Reproductive Health

THE FACTS

FAMILY PLANNING

63% of women* globally in 2017 used some form of contraception. Here’s the breakdown by region:

- North America 75%

- Latin America and Caribbean 75%

- Europe 70%

- Asia 65%

- Oceania 36%

33% of health issues for women between 15 and 44 are caused by sexual and reproductive problems. The most common examples include:

FAMILY PLANNING AND CONTRACEPTION

- Emergency contraception

- Adolescent pregnancy

- Unsafe abortion

- Maternal mortality

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS

- Human papillomavirus (HPV)

- Cervical cancer

Sources: World Health Organization, United Nations

SITUATION IN THE SARS

HONG KONG

Sexual and reproductive health services provided by the Family Planning Association in 2018:

Birth control services for men and women 104,910

Women’s health services, including hormone replacement therapy 25,516

Sub-fertility services 4,856

Men’s health services, including erectile dysfunction treatments 5,547

Surgical services, including vasectomy, male circumcision and surgical abortion 2,037

MACAO

Macao does not track sexual and reproductive services beyond basic census data.

MATERNAL MORTALITY

94% of maternal deaths occur in low and lower-middle-income countries

38% decrease in maternal mortality rate, from 342 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 211 deaths in 2017

DEADLY BIRTHS

As of 2017, African nations had the highest maternal mortality rates.*

- South Sudan 1,150

- Chad 1,140

- Sierra Leone 1,120

- Nigeria 917

- Somalia & Central African Republic 829

*per 100,000 live births

810 women died every single day in 2017

PREVENTABLE VAUSES:

- Severe bleeding

- Infection

- High blood pressure

- Complications from delivery

- Unsafe abortions

UNDERAGE PREGNANCY

2.5 MILLION girls under 15 years old give birth annually

3.9 MILLION girls aged 15-19 undergo unsafe abortions every year

33,000 child marriages every day

650 MILLION women and girls alive today married as children

140 MILLION girls will become child brides by 2030 without accelerated progress

Sources: WHO, UNICEF

INFERTILITY

Between 50 and 80 million people globally are infertile, accounting for roughly 8-12% of couples. Many turn to assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination, intrafallopian transfer and surrogacy.

WHO USES IVF?

By age:

- 12% < 30

- 23% > 40

- 65% 30-39

Marital status:

- 3% Single

- 5.9% in a same-sex relationship

- 90.7% in a heterosexual relationship

*Based on 2017 figures in the UK

IVF IN FOCUS

2.5 MILLION in vitro cycles annually around the world

23.3% success rate for live births from IVF

500,000 deliveries annually

> 8 MILLION IVF children born to date

EMERGING TRENDS

EGG FREEZING

- 1,200% Increase in egg freezing procedures in the US, from 745 in 2009 to 6,207 in 2015

- Nearly 11,000 American* women freeze their eggs annually

- 257% Increase in the UK, from 410 egg-freezing cycle in 2012 to 1,462 in 2017

BY AGE: The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority (HFEA) says the optimal time for egg-freezing is during a woman’s 20s and early 30s. However, 67% of patients are older than 35:

*Global data is not available

Sources: The Guardian, HFEA, The Economist

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

Driven by entrenched cultural and religious beliefs, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) causes injury to female genital organs for no medical purpose:

< 15 The age when most FGM is carried out

> 3 MILLION girls annually are estimated to be at risk of FGM

> 200 MILLION women and girls alive today have been subjected

30 COUNTRIES in Africa, the Middle East and Asia practice FGM

HEALTH RISKS

- Infections

- Genital tissue swelling

- Urinary problems

- HIV transmission

- Death

MALE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PROBLEMS

MOST COMMON ISSUES

- Low sexual desire

- Ejaculation disorders

- Penile disorders

- Impotence

- Erectile dysfunction

- Testicular cancer

- Prostate disease

ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

The inability to maintain an erection for sexual intercourse can be caused by psychological or physical reasons:

PSYCHOLOGICAL

- Alcoholism

- Stress

- Anxiety

- Depression

- Fatigue

- Smoking

- Drug abuse

- Lack of communication between partners

PHYSICAL

- Injury to the penis

- Prostate cancer treatment

- Spinal cord injury

- Neurological diseases

- Heart, Peyronie's or kidney disease

- Diabetes, obesity or low testosterone

- High cholesterol and lipid levels

- Hypertension (high blood pressure)

- Hormonal disorders

- Certain medications

BY AGE

5% of men in their 40s have complete erectile dysfunction, compared with about 15% of men in their 70s

ESSENTIAL TERMS

Abortion - The termination of pregnancy. Safe abortions usually refer to legal abortions performed by a registered medical professional in a medical clinic or hospital. Unsafe abortions usually refer to illegal abortions performed in an unhygienic environment by individuals who lack the necessary qualifications.

Assisted Reproductive Technology - Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) includes all forms of fertility treatments where both eggs and embryos are handled, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor in vitro fertilisation (donor IVF), intrauterine insemination, intrafallopian transfer, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). In the case of IVF, doctors remove eggs from a woman’s ovaries, then fertilise them with the father’s sperm in a laboratory. Successfully fertilised eggs are then returned to the original woman’s body (IVF) or donated to another woman (donor IVF).

Contraception - Various methods used by women to prevent pregnancy, including the use of condoms, oral contraceptives, the morning after pill, intrauterine devices, contraceptive rings, contraceptive implants, contraceptive injections or sterilisation.

Donor insemination - An assisted fertilisation procedure involving the use of a syringe to insert semen into a woman’s vagina.

Egg Freezing - Also known as oocyte cryopreservation, egg freezing is an increasingly popular procedure intended to preserve a woman’s reproductive potential for professional or personal reasons. During the treatment, doctors extract a patient’s eggs, freeze them, then store them for several years until the woman is ready to try fertilising them.

Family Planning - Planning by a family to determine the number and timing of their children.

Maternal Mortality - When a woman dies while pregnant or within 42 days of terminating a pregnancy due to complications related to the pregnancy.

Reproductive Health - Complete physical, mental and social well-being relating to the reproductive system and its functions. It implies that people have a satisfying and safe sex life, with the capacity to reproduce and have the freedom to decide when and how often this will be.

Sexual Health - Closely tied to Reproductive Health, but focuses on the physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality.

arianalife.com