Reaffirming the value of continuing professional development.

With advances in clinical knowledge and changing norms for health services delivery, lifelong learning is essential for practitioners of sexual and reproductive health. Clinical topics should be complemented by various items, such as communications and management, to optimise the provision of care. Aiming to update knowledge, improve skills and enhance competence, professional development can take the form of diverse modalities ranging from the reading of professional journals through attendance at meetings to formal participation in schemes organised by licensing authorities. Already mandatory in numerous countries in Africa, continuing professional development is assuming more importance for medical, nursing, and midwifery practitioners.