SUMMARY OF SUGGESTED ACTIONS
- Deepen and extend dialogue between women's health advocates and scientists on both the ethical and practical dimensions of fertility regulation technologies, programmes and policies.
- Bring women and women's perspectives into the work of the Special Programme and of other organizations and institutions that develop fertility regulation technologies and services.
- Re-examine the basic concepts of safety, efficacy, acceptability and availability to incorporate women's perceptions and experiences in the definition of each and to define an appropriate balance among them as criteria for method selection and introduction.
- Review and modify criteria used by national governments and donors in the selection of fertility regulation methods.
- Promote health and family planning systems that emphasize high quality care.
- Undertake further research on women's and men's attitudes, beliefs and practices about sexuality and fertility regulation in particular settings.
- Increase investment in male contraceptive methods and involve men in taking personal responsibility for reproductive health and fertility regulation.
- Support collaboration between scientists and women's health advocates on initiatives to eliminate unsafe abortion.
- Develop guidelines collaboratively to specify under what circumstances particular methods should be introduced and to clarify the criteria by which introductory trials determine whether a method is appropriate for widespread introduction.
- Include women's groups and women's health advocates in all parts of the introductory trial process, including ethical and scientific committees that design, monitor and evaluate introductory trials.
- Broaden the evaluation team to include service providers, social scientists, and representatives of women's groups, women's health advocacy groups and community groups.
- Disseminate the results of evaluation widely.
- Provide for long-term follow-up studies.
- Before selecting and introducing fertility regulation methods, undertake studies on: clients' needs and perspectives; knowledge, attitudes and practices of scientists, managers and providers; and the health and family planning infrastructure in each country.
- Foster research on the effectiveness and acceptability of barrier methods and withdrawal.
- Involve women and women's health advocates in all stages of research, including elaboration of ethical guide lines and standards for research, definition of priorities, research design and implementation, and analysis of findings.
- Develop and include innovative research techniques that are participatory, multidisciplinary and sensitive to the clients' situation.
- Train women in both biomedical and social sciences, and train scientists and policy-makers in women's perspectives on reproductive health.
- Disseminate scientific information in a more accessible form and language to women's and other non governmental groups, and provide the results of women's research and experience to scientists.
- Generate financial resources to support collaboration between women's health advocates and scientists.
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