International Family Planning Perspectives articles from September 2005

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from September 2005

In this issue.
September 1, 2005... Social science research often seems to raise at least as many questions as it answers, perhaps because so many types of factors--many of them unmeasurable--can affect human behavior. The challenge for the investigators, then, is to figure out...

The newly infected are most likely to transmit HIV.(UPDATE)
September 1, 2005... The risk of heterosexual HIV transmission per coital act is highest for people who have a newly acquired infection, according to a study conducted among 235 monogamous, HIV-discordant couples in Rakai, Uganda. (1) By analyzing data collected...

Contraceptive knowledge may not lead to use.(UPDATE)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... Among postpartum adolescents in El Salvador, education and literacy predict contraceptive knowledge, but neither literacy nor contraceptive knowledge predicts contraceptive use, according to a study conducted in October 2002 in an urban public...

HIV risk elevated among bar patrons in Zimbabwe.(UPDATE)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The risk of HIV infection is greater among men and women who visit beer halls than among those who do not, according to a study conducted in the Manicaland province of Zimbabwe between July 1998 and January 2000. (1) The study used data from a...

The cost of saving children's lives.(child death prevention)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The universal provision of 23 basic health interventions--such as measles vaccination and vitamin A supplementation--that could save the lives of millions of children each year is both feasible and affordable. (1) According to a cost-estimate...

Over-the-counter EC finds little favor in Hong Kong.(UPDATE)
September 1, 2005... Chinese women have poor knowledge about and conservative attitudes toward emergency contraception, suggesting that efforts to make the method available over the counter may be premature. (1) According to survey data collected from 1,405 female...

Gestational length and maternal weight.(UPDATE)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The gestational age of a newborn may be associated with the mother's prepregnancy weight, according to a study using weight data and birth records from three Gambian villages. (1) The region in which these rural farming villages are located...

Pregnancy becomes less risky for Egyptian women.(UPDATE)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... In Egypt, the maternal mortality ratio decreased by 52% from the early 1990s to the end of the decade, in part due to improvements in care by health providers and to reduced delays in recognizing problems and seeking medical care. (1) Between...

Population Reference Bureau.(IN BRIEF)(2005 World Population Data Sheet)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2005... The Population Reference Bureau has released its 2005 World Population Data Sheet, which shows that more than half of the world's people live below the internationally defined poverty line of less than $2 a day and that 99% of the world's...

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.(IN BRIEF)
September 1, 2005... The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency--sponsored training program in sexual and reproductive health is now open to obstetricians, midwives and policymakers from 23 Sub-Saharan African countries. More information about the...

Contraceptive use among the poor in Indonesia.(ARTICLES)
September 1, 2005... CONTEXT: Indonesia has experienced a dramatic increase in contraceptive use and an equally dramatic fertility decline over the last 30 years. Yet recent reductions in family planning funding, program decentralization and the diminishing role of...

Use of family planning services in the transition to a static clinic system in Bangladesh: 1998-2002.
September 1, 2005... CONTEXT: In rural Bangladesh, family planning services--previously provided through household visits and satellite clinics--were transferred to static community clinics under the government's sectoral program for 1998-2003, but the next...

Gender inequality and intimate partner violence among women in Moshi, Tanzania.
September 1, 2005... CONTEXT: In Sub-Saharan Africa, where rates of intimate partner violence are high, knowing the prevalence of abuse and associated patterns of risk is crucial to ensuring women's health and development. Intimate partner violence in Tanzania has...

Gender relations and reproductive decision making in Honduras.
September 1, 2005... CONTEXT: Gender differences influence decision making about reproductive health. Most information on reproductive health decision making in Latin America has come from women's reports of men's involvement. METHODS: Data were collected in...

The incidence of induced abortion in the Philippines: current level and recent trends.
September 1, 2005... CONTEXT: In the Philippines, abortion is legally restricted. Nevertheless, many women obtain abortions--often in unsafe conditions--to avoid unplanned births. In 1994, the estimated abortion rate was 25 per 1,000 women per year; no further...

Nutritional counseling of mothers at health facilities reduces childhood stunting in Peruvian shantytowns.(DIGESTS)
September 1, 2005... In Peruvian shantytowns, an intervention delivered through health facilities to educate mothers on how to improve nutrition in their young children was associated with better dietary intake and a reduced likelihood of stunted growth early in...

In Kenya, community traits affect women's decisions on daughters' circumcision.(DIGESTS)
September 1, 2005... In Kenya, women's decisions to have their daughters circumcised are associated with various individual and community-level characteristics, such as education, media exposure and ethnicity, according to an analysis of data from a national...

Safe-delivery intervention in rural Pakistan reduces the risk of perinatal death.(DIGESTS)
September 1, 2005... In rural Pakistan, an intervention in which traditional birth attendants were trained in basic delivery care and were issued safe-delivery kits was associated with a 30% reduction in the odds of perinatal death when compared with usual...

Skills-based approaches affect STI risk behavior more than information.(sexually transmitted infection prevention)
September 1, 2005... Interventions that emphasize STI risk reduction skills may be more effective at lowering the prevalence of risky behaviors and preventing infection among teenage women than programs that simply provide information about how to reduce risk. (1)...

Women in some Sub-Saharan African countries are more likely than men to justify wife beating.(DIGESTS)
September 1, 2005... In some Sub-Saharan African countries where wife beating is widely accepted as a response to women's transgressing gender norms, men find less justification for the practice than do women. (1) An analysis of Demographic and Health Survey data...

Study design may cause underestimate of condom efficacy against STIs.(sexually transmitted infection)
September 1, 2005... Studies that measure the role of male condoms in preventing STI transmission by comparing users with nonusers may underestimate the method's effectiveness because of differences between users and nonusers that are difficult to measure. (1) In a...

Extensive genital cutting elevates risk of infertility among Sudanese women.(DIGESTS)
September 1, 2005... Infertile women in Khartoum, Sudan, are significantly more likely than fertile women to have undergone the most extensive form of genital cutting. (1) According to a clinical case-control study conducted in 2003-2004, the odds of primary...