Thirty years earlier, the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), kept in Cairo, Egypt, highlighted the right of all individuals to attain the greatest standard of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). In 2004, WHO published a reproductive health strategy - ratified by 191 Member States at the Fifty-seventh World Health Assembly - that reinforced the centrality of SRHR to societies and economies (Resolution WHA57.12). These structures are grounded in gender equality and acknowledge the imperishable importance of sexual health in attaining health for all.

WHO scientists dealt with Member States, civil society and communities across all regions to operationalize an International Strategy to cover the five crucial pillars for enhancing SRHR:

- improving antenatal, perinatal, postpartum and newborn care

- offering household preparation services

- getting rid of hazardous abortion

- fighting sexually sent infections (STIs).

- promoting sexual health.

Resolution WHA57.12 more notified SRHR policies and directing documents in numerous areas and Member States. For example, Latin America's 2013 Montevideo Consensus and Africa's Maputo Strategy from 2016 (building upon the original 2006 plan) both include language and ideas strengthening and supporting SRHR.

" The global technique is the foundational policy document that centres WHO's mandate for sexual and reproductive health to date," stated Dr Pascale Allotey, Director of the UN Special Programme on Human Reproduction (HRP) and WHO's Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health. "The text remains important in adding to guiding research study priorities and working with nations to establish beneficial resources to make sure thorough SRHR across the life course."

Significant progress has been made over the last 20 years within each of the 5 pillars, consisting of these examples.

- The Global strategy happened as the world was reeling from the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Today, the variety of individuals obtaining HIV has fallen by 38% because 2010 alone, due in part to the Strategy's emphasis on getting rid of STIs including HIV.

- Since March 2022, 60% of WHO Member States have consisted of the human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) in their regular immunization schedules, considerably advancing efforts to remove cervical cancer as a public health risk.

- Prioritizing family preparation services and birth control access caused WHO's Family planning: an international handbook for providers reference guide, which has actually been disseminated over a million times. Accordingly, the percentage of females using modern-day contraceptive methods increased from 467 million in 1990 to 874 million in 2022, while a broader variety of contraceptive options is now readily available.


A 2020 research study discovered that there has actually been a worldwide reduction in unintended pregnancy. Furthermore, evidence-based medical abortion routines have actually improved international access to abortion, and over 60 nations have actually liberalized abortion laws in the previous thirty years in line with proof on the importance of such efforts to guarantee the health of females and teen girls.

Professor Kate Gilmore, co-chair of the Gender and Human Rights Advisory Panel of HRP, credited the Strategy and WHO for assisting create crucial scientific evidence on SRHR that has actually contributed to some of these shifts. "A few of the great advances that we've seen - including the method civil society has taken up the cause to argue for access to safe and legal abortion - are because of the Strategy and the systematic generation of evidence over these past twenty years," she stated.

Despite early gains, however, current years have seen signs of stagnancy. From 2000 to 2020, the maternal mortality rate dropped by 34% around the world - however a 2023 report found that progress has actually mostly stalled given that. The worrisome pattern was illustrated throughout a current occasion showcasing global datasets on the development of SRHR given that ICPD. High maternal mortality rates continue in a couple of countries and sexual health concerns, such as endometriosis, infertility and sexual erectile dysfunction, are typically ignored or normalized.

Dr Allotey and Dr Manjulaa Narasimhan, researcher at WHO and HRP, noted in a current commentary in the WHO Bulletin that the SRHR agenda stays unfinished and in some instances has fallen back due to geopolitical tensions, financial downturns, the worldwide food crisis, environment change, humanitarian crises and COVID-19.

There are emerging chances to catalyse development - for example, by boosting human rights-based methods in SRHR and embedding principles like non-discrimination, including in crisis scenarios. Improving health systems with a main health-care approach can boost equity and expand access to comprehensive SRHR services. New innovations and alternative service delivery techniques can enhance SRHR by expanding access, option and autonomy.

Other future-looking focus locations within SRHR include research study on the transformative function of expert system and innovative birth control methods, additional work on strengthening health systems, and the sustaining prioritization of favorable pregnancy and giving birth experiences.

At a wider level, Dr Allotey required an ongoing focus on the foundational significance of SRHR. "Sexual and reproductive health must never ever be relegated to the margins of health care, however acknowledged as crucial for the overall well-being of individuals and the neighborhoods in which they live," she stated.