Assessment of Contraceptive Needs and Improving Access in the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands in the Context of Zika

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Caitlin Green, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta; Charity Ntansah, Karna Contracting LLC; Meghan T Frey, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta; Jamie W Krashin, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta; Eva Lathrop, Emory University; Lisa Romero, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-02-01
• Publisher: MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2020, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2020.8302
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF WOMENS HEALTH
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 139
• End Page: 147
• Grant/Funding Information: No funding information to report.
• Keywords: USAPI; Social Sciences; FAMILY-PLANNING-SERVICES; preparedness; STRATEGIES; ACTING REVERSIBLE CONTRACEPTIVES; Science & Technology; contraception; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; NETWORK; Obstetrics & Gynecology; PREPAREDNESS; POSTPARTUM WOMEN; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Medicine, General & Internal; General & Internal Medicine; Women's Studies; PUERTO-RICO; Zika; UNITED-STATES; INCREASING ACCESS

Abstract

Scientific evidence demonstrated a causal relationship between Zika virus infection during pregnancy and neurologic abnormalities and other congenital defects. The U.S. government's Zika Virus Disease Contingency Response Plan recognized the importance of preventing unintended pregnancy through access to high-quality family planning services as a primary strategy to reduce adverse Zika-related birth outcomes during the 2016-2017 Zika virus outbreak. The U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) includes three U.S. territories: American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam, and three independent countries in free association with the United States: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. Aedes spp. mosquitoes, the primary vector that transmits Zika virus, are common across the Pacific Islands, and in 2016, laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika virus infection in USAPI were reported. CDC conducted a rapid assessment by reviewing available reproductive health data and discussing access to contraception with family planning providers and program staff in all six USAPI jurisdictions between January and May 2017. In this report, we summarize findings from the assessment; discuss strategies developed by jurisdictions to respond to identified needs; and describe a training that was convened to provide technical assistance to USAPI. Similar rapid assessments may be used to identify training and technical assistance needs in other emergency preparedness and response efforts that pose a risk to pregnant women and their infants.