International Centre for Reproductive Health Belgium

ICRH Belgium is a multidisciplinary centre operating within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Ghent University. Besides research activities, ICRH Belgium implements projects in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia with a focus on developing training programmes and takes actions to defend sexual and reproductive rights.

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Thursday 14 January 2021

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Tuesday 22 December 2020

Support the Marleen Temmerman Fund now online

Due to the coronavirus, contributions to the Marleen Temmerman Fund of Ghent University are extra welcome, so we can stay and support the activities of ICRH worldwide.

Monday 21 December 2020

ANSER – Five years of cutting-edge research and cooperation on sexual and reproductive health and rights

In 2021 the Academic Network for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy (ANSER) is celebrating its fifth birthday. An excellent opportunity to look back on what the network has achieved these past few years.

Latest ICRH projects

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Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) Cervical cancer and HPV

ELEVATE: EarLy dEtection of cerVical cAncer in hard-to-reach populations of women through portable and point-of-care HPV TEsting

The ELEVATE consortium wants to empower women to screen for their cervical cancer risk in any setting while guaranteeing rapid and easy-to-understand results

Project ongoing Read more about this project

Adolescent and youth health Reproductive rights Sexual health and wellbeing

Improving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health through a Participatory Parent-Child Communication Intervention in Uganda

Uganda has a very young population and its sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes - including teen-age pregnancies and HIV prevalence - remain among the poorest worldwide.

Project ongoing Read more about this project

Adolescent and youth health Family planning and contraception Policy analysis

Adolescent family planning: Policy tracing for sexual and reproductive health and rights

Adolescent contraception is essential to reduce maternal mortality, which is particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, good evidence and rational arguments for providing contraceptive services to adolescents often fail to translate into national laws and policies that support contraceptive provision and use.

Project ongoing Read more about this project

Adolescent and youth health Gender Sexual health and wellbeing

The Global Early Adolescent Study - A worldwide investigation into how gender norms evolve and inform a spectrum of health outcomes in adolescence

The Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) aims at understanding the factors in early adolescence that predispose young people to subsequent sexual health risks and that conversely contribute to healthy sexuality so as to provide the information needed to improve sexual and reproductive health outcomes.

Project ongoing Read more about this project

Mother and child health Clinical care Perinatal Mental Health Screening and detection

Development and implementation of a clinical care pathway for perinatal mental health in Belgium (PMH-project)

Mental problems during the perinatal period are associated with a range of negative consequences such as preterm birth, mother-infant interactional deficits and negative infant developmental outcome. Research indicates that perinatal mental health problems are highly prevalent (20%). In Flanders however, a large majority is currently not being detected nor getting the appropriate treatment.

Project ongoing Read more about this project

Mother and child health

Maternity waiting homes

In Africa, one out of 210 mothers dies during pregnancy or delivery. One of the causes is the relatively low rate of institutional deliveries, due to transport problems and lack of infrastructure, but also due to cultural prejudices and resistance against giving birth outside the family circle. One of the ways to facilitate and encourage institutional deliveries is the establishment of ‘maternity shelters’ or ‘maternity waiting homes’ (‘casas de espera’ in Portuguese): facilities where future mothers can spend the last few days of their pregnancy close to a maternity hospital, so that they are assured of timely professional care during the delivery. This type of facilities exists in many African countries, but often the functioning is not optimal and the occupancy rate is much lower than it could be. ICRH launched a project in Kenya, aimed at promoting the use of maternity waiting homes and improving their functioning.

Project ongoing Read more about this project

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Themes

Latest publications

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2020 Universal cervical cancer control through a right to health lens : refocusing national policy and programmes on underserved women

Olivier Degomme, Ines Keygnaert, Katrina Perehudoff, Heleen Vermandere

2020 A mobile phone–based sexual and reproductive health intervention for female sex workers in Kenya : development and qualitative study

Peter Gichangi, Stanley Luchters

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