UN: 12 million women denied access to birth control due to pandemic
11 March 2021
Nearly 12 million women lost access to family planning services including birth control and contraceptives because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations Population Fund said in a report published Thursday.
Why it matters: The UNPF said the data from 115 low-and-middle-income countries shows the disruption for a total of 3.6 months caused by the pandemic over the past year led to 1.4 million unintended pregnancies.
- The report, published on the first anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, is another reminder of how the pandemic has disproportionately affected women.
- UNFPA Executive Director Natalia Kanem noted to AFP that while the coronavirus has "wrought havoc" on women and girls around the world, the "poorest and the most vulnerable now are seeing the most dire consequences."
What they did: The UNFPA made the projections using anonymous Google Mobility data that showed access to grocery stores and pharmacies to indicate access to essential services, and from collecting data from country partners.
What they found: The worst disruptions to family planning services were largely concentrated in April and May, when governments around the world imposed lockdowns and other restrictions on citizens in attempts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Yes, but: Researchers found the disruption was not as bad as the UNFPA had projected last April, when the reproductive and maternal health agency forecast that some 47 million women would be denied access to contraceptives if lockdowns had continued for six months.
- "From governments to manufacturers to healthcare providers, the world’s supply chains for modern contraceptives have shown their resilience, and largely bounced back from the stock-outs we saw in the earlier days of the pandemic," Kanem said in an emailed statement.
But, but, but: The report makes clear that "disruptions remain a concern, and limited data and some inconsistencies across countries require ongoing monitoring and analysis."
The bottom line: Per the report, "The severe social and economic impacts of COVID-19 demand intensified action for women and girls."
Read the full report, via DocumentCloud:
Go deeper... WHO: 1 in 3 women globally experiences violence
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.