Nigeria's Secret STI Test Kits

More than 300 million women and girls don't have access to the hygiene products they need because of taboos and a lack of resources. Education is helping change that, as are organizations that provide sanitary pads.

Women in the Philippines have been coming to this small clinic in a Manila slum for years to get affordable birth control, something frowned upon in this largely conservative Catholic country.

Popular in some countries and catching on in the U.S., community health workers fill gaping holes in care. The workers help curb health care costs by preventing complicated disease and emergency room visits.

There is nothing more difficult than changing entrenched cultural practices, especially those as shrouded in taboos as female genital cutting. A grassroots approach in Ethiopia, however, has nearly completely eradicated this practice in villages that use it.

A Buffalo, New York clinic provides a space for both abortions and natural births. In looking at the experiences as a continuum, rather than as juxtiposing sides, the hope is to change how people think about the birth experiences.

Expecting mothers, especially young ones, can often feel scared and unprepared about the pregnancy process. Maternity meeting groups help them gain more support and knowledge about their future pregnancies.

Colorado causes a large decline in teen pregnancy and abortions by implementing free, long-term birth control to prevent pregnancy. While demonstrating massive success, its continuity is in the air considering the ongoing fight over health insurance at the federal level.

The H.I.V. infection rate in San Francisco dropped drastically after the city increased testing and created programs like Rapid, which immediately offer public health insurance, antiretroviral drugs, and personal counselors for people with AIDS.

For decades, AIDS has taken the lives of millions of people and infected millions more worldwide. The key to reducing the effect of AIDS, and even potentially curing it, involves treating patients as early as possible after being diagnosed with HIV, before the disease damages organs. San Francisco General Hospital developed the RAPID program for this purpose, with the goal of “Getting to Zero” the number of new infections and deaths.

A nonprofit based in Calgary, Canada, created a sex ed class for boys that includes critical discussion of human rights, sexual health, gender, and healthy relationships, as well as a safe space for boys to share their thoughts.