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The Pop Reporter®

Volume 4, Number 31
2 August 2004

"The Pop Reporter" (R) Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs INFO Project. When you click on any link below, your Internet browser will access a Web site not connected to "The Pop Reporter." Information accessed through these links and contained in this issue of "The Pop Reporter" does not necessarily state or reflect the views of the INFO Project, Johns Hopkins University, or the US Agency for International Development. All links were verified at the date of mailing. Your computer and/or network configuration regarding Java script, cookies, and other security issues may not allow you to view certain Web sites. Consult your computer technician if you are having problems.

FAMILY PLANNING/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH

Perceptions Regarding Preventive Sexual Practices and Communication with Sexual Partners among Chinese College Students (research abstract)
Researchers assessed the relation between Chinese college students' perceptions and attitudes regarding preventive sexual behaviors, their sexual knowledge, and their use of protective sexual behaviors. They found that significantly more females had discussed AIDS and STDs issues with their partners and had asked their partners about their sexual histories than males. Students endorsing the use of preventive behaviors were more likely to have discussed AIDS issues with their partners, used condoms, and known their partner's sexual history.

Lubricants Containing N-9 May Enhance Rectal Transmission of HIV and other STIs (research abstract)
The authors used microscopic examination of rectal lavage and biopsy specimens collected among men who have sex with men at different time points following rectal application of a lubricant containing 2% N-9 to demonstrate rapid exfoliation of the rectal epithelium. Because the rectal epithelium protects target cells in the submucosa from HIV, they conclude that lubricants containing N-9 should be avoided during rectal sex.

Condom Use and the Risk of Recurrent Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Chronic Pelvic Pain, or Infertility Following an Episode of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (research abstract)
Related news article: Condom Use Decreases Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Recurrence
Among 684 sexually active women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) followed up for a mean of 35 months, the authors related contraceptive use to self-reported PID recurrence, chronic pelvic pain, and infertility.

IUDs: A Resurging Method (resource material)
Global Health Technical Briefs summarize the most important information on a timely reproductive health topic in two pages and pinpoint the implications for public health programs. Each brief includes: Background/definition of the topic, important recent findings or lessons learned in program application, implications for programs, and links to more information.

Contraceptive Security: What You Can Do (resource material)
Many countries face the challenge of meeting people's needs for contraceptives, including condoms, on a sustainable basis. Programmatic experience in several countries has pointed to some "ready lessons" that can be applied to improve contraceptive security. This is #2 in a new series called Global Health Technical Briefs, prepared by Alan Bornbusch and Tanvi Pandit, both of USAID.

FAMILY PLANNING/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS

Condoms Campaign Planned in China (news article)
China is planning a massive campaign to publicize the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Sexually Transmitted Infections Continue to Increase during 2003 in UK (news article)
Related news article: UK: Patients Wait Six Weeks to Visit Sex Disease Clinics
New cases of chlamydia rose by 9% from 82,558 to 89,818 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 2003, according to latest figures released by the Health Protection Agency at the launch of its first annual report. It remains the most commonly diagnosed STI. In a related story, health campaigners said that people with STIs are having to wait up to 6 weeks for an appointment at specialist clinics - a key factor in the rise of the diseases.

Senegalese Adults Shy Away from Condoms (news article)
Senegal is a role model in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Along with Uganda and Thailand, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS says the West African country has succeeded in reducing the spread of the virus. Senegal's success in the fight against the disease lies in its pragmatic approach, something that is unusual in a country where more than 80% of its population is Muslim.

South Africa: High Cost Caps Use of Female Condom (feature article)
It's bigger and uglier than its male counterpart. Sometimes it even makes a noise. But many South African women who have used it say they prefer it. Ten years after it was first introduced to South Africa, the female condom, or femidom, is gaining popularity in the country, but cost is limiting its use.

India: Condoms Oil Wheels of Industry (news article)
The Indian city of Varanasi is getting through around 600,000 condoms a day, but this is no population control exercise.

UK: Only have Safe Holiday Sex (news article)
Shocking studies into the sexual behavior of holidaymakers reveal 35% have had intercourse with a non-regular partner while abroad.

FAMILY PLANNING/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW AND POLICY

Brussels Rejects AIDS Drug Claims (news article)
The European commission has rejected claims by the British government that translation delays are costing the lives of some of the world's poorest people by delaying them access to drugs. A commission spokesman described as "ridiculous" allegations that victims of HIV/Aids and other potentially fatal ailments in developing countries were being denied treatment because of bureaucratic delays in Brussels. Gordon Brown, trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt, and development secretary Hilary Benn have written to the commission to ask why it has not yet finalised draft legislation needed before the UK can change its own laws to help developing countries import drugs.

The Philippines: Population Debate Heats Up with Lagman Two-child Bill (news article)
In trying to help slow down the birth rate, a representative has filed House Bill 16, which seeks a two-child policy that would give couples incentives if they have two children or less.

HIV/AIDS RESEARCH

India: AIDS Fueled by Abuses Against Children (press release)
Related report: Future Forsaken: Abuses Against Children Affected by HIV/AIDS in India
India's explosive AIDS epidemic is being fueled by widespread abuses against children who are affected by HIV/AIDS, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. The Indian government's failure to address these abuses is undermining its anti-AIDS policy and putting millions of lives at risk.

Is HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Counseling Effective Among Vulnerable Populations?: A Subset Analysis of Data Collected for a Randomized, Controlled Trial Evaluating Counseling Efficacy (research abstract)
A subset analysis of data from a randomized, controlled trial evaluating counseling efficacy (Project RESPECT) found counseling resulted in fewer STDs among several vulnerable populations, including adolescents and persons with STD at enrollment.

Methods and Tools for HIV/AIDS Estimates and Projections (research abstract)
The August 2004 supplement to the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections presents seven articles, a collection of papers that describe some of the tools generated by researchers to assist with HIV surveillance systems.

Factors Affecting HIV Concordancy in Married Couples in Four African Cities (research abstract)
This study determined risk factors for HIV transmission within married couples in four urban populations in sub-Saharan Africa. Representative random samples approximating 1,000 men and 1,000 women in each of four cities of Kisumu (Kenya), Ndola (Zambia), Cotonou (Benin), and Yaounde (Cameroon), were interviewed and tested for STIs. Married couples were identified as concordant negative, discordant, or concordant positive for each STI. After excluding concordant HIV negative couples, analysis of behavioral and STI risk factors for HIV positive concordancy was undertaken across the four cities and in each city separately where sample size allowed. Among 221 couples in which at least one member was HIV positive, the authors found that the only significant risk factor for positive HIV concordancy was herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2) status. After adjusting for age and city of residence, the odds ratio for HIV concordancy compared to couples with neither spouse HSV-2 positive was 3.4 for couples with one partner HSV-2 positive and 8.6 for couples with both partners HSV-2 positive.

HIV/AIDS NEWS

15.2% South Africans have AIDS (news article)
The HIV prevalence rate in 2004 was estimated to be 15.2% in 2004 compared with 14.79% in 2003, 13.05% in 2000, and only 3.82% in 1994.

Central Asia: HIV/AIDS Remains a Problem in Ferghana Valley (feature article)
HIV/AIDS remains a problem in the densely populated Ferghana Valley, shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan and home to some 10 million people. There are more than 700 HIV-infected people in the region, according to health officials.

China Experts: Make a Choice, Condom or AIDS (news article)
Following the AIDS prevention project launched by the national health and family planning departments, Beijing, Jiangsu Province and several other cities and provinces will begin to provide condoms in public places beginning in August.

AIDS Spreads in Bulgaria (news article)
The number of HIV positive Bulgarians has gone up to 489 since the beginning of 2004, Bulgaria's Health Ministry announced.

Cuban Lessons on Fighting AIDS (feature article)
This feature article from the Toronto Star follows the history of HIV/AIDS policies and care in Cuba, a country that currently has an HIV infection rate of less than 0.1%, in a region that has one of the fastest growing infection rates in the world.

Djibouti: AIDS drugs free until 2007 (news article)
All HIV/AIDS patients in the tiny Horn of Africa country Djibouti will have access to anti-retroviral drugs until at least 2007, a senior AIDS official has announced.

Nigeria: New Plant Making ARV Drugs Opens in Lagos (news article)
A new plant to manufacture anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs for people living with AIDS has opened in Nigeria, thanks to an iniative by Nigerian health professionals working in the United States. Archy Pharmaceuticals Company is the second company to produce ARV drugs in Nigeria. Its brand new plant on the outskirts of Lagos was formally opened by Stella Obasanjo, the wife of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

Free Markets and Dead Mothers: The Social Ecology of Maternal Mortality in Post-socialist Mongolia (PubMed abstract)
The authors discuss the consequences of economic reforms undertaken beginning in 1990 by Mongolia, a former client state of what was then the Soviet Union. Evidence suggests that women are particularly vulnerable to political-ecological changes, and that this vulnerability is manifested in increasing rates of poor reproductive health and maternal mortality. Drawing on case-study ethnographic and epidemiological data, this article explores the links between neoliberal economic reform and maternal mortality in Mongolia.

Setting Priorities for Safe Motherhood Interventions in Resource Scarce Settings (research article)
This study from the University of California, Berkeley aims to guide policy-makers in prioritising the different components of safe motherhood programs. It notes that implementing even the most frugal maternal health intervention recommendations would cost significantly more than the poorest countries are currently spending. The authors compile existing data on effectiveness of safe motherhood interventions and cost these interventions using the World Health Organization’s Mother Baby Package costing spreadsheet.

MEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Middle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and Lebanon (PubMed abstract)
This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors.

MEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Spanish Men Most likely to Pay for Sex (news article)
More than a quarter of Spanish men have paid for sex with a prostitute, the highest proportion of any European country, according to a government study. The survey by Spain's National Statistics Institute found that 1 in 14 Spanish men visited a prostitute in 2003, while 27% admitted having paid for sex at least once during their lifetime.

POPULATION RESEARCH

Sex Differentials in Childhood Feeding, Health Care, and Nutritional Status in India (research abstract)
This article examines sex differentials in indicators of childhood feeding, health care, and nutritional status of children under age 3 by birth order and sex composition of older living siblings.

Economic Growth and Stagnation with Endogenous Health and Fertility (research abstract)
This article offers a theory of economic growth, stagnation, and demo-economic transition that originates from external effects of child-bearing, health expenditure, and education under endogenous mortality.

POPULATION NEWS

Kenyans Making More Babies Now (news article)
Kenya should brace for a baby boom as fertility levels climb following a persistent shortage of contraceptives. Already, the national fertility rate (the number of children being born by one woman), has gone up from four children in 1998 to five children last year. Yet the goal is to reduce it to about two children per woman.

AIDS Putting a Brake on Population Growth in SA with almost 2 Million Deaths (news article)
HIV/AIDS is checking population growth in South Africa, and by next year almost 2 million people will have died of AIDS-related illnesses.

India: Government's Latest: Targeted Population Control (news article)
According to this news report, the Common Minimum Programme will now make its presence felt in an area that many least expect it to: population control. Taking off from a CPA recommendation, the Health Ministry is starting a special population control project in 170 "high fertility" districts across five states. The target: to cut India's total fertility rate to 2.1 from the current 3.4.

Czech Republic Marriage Rate Declines (news article)
In 2003, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) registered the lowest number of weddings and the highest number of divorces since the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993. The CSU found that in 2003, 63% of men and 69% of women in the age group under 50 were already married for the first time, while at the beginning of the 1990s this share was about 85% of men and 90% of women.

WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Description of a Seven-year Prospective Study of Human Papillomavirus Infection and Cervical Neoplasia among 10,000 Women in Guanacaste, Costa Rica (research article)
This article describes the Guanacaste study, which was designed to investigate the role of human papillomavirus infection and its cofactors in the development of cervical neoplasia and to evaluate new cervical cancer screening technologies. Preliminary findings regarding the incidence of cervical neoplasia are presented.

Receptivity for Probiotic Products Among Premenopausal Female Students in an African University (research abstract)
Findings in this study revealed that female university students are receptive to probiotic products in Nigeria and indicate strongly a need to consider women's concerns about urogenital health.

Prevalence and Patterns of Gender-based Violence and Revictimization among Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Soweto, South Africa (research abstract)
The authors analyzed data from 1,395 interviews with women attending antenatal clinics in Soweto, South Africa, to estimate the prevalence of: physical/sexual partner violence (55.5%), adult sexual assault by nonpartners (7.9%), child sexual assault (8%), and forced first intercourse (7.3%).

WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Bhutan: HIV Mostly Spread through Sex Workers (news article)
More than 80% of the HIV positive individuals in the country had been infected from sex with female commercial sex workers, according to the Ministry of Health.

Interview with WHO Assistant Director General for Family and Community Health (news article)
In this interview, Joy Phumaphi, the World Health Organisation's Assistant Director General for Family and Community Health, highlighted the need to prioritize women and girl children in the fight against HIV/AIDS. She spoke after a two-day meeting of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, which ended on Tuesday.

The New Face of Aids in Uganda (feature article)
This feature article relates how women in Uganda are struggling in the face of AIDS and gender inequality.

YOUTH HEALTH RESEARCH

Sexual Behavior Is More Risky in Rural Than in Urban Areas Among Young Women in Nyanza Province, Kenya (research abstract)
This study among young adults in Nyanza, Kenya, showed that sexual behavior is as risky (men) or even riskier (women) in rural compared with urban areas. The authors recommend that HIV/STD interventions be expanded to rural areas in Nyanza.

Pupil-led Sex Education in England (RIPPLE Study): Cluster-randomised Intervention Trial (PubMed abstract)
Researchers examined the effectiveness of one form of peer-led sex education in a school-based randomized trial of more than 8,000 pupils. Twenty-nine schools were randomized to either peer-led sex education (intervention) or to continue their usual teacher-led sex education (control). By age 16 years, significantly fewer girls reported intercourse in the peer-led arm than in the control arm, but proportions were similar for boys. The proportions of pupils reporting unprotected first sex did not differ for girls (8.4% intervention vs 8.3% control) or for boys (6.2% vs 4.7%). Girls and boys were more satisfied with peer-led than teacher-led sex education, but 57% of girls and 32% of boys wanted sex education in single-sex groups.

YOUTH HEALTH NEWS

China: Sex Education Offered Online (news article)
About 100 young people sent questions and concerns about puberty to medical experts during China's first online consultation on reproductive health in Shanghai last week. Experts answered at least 20 questions on the spot and will reply to the remainder via the Website within the next few days. The Shanghai Family Planning Technical Instruction Institute initiated the consultation through its Website (http://yfc.boyandgirl.com.cn).

Malaysia: 'Speed Up Sex Education in Schools' (news article)
Participants at the recent Forum on Violence Against Women - With Focus on Rape unanimously passed a resolution to ask the relevant authorities to expedite the move to introduce sex education in schools.

India: Handle with Care: Module Gives Tips to Docs on Dealing with Teens (news article)
With suicides by teenagers and obsessive and violent behaviour by lovers making headlines almost everyday, paediatricians have decided to turn their focus on teenagers and the problems faced by them. The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) has released a "Module For Adolescent Care" to aid doctors in dealing with teenagers. Over 1,000 doctors across the country have already been trained by IAP to incorporate the module in their practice. "The approach is different," said Dr M.K.C. Nair, director, IAP. "The module is an honest attempt to project the dilemma of the teenager from his or her perspective. 'Family life education' and not sex education is the title used, to avoid undue anxiety among parents."

UNICEF Trains Sudanese Police to Assist Child Victims of Sexual Violence (press release)
Amidst widespread reports of sexual violence and rape of women and children in Darfur, UNICEF concluded a 3-day training of Sudanese police officers designed to assist them in investigating cases of rape of children. This initiative is the first of its kind and aims to sensitize police and other law enforcement officials on how to interview children who have endured sexual violence.

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