Specialists in contraception and reproductive health from Spain and Latin America have set up an organisation to promote the development of sexual and reproductive health in South and Central America.
The Latin American Federation of Contraception (Confederación Iberoamericana de Contracepción) was created this month at a meeting in Seville, Spain, attended by the Spanish Society of Contraception (Sociedad Española de Contracepción) with specialists from Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Peru.
The law on reproductive and sexual health in Latin America varies from country to country. The continent has high rates of sexual violence against women; lack of access to contraception and reproductive health, especially among indigenous populations; and many unwanted and teenage pregnancies.
Dr Ezequiel Pérez Campos, president of the Spanish Society of Contraception, said that he hoped this Latin American federation would strengthen the position of the medical societies involved, such as the Peruvian Society of Contraception (www.contracepcionperu.org) and the Argentinean Medical Association of Contraception (www.amada.org.ar), and would encourage the formation of societies for contraception and sexual health in other countries.
Goals include the scientific exchange of information on reproductive health; promotion of social and political reform; raising awareness of sexual and reproductive health needs; and involving the population in the fight for appropriate sexual and reproductive health access and information.
Dr Pérez Campos added that the Latin American Federation of Contraception would be a useful tool to support the legal battles already in place in many of these countries.
Valentin Jaime Serkovic, president of the Peruvian Society of Contraception, told the BMJ, “It is difficult to make young people and the general population aware of their sexual and reproductive health rights, and education in this matter is a cumbersome task.”
About 19% of all pregnancies in Peru are teenage pregnancies, and this number increases to 30% in the jungle region. In 1999 a law was passed to allow the free distribution of contraception, but it faced strong opposition from the church and government sectors.
“We only have contraception for those who can pay, whereas poor people are left aside,” Dr Serkovic said.
Dr Pérez Campos said that Spanish society changed substantially after contraception was legalised and made available in 1978. He hopes that the federation will help the countries involved to move forward and reach social goals for the development of reproductive health in the region and raise awareness of women’s sexual and reproductive health rights.
The next meeting of the Latin American Federation of Contraception will take place in Montevideo, Uruguay, in April.
