Reductions in abortion-related mortality following policy reform: evidence from Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh

Unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to worldwide maternal mortality; however, abortion law and policy liberalization could lead to drops in unsafe abortion and related deaths. This review provides an analysis of changes in abortion mortality in three countries where significant policy reform and related service delivery occurred. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, population data and grey literature on programs and policies, this paper demonstrates the policy and program changes that led to declines in abortion-related mortality in Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh. In all three countries, abortion policy liberalization was followed by implementation of safe abortion services and other reproductive health interventions. South Africa and Bangladesh trained mid-level providers to offer safe abortion and menstrual regulation services, respectively, Romania improved contraceptive policies and services, and Bangladesh made advances in emergency obstetric care and family planning. The findings point to the importance of multi-faceted and complementary reproductive health reforms in successful implementation of abortion policy reform

Natural Degradable Polyhydroxyalkanoates as the Basis for Creation of Prolonged and Targeted Pesticides to Protect Cultivated Plants from Weeds and Pathogens

The present chapter is a synthesis of the authors’ data on the design and use of extended-release formulations of herbicides and fungicides embedded in a degradable matrix of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). The structure and physicochemical properties of the experimental formulations and the kinetics of their degradation in soil and pesticide release have been reported. The favorable effects of the application of the experimental pesticide formulations in laboratory soil ecosystems in wheat plant communities infected with Fusarium plant pathogen and weeds have been described