SUMMARY REPORT
INTEGRATING HIV AND SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH SERVICES: INTERSECTIONS IN EAST AFRICA This is a summary report of a conference call organized by the Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group and the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health & Rights held on September 12, 2007. This call was part of the Conversations With/Dialogue On series organized by AGAG as a service to its members to promote information sharing and learning.
Historically, family planning services have been offered separately from HIV programs. But the potential benefits of integrating these two closely related services are becoming increasingly evident.
WHY THIS TOPIC? The three main reasons for this topic: • the feminization of HIV/AIDS, which recognizes the need to address both sexual and reproductive health issues • prevention efforts are inadequate • people with HIV who have access to antiretroviral (ARV) medicines are living longer and their reproductive health needs must be addressed and their rights must protected. Moderator Bill Bacon, Program Officer of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, opened the session by welcoming the two guest speakers and over thirty participants. He thanked the speakers participating on the call, Ms. Monica Oguttu and Dr. Ngudda Maggwa, who are both based in Kenya. Dr. Ngudda Maggwa, Director for Research, Africa Region, Family Health International/Kenya, opened the discussion. In its relatively long history, family planning programs demonstrably improved the health of women and couples. However, the data show that HIV-positive women in many African countries have high rates of unintended pregnancies because they are not able to meet their contraceptive needs. For example, a recent assessment in Uganda cited that over 90% of Ugandan women on ARV therapy who became pregnant had not planned or wanted to become pregnant. In South Africa, 84% of pregnancies among women who are getting HIV services are unintended. Contraceptive needs can be met in the context of HIV services and provide opportunities to assist these women in a more effective way than the traditional vertical programming approach.