Beyond the barriers

Reproductive healthcare and family planning remained 'unspeakable' in the conservative Asian societies. It is time to look beyond the barriers to protect the health of women, children and the family's economic base

Bhagya SENARATNE

'Small is beautiful', 'a happy family' are some of the catchy statements widely used at home and abroad when it comes to family planning. The topic never lost its importance in roundtables or outside the cooling chambers as it is considered a socialresponsibility of each one of us with a heavy impact on the national economy if the matter is simply overlooked.

Health is priority for mother and child. Picture by Kavindra Perera

Population growth, reproductive healthcare and family planning are intertwined issues directly focusing on individual health and development which ultimately boils down to economic and overall development of the country. Awareness on reproductive healthcare can prevent unwanted pregnancy and helps build a healthy family based on the family income and other social, economic conditions. Hence educating women on this topic is timely and Sri Lanka could reap healthy results while minimizing many serious health hazards mainly the HIV.

When shedding light on reproductive healthcare the essential aspects that come under the focus are teenage pregnancy, pre-marital sex, abortion, child birth and sexually transmitted diseases.

These are almost 'social taboos' in the Asian society blocking communication, dialogue and transmission of knowledge on reproductive health. A workshop on advocacy and skill building on the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) was organized by the Youth Committee of the Family Planning Association (FPA) Sri Lanka and International Planned Parenthood Federation South Asia Regional Office (IPPF SARO) to draw attention of the persons concerned on HIV, sexual and reproductive health, in Colombo recently.

The FPA Sri Lanka initiates and explores innovative and challenging processes of family planning in Sri Lanka. The International Planned Parenthood Federation South Asia region includes the Family Planning Associations (FPAs) of Bangladesh, India, Iran, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

By focusing on the central role of women, 179 nations united to fight worsening global poverty, rapid population growth and stagnant economic conditions.

The Program of Action was initiated by the International Conference on Population and Development also known as the Cairo Consensus which was formed in Cairo, Egypt in September 1994.

One of the main principles of the Cairo Consensus was that the needs of the current generations should not occur at the expense of future generations. Countries agreed to involve young people in finding solutions to the issues that affect their own lives and common future.

The move calls for high priority for protection, survival and education development to combat the adverse effects of poverty. It also urges to enact and strictly enforce laws against economic exploitation and physical and mental abuse or neglect and to

create policies to discourage and eliminate child marriage.

The Program of Action called for investment in comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights for women and men agreeing to give universal access to services and information to improve sexual and reproductive health for everyone by 2015. The global need was positioned at $ 17.5 billion per year by 2000 and it rose to $21.7 billion per year by 2015. Donor nations pledged to offer one-third of the total, while developing nations agreed to provide the remainder.

However, the needs have increased and the donor commitments are not being met.

Sri Lanka which has emerged from the scourge of terrorism is seeing rapid development. At this juncture it is important that we focus on educating the youth on sexual and reproductive health and rights that lead to other development issues, such as poverty, ill health, women's rights and needs, and rapid population growth.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights include the full gamut of education, information, affordable and effective supplies and services necessary to allow all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children, and to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.

Ignorance parallel with dire economic conditions can lead women and youth to be away from proper family planning systems worsening the family's economic condition and the health of women and children.

Educating adolescent on reproductive health while they are at school is one way of overcoming the problems.

The youth should be well informed of reproductive healthcare and adolescent sexual behaviour to avoid serious consequences resulting from unprotected sex and contacting sexually transmitted diseases.

The workshop saw a gathering of enthusiastic youth from many NGOs, media personnel and activists. The Family Planning Association (FPA) Sri Lanka is an accredited member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) United Kingdom. They were the first organization to initiate and establish a space for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services in the country.

It was conducted by Arushi Singh of IPPF SARO, UNFPA Program Officer for HIV and Youth of Revathi Chawla and National Youth Coalition's Milinda Rajapaksha. Arts Faculty Dean of the Colombo University Prof. Indralal de Silva also spoke.