International Family Planning Perspectives articles from June 2004

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from June 2004

In this issue.
June 1, 2004... Do specific interventions affect reproductive behavior? If they do have an impact, is it the one intended? Program planners and administrators, policymakers and researchers struggle constantly with these questions. Attempts to assess impact may...

Contraceptive use around the globe.(Update)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2004... Worldwide, 61% of married women of childbearing age are practicing contraception--69% in developed countries and 59% in developing ones. (1) According to a wall chart produced by the United Nations Population Division, the level of...

Child sex ratios continue to decline in India.(Update)
June 1, 2004... Between 1991 and 2001, the number of girls per 1,000 boys aged six or younger in India decreased, from 945 to 927, according to a report by the Indian government and the United Nations Population Fund. (1) The decline in child sex ratios was...

Circumcision lowers risk of HIV, not other STIs.(Update)
June 1, 2004... Circumcised men have a lower risk of HIV infection than do uncircumcised men; however, the two groups have a similar risk of contracting certain other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), according to a study conducted among 2,298...

Herpes risk factors in rural Costa Rica.(Update)
June 1, 2004... The prevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection among women in rural Costa Rica is high, even among those who report being monogamous. (1) Using antibody test results from an age-stratified sub-sample of women, researchers...

Fathers make a difference.(Update)
June 1, 2004... Teenage females living in slums in Nairobi, Kenya, have reduced odds of having poor adverse reproductive health outcomes if they live with their father, according to an analysis of data from 788 never-married women aged 12-19 who participated...

Infant mortality in China rises with parity.(Update)
June 1, 2004... In rural China, perinatal mortality is high--69 of every 1,000 infants delivered are stillborn or die within one week--and the risk of death increases with birth order. (1) Of the 3,697 pregnancies registered by the civil family planning system...

Reproductive health among Caribbean youth.(Update)
June 1, 2004... More than one-third of Caribbean students participating in a multinational health survey reported ever having had sex. (1) Among the respondents--15,695 students aged 10-18 in nine countries--34% were sexually experienced (52% of males and 22%...

The government of China plans to provide free HIV tests nationwide and to pay for treatment for patients who cannot afford it.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... * The government of China plans to provide free HIV tests nationwide and to pay for treatment for patients who cannot afford it. According to the health ministry, about 840,000 people were HIV-positive in 2003, some 80,000 of whom had...

The United Nations Agency for International Development describes programs that could cut child death rates in Iraq by half within 12-18 months.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... * In its Review of Potential Interventions to Reduce Child Mortality in Iraq, the United Nations Agency for International Development describes programs--such as promotion of breast-feeding and improvement of care of newborns--that could cut...

A CD-ROM from the United Nations Population Fund offers lessons learned from reproductive health projects targeting men in the armed forces in nine countries.(In Brief)
June 1, 2004... * A CD-ROM from the United Nations Population Fund offers lessons learned from reproductive health projects targeting men in the armed forces in nine countries (Benin, Botswana, Ecuador, Madagascar, Mongolia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Paraguay and...

Behavior change evaluation of a culturally consistent reproductive health program for young Kenyans.(Articles)
June 1, 2004... CONTEXT: Few rigorous evaluations have been conducted of locally designed, culturally consistent adolescent reproductive health programs. METHODS: A quasi-experimental research design was used to measure behavioral changes associated with a...

Family planning and women's lives in rural China.
June 1, 2004... CONTEXT: By 1979, China had begun implementing the so-called one-child policy, which severely restricts couples' childbearing. It is important to understand Chinese women's perceptions of how their lives have been affected by this policy and by...

Provision of family planning services in Lesotho.
June 1, 2004... CONTEXT: One of Lesotho's population goals is to achieve replacement-level fertility by 2011, but the contraceptive prevalence rate of 41% is considerably below the target of 70-75%. METHODS: A situation analysis framework was used to...

Does discussion of family planning improve knowledge of partner's attitude toward contraceptives?
June 1, 2004... CONTEXT: Results from an analysis of 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Kenya, where the approval rate of family planning is 90%, have cast doubt on the assumption that spousal discussion improves knowledge of partner's attitude...

Covert use of topical microbicides: implications for acceptability and use.(Viewpoint)
June 1, 2004... Pervasive and persistent power inequities in sexual relationships lead many women in the world to develop strategies to protect their reproductive health and hide these strategies from their male partners. The prevention of unwanted pregnancy...

Increase in sexual activity among young Colombian and Peruvian women exceeds rise in contraceptive use.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... The proportion of time in which young never-married Colombian and Peruvian women are sexually experienced increased between 1985 and 1999, according to an analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. (1) Women's use of...

Improving maternal health care could reduce early infant mortality in Nepal.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... In rural Nepal, factors affecting the risk of death in early infancy vary with an infant's age, according to a study conducted among women and their infants in one district. (1) For infants in the first week of life, those whose mothers had had...

In India, son preference declines with ideal family size, but remains strong.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... In northern India, women's desired fertility is positively associated with their level of son preference, according to analyses based on data from two successive rounds of a nationally representative survey. (1) The smaller the reported ideal...

Low birth weight is linked to timing of prenatal care and other maternal factors.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... Certain maternal behavioral factors--including receiving prenatal care, low pregnancy-related weight gain and smoking during pregnancy--are significantly associated with low birth weight, according to a 2001 survey of women who gave birth in...

In Brazil, women who lack knowledge about fertility control are those most likely to become sterilized.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... Brazilian women who have had three or more live births are significantly more likely than those of lower parity to be sterilized and are significantly less likely to know of four or more contraceptive methods, according to a cross-sectional...

Stigma against people infected with HIV poses a major barrier to testing.(Digests)
June 1, 2004... Stigmatizing attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS may play an important role in determining whether South African women and men get tested for HIV. According to data from 469 participants in a study on HIV testing behaviors, (1) attitudes...