The Zika epidemic and abortion in Latin America: a scoping review

Abstract

BackgroundLatin America presently has the world’s highest burden of Zika virus, but there are unexplained differences in national rates of congenital malformations collectively referred to as Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) in the region. While Zika virulence and case detection likely contribute to these differences, policy-related factors, including access to abortion, may play important roles. Our goal was to assess perspectives on, and access to, abortion in Latin America in the context of the Zika epidemic.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed and gray literature published between January 2015 and December 2016, written in English, Spanish, Portuguese, or French. We searched PubMed, Scielo, and Google Scholar for literature on Zika and/or CZS and abortion, and used automated and manual review methods to synthesize the existing information.Results36 publications met our inclusion criteria, the majority of which were qualitative. Publications were generally in favor of increased access to safe abortion as a policy-level response for mitigating the impact of CZS, but issues with implementation were cited as the main challenge. Aside from the reform of abortion regulation in Colombia, we did not find evidence that the Zika epidemic had triggered shifts in abortion policy in other countries.ConclusionAbortion policy in the region remained largely unchanged following the Zika epidemic. Further empirical research on abortion access and differential rates of CZS across Latin American countries is required.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s41256-018-0069-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Solidarity, vulnerability and mistrust: how context, information and government affect the lives of women in times of Zika

“…Social movements to support and defend women's reproductive health rights because of the Zika epidemic might have happened, but many women did not realize that the connection they were fostering with each another might have evolved into a massive push for better access to birth control and better health care services. Surprisingly, women's activism in Brazil and other Latin American countries revolved around the creation of an underground movement for health care -women with children affected by Zika formed non-profit organizations and informal networks to defend their rights [47,48]; abortion activists carried out many activities and studies [2,49,50] in countries where abortion was illegal [29].…”

Solidarity, Vulnerability and Mistrust: How Context, Information and Government Affect the Lives of Women in Times of Zika

“…Social movements to support and defend women's reproductive health rights because of the Zika epidemic might have happened, but many women did not realize that the connection they were fostering with each another might have evolved into a massive push for better access to birth control and better health care services. Surprisingly, women's activism in Brazil and other Latin American countries revolved around the creation of an underground movement for health care -women with children affected by Zika formed non-profit organizations and informal networks to defend their rights [51,52]; abortion activists carried out many activities and studies [53,54,2] in countries where abortion was illegal [32] .…”

“…By February 1st, 2017, 76 countries have reported the presence of Zika. Of the 205,013 cumulative confirmed cases of Zika infection across the world, 130,840 were in Brazil [2], where differences by region and level of education in access to and use of health services persist. In fact, most microcephaly cases were concentrated in Northeastern Brazil, where health inequities are higher.…”

Solidarity, Vulnerability and Mistrust: How Context, Information and Government Affect the Lives of Women in Times of Zika

“…Social movements to support and defend women's reproductive health rights because of the Zika epidemic might have happened, but many women did not realize that the connection they were fostering with each another might have evolved into a massive push for better access to birth control and better health care services. Surprisingly, women's activism in Brazil and other Latin American countries revolved around the creation of an underground movement for health carewomen with children affected by Zika formed non-profit organizations and informal networks to defend their rights [45,46]; abortion activists carried out many activities and studies [47,48,2] in countries where abortion was illegal.…”

“…By February 1st, 2017, countries have reported the presence of Zika. Of the 205,013 cumulative confirmed cases of Zika infection across the world, 130,840 were in Brazil [2], where differences by region and level of education in access to and use of health services persist [3].…”