Recorded presentation

Duff Gillespie, PhD, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of PUblic Health, The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Rm.W4509, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410 502-0696, dgillesp@jhsph.edu

Dr. Gillespie poses the question of whether family planning and reproductive health are being eclipsed by disease-specific priorities, notably HIV/AIDS. Although US bilateral funding for reproductive health, including family planning has increased in recent years, Gillespie refers to UNFPA data which shows a sharp decline in total donor funding dedicated to family planning. The weakening of financial and other support for family planning, Gillespie posits, threatens all reproductive health services. He notes that because of its relatively strong funding position at the time of the Cairo conference, family planning effectively functioned as the pillar around which other reproductive health services were to be built.

Gillespie shows various ways in which the separation of HIV/AIDS has detrimentally affected reproductive health and family planning. The focus on HIV/AIDS treatment by the US Government and WHO further separates HIV/AIDS from other reproductive health services, including family planning, which are largely preventive. He examines the roles played by donors, national governments and a small number of reproductive health foundations in addressing shifts in funding and program priorities related to HIV/AIDS. He includes as examples focus countries under the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. Gillespie describes priorities for completing the unfinished agenda for family planning and outlines a number of “best bets” for restoring interest and financial support for both family planning and reproductive health.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand trends in funding for family planning and reproductive health over the past decade.
• Identify "best bets" for restoring financial support for international family planning and reproductive health.

Keywords: Family Planning, Reproductive Health

Related Web page: N/A

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation