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Lianne Marie Gonsalves is an American scientist and technical officer for the Department of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization in Geneva. [1] [2] Her research explores the area of adolescent sexual and reproductive health. [3]
Gonsalves grew up in Cary, North Carolina. As an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, Gonsalves pursued a course in biological sciences with the possible ambition of becoming a doctor. While at university, an undergraduate research trip to Guatemala encouraged her to pursue studies in public health. [4] She graduated from NC State in 2010, later moving to Venezuela for a Fulbright Scholarship. [4] [5] In 2013, Gonsalves graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with a Masters of Science in Public Health. [1] At Johns Hopkins, she researched family planning practices in Ethiopia on a Boren Scholarship. [4] She later earned her doctorate in epidemiology at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. For her doctoral dissertation, she researched the role of pharmacies as contraceptive outlets for young people in Kenya. [6]
Gonsalves joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013. At WHO, she leads public engagement on the topics of sexual education, health and well-being, [7] [8] as well as research initiatives on the topics of contraception, [9] intersex surgery [10] and sexual education. [11] [12]
Her projects have included the World Health Organization Sexual Health Survey, a comprehensive project on global sexual health, [13] [14] and she has lead reports linking sexual and reproductive health to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically the Sustainable Development Goal 3.7 of "Universal access to sexual and reproductive care, family planning and education." [15]
Gonsalves also manages the WHO's ARMADILLO digital sexual health information project in Kenya and Peru which has pioneered a free text message service offering young people access to accurate and understandable information on sexual and reproductive health. [16]
The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. It is the oral form of combined hormonal contraception. The pill contains two important hormones: a progestin and estrogen. When taken correctly, it alters the menstrual cycle to eliminate ovulation and prevent pregnancy.
Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20.
Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marital situation, career or work considerations, financial situations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.
The history of intersex surgery is intertwined with the development of the specialities of pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, and pediatric endocrinology, with our increasingly refined understanding of sexual differentiation, with the development of political advocacy groups united by a human qualified analysis, and in the last decade by doubts as to efficacy, and controversy over when and even whether some procedures should be performed.
Male contraceptives, also known as male birth control, are methods of preventing pregnancy by interrupting the function of sperm. The main forms of male contraception available today are condoms, vasectomy, and withdrawal, which together represented 20% of global contraceptive use in 2019. New forms of male contraception are in clinical and preclinical stages of research and development, but as of 2024, none have reached regulatory approval for widespread use.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is a field of research, health care, and social activism that explores the health of an individual's reproductive system and sexual well-being during all stages of their life. Sexual and reproductive health is more commonly defined as sexual and reproductive health and rights, to encompass individual agency to make choices about their sexual and reproductive lives.
A sexual minority is a demographic whose sexual identity, orientation or practices differ from the majority of the surrounding society. Primarily used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or non-heterosexual individuals, it can also refer to transgender, non-binary or intersex individuals.
Disorders of sex development (DSDs), also known as differences in sex development or variations in sex characteristics (VSC), are congenital conditions affecting the reproductive system, in which development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical. DSDs is a clinical term used in some medical settings for what are otherwise referred to as intersex traits. The term was first introduced in 2006 and has not been without controversy.
Various issues in medicine relate to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. According to the US Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA), besides HIV/AIDS, issues related to LGBTQ health include breast and cervical cancer, hepatitis, mental health, substance use disorders, alcohol use, tobacco use, depression, access to care for transgender persons, issues surrounding marriage and family recognition, conversion therapy, refusal clause legislation, and laws that are intended to "immunize health care professionals from liability for discriminating against persons of whom they disapprove."
Marleen Temmerman is a Belgian gynaecologist, professor and former Senator, currently heading the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya.
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics, including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Identified by the 2012 World Development Report as one of two key human capital endowments, health can influence an individual's ability to reach his or her full potential in society. Yet while gender equality has made the most progress in areas such as education and labor force participation, health inequality between men and women continues to harm many societies to this day.
Access to safe and adequate sexual and reproductive healthcare constitutes part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as upheld by the United Nations.
Morgan Carpenter is a bioethicist, intersex activist and researcher. In 2013, he created an intersex flag, and became president of Intersex Human Rights Australia. He is now executive director. Following enactment of legislative protections for people with innate variations of sex characteristics in the Australian Capital Territory, Carpenter is a member of the Variations in Sex Characteristics Restricted Medical Treatment Assessment Board.
Intersex people are born with natural variations in physical and sex characteristics including those of the chromosomes, gonads, sex hormones, or genitals that, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit the typical definitions for male or female bodies". Such variations may involve genital ambiguity, and combinations of chromosomal genotype and sexual phenotype other than XY-male and XX-female. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis allows the elimination of embryos and fetuses with intersex traits and thus has an impact on discrimination against intersex people.
Combined hormonal contraception (CHC), or combined birth control, is a form of hormonal contraception which combines both an estrogen and a progestogen in varying formulations.
Terry M. McGovern is an American public health scholar. She is the Senior Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy in New York City. McGovern is also Professor of Health Policy and Management.
Nyovani Janet Madise is the current director of research and sustainable development policies and head of the Malawi office of the African Institute for Development Policy. She is an advisor to the World Health Organization and a former professor at the University of Southampton in demography and social statistics. Nyovani has over 100 peer-reviewed research publications that focus on global health issues to highlight the influence of social and economic factors on health in low-income countries.
Abortion in Kenya is prohibited with the exception of certain circumstances including danger to the life and health of the expectant mother, and rape. Unsafe abortions are a major cause of deaths and health complications for women in Kenya.
Intersex healthcare differs from the healthcare of endosex people due to stigma and potential complications arising from their bodily variations. People with intersex variations, also called disorders in sex development, have hormonal, genetic, or anatomical differences unexpected of an endosex male or female. 1.7% of the general population is estimated to be intersex. Healthcare for intersex people can include treatments for one's mental, cognitive, physical, and sexual health. The healthcare needs of intersex people vary depending on which variations they have. Intersex conditions are diagnosed prenatally, at birth, or later in life via genetic and hormone testing as well as medical imaging.
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