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The Pop Reporter®

Volume 2, Number 33
19 August 2002

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FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY

HIV/AIDS: South African Exchange May Require Company Infection Rate Lists (news article)
Responding to investor concern about the potential impact of HIV/AIDS on South Africa's economy during the next 10 to 15 years, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is considering a proposal that would require its listed companies to report infection rates among their employees and detail their efforts to fight the disease.

India: Country, States Criticized for Two-Child Policies (news article)
Activists and experts are criticizing measures adopted by India and several of its states to spur couples to have two children or fewer. The measures are being called coercive, and some say they exacerbate an uneven sex ratio in the country and, in some cases, effectively bar women from political participation.

China: Local Law Allows Second Child for Some Families (news article)
A local law is to take effect soon in east China's Anhui Province, allowing some families to have second children.

The Implications of Health Sector Reforms for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in India and Tanzania (information update / research brief)
CHANGE is conducting a 2-year research project in India and Tanzania to provide more information on the effects of various reform strategies on women's reproductive health and rights.

FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH

Discussing Sexuality Fosters Sexual Health (advocacy article)
Issues that tend not to be discussed by health providers and their clients during medical consultations include sexuality, infidelity as a cause of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and intimate partner violence. This article explores how better dialogue between reproductive health and family planning providers and their clients may improve the quality of health care.

Contraceptive Use, Protected Sexual Intercourse and Incidence of Pregnancies Among African HIV-infected Women. DITRAME ANRS 049 Project, Abidjan 1995-2000. (PubMed abstract)
The authors aim in this paper was to describe the adherence of African HIV+ women to the counselling provided after announcement of the result of the HIV test during pregnancy, focusing on early weaning to reduce post-natal transmission, protected sexual intercourse to avoid sexual transmission, and contraceptive use to avoid unexpected pregnancies. Significant determinants of pregnancy occurrence were the death of the previous child, the cessation of breastfeeding, the cessation of the post partum abstinence, and higher education.

Clients of Female Sex Workers in Nyanza Province, Kenya: A Core Group in STD/HIV Transmission (PubMed abstract)
Researchers found that commercial sex in Nyanza frequently involves multiple steady relationships instead of rapidly changing one-time contacts. They suggest that information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns aimed at risk reduction in commercial sex should promote condom use in steady FSW-client relationships.

When Partners Talk, Behavior May Change (advocacy article)
Many men and women fail to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy and STIs, or to optimize their sexual health, in part because they find it difficult, if not impossible, to discuss with their partners subjects related to sexuality. But research described in this article suggests that facilitating communication between husbands and wives helps these couples agree upon and meet their reproductive goals.

Design, Measurement, and Analytical Considerations for Testing Hypotheses Relative to Condom Effectiveness Against Non-viral STIs (editorial)
In this editorial, the authors describe selected key issues they believe should be addressed and resolved in tests of hypotheses relevant to condom effectiveness for non-viral STI prevention. The issues involve design, measurement, and data analytical procedures that are used to test hypotheses related to condom effectiveness.

FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS

Burundi: Local Study on Female Condom Shows Acceptability (news article)
A study on the acceptability of the female condom, Femidom, shows that "it provides a reliable men-for-women protection against pregnancy as well as the HIV virus."

Laos Pulls Goldfish-in-a-condom Ad As Too Explicit (news article)
An advertisement that depicts a woman carrying a goldfish in a water-filled condom has been pulled from television in communist Laos after authorities deemed it too explicit.

More Women Use the Pill in Germany Than Elsewhere (news article)
German women are more likely to use the contraceptive pill than women anywhere else in the world, according to a report by the German Foundation for World Population.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases on the Rise in UK (news article)
Unsafe sex is fuelling an increase in new cases of sexually transmitted disease in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, public health officials warn.

South Africa: Government to Avail Female Condoms (news article)
The South African government is intensifying efforts to ensure female condoms are available free of charge.

HIV / AIDS RESEARCH

Community Effects on the Risk of HIV Infection in Rural Tanzania (research abstract)
Researchers investigated four community factors: level of social and economic activity, ratio of bar workers per male population aged 18-59, level of community mobility, and distance to the nearest town. They found that all four factors had strong effects on HIV transmission.

Risks and Macroeconomic Impact of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa: Why Waiting to Intervene Can Be Costly (working paper)
The authors develop a model of optimal growth to assess the risks of an HIV/AIDS epidemic and the expected economic impact in nine countries in the Middle East and North Africa region. On average, GDP losses across countries for 2000-2025 could approximate 35 percent of today's GDP. Delaying action for 5 years can cost, on average, the equivalent of six percentage points of today's GDP.

The Integration of HIV/AIDS Care and Support into Primary Health Care in Gauteng Province (research article)
This study aimed to assess the integration of HIV/AIDS care and support in the primary health care services of Gauteng Province, South Africa.

HIV / AIDS NEWS

Uganda Announces Free Antiretroviral Program (news article)
Uganda will provide free antiretrovirals to 2000 people across the country, health minister Jim Muhwezi announced.

Chinese Government Approves Sale of a Domestic AIDS Drug (news article)
The Chinese government approved for the first time production and sale of an AIDS drug by a domestic company, potentially paving the way for cut-rate treatments to address a looming epidemic in China.

Kenya: Girl Guides to Train One Million HIV/AIDS Educators (news article)
A million Girl Guide peer educators will be trained by the year 2004 in an ambitious program to fight AIDS in Kenya. In the week-long training whose theme is "Empowering African Young Women," the guides representing 28 countries will be exposed to various HIV/AIDS issues that they are expected to pass on to their youth peers in the continent.

Saudi Arabia Reports 1,285 HIV/AIDS Cases (news article)
Saudi Arabia has recorded 452 cases of AIDS with another 833 testing HIV-positive since 1984, when the kingdom began monitoring the disease, according to a health ministry official.

Salvadorans Lament Rising Death Rates (news article)
Marking the 10th anniversary yesterday of El Salvador's nongovernmental Fundacion Nacional para la Prevencion, Educacion y Acompanamiento de las Personas con VIH/Sida, officials expressed concern over the rising number of HIV/AIDS-related deaths in the country. The officials said HIV/AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death in El Salvador.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

Policy and Management Constraints on Access to and Use of Life-Saving Emergency Obstetric Care in India (commentary)
Maternal mortality is still very high in India and the developing world. India's maternal mortality ratio is about 540 deaths per 100,000 live births. Poverty and lack of resources contribute to this, but the main reasons for such high maternal mortality are policy barriers and management problems that impede access to good-quality emergency obstetric care in rural areas.

Weaning Initiation Patterns and Subsequent Linear Growth Progression Among Children Aged 2-4 Years in India (PubMed abstract)
This study investigated the association between timing of weaning and stunting of children in India, using data from National Family Health Survey, 1992-1993. Children weaned at age 6 months and after 6 months were more likely to be stunted at later age compared with those weaned before 6 months. The effect of age at weaning on stunting attenuated but persisted with statistical significance after controlling for important demographic, health, social and region variables.

Birth Weight of Offspring and Insulin Resistance in Late Adulthood: Cross Sectional Survey (research article)
Birth weight of offspring is inversely related to the mother's insulin resistance in late adulthood, despite the association of glucose intolerance during pregnancy with heavier offspring at birth.

The Determinants of Birth Intervals: A Qualitative Approach from Punjab, India (research abstract)
The determinants of birth intervals have been a focus of attention because of the strong relationship between birth intervals, mortality and fertility. This paper criticizes the conventional hazard model approach to the determinants of birth intervals on the grounds of, first, the widespread assumption that birth intervals are planned and go according to plan, and secondly, a common failure to situate birth intervals within the social structures in which they take place.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS

Kenya: Free HIV/Aids Drugs for Mothers Programme Launched (news article)
A program to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission has been launched in Kenya. It will involve free provision of the anti-retroviral drug Nevirapine to the 150,000 infected pregnant mothers and their infants in the provincial and district hospitals.

MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Increased Sperm Nuclear DNA Damage in Normozoospermic Infertile Men: A Prospective Study (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: Sperm DNA Damage May Help Explain Male Infertility
Infertile men with no apparent deficiency in their sperm quality may be unable to impregnate their partners because their sperm carries damaged DNA. The causes of this DNA damage are still unknown, but it could be inherited or due to environmental factors such as hormones or oxidative damage.

POPULATION RESEARCH

Life Expectancy at Current Rates vs. Current Conditions: A Reflexion Stimulated by Bongaarts and Feeney's "How Long Do We Live?" (review article)
Life expectancy is overestimated if mortality is declining and underestimated if mortality is increasing. This article explains why this claim is true in most heterogeneous populations. It suggests that demographers should be careful about distinguishing between life expectancy under current conditions, which is difficult and problematic to assess, and life expectancy at current rates, which can be estimated using standard methods.

POPULATION NEWS

Poverty Fuels Developing World's High Birth Rate (news article)
Related news article: 99 Percent of Growth Seen Occurring in Developing World
Poverty fuels high birth rates in poor nations, as documented in the 2002 World Population Data Sheet released by the Population Reference Bureau. Of the 41 countries designated as "heavily indebted poor countries" by the World Bank, 39 fall into the category of high-fertility nations, where women, on average, bear four or more children. Similarly, the 48 countries identified by the United Nations as "least developed" are expected to triple their populations by 2050.

Male Preference Continues to Grow in Asia (news story)
In India and China, where cultural beliefs remain steadfast, recent reports show that the preference for sons has dramatically widened female-male birth ratios and boosted incidents of infanticide.

Iran's Population Growth Rate to Drop to Zero in 2010 (news article)
A member of the Scientific Board at Mazandaran University predicts that Iran's population growth rate will reach zero 2010 through family planning.

Ethnic Origins Ignored in Rwanda's First Census (news article)
Eight years after up to a million of its citizens died in Africa's worst genocide in living memory, Rwanda began its first ever population census that ignores ethnic origins.

Report: China's Aging Population Expanding Fast (news article)
China faces social problems caused by a sharp increase in its aging population, and the number of people aged over 60 in China exceeded 90 million at the end of 2001, the Chinese Academy of Sciences warned in a recent report.

Arab Population Rose to 289 Million Last Year (news article)
The total Arab population rose to 289 million last year, which was one of the fastest growth rates in the world, according to latest figures.

WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Part Time Female Sex Workers in a Suburban Community in Kenya: A Vulnerable Hidden Population (research abstract)
The researchers studied parameters of sexual behaviour and knowledge of STI and HIV in 503 self-described sex workers in order to describe health seeking behaviours related to STI and to measure the prevalence of gonorrhoea, chlamydia, syphilis, and HIV-1. Forty-five percent never used a condom with a nonpaying partner. The overall HIV-1 seroprevalence was 30.6 percent.

Two Novel Vaginal Microbicides (Polystyrene Sulfonate and Cellulose Sulfate) Inhibit Gardnerella vaginalis and Anaerobes Commonly Associated with Bacterial Vaginosis (research abstract)
Related news article: Two Vaginal Microbicides Kill 'Bad' Bacteria
Two vaginal microbicides under study for preventing HIV infection in women have been shown to kill off bacteria that cause the common vaginal infection bacterial vaginosis (BV). Researchers say the findings suggest that these agents, which have been shown in the test tube to inhibit HIV and other sexually transmitted pathogens, could also offer a way to prevent BV.

The Diagnosis of Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, and Trichomonas Infections by Self Obtained Low Vaginal Swabs, in Remote Northern Australian Clinical Practice (research abstract)
The authors conclude that self obtained low vaginal swabs are an acceptable, simple and sensitive diagnostic sample for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis infection and have particular applications in remote clinical practice and as a screening technique.

WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Gender Stereotypes Compromise Sexual Health (advocacy article)
Expectations about what it means to be a man or a woman, which are a basic part of most children's socialization, can also greatly affect sexual health. This article describes how such gender stereotypes can increase vulnerability to violence, sexual exploitation, unplanned pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and STIs, including HIV.

YOUTH RESEARCH

HIV Prevalence and Socio-cultural Contexts of Sexuality Among Youth in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (research article)
Of the 677 study subjects in this study, 20 (3 percent) tested positive for HIV-1 antibodies. The researchers found that cultural shaping of young people's sexuality gave privileges for males to be sexually active, be in control of sexual relationships, and be less responsible for precautions to prevent HIV/AIDS. The youth in general sensed their excessive vulnerability to HIV/AIDS but lacked individual motivation and skills to practice safe sex behaviour.

Is Lack of Sexual Assertiveness Among Adolescent and Young Adult Women a Cause for Concern? (research article)
Many sexually active young women perceive that they do not have the right to communicate about or control aspects of their sexual behavior. Interventions to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and coercive sexual behaviors should include strategies to evaluate and address these perceptions.

Effect of Mandatory Parental Notification on Adolescent Girls' Use of Sexual Health Care Services (research abstract)
Related news article: Teens Shun Sexual Health Care If Parents Get Report
Related editorial: Limiting Confidentiality of Adolescent Health Services
More than half of teenaged girls who attend family planning clinics say they would stop or delay using certain or all services, including testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, if practitioners were required to inform their parents that they had sought prescription contraceptives

School Based HIV Prevention in Zimbabwe: Feasibility and Acceptability of Evaluation Trials Using Biological Outcomes (PubMed abstract)
Researchers found that it is feasible to conduct randomized trials to establish the effectiveness of adolescent reproductive health interventions. However, self-reported behavioural outcomes will probably be biased, indicating the importance of using externally validated biological outcome measures to determine effectiveness.

YOUTH NEWS

Sex Education Fights Taboos in Sri Lanka (news article)
Though the government encourages sex education for high school students, most teachers simply gloss over the syllabus for lack of knowledge and fear of embarrassment, allowing wild notions to run rampant.

South Africa: Teenage Sex Habits May Be Changing (news article)
There is tentative evidence that the high-risk sexual behaviour of teenagers, which has been driving South Africa's high rate of HIV infection, is changing as a result of awareness campaigns.

BOOKS / BOOK REVIEWS

British Medical Bulletin Volume 58 2001: The Changing Face of HIV and AIDS (book review)
This book offers a concise series of review articles on a broad array of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related topics. The subjects covered in this book include virology, pathogenesis, treatment, prevention, and progress toward a prophylactic vaccine, to name a few. Given the wide range of topics covered, anyone with an interest in HIV/AIDS is bound to find many aspects of this book appealing.

PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS

Reproductive Health Organizations Use Industry Technique to Improve Performance (press release)
Reproductive health organizations in many developing countries are using a process pioneered in industry to improve the quality of their services, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Performance Improvement (PI) helps organizations create the conditions for high employee productivity. Reproductive health organizations use it to focus on meeting the needs of service providers and other staff members, according to the latest issue of Population Reports®, published by the Johns Hopkins Population
Information Program. HTML | PDF

Women, Children and HIV: Resources for Prevention and Treatment (resource materials)
CD ROM containing over 5,000 pages of text related to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of HIV infected women and children available without charge from Global Strategies for HIV Prevention.

Facts About Adolescents From the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical Tables for Program Planning (research reports)
The Population Council analyzed Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data in a way that could clearly illustrate the diversity of adolescents' lives. It is the Council's goal that these analyses will be used to improve understanding about the adolescent experience, and to build interventions based on fact rather than assumption. These analyses are presented in individual country reports.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Sexual and Reproductive Health Interventions: A Manaul for the EC/UNFPA Initiative for Reproductive Health in Asia (manual)
The manual is a tool aimed at helping organisations to monitor and evaluate sexual and reproductive health interventions, whether they be individual projects or part of larger programmes like the EC/UNFPA Initiative for Reproductive Health in Asia (RHI). The manual acquaints the reader with concepts and terminology underlying the objectives of the RHI and ICPD/POA, the scope and focus of project monitoring and evaluation and their different functions, the use of a conceptual model for monitoring and evaluation and their different functions, the use of a conceptual model for monitoring and evaluation and its relationship with the logical framework and the systems analysis framework.

Partnering: A New Aproach to Sexual and Reproductive Health
This feature article on the Development Gateway/UNFPA Population and Reproductive Health (POP/RH) Portal includes selected links to Internet resources about male involvement in reproductive health and family planning.

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