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Rights of sexual, reproductive health rights emphasised

TBP Desk
04 Dec 2022 00:00:00 | Update: 03 Dec 2022 22:49:03
Rights of sexual, reproductive health rights emphasised
Participants at day-long conference organised by Bangladesh Health Watch (BHW) at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka on Saturday – Courtesy Photo

Speakers emphasised on the rights of sexual and reproductive health rights. They underscored the need to recognise the socio-economic determinants of women’s health.

They made the call at a day-long conference organised by Bangladesh Health Watch (BHW) at BRAC Centre Inn in Dhaka on Saturday, said a press release.

BHW Chair of Advisory Group Rounaq Jahan presided over the conference. Paying tribute to Adrienne Germain, Rounaq Jahan talked about Adrienne Germain’s pioneering role in the 1970s and early 1980s in promoting girl’s and women’s rights and health through funding support of innovative government and non-government projects and programs to improve maternal and child health and increase opportunities for women’s employment and income.

She was a strong supporter of Bangladesh government’s Menstrual Regulation (MR) programme. She gained worldwide recognition for conceptualizing the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) framework for policies and programs in the health sector.

SRHR is selected as the theme of the conference to pay tribute to the memory of Adrienne Germain as she was a pioneer in developing SRHR approach of programming in health and population policy and program.

The first session on Women, Girls, and SRHR in Bangladesh was chaired by Shams El Arifeen, Senior Director, Maternal and Child Health, icddr,b. Three papers were presented in this session.

Kaosar Afsana, professor, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, in her paper ‘Women at the Margin: The Reductionist Approach to Maternal Health’ asserted that although Bangladesh has seen a decline in maternal deaths over the years, social determinants, which impede further progress have been overlooked.

Sabina Faiz Rashid, Dean and Professor, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, spoke on ‘Fault Lines in Public Health: Young Women’s Lives in Dhaka Slums’ and asserted that gender, sexuality, and the human dimension of health need to be discussed in order to have contextually relevant programs and policies for young women living in slum environments.

The second session of the conference focused on SRHR of Vulnerable Groups in Bangladesh and was chaired by Judith Bruce, former senior associate, The Population Council. Bruce outlined several priorities including early and comprehensive support for the rising generation of girls -beginning in early adolescence in the communities characterized by persistent child marriage and poverty as well as those experiencing acute shocks of climate change and conflict. Judith stressed the need for establishing safe and supportive “all girl “meeting places to acquire vital health information.

In this session, Tasnim Azim, Adjunct Professor, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, in her paper explained that sexual and reproductive health are inextricably interlinked, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect both.

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