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Volume 2, Number 18
6 May 2002
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY
Nigeria
Recommends Jail Terms to Eradicate Female Genital Mutilation
(news article)
A bill, which is currently being considered by the Senate, was unanimously
passed by Nigeria's lower house, the House of Representatives last
year. The law would ban female genital mutilation and impose a 2-year
jail term for offenders.
UNFPA:
Religious Leaders Urge Bush to Release Funding for Agency (news
article)
In a letter addressed to U.S. President George W. Bush, an international
committee of religious leaders, including Christians, Buddhists,
Muslims, Hindus and Jews, called on Bush to release the $34 million
that Congress has appropriated for the U.N. Population Fund for
this year.
Aid
Agencies Take Steps to Combat Sexual Abuse (news article)
A consortium of key humanitarian agencies has adopted a policy statement
designed to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation in humanitarian
crises throughout the world.
Britain Dashes Hopes for Over-the-Counter Viagra
(news article)
The country's Medicines Control Agency is considering a report that
suggests that the anti-impotence drug Viagra, along with oral contraceptives
and drugs to treat asthma and several other chronic conditions,
might be dispensed by pharmacists.
Israel:
Army to Supply 'Morning After' Pill to Female Soldiers (news
article)
The Health Ministry has allowed the pill to be available over the
counter since March. Now women in the Israeli army can obtain emergency
contraception at their unit clinic.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
Changes
with Age in the Level and Duration of Fertility in the Menstrual
Cycle (research abstract)
Nearly all pregnancies occurred within a 6 day fertile window for
women of all ages. However, women's fertility begins to decline
in the late 20s with substantial decreases by the late 30s. Fertility
for men is less affected by age, but shows significant decline by
the late 30s.
Related News Article: Women's
Fertility Declines in Late Twenties
Syphilis,
Gonorrhea and Chlamydial Infection Among Women Undergoing Legal
or Illegal Abortion in Maputo (PubMed abstract)
The prevalence of sexually transmitted infections was as high as
44% among women in the study population in Maputo, Mozambique, indicating
an urgent need to treat women and prevent future infections.
Socio-demographic
Determinants of Intrauterine Device Use and Failure in China
(research abstract)
Researchers suggest two main possible mechanisms for the determinants
of IUD use. Some determinants may reflect effects of the Chinese
family planning programme; some may indicate women's physiological
and biological reactions to IUD.
Genital
Herpes (clinical practice note)
Practical advice on diagnosing, treating, counseling, and partner
notification for a patient presenting with genital herpes.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS
Excess Pounds Linked to Birth Control Failure
Risk (news article)
Women who weighed more than 150 pounds were more likely to experience
an unintended pregnancy while using contraception, a risk that grew
as the dosage fell.
New
Implant Added to IPPF Commodities List (news article)
The panel of international experts in the field of sexual and reproductive
health that provides medical and technical advice to IPPF, has recommended
that Jadelle, the two-rod levonorgestrel releasing implant, be added
to the IPPF commodities list.
US
to Investigate Allegedly Coercive Policy in China (news article)
The US State Department announced that it will soon send a team
to China to investigate allegations that the UNFPA is supporting
coercive Chinese population control policies.
Use of
Contraceptives in Zimbabwe Is Up (news article)
According to the Zimbabwe Demo-graphic and Health Survey of 1999,
there has been an upward trend in the use of contraceptives in this
country since 1984.
HIV / AIDS RESEARCH
HIV Selectively
Suppresses Anti-HIV Defense Cells (press release)
Related News Article: Some Immune Cells at Risk
During HIV Drug Vacations
HIV selectively disables the immune system's response against the
virus by disproportionately infecting the very cells designed to
fight it. In fact, CD4+ T cells programmed to fight HIV are two
to five times more likely to be infected with HIV than CD4+T cells
programmed to take on other pathogens.
Participation
in Research and Access to Experimental Treatments by HIV-Infected
Patients (research abstract)
Among patients with HIV infection, participation in research trials
and access to experimental treatment is influenced by race or ethnic
group and type of health insurance.
Related News Article: US Minorities Less Likely
to Enroll in HIV Trials
HIV
Seropositivity in Hospitalized Children with High Clinical Likelihood
of AIDS (research brief)
Using the WHO clinical criteria for diagnoses of AIDS in children
in developing countries, 122 children from a study population in
Aligarh, India fulfilled the criteria for having AIDS. Upon serologic
testing for HIV, only one child was positive. The researchers concluded
that in their population, the major WHO clinical criteria of failure
to thrive, fever >1 month, and diarrhea of >1 month are widely
prevalent due to endemic diseases.
Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapies
(HAART) in HIV-infected Patients: From a Predictive to a Dynamic
Approach (research abstract)
Short-term non-adherence cannot be reliably predicted on the sole
basis of a few a priori patient characteristics that clinicians
could easily identify before initiation of HAART. This research
suggests that a dynamic approach to adherence is needed for improving
management of HIV/AIDS care.
HIV / AIDS NEWS
UN Says AIDS Rapidly Reaching Epidemic Proportions
in Asia-Pacific Region (news article)
At the present rate of new infections, the number of people living
with HIV/AIDS in Asia-Pacific could reach "monumental proportions,"
the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP),
said in a statement. The findings, revealed in a new UN study, will
be presented to government ministers at an ESCAP conference in Bangkok
from May 16 to 22.
HIV/AIDS:
Jeffrey Sachs Says African Economic Development at Risk (news
article)
Economic success in Africa does not have a chance unless governments
provide the necessary funds to combat the rampant HIV/AIDS pandemic
HIV/AIDS
Prevalence Increasing in Zanzibar (news article)
Only .1 percent of women and 5.2 percent of men in Zanzibar report
having ever used condoms to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
UN Says India May Overtake South Africa in AIDS
Cases (news article)
India will have the largest number of people in the world infected
with HIV in a few years, overtaking South Africa, if steps are not
taken to curb the deadly disease.
Nigeria:
Pilot Project on Mother-to-Child HIV/AIDS Transmission Begins
(news article)
A pilot project is beginning in six teaching hospitals to determine
the extent of mother-to-child transmission of HIV-AIDS in the country
and how best to respond to the epidemic.
Researchers Use Gene Therapy to Destroy HIV in
Lab (news article)
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be stopped in its tracks by
using gene therapy to tell infected cells how to prevent the virus
from replicating, researchers announced.
Second
stage of HIV vaccine trial begins in London and Oxford, UK (news
article)
A new phase of the world's first clinical trial to test a vaccine
candidate for one of the most prevalent HIV strains affecting Africa
started April 4, 2002, in London and Oxford. This expands the ongoing
trials in Oxford and Nairobi which aim to harness the ability of
the body's own immune system to fight disease.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH
Exclusive Breastfeeding is Undermined by Use
of Other Liquids in Rural Southwestern Nigeria (research abstract)
In a rural community of Nigeria, only 11 percent of women practised
what could be termed predominantly breastfeeding.The results imply
a need for health education that starts with the health workers
themselves and addresses the cultural context of the mothers' fears
about exclusive breastfeeding.
Economic
Analyses of Rubella and Rubella Vaccines: A Global Review 
(research article)
Cost-benefit analyses in both developing and developed countries
found that adding a rubella vaccine into the standard set of child
vaccinations had economic benefits comparable to those associated
with hepatitis B and influenza vaccines.
Healthy
Mothers and Healthy Newborns: Policy Perspectives on Newborn Health
(research article)
Making motherhood safer is critical to saving newborns. Policymakers
must ensure that health care is available for newborns as well as
their mothers.
Prevalence
of breast-feeding and its correlates in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(PubMed abstract)
While most of the mothers and families (about 95%) indicated supportive
attitudes to breast-feeding, the prevalence of breast-feeding was
low (about 55%).
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS
UNICEF
Says HIV Myth Stymies Nigerian Polio Vaccinations (news article)
Parents' fears that polio vaccination can lead to HIV infection
are slowing immunizations of Nigerian children.
Deadly
Childbirth (news article)
Despite progress in reproductive health care, maternal mortality
rates remain high in Peru.
Women Should Heed Advised Weight Gain in Pregnancy
(news article)
The frequency of pregnancy complications was lowest in the group
of women who had gained the recommended Institute of Medicine weight
(25 to 35 pounds).
Maternal
Mortality, Other Goals Not Reached Since 1990 Summit (news article)
UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy said yesterday that three
areas related to the well-being of children have not significantly
improved since the 1990 World Summit for Children: maternal mortality,
immunizations, and anemia.
MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
Prevalence
of Prostatitis-Like Symptoms in Singapore: A Population-Based Study
(research article)
The prevalence of prostatitis-like symptoms among the men screened
in Singapore was nearly 3%. These symptoms had a negative effect
on quality of life and erectile function in the men studied.
MEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Men's
Murky Motives for Romance
Men are more likely to spoil their female partners and keep a close
eye on their movements around the time of ovulation. This could
be an evolutionary strategy to keep women away from other men during
fertile periods, say the researchers who carried out a questionnaire
study. They also found that non-paternity rates vary from country
to country, but between 1 and 30 per cent of children are not the
offspring of their purported father.
POPULATION RESEARCH
The
West Bank and Gaza: A Population Profile (research note)
These two areas are unique entities in today's world. Although parts
of both consist of autonomous, Palestinian-governed regions, Israel
and Israeli forces surround them.
The Aging
Population of Brunei Darussalam: Trends and Economic Consequences
(research article)
Although the elderly in Brunei Darussalam are small in number, the
process of population aging is occurring quite rapidly. Further,
by 2011, the percentage of women in the older population will far
exceed that of men. The article discusses various implications for
social security of the aging population, including the possibility
of taxing temporary foreign workers, among other policy measures,
in an effort to alleviate the burden on state coffers.
POPULATION NEWS
Sri
Lanka's Population Estimated at 18.73 Million in 2001 (news
article)
The average annual population growth between 1981 and 2001 was 1.14%.
Buganda
Advised On Child Births (news article)
Buganda clan leaders have been urged to advise their subjects to
stop giving birth to children they cannot afford to look after.
WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
Differential
Effects of Oral Estrogen versus Oral Estrogen-Androgen Replacement
Therapy on Body Composition in Postmenopausal Women (research
abstract)
Compared to women receiving only estrogen, postmenopausal women
receiving estrogen plus methyltestosterone reported improved body
composition, lower-body muscle strength, quality of life, and sexual
functioning.
Human
Immunodeficiency Virus and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections
Among Female Sex Workers in Two Major Cities in Papua New Guinea
(PubMed abstract)
Despite a high rate of symptoms of STIs, the rate of treatment-seeking
was low. Despite STD/HIV awareness campaigns, condom use among the
sex workers was very inconsistent; 85% reported that they did not
use condoms at all times when having sex with their clients. Common
reasons cited were dislike by clients, unavailability, alcohol use,
and familiarity with a client.
WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Kenya:
Criminalizing Circumcision Won't Do (news article/analysis)
Although circumcising girls is now illegal in Kenya, there is no
indication the ban is having any meaningful impact on the ground.
On the contrary, reports from the media and gender organizations
since last December indicate that many communities ignored the legislation.
YOUTH RESEARCH
Case Study
of the Women's Center of Jamaica Foundation, Program for Adolescent
Mothers (program summary)
To address the serious socioeconomic and health consequences of
adolescent pregnancy, the Women's Center of Jamaica Foundation offers
the Program for Adolescent Mothers. The program goals are to enable
teenage girls to continue their schooling during pregnancy and return
to the regular school system shortly after the birth of their child;
and to educate young women about family planning and to prevent
a second pregnancy during the teen years.
YOUTH NEWS
China: College Students Report More Premarital
Sex (news article)
As attitudes about premarital sex among Chinese youths become more
lax, experts worry that a dearth of sex education in that country
may spur a surge in sexually transmitted diseases, estimated to
be increasing at a rate of nearly 16% each year.
AIDS
Turns Back the Clock for World's Young (news article)
The pandemic of HIV/AIDS, and the poverty associated with it, is
hitting children with a force no one foresaw, according to a new
study. In Africa, in particular, it has already undone the achievements
in social development of the last half century.
Regional
Parliamentary Networks Issue Statement for Special Session on Children
(news article)
Parliamentary networks in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the
Americas and Europe have issued a statement calling for the protection
of the sexual and reproductive rights of young people.
PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS
In
This Generation: Sexual and Reproductive Health Policies for a Youthful
World
This report examines how seven countries--the United States, Iran,
The Netherlands, Mexico, India, Ghana, and Mali--have responded
to the reproductive health needs of their young people. With the
notable exception of The Netherlands, the report finds that most
countries are not doing enough.
Development Gateway:
Population and Reproductive Health
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