Sexuelle und reproduktive Rechte im digitalen Zeitalter: Neue Herausforderungen warten auf uns

Verschiedene Entscheide und Massnahmen der neuen Regierung in den USA haben grosse Konsequenzen für die globale Gesundheit und die Schweiz. Diese Kurzanalyse bietet Orientierung, klärt über die Folgen auf und zeigt mögliche Konsequenzen für die Politik auf. Sie wurde von der Geschäftsstelle und Vertreter:innen des Netzwerks Medicus Mundi Schweiz verfasst.

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"Mit einem Jahresbudget von über 40 Milliarden Dollar finanziert die US-Behörde USAID unter anderem auch weltweite Gesundheitsprojekte. Die Schliessung hätte fatale Folgen für Millionen HIV-Infizierte in Südafrika und würde die Erfolge der letzten 20 Jahre zunichtemachen."

• SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen

"Dans le sillage de la fermeture de l’Agence des Etats-Unis pour le développement international (USaid), les annonces des coupes prévues par l’administration Trump dans l’aide internationale se multiplient. De son côté, la Suisse a devancé la tendance et la poursuit, en s’apprêtant à creuser encore davantage la tombe de l’aide internationale. Il y a à peine quelques semaines, le conseiller fédéral en charge de la Coopération suisse, Ignazio Cassis, décidait la fin du soutien aux populations d’Amérique latine et la réduction du soutien helvétique à des projets «servant les intérêts économiques du pays». (...) Cassis se montre décidé à réduire l’aide internationale, peut-être pas autant que le gouvernement étasunien, mais déjà à une hauteur effrayante de conséquences pour les personnes concernées. La politique d’Ignazio Cassis est révoltante, nous devons réagir! Nous exigeons le doublement des fonds d’aide internationale pour tous les pays qui en ont besoin, dans tous les pays où des organisations suisses sont actives, pour les prochaines années, tant que les Etats-Unis maintiennent leurs coupes!"

• Centrale Sanitaire Suisse Romande (CSSR)

"Global health stands at a turning point. The USAID funding freeze and shifting donor priorities are already disrupting essential programmes—from malaria elimination and HIV treatment to critical health system support. At Swiss TPH, we see the consequences firsthand, with projects in Tanzania and Ukraine facing severe funding cuts. As investment declines, the risk of reversing decades of progress grows. Jürg Utzinger, Director of Swiss TPH, explores what is at stake and how Switzerland and other global players can step up to fill the gap."

• Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

"A new paper published in Trends in Microbiology highlights significant geographical and socioeconomic gaps in vaginal microbiome research. The paper, co-authored by researchers from Swiss TPH, shows that only about 13% of vaginal microbiome studies focus on Africa or South America, leaving critical gaps in understanding vaginal health globally."

• Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

"The Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium has achieved a significant milestone with the first administration of its new pediatric treatment to a preschool-aged child in Uganda. The new drug, designed specifically for children aged three months to six years, addresses a long-standing treatment gap for schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease affecting millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Swiss TPH has been a member of the consortium since its start, conducted the clinical trials and is now co-leading the programme to introduce the drug in endemic countries."

• Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute

"Kupela Clarke, was motiviert Sie, für SolidarMed zu arbeiten? Ich bin zu SolidarMed gekommen, weil es meiner Leidenschaft entspricht, das sambische Gesundheitssystem zu unterstützen. Wir solidarisieren uns mit Gesundheitsfachkräften und Gemeinschaften, die in schwierigen Verhältnissen arbeiten und leben. Gemeinsam mit der Regierung analysieren wir die Ursachen für den Mangel an medizinischem Fachpersonal in ländlichen Gebieten und setzen uns für Verbesserungen ein. Auf diese Weise arbeitet SolidarMed ganzheitlich, was mich sehr motiviert."

• SolidarMed

"IAMANEH Schweiz ist Mitunterzeichnerin einer Petition, die von der Politik ein klares und konkretes Zeichen gegen genderbasierte Gewalt fordert. Nach 8 Femiziden in 8 Wochen ist der Bedarf überdeutlich." Das Jahr 2025 hat mit einem Feminizid pro Woche angefangen. Mehrere Organisationen und Gruppen aus der Zivilgesellschaft und der Politik sind alarmiert, darunter auch IAMANEH Schweiz. Wir fordern, das Problem endlich ernst zu nehmen, oben auf die politische Agenda zu setzen und sofort deutlich mehr Ressourcen, 350 Millionen, gegen geschlechtsbezogene, häusliche und sexualisierte Gewalt zu investieren."

• IAMANEH Schweiz

"Walter Berier hat als SRK-Delegierter in Damaskus den Machtwechsel in Syrien miterlebt. Im Interview berichtet er, wie gross die Überraschung war, was sich die Menschen erhoffen und wie sich die Nothilfe und die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit nun ausrichten werden."

• Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz

"Viele ältere Menschen in der Ukraine haben alles verloren: die Familie, das Zuhause und die Hoffnung, einst wieder so zu leben wie früher. Die Haushalthilfen des Roten Kreuzes bringen neben Lebensmitteln und Medikamenten etwas Abwechslung in einen Alltag voller Schmerz."

• Schweizerisches Rotes Kreuz

"Drei Jahre nach der grossangelegten russischen Invasion ist die Ukraine Schätzungen zufolge mit Hunderttausenden von Sprengkörpern übersät. Die Ukraine gehört nun zu den sieben am stärksten belasteten Ländern der Welt mit einer belasteten Fläche von mehr als 100 Quadratkilometern (ACAPS, 2024, Landmine Monitor 2024). Das volle Ausmass der Belastung ist unbekannt, da der Konflikt eine umfassende Untersuchung verhindert. «Minen, Streumunition und explosive Kriegsreste befinden sich auf Feldern, Strassen, in Wohngebieten, unter der Erde und sogar versteckt in Alltagsgegenständen. Ganze Generationen werden unter den Folgen leiden.» Gary Toombs, unser technischer Leiter der Minenräumung."

• Handicap International Suisse

"In Selembao, einem Stadtteil von Kinshasa in der Demokratischen Republik Kongo, lebt der zwölfjährige Raphaël. Er hat eine seltene Krankheit, die seine Knochen extrem brüchig macht. Nach mehreren unbehandelten Knochenbrüchen war seine Beweglichkeit stark eingeschränkt. Dank der von Handicap International bereitgestellten, speziell angepassten Krücken kann sich Raphaël nun selbstständig fortbewegen und allein zur Schule gehen."

• Handicap International Suisse

'Die Menschen sind verrückt und die Zeiten sind seltsam', ist eine Zeile aus Bob Dylans Song 'Things Have Changed' aus dem Jahr 2000. Sie trifft voll und ganz auf das zu, was die globale Gesundheitsgemeinschaft derzeit erlebt. Das goldene Zeitalter der globalen Gesundheit ist eindeutig vorbei. Der globale Gesundheitshegemon ist zu einem globalen Gesundheitsrisiko geworden. Wir haben es kommen sehen - aber wir haben uns nicht wirklich vorbereitet.

• Medicus Mundi Schweiz

Spenden von nicht gebrauchten Arzneimitteln (Altmedikamente) in ressourcenschwache Länder transferiert, werden in der Öffentlichkeit oft als Geste der Solidarität wahrgenommen, mit der gefährdeten Bevölkerungsgruppen geholfen werden soll. Allerdings birgt diese Praxis, auch wenn sie von grosszügigen Absichten geleitet ist, zahlreiche Risiken, die nicht immer berücksichtigt werden. Tatsächlich kann die Spende von Altmedikamenten schwerwiegende Folgen im Bereich der öffentlichen Gesundheit, aber auch auf wirtschaftlicher und ökologischer Ebene mit sich bringen.

• Medicus Mundi Schweiz

"Geneva-based international organisations and NGOs were startled by an odd questionnaire sent out by the United States, revealing a troubling misunderstanding of how the multilateral system works. The questions are shocking. One asks: “Can you confirm that your organisation does not work with entities associated with communism, socialism, totalitarianism, or any other entity that espouses anti-American beliefs?” Or: “Does this project (the one run by the organisation in question – ed.) strengthen the sovereignty of the United States by limiting its dependence on international organisations and global governance structures, for example, the UN and the WHO?”

• Geneva Solutions

"Just last month, researchers in South Africa were preparing to celebrate two major milestones in the fight against HIV: The rollout of a new injectable called lenacapavir, which had been shown to prevent sexual transmission of HIV with 100% efficacy, and the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial for an experimental vaccine against the virus. However, the future of both programs has been thrown into jeopardy, after executive orders from the Trump administration to freeze foreign aid. Across the world, thousands of researchers targeting major global diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis have found themselves in a similar situation, as the withdrawal of funding from USAID has brought clinical trials and the rollout of groundbreaking new drugs to an abrupt halt."

• Devex

"The number of WHO’s top-ranked directors (D2), the highest level of staff before the Director General’s senior leadership team, has nearly doubled since Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took office, with 75 people holding D2 positions in July 2024 in comparison to only 39 in July 2017. The cost of WHO’s top-level echelon have grown even faster, with roughly $92 million spent on just 215 Directors, the DG and his 11 member senior team – and around $130 million if you consider P6 staff who fill many of the same management functions, according to a detailed analysis of available data by Health Policy Watch."

• Health Policy Watch

"We are pleased to share a new Policy Brief on the integration of the One Health approach into humanitarian action. As natural disasters, conflicts, and displacement become more frequent and complex, their impact on ecosystems, food systems, and public health is particularly severe in low-resource settings. The growing recognition of the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health, exacerbated by climate change, has reinforced the need for holistic, cross-sectoral approaches in crisis response."

• Geneva Health Forum

"Over the weekend, African leaders elected the African Union’s new leadership. The new AU Commission – with chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and deputy chairperson Selma Malika Haddadi at the helm – takes office under an overwhelming peace and security context. Much has been written about the challenges the new team faces and what the AU should do better. But the changing nature of conflicts on the continent, combined with a lacklustre engagement from AU member states and global geopolitical complexities demand a reflection on the fundamentals. Is the AU truly equipped to confront these compounded continental and global challenges? And are its tools fit for purpose?"

• edcpm

"KIGALI, Rwanda – “Sad”, “Worried” and “The centre is shaking”, were some of the reactions of African health leaders to the termination of US aid at a media briefing on Sunday (2 March) ahead of the 6th Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC). But speakers also stressed the need for resilience and swift action at the briefing ahead of the conference, which is hosted by Amref Health Africa in collaboration with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Office for Africa, and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). “The centre of our health system on the continent must hold,” stressed Rwandan Minister of Health Dr Sabin Nsanzimana. “Even as financing declines, we must find ways to increase it – whether through domestic sources or partnerships with those who see health as an investment in humanity.”

• Health Policy Watch

"Als Brasilien das hochgiftige Paraquat verbot, wich die Landwirtschaft auf Diquat aus, ein Herbizid aus der gleichen chemischen Familie. Doch dieses Pestizid von Syngenta, das in der Schweiz und in der Europäischen Union verboten ist, bringt für Bauern und Bäuerinnen sowie Landarbeiter seine eigenen Probleme mit sich. Dies zeigt eine neue Untersuchung von Public Eye und Unearthed, der investigativen Einheit von Greenpeace Grossbritannien."

• Public Eye

"The European Health Report is produced every 3 years as a flagship publication by the WHO Regional Office for Europe. This edition is based on the indicators included in the WHO European Programme of Work, 2020–2025 – “United Action for Better Health” measurement framework. This 2024 Report finds that the health of the people in the WHO European Region continues to be negatively affected by an accumulation of hard-to-tackle threats and new hazards that require our urgent attention in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease (‎COVID-19)‎ pandemic. The new European Programme of Work, which will come into effect in 2026, will be the main policy tool for the Region, outlining how WHO and the Member States will address the challenges identified in this European Health Report 2024."

• World Health Organization

"UNAIDS is monitoring how the pause, review and termination of US support for HIV programs is affecting countries, communities, community organizations, healthcare workers, people living with and affected by HIV and the overall HIV response. We have created a special page on the UNAIDS website to host all the information related to the impact of the pause, review and termination of US support on the global AIDS response. On the special page you will find the latest country and regional updates, links to statements and other important resources from UNAIDS, cosponsors, the US Government and external partners, which are updated daily. Finally, you will find a section with dashboards that monitor the continuity of HIV programmes amidst the funding shifts. The new special page can be accessed via link.

• UNAIDS

"The decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut the vast majority of its foreign aid programs has devastated the global HIV/AIDS effort—and left its leaders seething. South Africa’s HIV/AIDS program, the world’s largest, has been thrown into turmoil, researchers, clinicians, and advocates said yesterday during an impassioned press conference. And the fate of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which relies on U.S. funds to help track and coordinate the global response, is in jeopardy. “It is a huge crisis,” says epidemiologist Peter Piot, who ran UNAIDS from its inception in 1995 until 2008 and is now at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other hard-hit countries in Africa may soon run out of anti-HIV drugs as a result of the cuts, Piot says."

• Science

"(...) PEPFAR took a massive hit from Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order that froze funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is the home to the program. PEPFAR relies on USAID for nearly two thirds of its budget to deliver HIV prevention and treatment services in 55 countries. (...) The funding uncertainty comes at a time when PEPFAR was reaching milestones in HIV prevention. Prior to the funding freeze, PEPFAR had entered a partnership in December to provide 2 million people with lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis medication that awaits U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. PEPFAR is responsible for more than 90% of PrEP initiations worldwide, according to the U.S. State Department."

• Public Health Newswire

"The UN launched a bold new action agenda to boost rights and achieve gender equality at a high-level event on the sidelines of the ongoing Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) session at UN Headquarters in New York on Wednesday."

• United Nations

"We enter CEDAW (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) deliberations on General Recommendation 41 on Gender Stereotypes at a moment of grave import for the human rights of women and girls and, indeed, their very bodily autonomy. There is powerful pushback against the rights of women, in all their diversities, and particularly their reproductive rights. Across the globe, we discern fierce opposition that threatens decades of progress."

• UNFPA

"In May 2024, countries agreed on amendments to the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR). These legally binding rules govern how all member states address the threat of infectious disease outbreaks that may cross borders. This was a much-needed diplomatic success for weary negotiators in a polarised geopolitical context, and the amendments filled some gaps in the IHR that Covid-19 exposed. However, they also left unaddressed many critical and politically difficult issues that now fall under the Pandemic Agreement (PA). The PA was to cross the finish line side-by-side with the IHR, but countries could not reach a consensus, so negotiations were extended to the May 2025 World Health Assembly."

• Geneva Solutions

"Iran raised concerns over the Intergovernmental Negotiation Body (INB) Bureau’s deletion of text without strikethrough indication from the negotiating text of the pandemic instrument, leading to a situation where certain provisions appear fully agreed, though there are pending issues. (...) When the INB Co-Chair tabled the current programme of work for adoption, Iran raised its reservations and stated: “Our understanding is that this draft programme of work contains those elements that are under discussion. As several articles have been marked as green or modified without sufficient inclusive consultative process following the closure of the December meeting, we reserve the right to raise our concerns whenever necessary with an understanding nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

• Third World Network

"“It’s now or never,” World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyussus told the start of the 13th round of talks on a pandemic agreement on Monday morning. Five days of talks are scheduled this week with another five days scheduled in April. Thereafter, the plan is for an agreement to be presented at the World Health Assembly in May."

• Health Policy Watch

"KIGALI, Rwanda – Confronted by a huge and growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), governments worldwide are under pressure to devote more of their domestic budgets to these illnesses. Patients carry the burden of both the diseases and an estimated 60% of the cost of treating these, which include cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes."

• Health Policy Watch

"In 2020, a group of passionate young activists – concerned about persistent inequities in healthcare and the slow pace of digital transformation – came together to establish Young Experts: Tech for Health (YET4H) – a youth-led platform that aimed to empower young people to interrogate the status quo and shape inclusive, equitable digital health systems. Born out of a pioneering research project by Fondation Botnar in collaboration with Women Deliver, YET4H began as a Youth Advisory Council before evolving into a dedicated initiative that championed innovative campaigns like “Humans of Digital Health” and drove change in health policy and governance."

• Transform Health