Abstract

A key obstacle to advocacy efforts to promote legal and policy reforms that ensure women's and girls' access to comprehensive abortion care (CAC) is the lack of relevant and timely evidence. This commentary outlines a research agenda-setting initiative that identified research priorities to support evidence-informed policy and advocacy for CAC access in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It involved three phases: 1) a landscape analysis; 2) research agenda co-creation with stakeholders, and 3) a validation exercise on research priorities. Overall, the priority evidence needs included 1) estimating the incidence and magnitude of unsafe abortion and related costs; 2) examining the role of abortion laws and policies in facilitating or inhibiting access to CAC; 3) developing and documenting successful approaches for addressing societal barriers to the provision of CAC, and fostering a more inclusive and liberal abortion environment, and 4) documenting practice-based evidence on the provision of legal abortion services as well as for advocating for CAC. Various stakeholders, including researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations, and funding agencies, will find the agenda useful as they engage, at different levels, for the full domestication and implementation of forward-looking commitments on access to CAC in SSA.

摘要

促进法律和政策改革以确保妇女和女童获得综合堕胎护理 (CAC) 的宣传努力的一个主要障碍是缺乏相关和及时的证据。本评论概述了一项研究议程设置计划，该计划确定了研究优先事项，以支持撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 获取 CAC 的循证政策和宣传。它涉及三个阶段：1）景观分析；2) 与利益相关者共同制定研究议程，以及 3) 对研究重点的验证练习。总体而言，优先证据需求包括：1) 估计不安全流产的发生率和严重程度以及相关费用；2) 审查堕胎法律和政策在促进或禁止获得 CAC 方面的作用；3) 开发和记录成功的方法来解决提供 CAC 的社会障碍，并营造一个更具包容性和自由的堕胎环境，以及 4) 记录关于提供合法堕胎服务以及倡导 CAC 的基于实践的证据。包括研究人员、政策制定者、民间社会组织和资助机构在内的各种利益相关者将发现该议程很有用，因为他们在不同层面参与到 SSA 中获取 CAC 的前瞻性承诺的全面驯化和实施中。