Page 7 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of

Population Studies

EDITORIAL
Population and reproductive health dynamics

under COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights
from scientific evidence

Yemi Adewoyin 1,2† *, Joshua Odunayo Akinyemi 1,3† , Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi ,
4†
and Clifford O. Odimegwu 2†
1 Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
2 Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
3 Department of Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, Faculty of Public Health, College of Medicine,
University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
4 Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
(This editorial belongs to the Special Issue: Population and Reproductive Health Dynamics under
Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa)

Through the relentless efforts of the public health communities worldwide, the
coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has eventually been brought under
control. Such a feat provides invaluable insights into controlling disease outbreaks in
the future. In this regard, the unique population and reproductive health dynamics in
† These authors are the guest Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) provide a lens for looking at disease outbreaks at the present
editors for this Special Issue. and in the future. With the lowest case fatality rate amidst a fragile health system and
*Corresponding author: a diverse population characterized by complex sociocultural norms, beliefs, and health
Yemi Adewoyin behaviors, this subject area will continue to deepen as the scientific community prepares
(yemiadewoyin@yahoo.com)
for the next outbreak. Many studies have reported on how the COVID-19 outbreak and
Citation: Adewoyin, Y., the attendant control measures impacted access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH)
Akinyemi, J.O., Akinyemi, A.I., &
Odimegwu, C.O. (2024). Population services. The findings in this regard are varied, depending on the context and research
and reproductive health dynamics design. This Special Issue aims to provide insights into the population and reproductive
under COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan
Africa: Insights from scientific health dynamics in the SSA during the COVID-19 pandemic.
evidence. International Journal of The papers in this special issue were selected from those presented at the Conference
Population Studies, 10(1):1-4.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2535 on Population and Reproductive Health Dynamics under COVID-19 in SSA that was
hosted virtually by the Demography and Population Studies Programme, University of
Received: December 26, 2023
the Witwatersrand, South Africa, from March 14 to 16, 2022. Thematic areas of focus
Published Online: January 12, 2024 include access to family planning, sexual and reproductive health services; intimate
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). partner violence (IPV); and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the Before the conference, owing to a dearth of primary and secondary data, most
Creative Commons Attribution studies primarily focused on the likely/potential association between COVID and
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, reproductive health with findings that were largely hypothetical and, in some cases,
provided the original work is drawn from very small samples that could not be generalized. The papers presented at
properly cited. the conference, however, provide actual, rather than hypothetical or potential, impacts
Publisher’s Note: AccScience on the association. In total, 10 articles from the conference that were accepted after
Publishing remains neutral with a rigorous peer-review process are published in this Special Issue. The articles cover
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional critical areas of the COVID-19 pandemic and utilize different methodologies to draw
affiliations. lessons learned during the pandemic.

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.2535