World in Progress: Colombian women access tele-abortions during pandemic

The government's response to the coronavirus pandemic eliminated many bureaucratic barriers and increased funding for health clinics across Hawaii, allowing the entities to offer services such as mobile clinics and telehealth. Although it is yet to be seen if these changes will last, the changes have proved successful enough that several legislative measures are now under consideration.

The move to telemedicine was made necessary due to the coronavirus outbreak, but in Vermont, many health clinics are planning to continue incorporating the practice even after the pandemic dissipates. Although there are limitations to telehealth such as connectivity issues, many health care providers in the state are reporting that the elimination of barriers for their patients are still significant successes.

Amid the pandemic, medical researchers and an abortion-rights advocacy group in the U.S. are working to make the abortion pill available via mail. Although there is ambiguity surrounding the rules and regulations of how the pill must be distributed to patients, some doctors have helped efforts by agreeing to register with F.D.A.-approved manufacturers and a handful of states are allowing the pill to be mailed after an in-person ultrasound has been conducted.

Philadelphia's local government and health care providers are working to improve access to health care and coronavirus testing in minority and low-income neighborhoods. While a testing center is the newest addition to their efforts, local health care centers have been and will remain a crucial resource for residents to access telehealth services and information.

New Hampshire's community mental health centers are working together to deliver both in-person and telehealth services to community members during the coronavirus pandemic. All 10 of the state's centers are "sharing ideas and helping each other with what is working and identifying what isn’t working," while also working to help reduce barriers to health care access for those experiencing homelessness.

Nègès Mawon works to empower women to fight back against violence and oppression through education and advocacy and focuses on access to safe abortion care. Through the organization’s sponsorship program, women who are also survivors of gender-based violence are partnering together to rise above the patriarchal system and advocate for themselves. Since last May, Nègès Mawon has supported more than 300 survivors of gender-based violence through the sponsorship program.

The country’s only mobile vasectomy clinic, owned and operated by Esgar Guarín, works to get men to participate in contraception by getting a vasectomy, especially after the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, and abortion bans across the country. Since the decision, there has been a massive spike in vasectomies. Throughout his career, Guarin has completed more than 3,000.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused many healthcare practice to move to a virtual space, but for Spanish-speaking communities, telehealth wasn't a solution on its own. In New Orleans, interpreters, doctors, and patients are working together to coordinate care at one clinic, while another clinic has used personalized text messages in Spanish to stay in communicaiton with patients.

Telehealth is being implemented and used across the United States to assist both patients and doctors during the coronavirus pandemic. Although this practice has its limitations and cannot replace in-person diagnostic care in all situations, it has played a role in keeping the health care industry functioning in a way that also keeps doctors and patients safe from being exposed to the virus.

Since 2015, telemedicine has been helping connect doctors with people in rural parts of Kenya, which has proven to be crucial during the coronavirus pandemic. Although not all insurance companies have made the process easy and some residents don't trust the use of technology to keep their data safe, the practice has seen a significant increase in people with chronic diseases utilizing the system as a means of limiting their exposure to situations where they could be exposed to the virus.