International Family Planning Perspectives articles from December 2005

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from December 2005

Family planning outreach maintains women's use of modern methods.
December 1, 2005... Bangladeshi women who have had contact with family planning out-reach workers are less likely than those who have not to switch from using modern contraceptive methods to not using a method, according to a study in four rural subdistricts. (1)...

Male circumcision as an HIV intervention.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Circumcised men have a significantly lower risk of acquiring HIV than do uncircumcised men, according to a controlled intervention trial in and around Orange Farm, South Africa. (1) Between July 2002 and February 2004, researchers recruited...

Interventions fail to reach many poor children.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Around the world, economic inequities create substantial disparities in the proportions of children who receive preventive health interventions--even in countries where many such programs are available. (1) Using Demographic and Health Survey...

Circumcision reduces chlamydia transmission.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Women who have circumcised partners have a reduced risk of having ever been infected with chlamydia, according to a study using pooled couples data from Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Spain and Thailand. (1) Among 300 women who reported...

U.S. law aims to protect world's orphans.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... On November 8, 2005, President Bush signed into law a bill that creates a special advisor position within the U.S. Agency for International Development to coordinate U.S. assistance to orphans and other vulnerable children in developing...

Misoprostol reduces postpartum hemorrhage.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Postpartum administration of misoprostol, which does not require refrigeration, beneath the tongue could reduce morbidity and mortality from hemorrhage among women in low-resource areas of developing countries, according to a double blind...

UNICEF.(Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... UNICEF has launched Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS, a global campaign to draw attention to the impact of the AIDS epidemic on children. The campaign's imperatives include preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, providing...

Global AIDS Alliance.(seeking grants from Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... An advocacy brief released by the Global AIDS Alliance urges the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to focus its next round of grants on providing comprehensive support to children in developing countries--a population that is...

Pakistan's Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... Human Development in South Asia 2004: The Health Challenge, a report from Pakistan's Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, finds that despite the region's great economic growth, it has the second highest maternal mortality rate in the world...

Promoting informed choice: evaluating a decision-making tool for family planning clients and providers in Mexico.
December 1, 2005... CONTEXT: The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a decision-making tool to be used by providers and clients during family planning visits to improve the quality of services. It is important to examine the tool's usability and its...

Pharmacists' knowledge and perceptions of emergency contraceptive pills in Soweto and the Johannesburg Central Business District, South Africa.
December 1, 2005... CONTEXT: In South Africa, emergency contraceptive pills are available directly from pharmacies without a prescription, yet few studies have assessed pharmacists' knowledge of and attitudes toward the medication. METHODS: In-person...

Pregnancy intentions among Salvadoran fathers: results from the 2003 National Male Reproductive Health Survey.
December 1, 2005... CONTEXT: In El Salvador, fathers less commonly say that pregnancies are unintended than mothers do. However, men's pregnancy intentions are not understood as well as women's. METHODS: Data from 425 fathers participating in the 2003 National...

The incidence of induced abortion in Uganda.
December 1, 2005... CONTEXT: Although Uganda's law permits induced abortion only to save a woman's life, many women obtain abortions, often under unhygienic conditions. Small-scale studies suggest that unsafe abortion is an important health problem in Uganda, but...

Gender and relationship differences in condom use among 15-24-year-olds in Angola.
December 1, 2005... CONTEXT: The sexual behavior of young people in Angola will play a major role in the future spread of HIV, yet few young people use condoms consistently, and reported rates of condom use are low. It is important to identify determinants of...

Exposure to a national HIV-prevention program linked to lower risk of infection for South African youth.
December 1, 2005... In South Africa, the proportion of women aged 15-24 years who are infected with HIV is about three times that of men this age (16% vs. 5%), according to a nationally representative survey. (1) Among sexually experienced youth, men's odds of HIV...

Of HPV-infected women with normal smears, most have high-risk varieties.(human papillomavirus)
December 1, 2005... The proportion of women who do not have cancerous or precancerous changes of their cervix but who are infected with human papillomavirus (HPV) varies widely across world regions--from 5% in Europe to 26% in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a...

Complaints of abnormal vaginal discharge linked to poor mental health.
December 1, 2005... Among Indian women, poor psychological well-being is a strong risk factor for the complaint of abnormal vaginal discharge, but reproductive tract infection (RTI) is not. (1) In a community-based survey, women who had high scores on a structured...

Home visits help mothers maintain breast-feeding after leaving the hospital.
December 1, 2005... Some 70% of Brazilian women giving birth in hospitals with staff trained according to the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) exclusively breast-feed their infants in the hospital, but the proportion declines rapidly and sharply thereafter...

Evidence supporting the notion that bacterial vaginosis can be transmitted sexually continues to accumulate.(DIGESTS)
December 1, 2005... Bacterial vaginosis is associated with several high-risk sexual behaviors, such as having a large number of partners, according to findings from a clinic-based Australian study. (1) Although the cause of bacterial vaginosis has not been...

Women who report abuse during pregnancy have an elevated risk of adverse birth outcomes.(DIGESTS)
December 1, 2005... Pregnant women reporting abuse are at increased risk for certain adverse pregnancy outcomes: When compared with women who report no abuse, those reporting verbal abuse are more likely to deliver an infant of low birth weight, and those...