The global shelter-in-place restrictions due to COVID-19 have already drastically changed the ways we interact and behave. However, let’s be real, these restrictions on movement will not prevent people from going about their daily lives - which includes having sex. The impact of an unplanned pregnancy or a new HIV infection for a young person can alter their life’s trajectory. Now, at a time of mass unemployment and economic recession, these events could be catastrophic.

YLabs works with young people around the world to improve their health and economic opportunity, and we are already hearing about the ripple effects that COVID-19 is having on adolescent health globally. We know that for young women in Pakistan, who depend on their husband’s wages and have already limited access to contraception, an unintended pregnancy could drastically impact their family’s economic survival. And we know that for young women in Rwanda, poised to complete their high school education and transition to the workplace, disruptions in contraceptive supply due to COVID-19 could have irreversible effects on their lifelong economic opportunity and health.

The Guttmacher Institutes’ recent study estimates that there will be significant consequences on sexual and reproductive health outcomes with even a modest 10% reduction in sexual and reproductive health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that there will be 48 million women with an unmet need for contraception, leading to 15 million additional unplanned pregnancies, leading to an additional 3.3 million unsafe abortions over one year, resulting in an increase in maternal deaths. Without steps to assure access to essential services, contraception, and STI/HIV testing, we are facing a global sexual and reproductive health crisis, especially for young people in low and middle-income countries.

But, there is hope. We call on community leaders, governments, and the social impact sector to turn to a solution hiding in plain sight; self-care products and direct-to-consumer platforms that reach people where they are. Just as a food delivery service can bring your favorite take-out or grocery products to your front door, self-care platforms can deliver life-saving information and products to people who need them the most - from emergency contraception to sexual education to mental health support. 

At YLabs, a youth-focused design and research organization based in the U.S. and Rwanda, we have been working with young people, community members, and health providers over the past four years to develop self-care approaches that combine engaging, youth-focused health information with direct linkage to health products and services. Young people can access accurate, fact-based information designed for them, and then order contraception, HIV self-tests, and menstrual hygiene products online or via a mobile phone. Medical screening can be done in advance, which means clients can pick up products at a local participating pharmacy or have them delivered from a specially-trained healthcare provider. This saves time, decreases barriers to access, and eases pressure on overstretched health-care providers. We also work with providers on how to deliver youth-friendly care and ensure that they don’t stigmatize young people for seeking health services and products. 

During the COVID pandemic, we are expanding YLabs’ programs to additional geographies to provide information and self-referral services through mobile and digital solutions. We’ve designed these approaches with users to be accessible for both those with and without access to smartphones, to maximize the reach to those most in need. Technology, though not a panacea, can provide potential new avenues to keep services going at this challenging time to ensure young people have the family planning and reproductive health information and services they need to protect their future health and economic opportunity. 

This young generation, 1.8 billion strong, from Karachi to Kigali, is the generation that are already using technology to learn, grow, and shop. This trend will only increase in the coming years with increased spread and accessibility of mobile technology. We need to think beyond the clinic as the only way to deliver sexual and reproductive health services, especially at this time when health services are stretched thin. Let’s listen to what young people want and need, and meet them where they are, providing accurate information and access to essential services in the palm of their hands.