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Volume 2, Number 42
21 October 2002
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY
Chinese City Passes Law to Protect Rights of AIDS Patients
(news article)
The Chinese city of Suzhou in Jiangsu province passed
the country's first law to protect the rights of people
with AIDS. AIDS patients and their families will be
guaranteed equal rights of employment, education and
health care, according to the Shanghai Morning Post.
Employers will also be denied access to AIDS patients'
medical records.
China
Shifts Family Planning Focus to Reproductive Services
(news article)
Recently the concept of family planning has expanded
to more than just population control. Technical services
aiming to improve Chinese reproductive health and
maintain individual's legal rights are widespread.
Peru
Acknowledges Human Rights Violations in Forced Sterilization
Case that Ended in Death (news article)
A three-year international legal battle against the
Republic of Peru ended in the vindication of the rights
of a Peruvian a woman who was coercively subjected
to surgical sterilization which ultimately caused
her death. The settlement brings sweeping changes
to women's reproductive health and family planning
policies.
US:
States Consider Laws Against Paternity Fraud (news
article)
Advocates of the new laws contend change is needed
to prevent the exploitation of men by women who are
promiscuous, get pregnant and then choose who they
want the father to be, often based on how much money
the men have. They point to studies by groups such
as the American Association of Blood Banks, which
found in 1999 that nearly 30 percent of 280,000 paternity
cases evaluated excluded the alleged father as the
biological parent.
A
Less Valued Life-Population Policy and Sex Selection
in India 
(article)
Data from the 2001 Census of India reveal continuing
declines in the ratio of girls to boys ages 0-6 years
old. This article presents a critical examination
of the use of modern technology to prevent the birth
of girl children in India and the social and political
issues surrounding sex selection. The author also
offers recommendations for change.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
IUD
Use and the Risk of Endometrial Cancer (PubMed
abstract)
IUD use may have a protective effect on endometrial
cancer risk. The protective effect of IUD may be either
through the intense inflammatory response that leads
to other lisosomal and inflammatory actions (which
may include cells responsible for early elimination
of hyperplastic endometrial epithelial cells) or through
the more complete shedding of the endometrium associated
with IUD use (which may decrease hyperplasia of the
endometrium, a known risk factor for endometrial carcinoma).
Using
Microfinance to Improve the Quality of Reproductive
Health Services
(research brief)
A microfinancing scheme that provides business-skills
training and revolving loans to small-scale private
providers can increase client perceptions of quality
of services and client loyalty.
Introductory
Study on Female Condom Use among Sex Workers in China
(PubMed abstract)
The authors describe the results of their study, which
increased knowledge of, positive attitudes towards,
and correct use of the female condom in the study
population of sex workers in Enping City, China.
Predictors
of Intention to Promote Family Planning: A Survey
of Protestant Seminarians in the United States
(research abstract)
The purpose of this study was to examine Protestant
seminary students' intention to promote family planning.
Structural equation modeling was used to assess relationships
among attitudes toward sexuality, attitudes toward
family planning, subjective norms, knowledge, self-efficacy,
and intention for both conservative and nonconservative
students. Results indicated that the relationships
among predictors of intention were essentially similar
for both conservative and nonconservative seminarians,
with attitudes and self-efficacy for promoting family
planning exhibiting the strongest direct effects on
intention.
Effects
of Oral Contraceptives on Peak Exercise Capacity
(PubMed abstract)
Researchers examined the effects of menstrual cycle
phase and oral contraceptive (OC) use on peak oxygen
consumption (VO(2 peak)) and found that endogenous
ovarian steroids have little effect on VO(2 peak),
but that exogenous ovarian steroids in OC decrease
peak exercise capacity in moderately physically active
young women.
Contraceptive
Failure in China (PubMed abstract)
This study examines patterns and differentials of
contraceptive failure rates by method and characteristics
of users, using the Chinese Two-per-Thousand Fertility
Survey data. The results show that contraceptive failure
rates for modern methods including sterilization are
some of the highest in the world.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS
China
Encourages NGOs to Join Family Planning Work (news
article)
The Chinese government hopes to expand the carrying
out of its family planning policy to include the assistance
of non-governmental forces, said an official from
the State Family Planning Commission at the 6th Asia-Pacific
Social Science and Medicine Conference held Wednesday
in the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province.
'Delay'
Condom Proves Popular (news article)
A condom that contains an anaesthetic to prolong lovemaking
has smashed all sales records, its manufacturers say.
Durex has sold 18,000 Performa condoms via the Internet
in the past three months, outselling other types the
company sells online by a margin of five to one.
Ob-Gyn
Docs, Nurses Don't Know When Fertility Falls (news
article)
Research presented here at the American Society for
Reproductive Medicine's annual meeting found that
doctors and nurses working in reproductive healthcare
did not realize just how early fertility begins to
decline.
Planned
Parenthood Federation of Thailand Addresses Domestic
Violence (news article)
In Thailand, statistics reveal that 20 per cent of
husbands acknowledge physically abusing their wives
at least once in their lifetime. In its effort to
promote comprehensive reproductive health and family
planning, the Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand
realizes that any form of violence against women and
children also affects their reproductive health.
Clues
to How Endometriosis Affects Fertility (news article)
A new report from researchers in the UK suggests that
endometriosis may cause changes in the body that reduce
the effectiveness of structures that help the egg
meet up with sperm, a first step in forming an embryo.
HIV / AIDS RESEARCH
Estimating
HIV-1 transmission efficiency through unsafe medical
injections (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: Unsafe
Medical Practices Fuel Africa's HIV/AIDS Crisis
In countries in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere with
high HIV prevalence and large numbers of unsafe injections,
personal risk as well as the share of the HIV epidemic
associated with unsafe injections may be an order
of magnitude higher that many experts have supposed.
HIV / AIDS NEWS
Colombian
Married Women are High Risk Group for HIV/AIDS
(news article)
Colombian women in supposedly monogamous relationships
are now the fastest-growing sector infected by HIV.
South
Africa to Distribute Nevirapine to All HIV-Positive
Pregnant Women (news article)
The government has undertaken steps to distribute
nevirapine universally to state hospitals in an attempt
to reduce the nation's mother-to-child HIV transmission
rate.
Health
Center Says Iran has 4,237 AIDS Patients (news
article)
There are 4,237 AIDS patients in Iran and 585 people
have died of diseases related to acquired immune deficiency
syndrome in the country so far, Iranian Blood Transfusion
Organization said in its latest report on Wednesday.
Senegal's
President Sacks Head of Aid Group for Allegedly Trafficking
Cheap AIDS Drugs (news article)
President Abdoulaye Wade announced the dismissal of
Latif Gueye, a Senegalese citizen and head of the
humanitarian organization Africa Helps Africa, on
national television, accusing him of committing "extremely
serious errors" for his alleged role in trafficking
AIDS drugs that were meant for Africa but were sold
in Europe.
Kenya:
Focus on Female Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS Infection
(news article)
While overall numbers of HIV-positive males and females
are about equal, women between 15 and 24 are more
than twice as likely to be infected as males in the
same age-group. A study conducted in Kisumu, western
Kenya, found that girls from 15 to 19 years old were
about six times more likely to be infected than boys.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH
Birth
Spacing: Three to Five Saves Lives (research report)
Related news article: Study:
Spacing Kids 3-5 Years Apart Benefits Health
The best time for couples living in the developing
world to have another baby is three to five years
after the last birth, according to a new report. Waiting
a year longer than the previously recommended two
years could mean better health for mother and infant.
Plasma
Folate Levels and Risk of Miscarriage (research
abstract)
Related news article: Swedish
Study Finds No Folic Acid-Miscarriage Link
Pregnant women with low blood levels of the B vitamin
folate (also known as folic acid) may be at higher
risk for miscarriage than women with more of the vitamin
in their blood.
Negative
Calcium Balance During Lactation in Rural Mexican
Women (research abstract)
This cross-sectional study evaluated calcium balance
and its association with potential calcium regulatory
factors in lactating, rural Mexican women who had
marginal nutrition and consumed a high-fiber diet.
Negative calcium balance was observed during lactation
in rural Mexican women who consumed a high-fiber diet.
Fetal
Sex and Preterm Birth: Are Males at Greater Risk?
(research abstract)
The existence of a male excess among preterm births
is interesting because it could shed light on the
aetiology of preterm birth. The study found that there
were more males among preterm and early preterm births
than among term births in most populations, including
IVF births.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS
Lost
Babies, Found Babies (news article)
What happened after the international outcry about
babies left to die in Chinese orphanages? The one-child
policy is still in place, tens of thousands of baby
girls are still being abandoned but, Audrey Gillan
discovers, reforms in China mean that many now have
the chance of life with a new family.
New
Orphan Crisis in Mozambique (news article)
A decade on HIV/AIDS has already left an estimated
418,000 children orphaned, according to UNAIDS figures.
The country's official HIV infection rate stands at
12.2 percent, but some aid workers say the figure
is more like 17 percent with over 600 new infections
everyday.
Ethiopia:
Concern Over Number of Children Dying Before Five
(news article)
Half a million children under the age of five die
each year in Ethiopia because of illnesses such as
malaria and measles, as well as pneumonia, diarrhoea,
and malnutrition.
Uganda
Lacks Drug That Can Lower Maternal Death (news
article)
Obstetrician Christian Fiala believes that the drug
Misoprostol can tackle Uganda's shaming maternal mortality
rate of 505 deaths per 100,000 live births. Misoprostol
has recently been introduced into South Africa and
Ghana, but is still unlicensed in the other African
countries.
Alcohol
During Pregnancy May Affect Child's Growth (news
article)
Pregnant women who consume light to moderate amounts
of alcohol, especially during their first trimester
of pregnancy, may cause their children to be smaller
as teens, new study findings suggest.
MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
Understanding
Correlates of Hepatitis B Virus Vaccination in Men
who have Sex with Men: What have we Learned? (research
abstract)
Researchers conducted a systematic review to synthesize
the various findings from empirical correlational
studies to understand Hepatitis B vaccination and
series completion among men who have sex with men.
MEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Aging
Sperm Prone to Genetic Damage, Study Finds (news
article)
The sperm of older men is more likely to suffer genetic
damage that may, in turn, impair their fertility.
Unlike women, who are born with all the eggs that
they will ever have, men begin producing sperm at
puberty and continue to do so for the rest of their
life. However, the longer a man lives, the more exposure
he has to environmental substances that may cause
damage to the DNA in his sperm.
POPULATION RESEARCH
A
Cross-National Study of the Effects of Family Migration
on Women's Labour Market Status: Some Difficulties
with Integrating Microdata from Two Censuses (research
abstract)
The authors investigate issues of long-distance family
migration and how it affects employment status of
partnered women.
POPULATION NEWS
What
You Won't Find Out From Russia's Census (news
article)
Delayed for three years for lack of funds, the census
sent some 600,000 data gatherers fanning out across
the country over eight days. Vladimir Sokolin, chairman
of the State Statistics Committee, said he hopes "to
get a full portrait of the new Russian, with a new
mentality, who lives in a new democratic society."
But many experts say the questions are too much like
the old Soviet census to reveal much new.
Population
Crisis Prompts Taiwan to Push for Larger Families
(news article)
After decades of urging Taiwanese families not to
have more than two babies each, the island's government
is now proposing a campaign declaing that "three
children are not too many.
Japan
Set to Have Oldest Population (news article)
Japan will soon have the world's oldest population,
according to a report on population projections between
2001 and 2025 released by the Nihon University Population
Research Institute. By 2025, 37.27 million Japanese
(or almost every third person in the country) will
be 65 or older.
Singapore
Urges Single People to 'Mate and Multiply' (news
article)
Singapore's government is backing a campaign to promote
romance in the city. Officials are said to be alarmed
by the growing numbers of single women and an ageing
population. The Romancing Singapore campaign launches
on Valentine's Day and will encourage unmarried people
to "mate and multiply."
Sri
Lanka: Population Soars by 28% : Women Outnumber Men
(news article)
The population of eighteen districts that include
seventeen in the Western, Central, Southern, North
Western, North Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa districts,
has shown a significant increase over the past two
decades, the preliminary results of the Census of
Population and Housing 2001 has revealed.
Asian
Population to Hit 4.6 Billion (news article)
Asia's population will peak at 4.63 billion people
by 2075 and then begin to fall, population authority
Wolfgang Lutz has said. Countries that invested in
education would benefit most from the growth years,
said the director of the Vienna-based Institute for
Demography and author of The Future Population of
the World: What Can We Assume Today?
WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
Twenty-Year
Follow-up of a Randomized Study Comparing Breast-Conserving
Surgery with Radical Mastectomy for Early Breast Cancer
(research abstract)
Related news article: Studies
Show Breast-Saving Cancer Surgery Works
Two 20-year studies of women with breast cancer have
confirmed that less radical surgery is just as effective
as removing the entire breast when it comes to treating
small tumors.
Antiperspirant
Use and the Risk of Breast Cancer (research abstract)
Related news article: Deodorant
Not Linked to Breast Cancer: Study
Contrary to Internet lore, women who use antiperspirant
or deodorant are not at increased risk for breast
cancer. The population-based case-control study found
that risk for breast cancer did not increase with
antiperspirant or deodorant use, product use among
women who shaved with a razor blade, or application
of products within 1 hour of shaving.
Detection
of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ in Women Undergoing Screening
Mammography (research abstract)
Related news article: Many
Tumors Detected by Mammography Are Noninvasive
About 20% of the tumors detected by mammography are
noninvasive, meaning they have not progressed beyond
the outermost layers of the ducts inside the breast.
What
is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome? A Proposal for a Consensus
on the Definition and Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian
Syndrome (research abstract)
The criteria for diagnosis and definition of polycystic
ovarian syndrome used by clinicians and investigators
are almost as heterogeneous as the syndrome itself.
This article proposes a consensus for a unifying balanced
and practical working definition for use as a standard.
Lifetime
Socioeconomic Position in Relation to Onset of Perimenopause
(research abstract)
Related news article: Poverty
May Raise Risk of Early Menopause
Women who have experienced economic hardship at some
point in their lives tend to have an earlier menopause
than their more affluent peers.
WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Mauritania:
New Study Cites Traumatic Cases of Female Rite
(news article)
While the fight against female genital mutilation
(FGM) could be assumed to be making some headway in
Africa, a unique case of the practice in Mauritania
is of great concern. A study carried out recently
on this female rite in that country reveals stunning
facts about the communities' interpretation of the
practice. "The clitoris of the girl is chopped
off, cut into pieces and eaten by the victim, her
relatives and practitioners, as an oath to carry out
the practise from generation to generation,"
is how some anti-FGM activists describe the practice.
Pfizer
'Cautiously Optimistic' on Viagra for Women (news
article)
In a recent study, 52 postmenopausal women and 150
who had had hysterectomies, all of whom had female
sexual arousal disorder, were randomized to receive
either Viagra (25-100 mg flexible dose) or placebo
for 12 weeks. More patients reported improved sensation
and satisfaction with Viagra than with placebo.
Testosterone
Fluctuation Tied to Women's Sex Drive (news article)
A fluctuating level of testosterone may account for
a reduced libido in women in their 30s and 40s.
Pregnancy
and Early Smoking Increases Breast Cancer Risk
(news article)
Women who had never been pregnant and so who never
achieved complete differentiation of breast cells
and who smoked heavily showed a sevenfold increased
risk of breast cancer.
YOUTH RESEARCH
Ciprofloxacin
for the Treatment of Uncomplicated Gonorrhea Infection
in Adolescents: Does the Benefit Outweigh the Risk?
(research abstract)
Researchers reviewed medical literature to assess
whether the risks of a single 500-mg dose of ciprofloxacin
to treat uncomplicated gonorrhea infection in adolescents
outweighs the benefits. They found no reports of irreversible
cartilage toxicity or age-associated adverse events
in 5,236 human children and adolescents (aged 5 days-24
years) treated with a total of 5,486 courses of fluoroquinolones.
YOUTH NEWS
South
Africa: Safe Sex Message Has Little Effect in Mpumalanga
(news article)
Mainstream safe sex campaigns are failing to make
an impact on Mpumalanga youth and sexually transmitted
diseases such as HIV/AIDS are therefore still spreading
unchecked, the African National Congress Youth League
(ANCYL) warns. ANCYL provincial spokesman Victor Nkwalase
said many youth still appeared ignorant of exactly
what HIV/AIDS was, and appeared unconvinced of the
benefits of safe sex.
Vietnam:
A Little Knowledge... (news article)
Hanoi Post Office and Voice of Vietnam telephone advice
hotlines take dozens of calls per day from anxious
adolescents. Why do these youngsters resort to contacting
social organisations? Because many parents and relatives
still have trouble talking about sensitive topics.
Uganda:
Teenage Births Hike Population (news article)
Experts have now got the answer why Uganda's population
is growing at a very fast rate. A United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA) regional adviser on reproductive health
issues said on Friday, "Uganda is leading in
teenage pregnancies in sub-Saharan Africa. Uganda's
average fertility rate in terms of age stands at 17
years. The rate of teenage pregnancy could even be
as low as 11 years.
Kenya:
School Attendance Better as FGM Falls (news article)
The enrolment of girls in primary schools in Marakwet
district has risen by more than 30 percent in the
last two years.
PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS
Screening
Tests to Detect Chlamydia Trachomatis and Neisseria
Gonorrhoeae Infections: 2002 (research report)
This new report contains recommendations for selecting
laboratory tests for C. trachomatis. In addition,
these guidelines consider tests from an economic perspective
and expand the previous guidelines to address detection
of N. gonorrhoeae as well as C. trachomatis infections.
Family
Planning Law and China's Birth Control Situation
(interview)
China's Population and Family Planning Law took effect
on September 1, 2002. To help people gain a better
understanding of the law, China.org.cn arranged a
special interview with Zhao Bingli, vice minister
of the State Family Planning Commission. Zhao explained
in detail the background to the promulgation of the
law and China's current situation of population and
family planning.
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