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Volume 2, Number 34
26 August 2002
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY
China's
One-Child Policy Now a Double Standard (news article)
Under China's one-child policy, couples in this rural
county in Jiangxi province once needed a permit to
have a baby. Women as a rule were fitted with IUDs
after their first child, sterilized after their second.
But times have changed.
In Loosening of China's
One-child Policy, Province Expands Categories Allowed
to Have Second (news article)
Anhui province acted under a new national provision
giving local governments more power to tailor birth
control policies to local needs. The change comes
as many Chinese areas are steering away from coercive
birth control rules that the United States and other
critics say include forced abortions and sterilizations.
Roman
Catholic Church Warns Philippine Politicians Not to
Push Contraception (news article)
The Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines warned
politicians Sunday they will be targetted at the next
national elections if they push for a more aggressive
population control programme.
South
Africa: Bank Access for Poor, Proposed End to HIV/Aids
Discrimination (news article)
According to a declaration signed in the National
Economic, Development and Labour Council, financial
institutions would stop unfair discrimination on various
grounds, including HIV status, and access to financial
services would be provided to poor South Africans.
Kenya:
Congressman Evaluating Impact of US Family Planning
Policy (news article)
A US Republican congressman is in Kenya on a "a
fact-finding mission" to evaluate theimpact of
the Bush administration's international family planning
policy on ordinary Kenyans.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH
Measuring
Family Planning Sustainability at the Outcome and
Program Levels 
(working paper)
This paper examines the validity of two indices of
sustainability: family planning program sustainability
(PSI) and outcome sustainability (OSI), developed
by Tsui and Knight (1997) by applying their original
method to recent data. The indices succeed in identifying
the directional path of program and outcome sustainability.
Close correlations are found between PSI and OSI predicted
values and actual program and outcome values. The
indicesprovide a repeatable method for measuring sustainability,
although they are sensitive to data measurement errors.
The indices provide a policy tool for funding decisions
but should be used with other data sources to judge
sustainability.
Fertility
Decline, Family Size and Female Discrimination: A
Study of Reproductive Management in East and South
Asia
(research article)
This study of demographic narratives across East and
South Asia suggests that, region-wide, there is increasing
tension between preferred family size and preferred
family-sex composition, which in most societies is
only resolved by intensified reproductive management,
technological intervention, and excess female mortality.
Gender
and Fertility Strategy in a Yi Community
(research article)
This paper approaches fertility decline from a cultural
and political-economic perspective by locating micro-level
fertility strategies in a Yi community (China).
Injectable
Hormone Contraception and Bone Density: Results from
a Prospective Study (PubMed abstract)
Researchers enrolled 457 nonpregnant women, ages 18-39
years (183 DMPA users and 274 non-users), in this
prospective cohort study. DMPA use was strongly associated
with bone density loss. Substantial postdiscontinuation
recovery of bone provides evidence that the effects
may be largely reversible.
FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS
Anglicans
Back Use of Condoms in HIV/Aids War (news article)
The Anglican Church supports the use of condoms in
the fight against AIDS. The Council of the Anglican
Provinces in Africa (Capa) Aids board has also called
for an end to the discrimination against the 30 million
Aids patients and their families in Kenya and other
African countries.
UNFPA
Opens Emergency Mobile Hospital in Kabul to Ensure
Safe Delivery and Save Afghan Women's Lives (press
release)
A 72-bed Danish Emergency Mobile Hospital, equipped
with two operating theatres to deal with all obstetric
emergencies, will open in northern Kabul with support
from the UNFPA. The hospital will replace the 52-bed
capacity of Khair Khana Maternity Hospital while it
undergoes extensive rehabilitation over the next 8
months.
American
Citizens Launch 34 Million Friends Campaigns to Support
UNFPA (press release)
To close the funding gap created by the United States
withholding of $34 million from the UNFPA, American
citizens have sprung into action with two independent
grass-roots campaigns. They have started to circulate
separate e-mail letters, hoping to reach "34
million friends," urging each to contribute $1
or more.
HIV / AIDS RESEARCH
High
HIV-1 Genetic Diversity in Cuba (PubMed abstract)
A study of 105 Cubans infected with HIV-1 recorded
21 different genetic forms of the virus, and all group
M subtypes, matching viral diversity in central Africa.
HIV / AIDS NEWS
Uganda:
Row Over HIV/AIDS Success Story (news article)
A leading scientific journal, The Lancet, has questioned
Uganda's HIV/AIDS "success story," saying
that it is based on flimsy evidence.
African
HIV Vaccine Due for Final Phase (news article)
If all goes according to plan, the candidate vaccine
that is about to be tested in Uganda will enter the
final phase of trial in three countries rather than
one. Thousands or tens of thousands of volunteers
will receive the injections, according to preliminary
plans put forward by the International AIDS Vaccine
Initiative.
Finding of High
Number of HIV Cases Among Prison Inmates Unsettles
Lithuania (news article)
Random checks conducted recently by the state-run
AIDS Center, found that the results nearly doubled
the official number of HIV cases for all of this former
Soviet Baltic republic of 3.5 million people.
Vietnam Begins Production
of Lower-priced AIDS Drug (news article)
A Vietnamese company has begun producing a lower-priced
AIDS drug under a government program aimed at making
it more affordable for the growing number of poor
AIDS patients.
Zambia
to Provide Free AIDS Drugs in Pilot Project (news
article)
Zambia will start providing free anti-retroviral drugs
to 10,000 poor people infected with the HIV/AIDS virus
within 3 weeks.
Soap
Opera Scriptwriter Defends UN-Supported Project
(news article)
Following criticism earlier of the UN weekly soap
opera set in Kenya, "Heart and Soul," the
show's lead scriptwriter defended the program and
predicted it will be successful.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH
Child
Labour (research editorial)
The International Labour Organisation estimates that
worldwide 110 million children aged 5-14 years are
engaged in labour that can be described as hazardous
or intolerable. Most of this takes place in Asia and
the Pacific, although the highest prevalence is in
Africa, where children younger than 14 years make
up a third of the total workforce.
Paediatric
referrals in rural Tanzania: the Kilombero District
Study- a case series (research article)
Referral is a critical part of appropriate primary
care and of the Integrated Management of Childhood
Illness strategy. The authors set out to study referrals
from the aspect both of primary level facilities and
the referral hospital in Kilombero District, southern
Tanzania.
Heterotopic
Uterine Transplantation by Vascular Anastomosis in
the Mouse (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: Uterus
Transplant Results in Live Births
The world's first live births from a transplanted
uterus have been achieved, say Swedish researchers.
The procedure, conducted in mice, would be easier
to repeat in humans, they predict.
Antenatal
Vitamin A Supplementation Increases Birth Weight and
Decreases Anemia Among Infants Born to Human Immunodeficiency
Virus-Infected Women in Malawi (research abstract)
A controlled trial involving 697 HIV-infected pregnant
women in Malawi found better growth and less anemia
among children born to mothers taking vitamin A, but
did not affect rates of mother-to-child HIV transmission.
Discordance
between physical symptoms versus perception of severity
by women with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP)
(research article)
Physical symptoms of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy
(NVP) correlate only weakly with women's self-assessment
of NVP severity, suggesting that other factors should
be considered when managing the condition.
MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS
Swaziland:
Focus on Abandoned Babies Controversy (news article)
A wave of baby murders are commanding front-page news
in the small conservative kingdom of Swaziland. But
while editorial writers are denouncing "mother
murderers," women's rights groups argue the rising
number of abandoned babies are a symptom of gender
inequality in this traditional society.
MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
A
Study of the STD/AIDS Related Attitudes and Behaviors
of Men Who Have Sex With Men in Hong Kong (PubMed
abstract)
In this random population based study, the researchers
found that about 45 percent of the men who had sex
with men did not perceive condom use to be efficacious
for HIV prevention.
The
Use of Sildenafil in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction
in Relation to Diabetes Mellitus: A Study of 1,511
Patients
(research article)
Patients with diabetes mellitus are prone to erectile
dysfunction due to various factors. This retrospective
study of 1,511 patients with erectile dysfunction
taking sildenafil found that 78 percent of patients
with diabetes reported success with sildenafil compared
to 87 percent of patients without diabetes. The authors
conclude that a significant number of patients with
diabetes require higher doses of sildenafil compared
to those without diabetes.
Sensation
Seeking and Alcohol Use as Markers of Sexual Transmission
Risk Behavior in HIV-positive Men (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: Alcohol Tied
to Risky Sex Among HIV+ Men
HIV-positive men who see alcohol as a way to enhance
their sex lives may be more likely to have unprotected
sex.
MEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Men
Not Eligible for Thailand's National Health Care Plan
(news article)
HIV-positive men will not be covered under the new
national health care plan proposed by Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra. Under the plan, "underinsured"
people can access any medical treatment for a 75-cent
copay, and although HIV-positive women and children
are eligible for the subsidized health care coverage,
men with HIV are not.
Marriage Keeps Men
Alive Longer (news article)
Marriage seems to be so good for men's health that
married men are less likely to die in a given period
than their single counterparts.
POPULATION RESEARCH
World
Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030, Summary Report
(report)
Related news article: World
Agriculture 2030: Global Food Production Will Exceed
Population Growth
Globally there will be enough food for a growing world
population by the year 2030, but hundreds of millions
of people in developing countries will remain hungry
and many of the environmental problems caused by agriculture
will remain serious.
POPULATION NEWS
Report:
Japan's Health Ministry to Ask for 1 Trillion Yen
to Combat Declining Birthrate (news article)
Japan's health ministry plans to continue boosting
spending to make parenthood more attractive to childless
married couples, as part of a major push to reverse
the country's declining birthrate.
Russia's
Deepening Malaise (news article)
Russia is declining. Not slowly the way nations do
sometimes over hundreds of years, but fast. Demographic
experts say the country is losing one million people
a year and that the nosedive is accelerating. By some
calculations, within 50 years its population will
have shrunk by almost half to around 80 million.
WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH
The
Effect of Social Interaction on Fertility Goals and
Behaviour Among Women in Bangladesh
(research article)
This paper uses the concept of social interaction
to try to understand the decline of fertility in Bangladesh,
a decline that occurred despite minimal change in
conventional measures of development. Two measures
of demographic change are analysed: the proportion
of women wanting no more children and the proportion
of women using either traditional or modem methods
of fertility control.
Tea
Consumption and Ovarian Cancer Risk: A Case-control
Study in China (research abstract)
Related news article: Green
Tea Fights Ovarian Cancer
Women who drink green tea daily can reduce the risk
of ovarian cancer by almost 60 per cent compared with
non-tea drinkers. Results suggested daily drinking
of tea, particularly green tea, offered women a high
degree of protection from the cancer.
Twenty-Five-Year
Follow-up of a Randomized Trial Comparing Radical
Mastectomy, Total Mastectomy, and Total Mastectomy
Followed by Irradiation (research abstract)
Related news article: Study Confirms:
No Advantage to Radical Mastectomy
One of the longest running studies of breast cancer
treatments confirms what most cancer experts already
believe: women who undergo a radical mastectomy don't
live any longer than patients who have more conservative
surgery.
Postmenopausal
Hormone Replacement Therapy: Scientific Review (research
abstract)
Related news article: More Shots
Against Long-term HRT
Meta-analyses of observational studies on hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) were conducted to assess
its benefits and harms. Benefits of HRT include prevention
of osteoporotic fractures and colorectal cancer, while
prevention of dementia is uncertain. Harms include
coronary heart disease, stroke, thromboembolic events,
breast cancer with 5 or more years of use, and cholecystitis.
Are
Breast Cancer Screening Programmes Increasing Rates
of Mastectomy? Observational Study (research article)
In the recent Cochrane review of mammographic screening
the authors maintained that screening increased the
number of mastectomies by around 20 percent, mainly
as a result of overdiagnosis. The authors of this
article show results to the contrary, contending that
the rate of radical mastectomy has declined and the
rate of breast conserving surgery has increased with
the advent of screening.
WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS
Nigerian
President Opposes Stoning (news article)
The Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed
sympathy for a woman, Amina Lowal, whom an Islamic
court in the north has sentenced to be stoned to death
for adultery.
Sudan
Peace May Help End Female Circumcision (news article)
War has encouraged the spread of female circumcision
in Sudan, but peace could give a much-needed boost
to efforts to combat the practice, doctors and rights
activists said.
Nigeria:
Female Genital Mutilation Persists in Oyo (news
article)
Tradition remains the major obstacle to the eradication
of the female genital mutilation and other harmful
traditional practices in Oyo State. An assessment
tour of parts of the state revealed that Oyo State
was yet to embark on advocacy or moral persuasion
for behavioural change as female genital mutilation
was still being carried out with relish.
YOUTH RESEARCH
Sexual
Violence among Female Street Adolescents in Addis
Ababa
(research article)
A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 654 female
street adolescents to determine the magnitude and
consequences of rape in Addis Ababa. The study revealed
that the prevalence of rape among female street adolescents
in the last 3 months was 15.6 percent, attempted rape
20.4 percent, and unwelcome kisses 16.4 percent. Unwanted
pregnancy, abortion, STDs, and psychological problems
were reported as consequences of rape.
Unrecognized
HIV Infection, Risk Behaviors, and Perceptions of
Risk Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex with Men ---
Six U.S. Cities, 1994-1998 (research article)
Related news article: CDC Notes
HIV Risk for Young, Black Gays
Data from CDC's Young Men's Survey (YMS) were used
to evaluate the prevalence of unrecognized HIV infection,
barriers to testing, and reasons for nonuse of condoms
among black men who have sex with men (BMSM) aged
15-22 years. Results indicated that of the 16 percent
of young BMSM participants who were infected with
HIV, nearly all were unaware of their infection. Few
young BMSM reported testing frequently for HIV, and
many reported engaging in behaviors that could transmit
HIV because they perceived themselves or their partners
to be at low risk for infection.
YOUTH NEWS
Zambia:
Mobile Clinic to Treat Street Children With STDs
(news article)
Street children and child sex workers in Zambia's
capital Lusaka will soon become familiar with a kerb
crawler of a different kind: a mobile clinic equipped
especially to treat children for sexually transmitted
diseases.
Kenya:
Alert Over Increased Drug Use (news article)
The government sounded an alert over increased substance
abuse among the youth in Kenya.
Parents Expect Boys
to Stand More Pain Than Girls (news article)
Parents tend to put off giving their children painkiller
medication after relatively minor day surgery, even
though their children may be in substantial pain,
according to the results of a study conducted in Finland.
What's more, parents expect their boys to tolerate
more pain than their girls.
Uganda:
Sex Education to be Launched in Primary Schools
(news article)
A leading anti-HIV/AIDS organization in Uganda has
welcomed plans by President Yoweri Museveni's government
to introduce sex education in the country's primary
schools.
AIDS Scourge in
Rural China Leaves Villages of Orphans (news
article)
AIDS is creating an explosion of destitute orphans
in China's rural heartland and is driving large numbers
of families into such dire poverty that they can no
longer afford to feed or clothe, much less educate,
their children.
PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS
The
HIV/Gender Continuum
(rapid self-assessment tool)
The HIV/Gender Continuum is a tool to investigate
how responsive an organization's services and programs
are to gender issues related to HIV prevention within
an overall rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive
health.
Disposable
Planet? (news articles)
With population soaring in the poorest countries of
the world, Jyotsna Singh talks to two women from different
social classes in Delhi, India about family planning.
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