School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico
Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Picardie, Amiens, France.
The Caribbean Initiative on Abortion and Contraception conducts research, training and education in partnership with health practitioners, women’s groups and policy-makers and universities, in the Caribbean as well as with international organizations devoted to assess and meet needs for research, education and training regarding abortion and contraception services. The Initiative builds cross-border and inter-disciplinary networks for improving women’s access to quality sexual and reproductive healthcare services and provisions in the entire Caribbean region. The islands participating in the network are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guadaloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique , Puerto Rico, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean Initiative was founded under a inter-university convention between the two academic bases of the co-directors- Yamila Azize-Vargas ( Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activar JavaScript para visualizarla ) and Gail Pheterson ( Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activar JavaScript para visualizarla ) , one at the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico and the other at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Picardie in Amiens, France.
Research:
From 2001 to 2004, the Caribbean Initiative conducted a field investigation of abortion laws, policies and cross-border service delivery systems in five island countries of the Northeast Caribbean. The study- Abortion practice in the Northeast Caribbean: "Just write down stomach pain" Reproductive Health Matters. 2005; 13 (26):44-53. (español - français) revealed the complexities of abortion realities in the region and the need for improvement in services to assure the health of women. Research participants included health professionals, women’s groups, family planning personnel and health authorities;
Expert Meetings:
The Expert Meeting on Abortion and Contraception: Europe and the Caribbean was held September 25-27, 2003, at the University of Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, France* for health practitioners, government health authorities and research clinicians from 12 countries (6 Caribbean-4 European-United States-South Africa). Given the range of abortions laws in the Caribbean, ranging from highly liberal to highly restrictive, holding this conference in a European context of abortion legitimacy and legality gave critical support to abortion providers practicing in isolated and restrictive settings.
Safe Abortion in the Caribbean :From Law to Practice
In May 2005, the Caribbean Initiative organized another exoert meeting in Antigua–Barbuda in collaboration with Population Council , Gynuity Health Projects, Ibis Reproductive Health, Ipas . Participants came from Anguilla, Antigua–Barbuda, Barbados, Curaçao, Dominica, Guadaloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, St Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Puerto Rico, St Kitts–Nevis, St Lucia, and Trinidad–Tobago, the sponsoring organizations and also the International Planned Parenthood Federation. The meeting covered legal and clinical issues and culminated in a Declaration of Health Professionals, Scientists and Advocates For Decriminalization of Abortion in the Caribbean (versión en español aquí)
Working Groups
A Women’s Inter-island Working Group was organized to assure communication between women and their service providers. The network expanded from the initial five islands of the research project to 14 countries including countries of the Netherlands Antilles, the French Antilles, British Overseas Territories and independent countries of the British Commonwealth. Several meetings were held throughout these years* (First Meeting - Second Meeting) and in November, 2005, “the Caribbean Women’s Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (CARIWONET), was formalized as a new network currently coordinated in St Lucia and composed of individual women and organizations representing Caribbean civil societies and governments government gender affairs offices. (CARIWONET Press release)
A Physician’s Working Group began to form at the Expert Meeting in Amiens, France, 2003, as a loose network of general practitioners, ob-gyn specialists, health officials and medical researchers interested in improving access to quality contraception and abortion in the Caribbean region. This network began on the 5 islands of the original research, expanded to include international researchers at the Amiens meeting, and extended to a total of 14 Caribbean countries at the Antigua conference. Since one of the recommendations of the network was to develop continuing education opportunities for practicing health professionals and residents/students in training at Caribbean university centers, a medical expert consultant was engaged by the Caribbean Initiative to work with the network in shaping educational activities, and collaborations were cultivated between Medical and Nursing Schools in the Caribbean and between those academic centers and research/training centers in Europe and North America. The first meeting of the Physician’s Working Group took place in June 2006 in New York hosted and supported by Planned Parenthood New York City/ Margaret Sanger International Center
Clinical Training Activities:
World Population Foundation
Between 2004 and 2005, several clinical training activities were organized, sponsored by World Population Foundation. The medical consultant in charge was , Dr. Marijke Alblas , who visited 10 islands of th network during three one-month periods. She trained on manual vacuum aspiration and use of local anaesthesia in hospitals, and conducted educational sessions for doctors, nurses, family planning staff, women’s groups, high schools students and policymakers. Those sessions helped outline needs for additional clinical, educational and research activities.
