Criticisms of the draft Regulation on reproductive hygiene are also being made by those working in the developing countries” “” “
There’s a risk that “as a side-effect of the effort of improving society and public health in the developing countries, a culture of abortion will be fomented on a far larger scale than what exists at the present time”, says Jan De Mol , the Dutch expert in international cooperation and consultant of various European and African non-governmental organizations. We asked him for his assessment of the draft Regulation on reproductive and sexual hygiene now being discussed by the European Parliament. For years you’ve been working with NGOs active in Africa and in the developing countries. How do you evaluate the EU’s draft Regulation on reproductive hygiene? “It has both positive and negative features. The positive aspect consists in the fact that the EU’s interventions in this sector could contribute effectively to improving the medical quality of preventive and therapeutic treatment in the field of reproductive and sexual hygiene. Too many women, girls and adolescents included, die or fall sick in the developing countries as a result of gynaecological operations or treatment conducted in unacceptable conditions, if compared with Western ‘standards’, or because they cannot refuse unprotected sexual relations with sieropositive partners. Combating so-called ‘harmful practices, preventing infections by sexual transmission, promoting healthcare programmes and information campaigns for women and training obstetric personnel, is a duty for the European countries”. What, on the other hand, are the negative features of the provision in question? “While the draft Regulation of the EU condemns violations of human rights as a means for curbing demographic growth, such as forced abortion, obligatory sterilization, infanticide and so on, there is a real danger of a culture of abortion taking root on a far more wider scale than at the present time: I’m not speaking of therapeutic abortion, but of the psychological factor that more easily induces a woman or a couple to abort knowing that the surgical intervention in itself does not present risks for health, since performed in a professional manner. That’s why information campaigns ought to be accompanied by campaigns of education on the value of life and on respect for one’s own body”. What’s the political significance of a European action that intends to substitute the USA in family planning policies? “The USA has removed its funding from the agencies of the United Nations and the NGOs that deal with demographic growth and reproductive health in the developing countries. The decision of the US to curb its funding in this area is part of Washington’s new policy of concentrating ever more on security, both domestic and international, and ever less on development. However, it should also be pointed out that, unfortunately, the United Nations agencies have not hitherto had much success in this area: diseases have not been curbed, quite the reverse, and mortality rates among women and newborn infants due to lack of hygiene remain obstinately high. The results achieved seem disproportionate to the financial commitment made, which is clearly too easily squandered”. What more can Europe do? “The fact that Europe now considers that the beneficiaries of its aid should not only be central governments, but also local authorities, NGOs, international organizations, such as the UN itself and its agencies, and for the first time research institutes and universities is a guarantee of better management and potentially greater efficiency in the allocation of aid. Politically I see a strong signal to make Europe assume a driving role in world development, as has already emerged in recent times and as was recently confirmed at the Johannesburg summit. But the problem lies elsewhere: it is that of striking the right balance between science and ethics, between progress and respect for the natural human rights of the woman, the child and also the foetus. This is already a difficult task in our secularized societies: it will be even more difficult in the societies of the poor countries. It is to this threat that we must remain ever vigilant”. G.A.G.
