Family planning in COVID-19 times: access for all

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially strained health systems and transformed the sexual and reproductive health environment worldwide. A WHO survey showed that across 105 countries, 90% have had health service disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.1 One of the most commonly disrupted areas is family planning services, with 68% of countries reporting service disruptions. The Guttmacher Institute estimated that a 10% decline in use of short-term and long-acting reversible contraceptives across 132 lowincome and middle-income countries would increase the unmet need for contraception over the course of 1 year to 48·6 million women, resulting in 15 million additional unintended pregnancies, 1·7 million additional women with major obstetric complications without care, and more than 3 million additional women resorting to unsafe abortions.

Read the rest at The Lancet.