Practical measures detailed to support the continuity of family planning services during emergencies
The global population reportedly crossed 8 billion 15 November 2022, according to estimates by the United Nations. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released an updated family planning handbook, which provides health workers and policymakers with the most current information on contraceptive options.
The latest edition of the handbook provides tangible measures for frontline health workers to protect access to family planning services during emergencies. It has delved into more comprehensive access to self-administered contraceptives and the use of digital technologies by health providers.
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The global health body has added two new chapters — Family Planning for Adolescents and Women at High Risk for HIV and Providing Family Planning Services During an Epidemic.
This is the fourth edtion of the manual, which is the most widely used reference guide on the topic globally, with over a million copies distributed or downloaded to date. The last edition was web-based and released in February 2021.
The handbook has drawn on lessons from the recent outbreaks, said a press note. Family planning services can be severely compromised during emergencies, as experience from recent outbreaks showed.
During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, approximately 70 per cent of countries reported disruptions to these vital services — intensifying risks of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, according to WHO.
The manual detailed practical measures that support the continuity of family planning services during epidemics to help avoid such outcomes in the future. Health practitioners can also support ongoing contraceptive access even when physical mobility is reduced, such as providing multi-month supplies.
Access to high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health services and information, including a full range of family planning methods, is fundamental to realising the rights and well-being of people, the press note added.
“Family planning promotes self-actualisation, empowerment, as well as health and well-being and reduces maternal and infant deaths through the prevention of unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortion,” said Pascale Allotey, WHO’s director for sexual and reproductive health and rights.
“The updated recommendations in this Handbook show that almost any family planning method can be used safely by all women and that accordingly, all women should have access to a range of options that meet their unique needs and goals in life,” said Mary Gaffield, scientist and lead author of the handbook.
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Most methods can be provided even when resources are limited, the handbook said. Basic information that providers can use to assist individuals and couples in choosing, using and changing family planning methods as they move through their lives has been provided in it.
Programme managers and providers play a central role in supporting clients to make voluntary and informed choices from a range of safe and available methods. Providers can ensure that a client’s reproductive intentions, life situation and preferences govern their voluntary family planning decisions with the information from the handbook, it added.
The manual has sections on the reproductive health of a diverse group of people, from adolescents and those nearing menopause to people with disabilities. It also gives guidelines for postabortion family planning, infertility and violence against women.
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