International Family Planning Perspectives articles from September 2004

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from September 2004

In this issue.
September 1, 2004... Women's reproductive health remains precarious in many developing countries. Although young women today are marrying later than their mothers did, many still marry and begin childbearing during adolescence. Half of all new HIV infections occur...

Maternal mortality among teenagers.(Update)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Worldwide, 70,000 women aged 15-19 die each year of pregnancy-and childbirth-related causes, according to a report published by the international charity Save the Children. (1) In all, more than 13 million adolescent females give birth each...

Half of new HIV infections are among youth.(Update)
September 1, 2004... In 2003, roughly five million people became infected with HIV, about half of whom were aged 15-24. (1) According to the latest estimates from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, 2003 saw the largest number of new infections in any...

Pregnancy outcomes after oral tobacco use.(Update)
September 1, 2004... Women who use smokeless tobacco products during pregnancy have an increased likelihood of having a low-birth-weight, preterm baby, according to a population-based study conducted in Mumbai, India, between June and November 2002. (1) Of 1,217...

Mexican aid program benefits children.(Update)(Progresa)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Low-income, rural children who participated in Progresa-a large-scale Mexican welfare program that included a nutritional component-experienced increased growth and a decreased rate of anemia by the end of a trial assessing the nutritional...

Antibiotic use protects against STIs but not HIV.(Update)(sexually transmitted infections)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Prophylactic antibiotic use helps prevent some sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but not HIV-1 transmission, according to a randomized controlled trial conducted in an urban slum area of Nairobi, Kenya, between 1998 and 2002. (1) Prompted...

Unintended pregnancy common in Iran.(Update)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... Unintended pregnancy among married women is high in Iran, despite the widespread use of contraceptives. (1) In an analysis of data from the 2000 Iran Demographic and Health Survey, 35% of 5,427 currently married women who were pregnant...

Tanzanian students need better sex education.(Update)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... In rural Tanzania, substantial proportions of youth-more than one-half of males and one-fifth of females-attending primary school report having had sex. (1) The students--5,134 males aged 14-16 and 4,149 females aged 13-15 from 121 primary...

United Nations.(In Brief)(Women, HIV and Human Rights in the Asia-Pacific Region)
September 1, 2004... * HIV-positive women in the Asia-Pacific region face much greater HIV-related discrimination than infected men, according to a report commissioned by the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The report describes...

World Population Policies 2003.(In Brief)(UN Population Division report)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... * In World Population Policies 2003, the UN Population Division has updated information on national population policies in all 194 member and nonmember UN states. To obtain the report, which includes information on population growth, population...

Women of the World.(In Brief)(Center for Reproductive Rights report )(Brief Article)
September 1, 2004... * In its report Women of the World: Laws and Policies Affecting Their Reproductive Lives-South Asia, the Center for Reproductive Rights examines laws and policies affecting women's reproductive health in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and...

Exploring the socioeconomic dimension of adolescent reproductive health: a multicountry analysis.(Articles)
September 1, 2004... CONTEXT: The design and evaluation of adolescent health programs rarely account for socioeconomic differences in reproductive health needs and service utilization among young women in developing countries. METHODS: Nationally representative...

Are partner and relationship characteristics associated with condom use in Zambian nonmarital relationships?
September 1, 2004... CONTEXT: In Zambia, as in many other Sub-Saharan African countries, condom use is far below the level needed to alleviate serious threats to sexual and reproductive health. It is important to understand if and how partner and relationship...

Needs and preferences regarding sex education among Chinese college students: a preliminary study.
September 1, 2004... CONTEXT: College students are more likely than other student populations to be sexually active. To improve sex education in China among this group, educators must know college students' needs and their preferences for receiving information on...

Family planning programs: getting the most for the money.(Viewpoints)
September 1, 2004... At a time when funding for family planning programs is shrinking, it is important for donors to know how to get the most change in contraceptive prevalence per dollar spent. By some estimates, roughly half of family planning program funds, net...

The future of the female condom.
September 1, 2004... More than 10 years have elapsed since the female condom became widely available, and it remains the only female-initiated means of preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. The female condom was...

In West Africa, vaginal discharge is not usually caused by gonorrheal or chlamydial infection.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... In West Africa, women with vaginal discharge who are not sex workers and do not have abdominal pain are unlikely to have a cervical gonorrheal or chlamydial infection. (1) According to an analysis of data from more than 700 women in five...

Progression of HIV disease in pregnant women slowed by daily multivitamin use.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... Pregnant women infected with HIV have a roughly one-third lower risk of developing AIDS or dying from AIDS-related causes if they take a daily multivitamin containing vitamin B complex, vitamin C and vitamin E, according to a randomized,...

Heavy use of tobacco and caffeine are among factors that may reduce a woman's chance of conceiving.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... For couples trying to conceive, certain negative lifestyle factors are associated with an increased time to pregnancy and an elevated risk of not conceiving in the first year. (1) In an observational study of pregnant women and their partners,...

Partner violence elevates the risk of HIV infection for South African women.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... Fifty-five percent of women who participated in a study on gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS in Soweto, South Africa, (1) reported that they had experienced physical or sexual abuse by a male partner. Those who had experienced both types of...

Consistent use is crucial to efficacy of condoms in prevention of STIs.(Digests)(sexually transmitted infection)
September 1, 2004... Comparing the sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence rates of condom users and nonusers may not be as relevant as comparing those of consistent and inconsistent users, according to a U.S. study of STI clinic visits. (1) Fifty-four...

Hospitals with second opinion policy perform fewer cesarean sections.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... In Latin America, where the overall rate of cesarean section is among the highest in the world, cesarean rates at 17 hospitals that mandated a second opinion for nonemergency procedures decreased by 7% in relation to those at comparison...

In South Africa, wives' HIV prevention beliefs affect condom use with spouse.(Digests)
September 1, 2004... In the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, the proportions of married people who always or sometimes use condoms are relatively small, according to an analysis of data from a household survey conducted between August 1999 and January 2000....