The global coronavirus outbreak is a major threat to the health of women and girls globally and is anticipated to disproportionately affect low-resource settings where barriers to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care already existed. Today, the government of Canada affirmed that the failure to meet women’s and girls’ urgent SRH needs, including abortion, is a denial of basic rights to health, autonomy, and gender equality.
Through rapid funding from Global Affairs Canada, Ipas will work in select countries in the global south to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 by:
- Providing personal protective equipment (PPE) and developing guidelines, training and support for providers to protect front line workers and preserve people’s confidence in health facilities as low risk places to go for essential care, including abortion
- Streamlining abortion services to improve access to abortion care using innovations including abortion telemedicine, “no touch” and minimal visit abortion care, pharmacy access and accurate information to women who opt to self-manage abortion
- Improving forecasting of abortion commodities and design strategies to address essential supply shortages, including PPE
- Working with humanitarian organizations to strengthen “light touch” approaches like abortion with pills and self-managed abortion in humanitarian settings
For more information, contact [email protected].