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The Pop Reporter®

Volume 2, Number 37
16 September 2002

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FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY

South Africa: Old Mutual Offers Staff Anti-AIDS Drugs (news article)
HIV-positive workers at finance giant Old Mutual, South Africa's biggest insurance firm, are to be offered life-prolonging anti-AIDS drugs, in a sign of growing corporate willingness to tackle the impact of the disease.

US: House Panel Approves Afghan Aid (news article)
Afghanistan would get more money to rebuild and Palestinian aid would be tied to democratic reforms under a foreign aid bill approved by a House. The committee would also include $27 million for U.N. family planning programs overseas.

Kenya: Bill to Criminalise AIDS Transmission (news article)
An HIV/Aids Prevention Bill, presented to Parliament for enactment, says that those found guilty of deliberately causing the transmission of HIV/Aids should be jailed. The bill also proposes that not only sexual transmission will be considered an offencae, but also transmission through contaminated instruments, health care supplies and physical contacts.

Kenya Passes Bill to Import Cheaper AIDS Drugs (news article)
Kenya's President Moi has assented to the Industrial Property Bill making AIDS drugs cheaper as they can legally be imported without the consent of patent holders. The Act generated heated debate in and outside Parliament early this year after a clause allowing importation of cheaper drugs was deleted.

Should Emergency Hormonal Contraception Be Available Over the Counter? (press release)
The prescription requirement for emergency hormonal contraception should be dropped, and emergency contraceptive pills should be available over the counter in the United States, argues Dr. David Grimes of Family Health International.

FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH

Researching Sexual and Reproductive Behaviour: A Peer Ethnographic Approach (research abstract)
The article introduces a new methodology for researching sexual and reproductive behavior, called the peer ethnographic approach, which the authors have developed in an attempt to address some of the limitations of the methods that currently dominate research into sexual and reproductive behavior. The peer ethnographic methodology is discussed in detail and the results of recent field-testing are reported, which show that, although the approach has limitations, it also has the potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of sexual and reproductive behavior.

Has the Chinese Family Planning Policy been Successful in Changing Fertility Preferences? (PubMed abstract)
The authors found that the acceptance of policy-sanctioned family size follows a development gradient and reflects the degree of enforcement. High acceptance occurs in the most urban, industrialized county and in the county with the most rigid family planning policy. Acceptance is weaker among women living in the poorest county and in the county where enforcement is most lenient.

Informing Choices - Expanding Access to Emergency Contraception in Peru (research review)
Peruvian and international reproductive health advocates are striving to make emergency contraception available in Peru, a country in which conservative influences continue to restrict reproductive choice and endanger women's health.

Oral Contraceptive Use Before First Birth and Risk of Breast Cancer: A Case Control Study (research article)
Compared to the few non-users in this study, oral contraceptive (OC) users had a higher risk of breast cancer: the adjusted odds ratio was 2.1. Among OC users, no statistically significant differences in risk of breast cancer were found in regard to starting age or first birth, but small numbers made confidence intervals wide. The authors conclude that because adoption of the modern pattern of OC use was not common among Helsinki students, it is unlikely that the impact of early and extended OC use can be studied before 2010, when women born in the 1960s are 40 to 50 years old.

Private Pharmacies in Hanoi, Vietnam: A Randomized Trial of a 2-year Multi-component Intervention on Knowledge and Stated Practice Regarding ARI, STD and Antibiotic/Steroid Requests (research abstract)

FAMILY PLANNING / REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS

Germany: Mothers-In-Law Increase Child's Risk of Death (news article)
Birth and death data on low-income families from church registers from the Krummh region of northern Germany indicate that the regular presence of a paternal grandmother doubled the chance of a child dying among German peasants in the 18th and 19th centuries.

USAID to Give Tanzania 6.8 Million Condoms
The US Agency for International Development is to provide Tanzania with 6.8 million condoms worth $337,000 to alleviate a shortage of the contraceptive.

HIV / AIDS RESEARCH

Human Adipose Cells Express CD4, CXCR4, CCR5 and Receptors: A New Target Cell Type for the Immunodeficiency Virus-1? (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: AIDS Virus Lurks in Fat Cells, French Study Finds
The AIDS virus, long known to infect immune system cells, also takes up residence in fat cells, French researchers report. The finding could help explain why HIV has proven impossible to eradicate, and it may open a whole new window in understanding how the fatal and incurable virus works.

Durability and Predictors of Success of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy for Ambulatory HIV-Infected Patients (research summary)
The benefits of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the treatment of HIV infection have been well described. However, the durability of the effectiveness of HAART remains to be delineated. Factors that limit the success of HAART include poor therapy adherence, therapy complexity, and co-morbid conditions. In this report, the authors describe correlates of HAART efficacy over time among HIV-infected patients in the HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS).

Multistudy Analysis Confirms Lower Viral Loads in Women (research summary)
Meta-analysis of published studies concerning viral load differences between women and men confirms that women have lower loads than men at the same disease stage.

Mortality of HIV-1, HIV-2 and HIV-1/HIV-2 Dually Infected Patients in a Clinic-Based Cohort in The Gambia (PubMed abstract)
Related research summary: Mortality With HIV-1, HIV-2, or Both
Adults in Gambia live longer with HIV-2 than with HIV-1, but only if survival is measured among people with more than 500 CD4 cells/µL.

Factors Associated With Risk Behaviors for Sexually Transmitted Disease/AIDS Among Urban Brazilian Women: A Population-Based Study (PubMed abstract)
A population-based survey of southern Brazilian women showed that risk behaviors for sexually transmitted disease/AIDS were more frequent among young women, smokers, women with little schooling, and women who were divorced.

Socioeconomic Status and Risk of HIV Infection in an Urban Population in Kenya (research abstract)
Researchers examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), risk factors for HIV infection, and HIV status in an urban population. Risk of infection was high among groups of all socioeconomic status (SES). Risk profiles suggested men and women of lower SES may be at greater risk of newly acquired HIV infection. New infections may now be occurring fastest among young women of the lowest SES.

HIV Drives TB Epidemic in Northern Thailand (research summary)
At a large hospital in northern Thailand, 72% of tuberculosis cases in men and 66% in women can be attributed to HIV infection.

HIV / AIDS NEWS

Study Says Violence is a Major Cause of HIV Infection (news article)
Young married women in East Africa who test positive for HIV/AIDS are most likely to be in violent relationships, according to the results of a study conducted in Tanzania.

China Admits 'Blood Stations' Caused Steep Rise in AIDS (news article)
Thousands of Chinese peasants who sold their blood to government-sponsored "blood stations" have contracted HIV-Aids, health officials have finally admitted in a secret report from the worst-affected province. As many as 35% to 45% of donors in some areas of Henan in north China were infected because of inadequate safety precautions, says the report, which was compiled by the provincial health department.

Russia: Hanging on the Edge of HIV Epidemic (news article)
The face of HIV infection in Russia is a young man, unemployed, who is using or has used intravenous drugs -- and who has caught the disease from injecting himself with a dirty needle. So far, comparatively few people seem to have been infected by homosexual or heterosexual contact.

China: Funds Increase, Situation Still Serious for AIDS Treatment (news article)
According to China's Ministry of Health, up to now there are only 200 AIDS patients in the country who are able to afford regular treatment.

HIV Prevention: Promising Multistrain HIV Vaccine Candidate Emerges (news article)
AIDS researchers have developed a candidate vaccine strategy that, for the first time, demonstrates an ability to elicit antibodies that block the infection of multiple HIV virus strains - an elusive scientific goal that has been pursued for a decade.

Condoms to be Distributed Free as Part of Pacific Nation's Campaign to Tackle HIV/AIDS (news article)
Papua New Guinea has launched its own brand of condoms and will hand them out free at health clinics in an attempt to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS across the impoverished Pacific nation

Central African Republic: Cost of HIV/Aids Drugs Reduced (news article)
Following negotiations with foreign pharmaceutical laboratories, the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs in the Central African Republic has been reduced from 600,000 CFA francs (US $1,000) to 22,815 CFA francs ($37) for some patients.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

Maternal Mortality in Herat Province, Afghanistan, in 2002: An Indicator of Women's Human Rights (research abstract)
Related news article: Study: Women's Rights Abuses Lead to High Maternal Mortality for Afghan Women
Women in most of Herat Province, Afghanistan, have a high risk of maternal mortality. Human rights factors may contribute to preventable maternal deaths in the region.

Does Standing at Work During Pregnancy Result in Reduced Infant Birth Weight? (PubMed abstract)
The authors studied 1,222 pregnant women employed in a large petrochemical corporation in Beijing, China. Subjects were followed from enrollment through their entire pregnancy, for a total of up to 12 months. Of the assessed activities, only standing was significantly associated with birth weight. After adjusting for potential confounders, maternal standing hours per day at work was found to be significantly associated with reduced birth weight (-17.7 g, p = 0.03).

Description of Breastfeeding Practices Among Poorer Sections In Calcutta Metropolitan Area and Its Impact on Postpartum Infecundity (PubMed abstract)
Descriptions of breastfeeding practices among residents in slum areas of Kolkata and the influence of breastfeeding on postpartum amenorrhea is the focus of this study.

Analysis of Perinatal Mortality and Its Components: Time for a Change? (commentary)
The authors argue that the increasingly common stratification of pregnancy outcome measures by gestational age or birth weight leads to the use of an inappropriate denominator (total livebirths plus stillbirths within each gestational age or birth weight category) for denoting risk for the stillbirth component, because all unborn fetuses (including the majority of those not born within the specified gestational age or birth weight range) are at risk of being stillborn in that range. They suggest that, whenever possible, stillbirths and early neonatal deaths should be reported separately, with gestational age-specific risks of stillbirth based on all fetuses at risk, and that antepartum and intrapartum stillbirths be reported separately.

Initiation of Lactation in Women After Preterm Delivery (research abstract)
The aim of this study was to determine the success of lactogenesis II at day 5 postpartum in women expressing milk for their preterm infants by measuring the lactogenesis II markers (milk citrate, lactose, sodium and total protein) and comparing them with women breastfeeding full-term infants.

Maternal Adherence to the Zidovudine Regimen for HIV-Exposed Infants to Prevent HIV Infection: A Preliminary Study (research abstract)
HIV-infected women at 3 inner-city New York City hospitals were interviewed 2 to 6 weeks' postpartum to assess adherence to neonatal prophylaxis, social support, social network factors, and depression. Women who were HIV asymptomatic and lacked a social support network were more likely not to comply with the recommended neonatal prophylactic regimen of antiretroviral therapy.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS

Indonesia Among Countries with Highest Maternal Deaths (news article)
Despite improvements in health over the past decades, Indonesia is listed as being among the countries that contribute 40 percent of the world's maternal deaths.

Mothers Want Freedom to Choose Caesarean (news article)
A row over elective caesareans erupted recently in New Zealand after a legal opinion that doctors and district health boards should refuse to perform caesareans that are not clinically justified. Nationally, about one birth in five is a caesarean.

Medical, Cultural Issues Threaten Afghan Women During Childbirth (news article)
Afghan women are as vulnerable during childbirth as their children in a country with only rudimentary health facilities after decades of war--one woman in seven dies giving birth. Women also face more risks during childbirth because they lack basic rights in a traditional society where unskilled midwives assist the vast majority of births, human rights activists say.

MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Condom Use Errors and Problems Among College Men (PubMed abstract)
Related news article: Using a Condom Is an Acquired Skill
A team of researchers explored the trial and error aspect of condom use in a new study that some public health experts are calling one of the most comprehensive investigations into the many mistakes and problems young men experience when using condoms.

A Randomized Trial Comparing Radical Prostatectomy with Watchful Waiting in Early Prostate Cancer (research abstract)
Related research abstract: Quality of Life after Radical Prostatectomy or Watchful Waiting (research abstract)
Related news article: Early Surgery Shown to Cut Prostate Cancer Deaths (news article)
For the first time, a study clearly shows that surgery for early prostate cancer can reduce the chance of dying from the disease, cutting the risk almost in half.

Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent Sexually Transmitted Infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Heterosexual Men: A Systematic Review (review article)
The authors systematically reviewed studies of interventions to prevent transmission of STIs and HIV in heterosexual men. Of 8 interventions designed to reduce STI incidence (including HIV), 5 were successful, 2 were unsuccessful, and 1 had equivocal results. The successful interventions included on-site individual counseling and HIV testing, mass communications regarding risk reduction, and multiple-component motivation and skills education in STI clinics.

MEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Tissue Engineers Grow Penis In the Lab (news article)
In a remarkable feat of tissue engineering, major parts of the penises of several rabbits have been replaced with segments grown in a lab from their own cells. The animals were able to use the reconstructed organs to mate. The technique could make it possible to reconstruct the penises of men who have suffered injuries or those of children born with genital abnormalities.

POPULATION NEWS

High Alert for Ugandan Census (news article)
Uganda's first national census for 11 years started on Friday with people encouraged to stay at home and wait for the census takers.

Fertility Levels in South Africa Falling (news article)
The level of fertility among South African women is decreasing - with women having fewer children and spacing them further apart.

Sixty Per Cent of the World's Population to Live in Cities in 2030 (news article)
Half of the world's population will be living in urban areas within five years, placing cities - especially those in developing countries - at the forefront in determining the kind of world that lies ahead, according to a report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Report: Population Growth and Urbanization: Cities at the Forefront

Nigeria: Abuja Faces Population Explosion Crisis (news article)
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (MFCT), Dr. Babangida Aliyu, said yesterday in Abuja that the city's population had risen to about 4 million. He added that "the development had put facilities in Abuja under enormous strain."

Scotland: The Birth of a Population Crisis (news article)
In 1939, before the outbreak of war, Scotland's population broke through the significant five million mark for the first time. In little over two weeks the results of the 2001 national census will be released and are expected to confirm fears that Scotland's wide open spaces are emptying at a faster rate than before. The population is expected to dip below that significant five million mark, possibly within the next decade

Japan: Nation's Centenarian Population Quadruples In 10 Years (news article)
The number of current centenarians in Japan and those who are due to be centenarians by the end of September reached a record high of 17,934 as of September 1, with 84 percent of these women.

EU's Population Grows by 1.5 Million (news article)
The population of the European Union grew by more than 1.5 million people last year, three-fourths of whom were immigrants.

WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Type Specific Persistence of High Risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) as Indicator of High Grade Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions in Young Women: Population Based Prospective Follow Up Study (research article)
Related news article: HPV Linked to Cervical Lesions
Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked to an increased likelihood of cervical lesions in women. The study involved more than 10,000 women and found that those who were HPV positive had a significantly increased risk of developing low- and high-grade cervical lesions compared to women who did not have the virus.

Reproductive Tract Infections and the Risk of HIV Among Women in Moshi, Tanzania (research abstract)
Among 382 women attending three primary healthcare clinics, researchers found the prevalence of HIV-1 to be 11.5 percent. Sixty-four percent of the women had one ongoing treatable RTI. Endogenous and sexually transmitted RTIs were higher in HIV-positive than negative women and 84% of the HIV seropositive women were co-infected with one treatable RTI.

The Impact of Hormone Replacement Therapy on the Detection and Stage of Breast Cancer (research abstract)
Related news article: Study Adds Kink to Hormone-Breast Cancer Link
A new study suggests that while long-term hormone therapy may raise the risk of breast cancer, users who develop the disease may survive longer than those who never took supplements.

Selective Silencing of Viral Gene Expression in HPV-Positive Human Cervical Carcinoma Cells Treated with Sirna, A Primer of RNA Interference (research abstract)
Related news article: UK Researchers Switch Off Genes that Trigger Cervical Cancer
UK researchers have reported that they have been able to switch off a human papillomavirus gene that triggers cervical cancer, using a new highly targeted technique RNA interference. A team at the University of York reported that RNA interference, which works by selectively "silencing" homologous genes, completely eliminated all human cervical cancer cells in vitro yet left healthy cells unharmed.

Does Early Growth Influence Timing of the Menopause? Evidence from a British Birth Cohort (research abstract)
This study investigates whether birth weight, childhood body size, having been breastfed and early socioeconomic circumstances are associated with age at menopause.

Dietary Correlates of Plasma Insulin-like Growth Factor I and Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 Concentrations (research abstract)
Related news article: Milk, Pregnancy May Affect Cancer Risk, Study Says
Pregnancy may lower a woman's risk of cancer but drinking milk could raise it. Both factors, as well as the use of hormone replacement therapy, affect levels of a hormone that may influence the development of some cancers, a team at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston found.

WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Breast Cancer Gene Action Unravelled (news article)
The DNA-repair function of the protein produced by a key breast cancer gene, BRCA2, has been unravelled. Researchers say the discoveries should throw new light on the precise causes of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer.

YOUTH RESEARCH

Factors Associated With HIV Testing Among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative High-Risk Adolescents: The REACH Study (research abstract)
Related research summary: Why Adolescents in the US Get HIV Tests
Surveying 246 HIV-infected adolescents and 141 seronegative adolescents at 15 sites across the United States, researchers found that feeling sick was the only factor linked with the number of tests among participants who eventually had a positive test. In the group who remained seronegative, having more male partners, smoking marijuana in the past 3 months, white race, and gay male sex correlated with a higher number of HIV tests.

Bone Mineral Density in Adolescent and Young Thai Girls Receiving Oral Contraceptives Compared with Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate: A Cross-sectional Study in Young Thai Women (PubMed abstract)
Researchers measured bone mineral density (BMD) at two points in the forearm in 30 current OC users and 30 current depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) users. No statistical differences in BMD were found in the two groups.

YOUTH NEWS

Sex Education Debuts in Beijing (news article)
Nine middle schools in Beijing's western Haidian District, home to a host of prestigious universities, took the lead in offering sex education courses when the new semester started this month.

Zulu King Preaches Abstinence in Age of AIDS (news article)
Thousands of Zulu girls gathered outside the palace of their king as part of an ancient wife-choosing ceremony last weekend, and were urged to stay virgins in order to protect themselves from AIDS.

Vietnam Unveils Condom Plan to Stem HIV Infection Among Young (news article)
Vietnam has unveiled a plan to stem escalating HIV infection rates by boosting condom usage among its sexually active younger population. The campaign, which will commence in October, aims to sell 170 million condoms each year through 2005.

Dangerous Liaisons: Japan's Casual 'Sex Friends' Risk More than Broken Hearts (news article)
Among other reasons, young Japanese sleep around because they assume sex is safe. Their logic: Japan is largely HIV-free, so by having sex within a closed circle of cohorts they can enjoy lifestyles reminiscent of the West after the advent of the birth-control pill but before the emergence of AIDS. That flawed reasoning reflects the unwillingness of older Japanese, particularly parents and schools, to educate kids about the risks of promiscuous behavior. The result, new research shows, is a significant rise in the rate of sexually transmitted diseases among young Japanese.

BOOKS / BOOK REVIEWS

Planning the Family in Egypt: New Bodies, New Selves (book)
In this ethnographic study, the author examines the policies and practices of family planning programs in Egypt to see how an elitist, Western-informed state attempts to create obliging citizens.

PROFILES / SPECIAL REPORTS

Maternal and Neonatal Health Program Update

A Self-Paced Learning Package for Training in the No-Scalpel Vasectomy Technique: The Experiences of Trainers and Participants in Nepal (manual)

Institutionalization of Reproductive Health Preservice Education in the Philippines: An Evaluation of Programmatic Efforts, 1987-1998 (special evaluation)

Assessment of the Quality of Postaboration Care Services in Nepal: Training and Service Delivery Perspectives (assessment)

Toward Contraceptive Self-reliance in Turkey: Results from a Pilot Test of a Cost-sharing Mechanism (USAID Supported Study)

Health, United States, 2002 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans (report)
Related press release: HHS Issues Report Showing Dramatic Improvements in America's Health Over Past 50 Years: Infant Mortality at Record Low, Life Expectancy at Record High
This 26th annual statistical report on America's health prepared by the Health and Human Service's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) takes an extended look at trends in fighting illness, chronic diseases, and mortality going back to 1950. The report presents the latest findings from health surveys and other sources in 147 tables and 28 graphs and charts. The report shows how Americans' health has changed dramatically for the better over the past 50 years, with men and women living longer, fewer babies dying in infancy, and the gap between white and black life expectancy narrowing in the past decade.

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