Foreword From the World Health Organization
The technology and products for sexual and reproductive health continue to evolve to improve the quality and safety of care, while meeting user needs and addressing considerations for access. Family planning providers are at the core of health system responses to reduce persisting high levels of unmet need for family planning, including the challenges of responding to this need in the midst of humanitarian crises, epidemics, and other contemporary global priorities. This Global Handbook for Providers offers clear, up-to-date information and advice to help family planning providers meet clients’ needs, inform their choices, and support their use of contraception. The Handbook is also an excellent resource for training and can be used to reinforce supervision.
The 2022 edition of the Handbook includes two chapters that were added to the web-based edition in February 2021—Family Planning for Adolescents and Women at High Risk for HIV and Providing Family Planning Services During an Epidemic. These chapters equip providers with the information and tools they need to maintain quality services in the context of epidemics and to integrate appropriate testing and preventative care in settings where HIV risk is high. In addition, the Handbook includes the latest guidance on cervical cancer and pre-cancer prevention, screening and treatment; syndromic management of sexually transmitted infections; family planning in postabortion care; and the option of self-injection of subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) injectable contraceptives.
Access to high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health services and information, including a full range of family planning methods, is fundamental to realizing the rights and well-being of women, girls, men, and boys. Universal access to effective contraception ensures that all people have a satisfying sexual life and can avoid the adverse health and socioeconomic consequences of unintended pregnancy. We are therefore delighted to release the 2022 edition of the Global Handbook—a key resource to help ensure the quality and safety of family planning services—and recommend its use by national health systems and organizations providing family planning services.
We are exceedingly grateful for the contributions from a diverse range of dedicated experts (see Acknowledgements) who have supported the development of the 2022 edition of the Handbook. We also thank the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs and the United States Agency for International Development for their collaboration on the production of the Handbook and their financial support.
Pascale Allotey
Director, Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research
World Health Organization