Volume 5, Number 8
21 February 2005

FAMILY PLANNING/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH RESEARCH

One Size Fits All? Promoting Condom use for Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Among Heterosexual Young Adults (research abstract)
The aims of this study were to increase understanding of heterosexual young adults' knowledge and beliefs about STIs other than HIV, to explore their beliefs about the factors that influence condom use for STI prevention, and to explore their ideas about how best to promote condom use for STI prevention. They supported multi-faceted condom promotion campaigns, using multiple styles of communication and a variety of media. The range of suggestions given by participants suggests that rather than employing a ‘one size fits all’ strategy, a variety of different approaches are needed to promote condom use for STI prevention.

Acceptability of Contraceptive Methods among Urban Eligible Couples of Imphal, Manipur (research article)
This study explored the trend of Couple Protection Rate and acceptability of different contraceptive devices among the urban eligible couples of Imphal. Results show there was an increase in the acceptance of Family Planning Methods by eligible couples in India during the period 1989-2000. Similarly, an equal proportional increase was also noticed in both permanent and temporary methods. However, in permanent methods, percentage of tubectomy was higher than that of vasectomy.

FAMILY PLANNING/REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH NEWS

Ghana: West Africa: HIV and Family Planning Should be Better Integrated - Health Authorities (news article)
Related: news article: Accra Hosts Family Planning Conference
Related: resource material: Repositioning Family Planning in West Africa: Daily Report on Conference Activities
Health authorities from 15 West African countries met in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, to see how family planning and HIV/ AIDS interventions can be more closely integrated for greater impact.

Use of Condoms Un-Islamic: Pak Leader (news article)
Pakistan's hardline cleric and Leader of the Opposition, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has said he is opposed to the use of condoms in the name of safe sex and controlling population as he considers it "un-Islamic."

Sex is Not as Safe as the Middle-Aged Might Think (news article)
The safe-sex message needs to get out to older adults who indulge in risky sexual behavior in the belief that at their age they are immune to sexually transmitted disease, a new report says.

HIV/AIDS RESEARCH

Prevention and Treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Resource-Limited Settings (research article)
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This paper breifly summarizes the evidence on a range of interventions designed to prevent the spread of HIV infection, paying particular attention to voluntary counselling and testing, treatment for STDs, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

Intravaginal and Intrarectal Microbicides to Prevent HIV Infection (research article)
This analysis reviews the effectiveness of intravaginal and intrarectal microbicides in the prevention of HIV infection.

A Prospective, Randomized Trial of Structured Treatment Interruption for Patients with Chronic HIV Type 1 Infection (research article)
Structured treatment interruption was evaluated in 74 patients who had been pretreated with antiretrovirals, consisting of two nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) for 1 year followed by 3 years of highly active antiretroviral therapy containing a protease inhibitor. Weekon/Weekoff therapy maintained a CD4 cell count of more than or equal to 350 cells/microL in almost all patients but was associated with high virological failures rates, indicating that this strategy is less useful. Receipt of CD4 cell count-guided therapy resulted in comparable clinical outcomes to continuous therapy and may save antiretroviral-associated costs, but this needs to be confirmed by a larger trial.

A Study of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP): Common Goals, Shared Responses (report)
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This case study, on which UNAIDS collaborated with CARICOM, documents the experience of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against AIDS to mobilize the response to AIDS in the region. It highlights both the partnership's successes as well as the challenges it continues to face in supporting effective action on AIDS in all of its 29 countries.

Does Where We Live Matter? Community Characteristics and HIV and Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevalence in Southwestern China (research abstract)
This paper examines the county-level determinants of the prevalence of HIV/STD risky behaviors and infections. The results suggest that community social and behavioral norms predict significantly the prevalence of illicit drugs and commercial sex and that the prevalence of the two HIV/STD-risky behaviors reinforces each other. The analysis also shows that migration significantly increases prevalence of HIV and STDs, as does prevalence of injecting drug use and commercial sex. Overall, HIV and STDs are found not to be diseases of poverty but more likely byproducts of social and behavior changes associated with development and urbanization.

The Guidelines for Improving CCMs Through Greater PLHIV Involvement (resource material)
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These guidelines have been drawn up and agreed on by a large group of PLHIV who have first-hand experience of the challenges and obstacles to PLHIV involvement on CCMs, thus giving them value, legitimacy, and credibility. These guidelines can be used as an advocacy tool to assist all stakeholders in the Global Fund processes to help ensure that PLHIV concerns and issues are addressed as fully as possible. The guidelines can also be adapted for use when working with other multisectoral or coordinating bodies at local, district, provincial, or regional levels.

HIV/AIDS NEWS

Mauritania: Taboos, Denial and Shortage of Data Hinder Fight Against AIDS (news article)
The battle against HIV/AIDS has begun in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. But social taboos surrounding the discussion of sex, widespread denial that the disease exists in this deeply conservative country, and an absence of accurate data, combine to make progress difficult.

AIDS Negating Improvements in Governance in Africa, UN Regional Commission Chief Says (news article)
The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa is threatening to destroy national institutions and is killing members of some professions faster than their replacements can be trained, undercutting the improvements the continent has made in governance, the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has said.

South Africa: AIDS Activists Demand Expansion of National Treatment (news article)
South Africa's AIDS activists once again marched to parliament, launching a campaign to put more HIV-positive people on the national treatment program.

Gabon: New Factory Produces AIDS and Anti-Malarial Drugs for the Region (news article)
The government of Gabon has opened a factory in Libreville that will manufacture drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis for 30 million people living in six states in Central Africa.

Second Phase of European Vaccine Against HIV/AIDS Begins (news article)
Following on from the success of the first phase I study, the European Vaccine Effort against HIV/AIDS (EuroVacc) has announced the start of a second series of clinical trials (EuroVacc 02) to evaluate DNA-HIV-C and NYVAC-HIV-C, two novel investigational vaccines for the prevention of HIV infection.

India AIDS Scare: Discrimination Begins with Docs (news article)
Experiences of discrimination make those infected with HIV wary of disclosing their status and reluctant to seek care in India.

Different HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategies Being Debated After Detection of Rare, Drug-Resistant HIV Strain (news article)
Related: news article: AIDS Case in N.Y. May Not Be a Harbinger of Supervirus
Following New York City health officials' announcement last week that they have detected a rare, drug-resistant HIV strain, HIV/AIDS experts and advocates are examining different prevention strategies. In related news, it is being reported that the virulent and highly drug-resistant case of AIDS recently found in a New York City man is similar in some ways to two Canadian cases that appeared in 2001 and did not lead to the spread of a "supervirus," as some fear may happen in New York.

International Trial of Two Microbicides Begins (news article)
A large, multisite trial designed to examine the safety and preliminary effectiveness of two candidate topical microbicides to prevent HIV infection has opened to volunteer enrollment. The trial, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, represents a partnership among various research institutions in Africa and the United States.

India: Female Condoms to be Part of AIDS Control Programme (news article)
Having successfully tested the efficacy of the female condom in three states, India is planning to distribute the condoms from next month in more areas as part of its HIV/AIDS control program.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

HIV Seropositive in Pregnant South African Women Who Initially Refuse Routine Antenatal HIV Screening (research abstract)
This study was instituted to determine the HIV seroprevalence of pregnant South African women who refused routine HIV testing at the antenatal clinic of the Johannesburg Hospital, South Africa. Twenty-two of the 50 blood specimens, or 44% of patients analysed, tested positive for HIV. This is an alarming statistic, as the HIV prevalence in the general antenatal population at the Johannesburg Hospital is 29.4%.

Serological Markers of Hepatitis B, C, and E Viruses and Human Immunodeficiency Virus type-1 Infections in Pregnant Women in Bali, Indonesia (research abstract)
This study examined serological markers of hepatitis viruses such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) and E virus (HEV), and HIV in Bali, Indonesia. The overall prevalence of anti-HEV was 18%, and there were substantial regional differences spanning from 5% at Tabanan district to 32% at Gianyar district. Furthermore, the prevalence of anti-HEV differed substantially by their religions. In the Sanglah area of Denpasar City, for instance, anti-HEV was detected in 20% Hindus, significantly more frequently than in only 2% Muslims. Researchers suggest that swine, which are prohibited to Muslims, is likely to serve as a reservoir of HEV in Bali.

An Evaluation of Post-campaign Knowledge and Practices of Exclusive Breastfeeding in Uganda (research article)
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This study evaluated the extent to which exposure to behavior change communication (BCC) messages in the media determined recent improvements in exclusive breastfeeding knowledge and practices in areas targeted by the Delivery of Improved Services for Health (DISH) Project of Uganda. The results indicated that the exposure to BCC messages was strongly associated with women’s knowledge of six months as the ideal duration for exclusive breastfeeding. Positive influences on knowledge of men were also found. Media effects on women’s current practice of exclusively breastfeeding their infants up to six months were less conclusive, possibly because of the short interval between the launch of the BCC campaign and survey implementation.

Breastfeeding and the HIV Positive Mother: The Debate Continues (research abstract)
This article highlights the dilemma created by the risks and benefits of breastfeeding and discusses factors that increase the risk of HIV transmission during breastfeeding, as well as strategies that could be employed to reduce these risks. Many questions still remain unanswered. Until further research results are available, women should be encouraged to follow the UNAIDS guidelines "when replacement feeding is acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe, avoidance of all breastfeeding by HIV-infected mothers is recommended, otherwise, exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended during the first months of life".

Prevalence of Consanguineous Marriages in a Rural Community and Its Effect on Pregnancy Outcome (research article)
This study explored the prevalence and type of consanguinity and its effect on fetal loss, neonatal mortality, obstetric complications and congenital anomalies. The prevalence of consanguinity was found to be 36%. Majority of the marriages were between first cousins (54.44%). Fetal loss was seen to be significantly higher in the consanguineous group as compared to non-consanguineous group. No significant effect of consanguinity was observed on the number of stillbirths, neonatal mortality, obstetrical complications and congenital malformations. Only 7.6% of the women were aware about the hazards of a consanguineous marriage.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS

Argentina: Maternal Mortality Claims Increasingly Younger Victims (news article)
The marked rise in teenage pregnancy in the last five years has been attributed to the fact that girls are becoming sexually active at an increasingly younger age, while sex education and family planning services are sorely lacking.

Ethiopia: Concern Over High Child Mortality in Somali Region (news article)
The death rate from disease among young children in a remote pocket of Ethiopia's Somali region has reached crisis point, the global charity Save the Children UK has warned.

Kenya: Do Safer Births Require a Break With Tradition? (news article)
If Kenya is to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters in the next decade, officials may have to call a halt to the work of traditional birth attendants.

POPULATION RESEARCH

Understanding the Demographic Dividend (report)
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A fresh reason for attending to fertility dynamics has emerged—the “demographic dividend.” As fertility rates fall during the demographic transition, if countries act wisely before and during the transition, a special window opens up for faster economic growth and human development.

Remitting the Gift: Zambian Mobility and Anthropological Insights for Migration Studies (research abstract)
This article brings together anthropological theories of gift exchange and ethnographic data on migrant gifting (remitting) in order to understand the core of investing in social relations through remitting practices.

Some Benefits of Migrants' Return Visits to Ghana (research abstract)
This paper explores some of the benefits associated with expatriates' temporary return visits to Ghana. The benefits assessed in this study relate to donations, expenditures and investments made in Ghana by these visiting expatriates.

POPULATION NEWS

U.N.: World's Population Is Aging Rapidly (news article)
Half the world's population will live in cities in two years, the U.N. chief has said, adding that the number of elderly people is rising rapidly, prompting a need for economic and social changes.

WOMEN'S HEALTH RESEARCH

Gynecological Morbidity and Treatment Seeking Behaviour in South India: Evidence from the Reproductive and Child Health Survey 1998-1999 (research article)
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This paper examines the influences of socio-economic and demographic factors on gynecological morbidity and treatment seeking behavior in Tamil Nadu. The paper also examines the influences of various factors on treatment seeking behavior for gynecological morbidity, that is, whether treatment is sought and if so, the source of treatment, public or private sector. The results reveal that women in low level of education, pregnancy wastage, and contraceptive users are significantly more likely to report symptoms of RTI/STI.

WOMEN'S HEALTH NEWS

Palestinian Women Experience Major Poverty Induced by Loss of Spouses, UN Says (news article)
Palestinian women are suffering massively from malnutrition, especially when they are pregnant and nursing, and have high rates of poverty as widowed heads of household, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report to a UN women's rights panel.

Authorities Turn Blind Eye on Far East Russia Women Trafficking (news article)
According to a 2001 estimate by the regional authorities, 15,000 local women were forced to work that year as prostitutes in China alone.

UNPF to Create 250 Information Centres for Women (news article)
The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) will provide assistance to set up 250 Women's Information Centers in areas hit by the December 26 tsunamis. These centers will work to meet the social and mental health needs of women.

Tanzania: A Century Later, Little has Changed for Females (news article)
Africa may be totally different today than it was a century or so ago, but many girls still face cultural practices that affected their great grandmothers.

Swaziland: HIV-Positive Women's Group Creates Agricultural Cooperative (news article)
Swazis for Positive Living (SWAPOL), launched by a group of middle-aged HIV-positive Swazi women, is breaking new ground by developing self-sustaining agricultural projects in an effort to be less dependent on donor organizations.

YOUTH HEALTH RESEARCH

Effectiveness of Various IEC in Improving Awareness and Reducing Stigma Related to HIV/AIDS Among School Going Teenagers (research article)
This study explored the effectiveness of various IEC in improving awareness and reducing HIV/AIDS related stigma. HIV related stigma was indeed prevalent among adolescents and interpersonal communication emerged as the most effective IEC in reducing it. Remarkable improvement was observed in awareness in all the types of interventions.

Behavior Patterns Related to Sexual Practices and Drug Use among Female Adolescents in Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil, 2002 (research abstract)
The goal of this study was to describe behavior patterns among female adolescents (15-19 years) in relation to sexual practices and drug use in an area covered by the Health Family Program in Vitória, capital city of Espírito Santo State, Brazil. Sixty-nine percent were already sexually active; 12.8% reported previous STDs, 14% illicit drug use, and 3.7% a history of prostitution. Only 23.4% reported regular condom use, although more than 90% had received information on STD/AIDS risks and prevention. History of pregnancy was reported by 31.6% of the adolescents, and a previous HIV test by 17%.

YOUTH HEALTH NEWS

Philippines: Government Birth Control Drive Targets Teens (news article)
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said that while their major concern is the two million Filipino couples in the urban and rural slums, teenagers or those in their adolescent stage will also be the subject of the education campaign of the government's Ligtas Buntis 2005.

Ethiopia: Fighting Female Circumcision at Local Level (news article)
NGOs, often working with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), are trying to combat FGM at local level thereby improving reproductive health within the communities.

Wales: Teen Sex Disease Epidemic Fear (news article)
Wales is facing an epidemic of sexual diseases among teenagers, according to new figures.

BOOKS/BOOK REVIEWS

Reproductive Agency, Medicine, and the State: Cultural Transformations in Childbearing (book)
Recent years have seen many changes in human reproduction resulting from state and medical interventions in childbearing processes. Based on empirical work in a variety of societies and countries, this volume considers the relationship between reproductive processes (of fertility, pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period) on the one hand and attitudes, medical technologies and state health policies in diverse cultural contexts on the other.

SPECIAL REPORTS/PROFILES/RESOURCES

What Counts? Interpreting Evidence-Based Decision-Making for Management and Policy. Report of the 6th CHSRF Annual Invitational Workshop (resource material)
During the past decade, evidence-based decision-making has evolved from an appealing concept to a generally accepted principle by which we should operate our healthcare systems. Yet despite the current acceptance of these concepts, key questions remain largely unanswered: What is evidence, and evidence based decision-making, in the context of health services management and policy? To begin to answer the questions, the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation called together more than 150 health services researchers, managers, and policy makers in spring 2004 to discuss and debate the issues.

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Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: The INFO Project

Volume 5, Number 821 February 2005