Senegal provides a fascinating case study in how to work simultaneously to prevent the spread of HIV and meet the family planning needs of women and families. The country's successes also reveal why now, more than ever, U.S. investments in family planning are critical to empowering women, reducing poverty, reducing transmission of HIV and deaths from AIDS, and saving lives.
Currently, more than 215 million women around the world want access to quality reproductive health care but don’t have it. Global investment in international reproductive health and voluntary family planning is one of the best ways to save maternal and infant lives, and build sustainable communities. But on a recent trip to Ethiopia, I saw firsthand how limited financial resources, inadequate systems and supply chains, and poor coordination often keep contraceptives from getting into the hands of those who desperately want and need them.
