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Editorial
The case for integrating sexual and reproductive health services in Pacific Island countries
  1. Kirsten I Black1,
  2. Titilola Duro-Aina2,
  3. Deborah Bateson1,3
    1. 1 Discipline of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
    2. 2 United Nations Population Fund Pacific, Suva, Fiji
    3. 3 The Daffodil Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
    1. Correspondence to Professor Kirsten I Black; kirsten.black{at}sydney.edu.au

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2024-202317

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      The Pacific Islands region is a geographic area of the Pacific Ocean made up of hundreds of scattered islands that form 15 independent countries. These archipelago nations are among the tiniest, most dispersed and most isolated countries in the world. All face significant ongoing threats of natural disasters associated with the impacts of climate change. The populations are young (half are under the age of 25 years) and mainly live rurally. Logistical and financial challenges in the delivery of health services are common due to the remoteness of their populations, high rates of communicable and non-communicable diseases and workforce shortages, compounded by changing lifestyles and social structures, economic uncertainty and poverty.1 Pacific Island countries have also been relatively neglected in the past in terms of development assistance and, compared with other low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), have been left behind in terms of progress in sexual and reproductive health (SRH).2 3 Violence against women in Pacific Island countries intensifies these challenges. Around two-thirds of women report experiencing sexual or physical violence in their lifetime, one of the highest rates in the world’.4

      The factors of geographic dispersion and isolation, poverty and low levels of investment in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health have resulted in variable progress against many SRH indicators. Modern contraceptive prevalence remains low across the region …

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      Footnotes

      • X @DrDebBateson

      • Contributors KB and DB led on manuscript preparation with TD-A providing key information and editorial input.

      • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

      • Competing interests DB is co-primary investigator on an implementation programme Elimination of Cervical Cancer in the Western Pacific, which has received support from the Minderoo Foundation and equipment donations from Cepheid Inc. She is Deputy Lead of the Elimination Partnership in the Indo-Pacific for Cervical Cancer (EPICC ) project funded by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through its Partnerships for a Healthy Region Initiative.

      • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.