The well-being of women, children and adolescents is at the centre of global health and development, as reflected in the UN SDGs (target 3 and 5), UNFPA and WHO priorities.  

The global figures are certainly staggering. 

Over 40% reproductive-aged (15-49) women worldwide have an unmet need for family planning. In Africa and the Middle East less than half the need for modern contraceptives has been met (1). Maternal mortality remains unacceptably high; around 295,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2017, the majority of these deaths occurring in low and lower middle-income countries (2).  

Global estimates published by WHO indicate that about 1 in 3 (35%) women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime. More than 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of FGM annually (3).  

STIs continue to have a profound impact on sexual and reproductive health worldwide. More than 1 million sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are acquired every day (4, 5). Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in women with an estimated 570,000 new cases in 2018, representing 7.5% of all female cancer deaths (6). 

The focus of this priority area is to ensure the sexual and reproductive health needs of all people, including women, adolescents and those who are underserved or vulnerable, are met. Research at Bristol, in close collaboration with and guided by the priorities of LMIC partners, explores how people's reproductive health rights can be promoted and protected, how access to family planning, sexual and reproductive health information and services can be improved or reinforced. Our work also focusses on achieving key global policy goals relating to elimination of preventable maternal deaths and morbidities, sexually transmitted diseases, gender-biased violence and harmful practices.

1. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/family-planning-contraception 
2. Trends in maternal mortality: 2000 to 2017: estimates by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019.   
3. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation 
4. Rowley J, Vander Hoorn S, Korenromp E, Low N, Unemo M, Abu-Raddad LJ, et al.  Global and Regional Estimates of the Prevalence and Incidence of Four Curable Sexually Transmitted Infections in 2016. WHO Bulletin.  June 2019.  https://www.who.int/bulletin/online_first/BLT.18.228486.pdf 
5. Report on global sexually transmitted infection surveillance, 2018. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2018. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO] https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/stis-surveillance-2018/en/ 
6. Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2018). Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Today. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/today