In-country availability of medical abortion medicines: a description of the framework and methodology of the WHO landscape assessments.

Reprod Health

UNDP-UNFPA-UNICEF-WHO-World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction (HRP), Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland.

Published: January 2023

Background: Availability of quality-assured medical abortion medicines plays a crucial role in providing comprehensive abortion care. However, access to these medicines is still restricted for many abortion seekers. Increasing availability of affordable, quality-assured mifepristone and misoprostol is important to improve access to safe medical abortion services. Driven by the outcomes of a global consultation hosted by the World Health Organization and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency in 2018, we decided to holistically examine access to medical abortion medicines from supply to demand. The overarching principle of the national landscape assessments was to generate evidence to support policy dialog and policymaking that is contextual to the needs of the country. This paper aims to describe the framework and methodological approach used in the World Health Organization landscape assessments of medical abortion medicines at country-level.

Methods: A country assessment protocol was developed to guide the methodology of the World Health Organization landscape assessments. The assessment protocol included adaptation of an existing availability framework, an online desk review and literature review for existing data available for the country of interest, country-level key informant interviews, and analysis of the data to identify barriers and opportunities to improve medical abortion availability.

Conclusion: The availability framework and methodology will allow the identification of key barriers that limit readiness of medical abortion medicines, and the development of opportunities to overcome those barriers. The national landscape assessments will provide directions for future investments and offer guidance for policy and programming on medical abortion care.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9875387PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12978-022-01530-7DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

medical abortion
32
abortion medicines
20
landscape assessments
20
health organization
12
abortion
10
medical
8
framework methodology
8
abortion care
8
national landscape
8
organization landscape
8

Similar Publications

Unveiling the molecular mechanisms of recurrent miscarriage through endoplasmic reticulum stress related gene expression.

Sci Rep

January 2025

Department of TCM, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, 100026, China.

Recurrent miscarriage (RM) is a reproductive disorder affecting couples worldwide. The underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive, even though emerging evidence has implicated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). We investigated RM- and ERS-related genes to develop a diagnostic model that can enhance predictive ability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

HMGB1 induces unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion by mediating decidual macrophage autophagy.

Int Immunopharmacol

January 2025

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No 218 Jixi Road, Hefei 230022, Anhui, China; NHC Key Laboratory of Study on Abnormal Gametes and Reproductive Tract (Anhui Medical University), No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China; Engineering Research Center of Biopreservation and Artificial Organs, Ministry of Education, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China; Innovation Research Institute of Engineering Medicine and Medical Equipment, Anhui Medical University, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China; Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, No 81 Meishan Road, Hefei 230032, Anhui, China. Electronic address:

Background: The overexpression of HMGB1 at the maternal-fetal interface (MFI) is recognized as a significant factor in Unexplained Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion (URSA). This study aimed to investigate autophagy in the decidual tissues of URSA patients and to explore the relationship between HMGB1 and macrophage autophagy at the MFI in URSA.

Methods: Human decidual tissues were collected from 40 patients diagnosed with URSA and from 60 women undergoing active termination of pregnancy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Medical Termination of Pregnancy: Law and Controversies in the United States and Australia.

J Law Med

November 2024

Barrister, Castan Chambers, Melbourne, Australia; Professor of Law and Professorial Fellow in Psychiatry, University of Melbourne; Honorary Professor of Forensic Medicine, Monash; Adjunct Professor, Southern Cross University.

This editorial reviews the changes over two decades in the United States and Australia in relation to the law governing access to drugs enabling medical termination of pregnancy. It also scrutinises three contentious decisions by the United States Supreme Court between 2022 and 2024 in relation to abortion. It argues that the receptive environment in the United States Supreme Court, as it is currently constituted, to challenges to the lawfulness of terminations of pregnancy and abortion medications is likely to inspire comparable challenges as part of the "Abortion Wars" in other countries, including Australia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: We explored awareness of and attitudes about the safety of various methods people use to attempt to end a pregnancy without medical assistance, which we refer to in this study collectively as self-managed abortion (SMA).

Methods: In 2020, we invited individuals living in eight United States (US) states considered "hostile" to abortion rights or with a history of criminalizing abortions performed outside the formal healthcare system to participate in semi-structured telephone interviews regarding their attitudes toward these practices. We analyzed coded transcripts for content and themes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Characterizing thyroid follicles histogenesis in the human fetuses: A morphological approach.

Tissue Cell

December 2024

Department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka 576104, India. Electronic address:

Thyroid gland which is responsible for the maintenance of metabolism and growth is derived from thyroglossal duct, an outpocketing of foregut. The microscopic study of thyroid gland during development in first, second and third trimesters has utmost significance to understand the several developmental thyroid disorders metabolically and structurally. This study is descriptive observational study carried in tissue sections taken from thyroid gland of still birth and spontaneously aborted human fetuses of first, second and third trimester.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!