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Volume 2, Number 13
1 April 2002
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY
High
Court Turns Down South African Appeal Against Nevirapine
(news article)
Judges rule that Nevirapine must be given to HIV-positive
pregnant women at all state hospitals and clinics
with the capacity to do so.
US: Ex-lover Awarded $5 Million in
HIV Suit (news article)
A San Francisco court awarded $5 million in damages
to a man who claims he was infected with HIV from
his ex-lover, a former city health commissioner. The
ruling is said to be one of the largest in a civil
lawsuit relating to infliction of HIV.
South
Africa: Plan to Promote Reproductive Health Services
(news article)
South Africa's health minister launched two policy
guidelines to promote healthy lifestyles and to ensure
that reproductive health services are accessible to
young people.
US: California Governor Tells HMOs
to Cover Morning After Pill (news article)
Because many healthcare plans already comply, the
practical effect of this new directive is educational.
It lets women know about the availability of these
services and it lets their pharmacist know that their
health plan will cover it.
Overhauling
Welfare: Implications for Reproductive Health Policy
in the United States (article)
The authors report that little is known about how
well recent welfare system reforms are working. They
argue that policy makers in the US Congress should
give increased attention to the provision of information
and services, including those related to family planning,
in order to better address the reproductive health
needs of low-income women
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
The
Relevance of Client-centered Communication to Family
Planning Settings in Developing Countries: Lessons
from the Egyptian Experience (research abstract)
Findings in this article suggest that in Egypt, as
in more developed countries, client-centered models
of communication are likely to produce
better client outcomes than provider-centered models,
with no substantial changes in the structure of services.
Condom
Use and Sexual Behaviors Among Individuals Procuring
Free Male Condoms in South Africa: A Prospective Study
(PubMed abstract)
Condom use was relatively high in individuals procuring
condoms from public health facilities in South Africa,
but data highlight several important barriers to condom
use that may be targeted by future interventions.
Spousal
Communication and Family Planning Adoption: Effects
of a Radio Drama Serial in Nepal (research article)
Also available in PDF.
Nepali women exposed to the radio program had significantly
elevated odds of believing that their spouse approved
of family planning and of having discussed family
planning with their spouse. Women who communicated
with their spouse were more likely to use family planning
than those who did not.
Sex
Difference in Partner Notification: Results from Three
Population Based Surveys in France (research abstract)
In this small study (177 adults and 45 adolescents)
of individuals diagnosed with an STD, 14% of men and
2% of women reported that they had
not informed their main sexual partner.
Effect
of Oral Contraceptives on Risk of Cervical Cancer
in Women with Human Papillomavirus Infection: The
IARC Multicentric Case-control Study 
(research article)
Women infected with the human papilloma virus who
used contraceptive pills for 5 years or more were
nearly three times as likely to develop cervical cancer
as infected women who had never taken the pill. The
increased risk lasted up to 14 years after stopping
use of the pill.
Related News Article: Cervical Cancer: Higher
Risk Linked to Contraceptive Pill, WHO Says
The
Construction of Community Participation: Village Family
Planning Groups and the Indonesian State (research
abstract)
The author argues that the traditional organizational
and social-demographic approaches that have dominated
the family planning field offer only limited understanding
of the nature of the programs in developing countries.
The author relies on one of the newest paradigms in
the discipline of political science--the state-society
approach--to uncover what he calls the "odd nature"
of the family planning network in Indonesia. He concludes
that the state-society approach is ideally suited
to identifying how family planning programs are institutions
of a political nature, embedded in states and societies,
and transformed by and transformative of each.
STD
in Bangladesh's Trucking Industry: Prevalence and
Risk Factors (research abstract)
The high prevalence of HSV-2, and to a lesser extent
syphilis, and the low levels of condom use despite
high numbers of casual sexual partners, illustrate
the importance of promoting condom use, particularly
in commercial sexual encounters, to men in Bangladesh's
trucking industry.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS
Tanzania:
UNFPA Condoms Marked for Destruction (news article)
The government said that $700,000 worth of condoms
would need to be destroyed because the Tanzanian Bureau
of Standards found defects with the items.
Later
Motherhood "Reduces Ovarian Cancer Risk"
(news article)
New research findings add a new twist to earlier research
that suggest early childbearing may be beneficial
in reducing risks of breast cancer.
China:
Forum Says Men Need to be Women's Partners in Reproductive
Health (news article)
A recent family planning and reproductive health symposium
in Beijing focused on what many participants viewed
as the necessity for men to become more involved in
taking responsibility with women in contraceptive
issues and in the fight against sexually transmitted
diseases.
Ghana's
President Urges Adoption of Family Planning Practices
(news article)
Non-adoption of family planning practices by Ghanaians
undermines the government's efforts to provide adequate
health, housing, and employment for citizens, said
Ghanaian President John Kufuor. One of the greatest
challenges confronting Ghana was how to manage a high
level of population growth.
After 30 Years, Egyptians are Watching
Prominent Director's Movie about Sex (news article)
Egyptian government censors allow the release of "Sex
School," a film about sexual compatibility, frigidity,
female circumcision, masturbation, and prostitution.
HIV / AIDS RESEARCH
Systematic
Review and Meta-Analysis of Evidence for Increasing
Numbers of Drugs in Antiretroviral Combination Therapy
(research article)
This meta-analysis supports the use of triple therapy
among those infected with HIV. More research is needed,
however, on the effectiveness of quadruple therapies
and the relative effectiveness of specific combinations
of drugs.
Related News Article: Study Supports
Triple-Drug Therapy for HIV
Risk
to Human Health from a Plethora of Simian Immunodeficiency
Viruses in Primate Bushmeat (research article)
Monkey in Cameroonian rainforests used for bushmeat
or kept as pets were tested for SIV. The study found
that a substantial proportion of wild monkeys in Cameroon
are SIV infected, potentially exposing humans who
hunt and handle bushmeat to a plethora of genetically
highly divergent viruses.
HIV / AIDS NEWS
US:
AIDS Rate in Miami Highest in Nation (news article)
About 60 people per 100,000 have the disease in the
Miami area.
Zambia:
President Kaunda Tests HIV/AIDS Negative (news
article)
Zambia's first president Dr. Kenneth Kaunda was yesterday
found negative of HIV/AIDS virus. He urged all Zambians
to get tested, as it would help them get assistance
if they were found positive.
China:
Henan AIDS Patients Protest Outside Government Office
(news article)
Eighty farmers from a village in central China, where
many residents were stricken with the HIV/AIDS virus
after selling their blood for money, protested outside
government offices and demanded medicine.
US: Helms Pledges to Seek AIDS Funding
(news article)
Two Senate Republicans pledged to seek $500 million
more in federal money to fight AIDS overseas.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH
Relationship
Between Prepregnancy Anthrax Vaccination and Pregnancy
and Birth Outcomes Among US Army Women (research
abstract)
Researchers analyzed data in administrative and clinical
databases from a cohort of women aged 17 to 44 years
in the US Army. Pregnancy rates and birth rates after
receiving at least one anthrax vaccination were not
significantly different from those among unvaccinated
women.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS
Bangladesh:
Maternal Morbidity Threatens Development, Says UNFPA
(news article)
A UNFPA report states that long-term maternal morbidity
threatens about 9 million women in Bangladesh and
has a direct effect on the country's development.
Delayed Delivery Can Save the Life
of Twin (news article)
Prolonging the delivery of a second-born twin by several
weeks after the other twin has died in utero can benefit
the surviving baby without harming the mother, a small
study reports.
AIDS Drug May Save Breast-fed Baby
from Mom's HIV (news article)
A short course of HIV drugs around the time of childbirth
can prevent maternal transmission of the AIDS virus,
even when the infant is breast-fed over a long period,
new research in West Africa shows.
MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
During
Prolonged Postnatal Abstinence, Risky Behavior Rises
for Many African Men (research summary)
The odds that a monogamous married man will have extramarital
sex, and that he will do so without using a condom,
are about doubled if his wife is practicing postnatal
abstinence in Cote d'Ivoire.
Recent
Changes in Heterosexual Attitudes, Norms and Behaviors
Among Unmarried Thai Men: A Qualitative Analysis
(research article)
Also available in PDF.
In large part because of fears about AIDS, at least
some younger Thai men are rebuffing older friends'
efforts to initiate them into traditional patterns
of sexual life.
MEN'S HEALTH NEWS
DES Linked to Birth Defect in Grandsons
(news article)
Grandsons of women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol,
or DES, during pregnancy may be more likely to develop
an abnormality of the penis.
Male
Pill Passes the Down Under Test (news article)
A study of Australian couples provides evidence that
a male pill could be completely effective. Dozens
of couples are believed to have been involved in the
research, in which fertile men led normal sex lives
for 2 years without their partners becoming pregnant.
The men were given a three-monthly shot in the arm
of progestin and testosterone for the trial, but this
contraceptive could also be taken effectively as a
pill.
POPULATION RESEARCH
Population
and Poverty: New Views on an Old Controversy (research
comment)
Also available in PDF.
The history behind family planning and poverty reduction
is revisited, with the author arguing that fertility
and family planning do matter for reducing poverty,
on both household and national levels. They are among
many other contributing factors to poverty reduction.
Decline
in India's Birth Rate Slows (research note)
Data indicate that fertility decline in India has
reached a classic "plateau," with the downturn
coming to an end, at least for now.
POPULATION NEWS
The
Population Slowdown (news article)
Demographers met this month at the United Nations
to discuss and celebrate the surprising finding that
the world's population has not grown as fast as had
been feared.
Cambodia
Releases Result of Largest Demographic and Health
Survey (news article)
Cambodia's Demographic and Health Survey 2000, which
shows that maternal and infant mortality rates remain
high in Cambodia, has highlighted the challenges that
the government has to face.
Japan Tells Workers to Have Babies
(news article)
As the work force continues to shrink, covering the
health and retirement costs of the graying population
is one of the country's biggest challenges, a government
report said.
UN Points to Aging of World's Population
(news article)
People around the globe are having fewer children
and living longer, turning not only Europe but large
parts of the developing world into aging societies
without the social services to cope
Commission
on Population and Development to Meet From 1-5 April
(press release)
Reproductive rights and reproductive health, with
special reference to HIV/AIDS, will be the theme of
the thirty-fifth session of the Commission on Population
and Development.
Thai
Population Exceeds 62 Million (news article)
A recent survey reveals an increase of more than 400,000
people in Thailand's population in one year.
WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
Sexual
Dysfunction in Women With Type 1 Diabetes (research
article)
Sexual problems are frequent in women with diabetes.
They affect the overall quality of life and deserve
more attention in clinical practice and research.
Related News Article: Women with
Diabetes at Risk for Sexual Problems
WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS
New
Test Simplifies Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer
(news article)
A new test that detects genetic mutations in hereditary
breast cancer seems to be easier and more cost effective
than current ones based on blood analysis, while maintaining
high accuracy.
Genital
Mutilation: African Body Says Practice Dramatically
Reduced (news article)
The Inter-African Committee to Fight Excision, a body
set up by the Organization of African Unity, reported
that the practice of female genital mutilation on
the continent has dropped off dramatically in the
past 18 years.
Zimbabwe:
HIV/AIDS Positive Women Face Stigmatization (news
article)
Reproductive health rights of ordinary women living
with HIV and AIDS continue to be violated by cultural
practices, health workers, partners and society, HIV-positive
women have said.
YOUTH RESEARCH
Premarital
Sexual Activities Among Students in a University in
Beijing, China (PubMed abstract)
Researchers investigated premarital sexual activities
and condom use among college students in Beijing in
order to collect the information necessary for research
on interventions. Among those who had sexual intercourse,
69% reported using condoms.
Abstinence-Only
Programs Implemented Under Welfare Reform Are Incompatible
With Research on Effective Sexuality Education
(comment)
The authors argue that there is no evidence that abstinence-only
programs achieve their intended purposes and that
ample evidence indicates that comprehensive sexuality
education programs, which include information about
both abstinence and contraception, can be effective.
YOUTH NEWS
Sexual
Abstinence? Rubbish! (opinion) (news article)
This author argues that sexual abstinence is not for
everyone, and should not be imposed on young girls
while not enforced among young males.
BOOKS / BOOK REVIEWS
Facts for Life (new edition)
This new edition has updated information on safe motherhood, early childhood development, nutrition, HIV/AIDS and other major causes of childhood illnesses and death. The information represents the best current understanding of science, policy and practice. In simple language, practical, effective, low-cost ways of protecting children's lives and promoting their development are emphasized. Almost everyone can act on this information. Everyone has the right to know this information.
Order
hard copy
Download
from the Web chapter in HTML and PDF formats
PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS
Back
Up Your Birth Control With Emergency Contraception
This Web site features a new campaign designed to
raise women's awareness about emergency contraception
(EC). The Web site contains information on what EC
is, how to obtain it, resources for providers, as
well as a media toolkit for those who want to spread
the word about EC.
Most Frequently Asked Questions Adolescents Have on Sexual and Reproductive Health Issues
This series of documents compiles questions that youths ages 11-20 in Tanzania had about growing up. Answers provided are based on human physiology and reproduction, and deal with sexuality, prevention of unwanted pregnancies and HIV/STIs, as well as about partnership and communication between partners.
(You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access these documents)
Volume
1: Growing Up
Volume
2: Male-female Relationships Among Adolescents
Volume
3: Sexual Relationships
Volume
4: Pregnancy
Volume
5: Safer Sex and Contraception
Volume
6: HIV/AIDS
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