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As part of the Department for International Development’s (DFID’s) Women’s Integrated Sexual Reproductive Health (WISH) programme, an evidence gap map (EGM) has been developed to map interventions on ‘what works’ to enable access to sexual reproductive health (SRH) services for persons with disabilities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). EGMs are a user-friendly presentation of the available, relevant evidence for a particular sector, which is systematically gathered and mapped onto a framework, visually highlighting the gaps or concentration of evidence. This EGM aims to support WISH programming by consolidating evidence and identifying tools/approaches which could be brought into the programme. In addition, it aims to identify where evidence is weak and how the WISH programme can contribute to evidence generation.

This report provides a written accompaniment to the Evidence Gap Map (EGM) to explain the methodology, findings on the availability of evidence, and key recommendations. When scoping for this EGM, it was recognised early on that some of the best practices and interventions on ‘what works’ to support persons with disabilities access SRH services in LMICs are not always empirically tested. Therefore, a decision was made to develop an EGM which includes both peer-reviewed and grey literature. This approach diverges from the norm, as EGMs typically only include peer-reviewed literature.

Report of research into awareness of sexual and reproductive health and rights in Pakistan. The results of the research show that respondents had little SRH information to help them through the changes of adolescence, and cultural barriers exacerbate the problem. Girls were more likely to experience social restrictions and their options were limited, reflecting traditional cultural values. As a result of their participation in the research, however, many agreed that more information about menstruation could be beneficial to them

This study describes current drug regulation and registration processes in selected countries, in order to understand how they affect the quality and availability of medicines in developing countries. It puts forward policy recommendations as to how systems can more efficiently allow appropriate quality drugs to be marketed and examines the emerging challenges and requirements posed by compulsory licensing, drugs for neglected diseases, anti-retroviral (ARV) and anti-tuberculosis (TB) drugs