing programmes in SSA countries by WHO. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS: We employed a rapid programme review (RPR) methodology to generate evidence on task sharing for family planning programmes from five SSA countries namely, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria. This involved a desk review of country task sharing policy documents, implementation plans and guidelines, annual sexual and reproductive health programme reports, WHO regional meeting reports on task sharing for family planning; and information from key informants on country background, intervention packages, impact, enablers, challenges and ways forward on task sharing for family planning. The findings indicate mainly the involvement of community health workers, midwives and nurses in the task sharing programmes with training in provision of contraceptive pills and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC). Results indicate an increase in family planning indicators during the task shifting implementation period. For instance, injectable contraceptive use increased more than threefold within six months in Burkina Faso; contraceptive prevalence rate doubled with declines in total fertility and unmet need for contraception in Ethiopia; and uptake of LARC increased in Ghana and Nigeria. Some barriers to successful implementation include poor retention of lower cadre providers, inadequate documentation, and poor data systems. CONCLUSIONS: Task sharing plays a role in increasing contraceptive uptake and holds promise in promoting universal access to family planning in the SSA region. Evidence from this RPR is helpful in elaborating country policies and scale-up of task sharing for family planning programmes.

RESUME: INTRODUCTION: L'élargissement de l'accès et de l'utilisation d'une contraception efficace est important pour parvenir à l'accès universel aux services de santé reproductive, en particulier dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire, comme ceux de l'Afrique subsaharienne. L'insuffisance de prestataires de soins de santé qualifiés est un facteur important de l'augmentation des besoins non satisfaits en matière de contraception en Afrique subsaharienne. L'Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) recommande le partage des tâches comme stratégie importante pour améliorer l'accès aux services de santé sexuelle et reproductive en s'attaquant à la pénurie des prestataires de soins de santé. Cette étude explore l'état des lieux, les réussites, les défis et les impacts de la mise en œuvre du partage des tâches pour la planification familiale dans cinq pays d'Afrique subsaharienne. Ces données factuelles visent à promouvoir la mise en œuvre et l'extension des programmes de partage des tâches dans les pays d'Afrique sub-saharienne par l'OMS. MéTHODOLOGIE ET RéSULTATS: Nous avons utilisé la méthodologie de la revue rapide des programmes (RPR) pour générer des données sur le partage des tâches pour les programmes de planification familiale de cinq pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, à savoir le Burkina Faso, la Côte d'Ivoire, l'Éthiopie, le Ghana et le Nigéria. Cela impliquait la revue documentaire des documents de politique nationale de partage des tâches, des plans de mise en œuvre et des directives, des rapports annuels sur les programmes de santé sexuelle et reproductive, des rapports des réunions régionales de l'OMS sur le partage des tâches pour la planification familiale; et des informations provenant des informateurs clés sur le contexte du pays, les programmes d'intervention, l'impact, les catalyseurs, les défis et les voies à suivre pour le partage des tâches pour la planification familiale. Les résultats indiquent principalement l'implication des agents de santé communautaires, des sages-femmes et des infirmières dans les programmes de partage des tâches avec une formation liée à l'approvisionnement de pilules contraceptives et de contraceptifs réversibles à longue durée d'action (LARC). Les résultats indiquent une augmentation des indicateurs de planification familiale pendant la période de mise en œuvre du partage des tâches. Par exemple, l'utilisation des contraceptifs injectables a plus que triplé en six mois au Burkina Faso; le taux de prévalence de la contraception a doublé avec une baisse de la fécondité totale et des besoins non satisfaits en matière de contraception en Éthiopie; et l'adoption du LARC a augmenté au Ghana et au Nigéria. Certains obstacles à la réussite de la mise en œuvre comprennent une faible rétention des prestataires de niveau inférieur, une documentation inadéquate et des systèmes peu performants de gestion des données. CONCLUSIONS: Le partage des tâches joue un rôle important dans l'augmentation de l'utilisation de la contraception et dans la promotion de l'accès universel à la planification familiale dans la région Afrique subsaharienne. Les données de ce RPR sont utiles pour l'élaboration des politiques nationales et l'intensification du partage des tâches pour les programmes de planification familiale. Correct and consistent use of contraceptives has been shown to reduce pregnancy and childbirth related maternal deaths and generally improve reproductive health. However, statistics show that many women of reproductive age in SSA who ought to be using contraceptives are not using them. As a result, high rates of maternal deaths from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications have been recorded in the region. One of the key barriers to accessing family planning in SSA is the shortage of healthcare providers. To address this problem, WHO recommends task sharing as an intervention to improve access and use of sexual and reproductive health services including family planning. While task sharing guidelines have been developed and disseminated in many SSA countries, limited evidence exists on their adoption, implementation and outcomes to promote scale-up. This study undertook a rapid programme review of evidence from policy documents, implementation plans and guidelines, annual sexual and reproductive health programme reports, regional meeting reports and key stakeholder reports on task sharing to explore the status, successes, challenges and impacts of the implementation of task sharing for family planning in five SSA countries: Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria. We found that task sharing programmes mainly involved community health workers, midwives and nurses. The intervention led to increased modern contraception access and use and general improvement in family planning indicators during the implementation periods. Some barriers to successful implementation of task sharing include poor retention of lower cadre providers, inadequate documentation, and poor data systems.

Maintaining continuity of essential reproductive, maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Francophone West Africa.

The study aimed to analyse the challenges and solutions for maintaining the continuity of essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Francophone West Africa. A cross-sectional study involving the managers of Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) and vaccination programmes in Francophone West Africa was designed. The challenges that limited the supply and use of RMNCAH services included: lack of standardized guides and procedures for appropriate care, limited knowledge of health workers on the new coronavirus disease, lack of diagnostic materials and kits, ineffective organization of services, anxieties of health workers and populations, and postponement of immunisation mass campaigns. The solutions proposed to address these challenges, included better organization of services to respect the physical distance, provision of adapted guides and care procedures, enhanced communication, training of health workers, effective use of social media and information and communication technologies. This study showed that the managers of RMNCAH programmes are aware of the challenges that could limit the supply and use of essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights for advancing universal health coverage.

WHO's normative guidance on self-care interventions for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) promotes comprehensive, integrated and people-centred approaches to health service delivery. Implementation of self-care interventions within the context of human rights, gender equality, and a life course approach, offers an underused opportunity to improve universal health coverage (UHC) for all. Results from an online global values and preferences survey provided lay persons' and healthcare providers' perspectives on access, acceptability, and implementation considerations. This analysis examines 326 qualitative responses to open-ended questions from healthcare providers (n = 242) and lay persons (n = 70) from 77 countries. Participants were mostly women (66.9%) and were from the Africa (34.5%), America (32.5%), South-East Asia (5.6%), European (19.8%), Eastern Mediterranean (4.8%), and Western Pacific regions (2.8%). Participants perceived multiple benefits of self-care interventions for SRHR, including: reduced exposure to stigma, discrimination and access barriers, increased confidentiality, empowerment, self-confidence, and informed decision-making. Concerns include insufficient knowledge, affordability, and possible side-effects. Implementation considerations highlighted the innovative approaches to linkages with health services. Introduction of self-care interventions is a paradigm shift in health care delivery bridging people and communities through primary health care to reach UHC. Self-care interventions can be leveraged by countries as gateways for reaching more people with quality, accessible and equitable services that is critical for achieving UHC. The survey results underscored the urgent need to reduce stigma and discrimination, increase access to and improve knowledge of self-care interventions for SRHR for laypersons and healthcare providers to advance SRHR.

Task sharing for family planning services, Burkina Faso.

PROBLEM: In Burkina Faso, the coverage of services for family planning is low due to shortage of qualified health staff and limited access to services. APPROACH: Following the launch of the Ouagadougou Partnership, an alliance to catalyse the expansion of family planning services, the health ministry created a consortium of family planning stakeholders in 2011. The consortium adopted a collaborative framework to implement a pilot project for task sharing in family planning at community and primary health-care centre levels in two rural districts. Stakeholders were responsible for their areas of expertise. These areas included advocacy; monitoring and evaluation; and capacity development of community health workers (CHWs) to offer oral and injectable contraceptives to new users and of auxiliary nurses and auxiliary midwives to provide implants and intrauterine devices. The health ministry implemented supportive supervision cascades involving relevant planning and service levels. LOCAL SETTING: In Burkina Faso, only 15% (2563/17 087) of married women used modern contraceptives in 2010. RELEVANT CHANGES: Adoption of new policies and clinical care standards expanded task sharing roles in family planning. The consortium trained a total of 79 CHWs and 124 auxiliary nurses and midwives. Between January 2017 and December 2018, CHWs provided injectables to 3698 new users, and auxiliary nurses or midwives provided 726 intrauterine devices and 2574 implants to new users. No safety issues were reported. LESSONS LEARNT: The pilot project was feasible and safe, however, financial constraints are hindering scale-up efforts. Supportive supervision cascades were critical in ensuring success.

Proposing standardised geographical indicators of physical access to emergency obstetric and newborn care in low-income and middle-income countries.

Emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) can be life-saving in managing well-known complications during childbirth. However, suboptimal availability, accessibility, quality and utilisation of EmONC services hampered meeting Millennium Development Goal target 5A. Evaluation and modelling tools of health system performance and future potential can help countries to optimise their strategies towards reaching Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. The standard set of indicators for monitoring EmONC has been found useful for assessing quality and utilisation but does not account for travel time required to physically access health services. The increased use of geographical information systems, availability of free geographical modelling tools such as AccessMod and the quality of geographical data provide opportunities to complement the existing EmONC indicators by adding geographically explicit measurements. This paper proposes three additional EmONC indicators to the standard set for monitoring EmONC; two consider physical accessibility and a third addresses referral time from basic to comprehensive EmONC services. We provide examples to illustrate how the AccessMod tool can be used to measure these indicators, analyse service utilisation and propose options for the scaling-up of EmONC services. The additional indicators and analysis methods can supplement traditional EmONC assessments by informing approaches to improve timely access to achieve Universal Health Coverage and reach SDG 3.

Harmonizing national abortion and pregnancy prevention laws and policies for sexual violence survivors with the Maputo Protocol: proceedings of a 2016 regional technical meeting in sub-Saharan Africa.

In April 2016, the Population Council, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Consortium for Emergency Contraception, convened a regional meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, geared toward supporting countries in East and Southern Africa in meeting their obligations under the Maputo Protocol. These obligations include expanding access to women's reproductive health services - especially women survivors of sexual violence. Government and civil society representatives from six countries participated: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, and Zambia. Countries were selected based on to their being priority settings for the projects that sponsored the meeting, coupled with the fact that they were each far enough along in addressing post-rape care to be able to develop concrete policy, programming, and/or legal action plans by the end of the meeting. The meeting was the first activity in a joint project of technical assistance by the conveners, aimed at strengthening access to comprehensive post-rape care for survivors of sexual violence. It aimed to sensitize Member States to their obligations under the Maputo Protocol to expand women's access to emergency contraception (EC) and safe abortion services, and to inspire them to do so by providing information, research evidence, and a platform for discussion. The meeting deliberations fostered a better understanding of opportunities to broaden access to EC and safe abortion for survivors in the region. Discussions on EC in this regard centered on strengthening EC delivery in the clinical context, decentralizing EC services, increasing community awareness, and overcoming policy barriers. Safe abortion discussions focused primarily on legislation, policy, and integrating these services into existing services for sexual violence survivors. Country-specific action plans were developed to address gaps and weaknesses. The regional technical meeting concluded with a discussion of practical steps that participants could take to facilitate legal, policy, and program reform with respect to pregnancy prevention and safe abortion in their respective countries. The steps revolved around three mainly areas, namely: establishing an evidence base to inform action; creating forums for discussing the issues; and drafting action points to carry the momentum from the meeting forward. This paper details the proceedings from this regional technical meeting - proceedings that are of interest to the field of sexual and gender-based violence (and reproductive health, more broadly) as challenges faced by countries in implementing the Maputo Protocol are outlined, and evidence-informed and practice-based strategies for addressing these challenges are provided.

Correction to: Harmonizing national abortion and pregnancy prevention laws and policies for sexual violence survivors with the Maputo Protocol: proceedings of a 2016 regional technical meeting in sub-Saharan Africa.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s12919-018-0101-5.].

Research gaps and emerging priorities in sexual and reproductive health in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean regions.

BACKGROUND: In-country research capacity is key to creating improvements in local implementation of health programs and can help prioritize health issues in a landscape of limited funding. Research prioritization has shown to be particularly useful to help answer strategic and programmatic issues in health care, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH). The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a priority setting exercise that brought together researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions to identify key SRH issues. METHODS: In June 2015, researchers and program managers from the WHO Africa and Eastern Mediterranean regions met for a three-day meeting to discuss strategies to strengthen research capacity in the regions. A prioritization exercise was carried out to identify key priority areas for research in SRH. The process included five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, deliverability and acceptability, potential impact of the intervention/program to improve reproductive, maternal and newborn health substantially, and equity. RESULTS: The six main priorities identified include: creation and investment in multipurpose prevention technologies, addressing adolescent violence and early pregnancy (especially in the context of early marriage), improved maternal and newborn emergency care, increased evaluation and improvement of adolescent health interventions including contraception, further focus on family planning uptake and barriers, and improving care for mothers and children during childbirth. CONCLUSION: The setting of priorities is the first step in a dynamic process to identify where research funding should be focused to maximize health benefits. The key elements identified in this exercise provides guidance for decision makers to focus action on identified research priorities and goals. Prioritization and identifying/acting on research gaps can have great impact across multiple sectors in the regions for improved reproductive, maternal and children health.

Shortages of benzathine penicillin for prevention of mother-to-child transmission of syphilis: An evaluation from multi-country surveys and stakeholder interviews.

BACKGROUND: Benzathine penicillin G (BPG) is the only recommended treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of syphilis. Due to recent reports of country-level shortages of BPG, an evaluation was undertaken to quantify countries that have experienced shortages in the past 2 years and to describe factors contributing to these shortages. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Country-level data about BPG shortages were collected using 3 survey approaches. First, a survey designed by the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research was distributed to 41 countries and territories in the Americas and 41 more in Africa. Second, WHO conducted an email survey of 28 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention country directors. An additional 13 countries were in contact with WHO for related congenital syphilis prevention activities and also reported on BPG shortages. Third, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) collected data from 14 countries (where it has active operations) to understand the extent of stock-outs, in-country purchasing, usage behavior, and breadth of available purchasing options to identify stock-outs worldwide. CHAI also conducted in-person interviews in the same 14 countries to understand the extent of stock-outs, in-country purchasing and usage behavior, and available purchasing options. CHAI also completed a desk review of 10 additional high-income countries, which were also included. BPG shortages were attributable to shortfalls in supply, demand, and procurement in the countries assessed. This assessment should not be considered globally representative as countries not surveyed may also have experienced BPG shortages. Country contacts may not have been aware of BPG shortages when surveyed or may have underreported medication substitutions due to desirability bias. Funding for the purchase of BPG by countries was not evaluated. In all, 114 countries and territories were approached to provide information on BPG shortages occurring during 2014-2016. Of unique countries and territories, 95 (83%) responded or had information evaluable from public records. Of these 95 countries and territories, 39 (41%) reported a BPG shortage, and 56 (59%) reported no BPG shortage; 10 (12%) countries with and without BPG shortages reported use of antibiotic alternatives to BPG for treatment of maternal syphilis. Market exits, inflexible production cycles, and minimum order quantities affect BPG supply. On the demand side, inaccurate forecasts and sole sourcing lead to under-procurement. Clinicians may also incorrectly prescribe BPG substitutes due to misperceptions of quality or of the likelihood of adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Targets for improvement include drug forecasting and procurement, and addressing provider reluctance to use BPG. Opportunities to improve global supply, demand, and use of BPG should be prioritized alongside congenital syphilis elimination efforts.

Emergency obstetric and neonatal care needs assessment: Results of the 2010 and 2014 surveys in Burkina Faso.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare the availability, utilization, and quality of services for maternal and neonatal health in 2010 and 2014 in Burkina Faso. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of emergency obstetric and neonatal care services (EmONC) in all public and private health facilities in Burkina Faso in 2010 and a sample of 812 health facilities in 2014. The generic tools developed by the Averting Maternal Death and Disability (AMDD) program were used as the basic tools for evaluation. RESULTS: In 2010, 25 health facilities were considered as EmONC health facilities and there were 23 in 2014. In 2010 and 2014, the proportion of births in EmONC health facilities was low (4.5%). The cesarean delivery rate also remained very low, at 0.9% in 2010 and 1.13% in 2014. The proportion of obstetric complications supported in health facilities was 12.3% in 2010 and 17.1% in 2014. The direct complication case fatality rate in EmONC health facilities was 1.6% in 2010 and 1.3% in 2014. CONCLUSION: The two surveys did not show a significant improvement in the availability, utilization, and quality of maternal and neonatal healthcare services between 2010 and 2014.

Maternal and perinatal health research priorities beyond 2015: an international survey and prioritization exercise.

BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality has declined by nearly half since 1990, but over a quarter million women still die every year of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal-health related targets are falling short of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals and a post-2015 Development Agenda is emerging. In connection with this, setting global research priorities for the next decade is now required. METHODS: We adapted the methods of the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) to identify and set global research priorities for maternal and perinatal health for the period 2015 to 2025. Priority research questions were received from various international stakeholders constituting a large reference group, and consolidated into a final list of research questions by a technical working group. Questions on this list were then scored by the reference working group according to five independent and equally weighted criteria. Normalized research priority scores (NRPS) were calculated, and research priority questions were ranked accordingly. RESULTS: A list of 190 priority research questions for improving maternal and perinatal health was scored by 140 stakeholders. Most priority research questions (89%) were concerned with the evaluation of implementation and delivery of existing interventions, with research subthemes frequently concerned with training and/or awareness interventions (11%), and access to interventions and/or services (14%). Twenty-one questions (11%) involved the discovery of new interventions or technologies. CONCLUSIONS: Key research priorities in maternal and perinatal health were identified. The resulting ranked list of research questions provides a valuable resource for health research investors, researchers and other stakeholders. We are hopeful that this exercise will inform the post-2015 Development Agenda and assist donors, research-policy decision makers and researchers to invest in research that will ultimately make the most significant difference in the lives of mothers and babies.