Session: Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

4074.0: Tuesday, November 07, 2006: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM

Oral

Global Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

This session brings together three experts in sexual and reproductive health and rights. Cathy Albisa, a US attorney and Executive Director of the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), argues for using a human rights framework to promote an approach to reproductive health that is centered around the role of social factors. Within a domestic context, Ms. Albisa utilizes American welfare policy to illustrate the intersection of human rights and reproductive health. Jodi Jacobson, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), addresses the impact that US fundamentalist policies have had on HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health around the world. She argues that US global policy has had profound effects on funding of reproductive health programs and services “on the ground” in other countries, strengthening fundamentalist movements that are in direct opposition to individual’s human and reproductive rights. As Director General of the National Center for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS (CENSIDA), Dr. Jorge Saavedra presents his work in Mexico as an example of how a sexual and, more specifically, gay rights framework can be applied to HIV/AIDS prevention activities at the governmental level. He describes CENSIDA’s approach to HIV/AIDS within the context of Mexico, both as part of Latin America and as neighbor to the US. Together, the three presentations will provide attendees with a comprehensive view of current global sexual and reproductive health and rights issues, focusing on legal, policy, advocacy, and public health considerations.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to: Be able to apply human rights principles to domestic and international reproductive and sexual health concerns. Understand how domestic policies concerning global funding of reproductive and sexual health services affect individual’s human rights, and utilize advocacy tools to remedy the situation. Learn specific strategies employed in Mexico to address HIV/AIDS within a human and rights framework, in order to incorporate those strategies in the US and in other countries.

Organizer(s):

Diana Romero, PhD, MA

Moderator(s):

Diana Romero, PhD, MA

10:30 AM

Human rights as a tool to promote a social determinants approach to reproductive health
Catherine Albisa, JD

10:50 AM

Ideology, power, and the struggle for health and rights: The effects of US fundamentalisms on HIV prevention and reproductive health
Jodi L. Jacobson

11:10 AM

Intersection between HIV/AIDS and sexual and human rights