Towards a positive, safe and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships! 
The National Reproductive Health month was proclaimed in February 2006 as an annual event.
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) is the concept of human rights applied to sexuality and reproduction.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines sexual health as a state of physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality.
According to the 1995 Beijing Conference on women; Human Rights include the right of women freely to have control over and make decisions concerning their own sexuality, including their own sexual and reproductive health.
If women had more power they are in a better position to protect themselves against violence.  WHO definition of health is not merely the absence of disease; but for people are able to have a responsible, safer, sex life, the capability to reproduce and the freedom to decide if, when and how often to do so.
This means that men and women must have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of birth control.  They also need access to appropriate health care services of sexual, reproductive medicine and implementation of health education programs.
Reproductive rights is about everyone being able to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health.
However working class men and women face inequalities in reproductive health services.  In addition many working class men and women on a daily basis deal with the negative consequences or conditions such as:

• Infections with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and their adverse outcomes (such as cancer and infertility);
• Unintended pregnancy and abortion;
• Sexual dysfunction;
• Sexual violence; and
• Harmful practices (such as female genital mutilation, FGM).

With the emergence of HIV and AIDS and the increasing incidence of STIs, as well as growing public health concerns about gender-based violence  and sexual dysfunction, issues relating to sexuality and the implications for health and well-being have become more important,  influencing a broad range of health and development agendas on education, economic benefits, gender equality, broader health and environment.
Numsa campaigns for a reproductive health care free of discrimination coercion and violence
Working class communities are currently experiencing a marked increase in unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, including teenage pregnancy (more than 10% of annual deliveries are from teenagers) and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.
Accurate data for termination of pregnancy is not available as many poor women terminate illegally.  Therefore working class people must have access to freely available and effective contraceptive methods at a local health facility or in a workplace to protect themselves and each other.
Various other interventions are required to promote and strengthen reproductive health and health care.  These interventions include:

• Maternal deaths can be reduced by attending antenatal clinics early in the pregnancy
• Cervical cancer can be prevented by screening at your nearest clinic
• Treating STI’s can prevent reproductive health problems later
• Men’s involvement in sexual and reproductive health can make a difference

Local health facilities should be providing all of these services but workers struggle to access these services as:

• Most primary health care facilities are currently inadequate for the number of people it provides services to and are often under-resourced in terms of equipment, staffing and medication
• Workers often do not get time-off to access these health facilities
• Unemployed people do not have access to funds to pay for transport and user fees
• Many women have no control over their choices and their bodies and we must all struggle to ensure that women can choose and protect their bodies
• We must struggle for quality public health service delivery
• We must struggle for better relations between men and women so that both can jointly exercise their Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in a progressive way
• We must struggle to support safe conception, pregnancy, child birth and breast feeding at home and in the workplace.

ENDS.
Busi Tshabalala
National Gender Coordinator
Mobile: 072 210 0525
Tel (dir): 011 689 1804