Expanding Contraceptive Choice: Webinar on Vasectomy

August 02, 2018

Some 214 million women of reproductive age in developing regions who want to avoid pregnancy are not using a modern contraceptive method. Evidence suggests that expanding method choice, as well as providing better information about available methods, can improve family planning access for these girls and women.

The Advancing Partners & Communities project, in collaboration with Family Planning 2020, the Implementing Best Practices initiative, and USAID's Office of Population and Reproductive Health, hosted a webinar series to share information about various family planning methods.

The fifth webinar in this series: Vasectomy, was on Tuesday, August 2, 2018, from 9:00–10:00 A.M. ET.

Roy Jacobstein of IntraHealth; Lynn Van Lith of JHUCCP; and Enriquito Lu of Jhpiego, discussed vasectomy and their in-country and programmatic experiences.

The webinar took place on Adobe Connect. A link to the webinar was distributed to all registrants prior to the webinar.

A webinar on tubal ligation will be held in the coming months. View recordings from the four previous webinars in the Expanding Contraceptive Choice series.

Meet the Speakers

Roy Jacobstein, IntraHealth

Roy Jacobstein is a Senior Medical Advisor at IntraHealth International. He has authored many peer-reviewed papers on a range of FP/RH topics including vasectomy, female sterilization, contraceptive implants, fostering change in medical settings, and the importance of constructive male engagement. He has served as an expert technical advisor to the World Health Organization on the Medical Eligibility for Contraceptive Use and FP: A Global Handbook for Providers and to USAID’s Technical Advisory Group on High Impact Practices. A pediatrician and public health physician, Dr. Jacobstein has MD and MPH degrees from the University of Michigan and is also an Adjunct Professor of Maternal and Child Health at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health.

Lynn Van Lith, JHUCCP

Lynn Van Lith has nearly 25 years of experience working in international development with a focus on HIV and reproductive health. Much of her work over the past two decades has focused on providing technical leadership and guidance to programs with a particular focus on social and behavior change interventions and strategies to create impact through effective FP and HIV prevention and treatment interventions in sub-Saharan Africa. Her work has included a focus on community engagement, adolescent girls and young women, key populations and more recently in understanding how best to engage men across the treatment continuum. Publications have focused on the impact of health communication in HIV prevention and care outcomes and long-acting and permanent contraceptive methods. Lynn has lived in Zambia and South Africa and provided technical support to nearly 20 countries across Africa and Asia. She has worked for a variety of institutions including UNDP, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and IPPF affiliates in Africa. Lynn is currently the Technical Director on the Breakthrough ACTION project at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs.

Enriquito Lu, Jhpiego

Dr. Enriquito “Ricky” Lu is an Obstetrician/Gynecologist by training, and in practice a public health specialist. Over the last 25 years, he has been actively supporting FP/RH initiatives, particularly in ensuring safe and effective access to voluntary contraception and family planning. Dr. Lu currently directs the FP/RH unit at Jhpiego, a Johns Hopkins University affiliate.

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