Professor Marleen Temmerman has received the annual Prestigious Lecture award from The International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI) for her plenary address at the organisation’s annual conference in Dublin.
Founded in 1923, the
IUSTI is an international non-government organisation that brings together academics, physicians, public health experts and scientists from around the world to assess evidence on the most effective ways to tackle the public health threat posed by sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
In her speech on sexual health and sexual rights in East Africa, Professor Temmerman, Director of Aga Khan University’s Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health in East Africa, described the burden of STIs in the developing world and highlighted the vast social benefits that come from investing in sexual and reproductive health.
Professor Temmerman said: “In Kenya and East-Africa, the burden of curable STIs remains high and needs more attention. Every year, more than 200 million women in developing countries want to avoid pregnancy but are not using modern contraception and more than 30 million women delivering their babies outside of a health facility.
“Sexual and reproductive health and rights are fundamental to people’s health and survival, to gender equality and to the well-being of humanity.”
In her address, she also noted the
findings of the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission which found that developing countries that invested just US$9 per person per year could make significant progress in meeting the need for modern contraception, safe abortion, and maternal and newborn health care.
Professor Temmerman, one of the 16 public health experts who contributed to the report, added that these investments would pay dividends over many years and make it easier to achieve other sustainable development goals related to poverty, education and gender equality.
“I am very happy and honoured that my work and the work of my team in sexual and reproductive health and rights is acknowledged by this Prestigious Lecture Award, and hope that this can intensify the attention on STIs/HIV, which represent a serious challenge to our society,” Professor Temmerman added.
Aga Khan University’s
Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health in East Africa has worked with partners such as the European Union, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Population Fund and others on projects to advance women, child and adolescent health through high quality education, research and capacity building programmes.