International Family Planning Perspectives articles from June 2003

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from June 2003

In this issue.
June 1, 2003... Despite identification in numerous studies of factors that influence the use of family planning, the translation of these research findings into interventions that increase contraceptive prevalence is not always successful. The reasons for this...

Expert group says HIV spread in Africa is mainly through sex. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... An expert group convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has reaffirmed that unprotected sex is the main mode of HIV transmission in Sub-Saharan Africa. (1) In March 2003, WHO...

Disease burdens around the world. (Update).
June 1, 2003... The two main causes of ill health worldwide are related to maternal and reproductive health, according to an analysis of 26 risk factors that together accounted for roughly one-half of the total number of years of healthy life lost in 2000...

Herpes virus: a no-show in cervical cancer. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Although serologic and in vitro studies have suggested that herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2) helps human papillomavirus (HPV) trigger cervical cancer, DNA tests show no evidence of coinfection in cervical cancer specimens. (1) Using...

No link between folic acid and multiple births. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Women who use folic acid supplements during pregnancy are no more likely than those who do not to have multiple births, according to a population-based cohort study of women from three provinces in China who registered with a pregnancy...

Jordanian men's role in family planning is growing. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Men's support of and involvement in family planning in jordan increased considerably following a nationwide campaign aimed at gaining public acceptance of modern contraceptives and at encouraging joint contraceptive decision-making by spouses....

Forced sex among abortion-seekers in China. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Nearly one-half of single young Chinese women seeking abortions have had sex against their will, according to a study conducted among abortion patients aged 21 or younger at 17 urban hospitals between January and November 2000. (1) Forty-eight...

HIV is top killer of South African women. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... HIV is the leading cause of mortality among women in South Africa, according to an analysis of a random sample of death certificates from 1997 to 2001. (1) Using international guidelines to classify diseases, Statistics South Africa found that...

According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). (In Brief).(pregnant Iraqi's displaced by war)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * According to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates, 150,000 pregnant women will be displaced or seriously affected by the war in Iraq, and more than 20,000 will require emergency medical care, such as cesarean delivery, for...

Access to cesarean sections is not improving in Sub-Saharan Africa. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * Access to cesarean sections is not improving in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to an analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys from countries where two such surveys were conducted in the 1990s. The proportion of live singletons delivered by...

Childhood mortality is declining in Nepal. (In Brief).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * Childhood mortality is declining in Nepal: Between 1980 and 2000, the mortality rate among infants younger than one decreased by one-third--from 114 to 76 deaths per 1,000 births--and that among children younger than five decreased by nearly...

Women's networks and the social world of fertility behavior. (Articles).
June 1, 2003... CONTEXT: Demographic phenomena occur within social contexts and, therefore, should be studied as social processes. However, how to conceptualize and measure the social worlds that individuals inhabit has been the subject of debate. ...

Impact and determinants of sex preference in Nepal.
June 1, 2003... CONTEXT: Gender discrimination and son preference are key demographic features of South Asia and are well documented for India. However, gender bias and sex preference in Nepal have received little attention. METHODS: 1996 Nepal...

The link between quality of care and contraceptive use.
June 1, 2003... CONTEXT: Little empirical evidence shows whether quality of family planning care influences continued use of contraception, and if so, to what extent. METHODS: Interviews were conducted in 1997-1998 with 1,728 new family planning users who...

Knowledge and perception of emergency contraception among female Nigerian undergraduates.
June 1, 2003... CONTEXT: The reproductive health hazards of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions are well documented. The potential of emergency contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancy in developed countries has been described, but in Nigeria, the...

From home to clinic and from family planning to family health: client and community responses to health sector reforms in Bangladesh. (Comment).
June 1, 2003... Bangladesh is one of many countries struggling to implement the expanded approach to family planning agreed to at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) (1) in the context of broader health sector reforms. (2) The...

Substantial proportions of contraceptive clinic clients would try methods that can cause amenorrhea. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Women's attitudes toward menstruation and toward contraceptives that can cause amenorrhea differ significantly across settings and ethnic groups. (1) According to a survey of a thousand female family planning clinic clients, more than half of...

Intervention in rural Uganda is effective against some sexually transmitted infections, but not against HIV. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Neither a behavioral intervention alone nor the same intervention coupled with syndromic management of sexually transmitted infection (STI) was effective in lowering the incidence of HIV in a rural area of Uganda between 1994 and 2000. (1) The...

Cervical cancer risk rises if women with HPV also have herpes infection. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Women who have human papillomavirus (HPV) infection of the cervix have a greater risk of invasive cervical cancer if they also have genital herpes, according to a pooled analysis of case-control studies. (1) Women with invasive cervical cancer...

For Cameroonian youth, perceived risk and parental support boost condom use. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Single young men and women in urban Cameroon are more likely to have ever used a condom if they perceive that they are personally at risk of HIV infection or that their parents support condom use. Of approximately 1,300 sexually experienced...

Three differing emergency contraceptive regimens are equally effective. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Three regimens of emergency contraception--a single 10 mg dose of mifepristone, a single 1.5 mg dose of levonorgestrel and two 0.75 mg doses of levonorgestrel taken 12 hours apart--appear to be equally effective. According to results of a...

Nairobi's poorest women have highest level of risky sexual behavior, least knowledge of HIV prevention. (Digests).
June 1, 2003... Women living in the slums of Nairobi engage in riskier sexual behavior than women living in less-deprived areas of the city. (1) They began having intercourse at a younger age and are more likely to have had multiple partners in the recent...

Correction.(Offering a Woman Sterilization During an Emergency Cesarean Section May Sometimes Be Appropriate)(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2003... In the digest "Offering a Woman Sterilization During an Emergency Cesarean Section May Sometimes Be Appropriate" [2003, 29(1):52], the first full sentence in the third column of page 52 is incorrect. It should read: "(All sterilized women who...