New ONLINE Publications from WHO Dept. of Reproductive Health and Research
New publications on family planning from WHO's Department of Reproductive Health and Research now available online:
1. Evidence-based guidelines on contraceptive use (available in multiple languages)
2. Decision-Making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers
3. Fact sheet on emergency contraceptive pills
4. Statement on hormonal contraception and bone health
5. Statement on carcinogenicity of combined hormonal contraceptives and combined menopausal treatment
See below for more information.
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/
1. Evidence-based guidelines on contraceptive use now available online in French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish
The latest edition of WHO's important publication, Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 3rd edition, is now available online in FRENCH, PORTUGESE, RUSSIAN and SPANISH. Its sister guideline, Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use, 2nd edition, is also available in French and Spanish, and will soon be published in Portuguese and Russian.
They can be downloaded at:
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/
The documents will also soon be available in ARABIC.
These documents aim to improve access to quality care in family planning by providing recommendations on (i) medical eligibility criteria for selection and use of contraceptive methods, and (ii) the safe and effective use of various contraceptive methods. The documents are intended to be used by policy-makers, programme managers and the scientific community, and aim to assist the preparation of guidelines for service delivery of contraceptives.
To order hard copies of the guidelines, please contact
rhrpublications@who.int.
2. Just published: Decision-Making Tool for Family Planning Clients and Providers
The Decision-making Tool is a new evidence-based resource to promote high-quality family planning counselling. It has been developed by WHO and the INFO Project at Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs.
Designed as a job-aid in flipchart format, the tool aims to support family planning providers to counsel their clients in choosing and using a contraceptive method. It contains a step-by-step counselling process, as well as detailed technical information on 14 different contraceptive methods.
Designed in PowerPoint, the files can easily be downloaded and adapted for use in national family planning programmes. Limited numbers of hard copies are also available free of charge from the INFO Project. Please contact orders@jhuccp.org for more information.
For more information or to download the files see
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/counselling.html
The tool will soon be available in ARABIC, FRENCH and SPANISH. National adaptations or translations are also available, or will soon be available, in Indonesian, Burmese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Nepali, Bengali, Farsi and Dari.
3. Updated fact sheet on Levonorgestrel for Emergency Contraception
This updated fact sheet provides information on levonorgestrel emergency contraceptive pills, including the need for emergency contraception, mode of action, effectiveness, and medical eligibility criteria.
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/docs/EC_factsheet.pdf
The fact sheet is also available in Spanish at
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/es/ec_factsheet_es.pdf.
4. Statement on Hormonal Contraception and Bone Health
This statement presents the recommendations from a WHO technical consultation held in June 2005, which reviewed the evidence relating to the impact of hormonal contraception on bone health. The consultation reconfirmed that there should be no restriction on the use of DMPA, including no restriction on duration of use, among women aged 18 to 45, and that among adolescents and women over 45, the advantages of using DMPA generally outweigh the theoretical safety concerns regarding fracture risks.
See the following link for the full statement and recommendations in English and French:
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/bone_health.html
5. Statement on carcinogenicity of combined hormonal contraceptives and combined menopausal treatment.
In June 2005, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) convened a meeting of experts to review the scientific evidence on the carcinogenic risks to humans posed by combined estrogen-progestogen oral contraceptives (COCs) and combined estrogen-progestogen hormonal menopausal therapy. The outcome of this meeting will be an IARC Monograph, to be published in 2006.
This Statement, produced by the Department of Reproductive Health and Research, contextualizes the IARC statement in terms of the overall risks and benefits of contraceptive use and hormonal menopausal therapy. The statement reaffirms WHO's position on the safety of contraceptive use, namely that for most women using COCs, the health benefits clearly exceed the health risks.
http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/family_planning/cocs_hrt.html