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reproductive health services are also essential services, and more so during pandemics like COVID-19
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The recently
released
Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2020 shows that Asia and the Pacific
region is not on track to achieve any of the 169 targets of the 17 sustainable-development goals (SDGs), including those around ensuring universal access to
sexual- and reproductive-health services. Despite commitments made by
governments, inequality in the region is growing and the economic gains made by
it are not translating into poverty reduction and gender equity.
A pandemic like coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has added more fuel to fire to
push the region (and perhaps the rest of the world too) several steps back to
achieve 'Health for all' by 2030 by severely constraining (or threatening to
constrain) health systems. It has also impacted delivery of several significant
public health services, including sexual- and reproductive-health services.
Leading experts voiced their concerns during the recently held #APCRSHR10
Dialogues, co-hosted by the 10th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and
Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR10) and CNS.
The COVID-19 impact
"While our day-to-day health needs, including sexual- and reproductive-health needs, do not stop because of an epidemic, but health-service
availability becomes still more difficult during such times," said Alexandra
Johns, Executive Director of Asia Pacific Alliance for Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights (APA).
Alexandra foresees a global shortage of medical supplies, including medicines
for people living with HIV, contraceptives and antibiotics, as a fallout of
lockdowns imposed by governments to stem the tide of COVID-19. The situation is
all the more grave for key and vulnerable populations, including sex workers.
With weak health systems groaning under the load of COVID-19, service delivery
to cater to their specific needs, like access to abortion services,
contraceptives, and life-saving treatments, along with a loss in wages, is
bound to take a hard hit.
"It is very difficult for them to access these services, leading to unwanted pregnancies and also sexually transmitted infections like HIV. Moreover, they do not have easy recourse to safe abortions or even PPTCT (prevention of parent-to-child transmission of HIV) services."
In many countries, sex workers are facing a huge financial crisis, with the bars, restaurants and other places closed. For them, loss of income is a bigger concern than the virus, as they are sole breadwinners for their families. Then again, most of the health providers are focusing on managing COVID-19 and not on providing sexual- and reproductive-health services and treatment for other health problems, said Kay Thi.
Liz Hilton of Empower Foundation, a Thailand-based sex-workers' association, rightly says that COVID-19 is exposing the weaknesses of our society. "While the coronavirus does not discriminate between different members of society, the relief and the government assistance package often does," she says.
She shared the example of Thailand, where sex workers are not looked down upon as 'other people'. Most of them are carers, mothers and family providers. They are not that different from other workers, but they are excluded from labour protection and social-security benefits. They have not had any income since the 18th of March, when in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand had closed down all bars and entertainment places.
Meena Saraswathi Sheshu, founder of Sampada Gramen Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), an organisation that works for sex-workers' rights in Maharashtra and northern Karnataka, India, echoed similar concerns: "The main problem that the sex workers face is that of livelihood. Since the lockdown (in India) sex workers have had no clients, and hence no income, and many of them are under severe mental stress. Just this morning (30th March) unfortunately, one of them committed suicide by burning herself because she could not deal with the tension of no work, no money, and living in isolation in the brothel."
Meena is also wary of the fact that as the brothels are all thickly packed with women, if one of them gets infected it will spread quickly to others. Then again, while most sex workers are young, there is a critical number of those who are old and/or who live with co-morbidities like diabetes, TB or HIV. Caste is another big issue in India: "Most of the sex workers we work with are from the Dalit caste which puts them in further vulnerability. Dealing with a pandemic like COVID-19 is not easy for communities that live in packed slum like situations and have to earn to be able to eat. There is no way this community is going to weather this easily. We will need the government to step in a big way to help them," she said.
Due to the existing social inequities, even the scientific advisories issued by governments of the region to protect oneself from the coronavirus are beyond the capacity of many to follow. People are being told to wash their hands repeatedly assuming that they have access to clean water and sanitation facilities, which many do not have. Then again maintaining physical distancing is a huge problem for many, like those living in very confined spaces in brothels and slums.
Barriers to accessing sexual- and reproductive-health services
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