COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT HOLDS PANEL DISCUSSION

Commission on Population and Development

Thirty-fifth Session

4^th Meeting (PM)

COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT HOLDS PANEL DISCUSSION

ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, RIGHTS

Population Trends, HIV/AIDS, Abortion among Issues Addressed

By Experts from Ireland, Chile, South Africa, Russian Federation

The Commission on Population and Development, this afternoon heard from national experts from Ireland, Chile, South Africa and the Russian Federation during a panel discussion on reproductive health and reproductive rights.  The panel, moderated by Muhamed Noor Yaboc, Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Women and Family Development of Malaysia, addressed such issues as population trends, HIV/AIDS, abortion, reproductive health care and women’s health in the respective countries.

In a multimedia presentation, John A. Jackson, Chairman, Irish Aid Advisory Committee, noted that his country had been something of an exception to the rest of Europe, as it would be the only European country to have a larger population in 2050 than it had today.  Convergent with European trends, however, the number of births taking place outside marriage had increased.  Recently, the country had seen a sharp rise in sexually transmitted infections and HIV-transmission rates. He noted that many people had not received any sex education in school and that a module on relationships and sexuality in secondary schools was still optional.

The situation regarding abortion was complex in his country, he said. Abortion was prohibited except to save a mother’s life, but Irish women were permitted to travel to Britain to have their pregnancies terminated.  Some 6,000 Irish women a year had abortions there.  The issue of abortion remained an area for very considerable debate, both as a constitutional principle and a matter of practice.  Several constitutional referenda had divided the country on the issue. Two amendments to the Constitution had been carried out, namely, the right to information and the right to travel to another State.  The latest government proposal, supported by the Roman Catholic Church, was defeated and would have had the effect of limiting even further the right to abortion.

In response to questions, Mr. Jackson noted that one of the reasons Ireland diverged from Europe in population trends was that, due to a baby boom, the country had a large young population.  In relation to abortion, there was a broad conservatism in Ireland, especially in the rural areas, as the recent referendum had shown.  He did not have any figures on the contraceptive prevalence rate, but, due also to policies of the Catholic Church, contraceptives had been introduced later in his country than in the rest of Europe.  The young population was still at high risk for unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

Also using a multimedia approach, Anabella Arredondo Paz, Executive Director, National Commission on AIDS, Ministry of Health of Chile, noted that the hardest issue to deal with in sexual and reproductive rights had to do with the social and cultural context, as there was a deep-seated gender difference and strong opinions about homosexuality. Some progress had been made lately, but there were high levels of discrimination and homophobia.  Subjects related to sexuality were difficult to talk about in her society.

Ms. Paz highlighted several government policies regarding national education and public health, community access to governmental support, access to information regarding reproductive processes and the prevention of sexual risks, and HIV/AIDS. She said pregnant women had access to HIV-screening. If tested positive, information was provided, as well as a maternal-care programme.

Answering delegates’ questions, Ms. Paz said that the contraceptive prevalence rate in her country was increasing.  About 70 per cent of pregnant women took the HIV-screening test offered by her Government.  That rate was higher in urban areas.  Non-binding anonymous tests were discontinued in 1999.  As abortion was illegal under all circumstances, maternal mortality as a consequence of abortion was 25 per 100,000 live births.

Lindi Molefe, Director of Population and Development Strategies in South Africa’s Department of Social Development, said HIV/AIDS had started much later in South Africa than elsewhere on the continent, most probably due to the country’s geographic location and isolation from the international community.  However, mobility and exposure to the outside world had increased with the lifting of sanctions and the advent of democratic governance.  South Africa had been enjoying a drop in mortality rates, with the consequent increase in life expectancy, but the epidemic was erasing that progress.  Projections indicated that population growth would slow dramatically and could even turn negative after 2008.

The economic implications of infection included negative impacts on South Africa’s labour force, she pointed out.  Increasing illness and death among government employees was expected to affect human resource costs and service delivery in the public sector.  Social implications included a dramatic impact on family structure and function.  That situation was worse when it involved women and girls who were forced to care for sick relatives with less support when they were themselves infected.  The vulnerability of women to HIV infection was heightened by their economic dependence on men, lack of access to education, poverty, sexual exploitation, coercion and rape.  They faced additional and more acute discrimination when identified as HIV-positive.  Violence, banishment, poverty and death were frightening realities.

Asked how South Africa dealt with the problem of “AIDS orphans”, Ms. Molefe answered that her Government had initiated a National Plan of Action for Children, which aimed at making sure that sufficient resources were available to deal with the problem of orphans because of AIDS.  It also targeted families headed by children.  Programmes under the plan aimed at ensuring that children were kept as much as possible in the communities.  There was, therefore, much cooperation with non-governmental organizations.  Responding to another question, she said programmes on empowerment of women consisted of advocacy, literacy and skill-

development programmes.  There was also a programme for gender-mainstreaming in the workplace and in the Government.

Olga Antonova, Deputy Director, Population Statistics Department, State Committee of Statistics in the Russian Federation, said that beginning in 1992 depopulation had occurred for the first time since the Second World War, with a decline of 4 million people.  Important factors of depopulation included emigration, a decrease in the number of children and an increase in that of older people.  Since 2001, she said, the total birth rate of one child per woman was insufficient for the replacement of generations.

She said that other reasons for the declining population included a significant change in lifestyle, whereby people began having sexual relations

at a younger age, and an increase in the rate of abortion by 7.5 per cent.  In addition, there had been a deterioration in reproductive health, as well as an increase in anaemia and kidney disease, circulation problems and infertility.  An improvement in health, life expectancy, reproductive health, and children’s health was a priority, she emphasized.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. Wednesday, 3 April, to continue its general debate on national experience in population matters.

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