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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop, Carey Meyers Jan 2000

Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop, Carey Meyers

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report, co-published by the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women, describes a workshop convened in Cairo in 1999 to learn more about the nature of both younger and older adolescents' work experience, differentiate the particular needs and potentials of adolescent girls, and identify programs and policies that might have promise for supporting them.


Socialization To Gender Roles And Marriage Among Egyptian Adolescents, Barbara Mensch, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Susan M. Lee, Omaima El-Gibaly Jan 2000

Socialization To Gender Roles And Marriage Among Egyptian Adolescents, Barbara Mensch, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Susan M. Lee, Omaima El-Gibaly

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Using nationally representative survey data, this paper explores gender role socialization and attitudes toward marriage among unmarried Egyptian adolescents aged 16-19 years. We examine the daily activities of adolescent boys and girls, views about age at marriage and desirable qualities in a spouse, and various indicators of gender role attitudes including opinions about whether wives should defer to husbands, about sharing household decisionmaking, and about responsibility for domestic tasks. Our findings reflect strong gender differentiation: girls have much less free time than boys, are much less mobile, are much less likely to participate in paid work, and have heavier domestic …


Egypt: Expand Access To Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Egypt: Expand Access To Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

The Population Council has supported a series of studies to improve the quality of postabortion care (PAC) in Egypt. A 1994 pilot study in two Egyptian hospitals showed that upgrading PAC and training physicians in manual vacuum aspiration (MVA), infection control, and counseling led to significant improvements in the care of postabortion patients. The 1997 study, conducted by the Egyptian Fertility Care Society with support from the Population Council, sought to institutionalize improved postabortion medical care and counseling procedures in ten hospitals. Five senior physicians from each hospital attended a five-day training course in MVA, infection control, and family planning …


Sexual And Reproductive Health And Health Sector Reform In Latin America And The Caribbean: Challenges And Opportunities, Ana Langer, Gustavo Nigenda, Sandra G. Garcia, Rosario Valdez, Emanuel Orozco, Jennifer Catino Jan 2000

Sexual And Reproductive Health And Health Sector Reform In Latin America And The Caribbean: Challenges And Opportunities, Ana Langer, Gustavo Nigenda, Sandra G. Garcia, Rosario Valdez, Emanuel Orozco, Jennifer Catino

Reproductive Health

Most countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are at varying stages of a reform process to improve the response capacity of health systems by upgrading the effectiveness and sustainability of programs and services. Changes promoted by the reform focus on priority health needs and underprivileged society groups. Some problems, such as sexual and reproductive health (SRH), can be tackled with cost-effective technologies. Reform projects offer a unique opportunity to reconsider policies, programs, and services aimed at facing the issues encompassed in the term SRH. Nonetheless, the formulation of a strategy and the identification of concrete measures represent a …


Senegal: Train More Providers In Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Senegal: Train More Providers In Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Recognizing unsafe abortion as a serious health problem, the government of Senegal adopted a national health strategy in 1997 that aims to halve the number of unsafe abortions by 2001. In 1997, the Center for Training and Research in Reproductive Health (CEFOREP) and the Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic (CGO) at Le Dantec University Teaching Hospital in Dakar introduced new clinical techniques to improve emergency treatment for women with complications from miscarriage or abortion. CGO and two other teaching hospitals served as pilot sites. Physicians, nurses, and midwives at the three sites received training in manual vacuum aspiration, family planning, and …


Kenya: Identifying Rtis Remain Problematic: Prevention Is Essential, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Kenya: Identifying Rtis Remain Problematic: Prevention Is Essential, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Since 1990, the Nakuru Municipal Council (Kenya) has implemented a multifaceted program to reduce the incidence of reproductive tract infections (RTIs), especially those that are sexually transmitted, including HIV/AIDS. Staff in the Council’s five health clinics use syndromic management guidelines, based on clients’ reported symptoms and clinical signs, to identify clients with RTIs. In 1998, the Population Council conducted a study to assess the accuracy of syndromic management and determine the best ways to integrate RTI management into existing antenatal (ANC) and family planning (FP) services. After an assessment of existing RTI services, 18 nurses from the five municipal clinics …


Egypt: Ngos Need To Join Forces To End Fgc, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Egypt: Ngos Need To Join Forces To End Fgc, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Until recently, the practice of female genital cutting (FGC) has been nearly universal in Egypt. However, a 1998 national survey found the first signs of a decline in the practice among adolescents since 1994. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in community development, health, and women’s rights have played a leading role in advocating eradication of FGC in Egypt. To document and assess the impact of anti-FGC programs, the Population Council conducted an assessment from August 1999 to February 2000. Researchers telephoned numerous Egyptian NGOs to identify those most actively involved in anti-FGC programs. Then they conducted in-depth interviews with officials of …


Mali: Fgc Excisors Persist Despite Entreaties, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Mali: Fgc Excisors Persist Despite Entreaties, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

About 94 percent of Malian women aged 15–49 have experienced female genital cutting (FGC). In Mali, FGC is associated with serious gynecological and obstetric complications. In 1998, the National Center of Scientific and Technological Research of the Mali Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education and Scientific Research conducted an evaluation of programs to eradicate FGC. The study assessed the work of three national nongovernmental organizations working in Bamako and five regions of Mali. These NGOs had attempted to persuade traditional practitioners of FGC (“excisors”) to abandon the practice. All three NGOs employed outreach workers to educate excisors and community members …


Indonesia: Coordinated Studies Are Needed To Access Trends, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Indonesia: Coordinated Studies Are Needed To Access Trends, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

In 1999, the Population Council/Indonesia conducted a critical review of 11 Indonesian surveys and studies that measured various indicators of maternal and child health (MCH) between 1996 and 1999. Many of these studies tried to link these indicators with the nation’s economic crisis that began in July 1997, however attributing changes in MCH indicators to the economic crisis may be misleading. Population Council staff sought to explain how these studies came up with divergent findings. As noted in this brief, longitudinal studies with consistent indicators and representative study populations are needed to identify changes in MCH indicators.


Meet Women's Health Needs With Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health Jan 2000

Meet Women's Health Needs With Postabortion Care, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

Worldwide, one in eight pregnancy-related deaths result from complications of unsafe abortion such as bleeding, infection, or internal injuries. Many of these deaths could be prevented if women had the means to avoid unplanned pregnancy. At the 1994 United Nations International Conference on Population and Development, 180 governments identified postabortion care (PAC) as a high-priority public health issue. As part of the resulting global PAC initiative, the Population Council and other international organizations collaborated with governments and nongovernmental organizations in a worldwide program of operations research on interventions to improve postabortion care. This brief highlights the major findings of this …


Meeting Women's Health Care Needs After Abortion, Dale Huntington Jan 2000

Meeting Women's Health Care Needs After Abortion, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

Women who seek emergency treatment for abortion complications—bleeding, infection, and injuries to the reproductive tract system—should be a priority group for reproductive health care programs. These women often receive poor-quality services that do not address their multiple health needs. They may be discharged without counseling on postoperative recuperation, family planning (FP), or other reproductive health (RH) issues. Women who have had an induced abortion due to an unwanted pregnancy are likely to have a repeat abortion unless they receive appropriate FP counseling and services. Preventing repeat unsafe abortions is important for RH programs because it saves women's lives, protects women’s …


Men As Supportive Partners In Reproductive Health: Moving From Rhetoric To Reality, Saraswati Raju, Ann Leonard Jan 2000

Men As Supportive Partners In Reproductive Health: Moving From Rhetoric To Reality, Saraswati Raju, Ann Leonard

Reproductive Health

This book builds on presentations of the Workshop on Men as Supportive Partners in Reproductive and Sexual Health held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 1998. By analyzing the experiences of nongovernmental organizations across India, this publication reviews important concerns that should inform the discourse on male partnership. The previous views of reaching men as contraceptive users and removing them as impediments to women’s efforts to control fertility are too limited. The argument is not whether men and women should use family planning, but rather the extent to which men can become supportive of women’s reproductive and sexual rights and actively take …


Women Street Vendors: The Road To Recognition, Monique Cohen Jan 2000

Women Street Vendors: The Road To Recognition, Monique Cohen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDS explores the experience of women working and organizing as urban street vendors at a time when both the volume of demand and the number of vendors are expected to grow. As municipalities seek to change laws that affect how street vendors ply their trade, it is clear that vendors must have a seat at the table. Local-level organizational efforts need to be consolidated at the national level to cement vendors’ hard-earned gains as rights in national laws and policy. A 1995 meeting in Bellagio conceived an international alliance of street vendors—StreetNet—which aims to promote the exchange …


The Potential Role Of Contraception In Reducing Abortion, John Bongaarts, Charles F. Westoff Jan 2000

The Potential Role Of Contraception In Reducing Abortion, John Bongaarts, Charles F. Westoff

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Since the 1960s the proportion of couples practicing contraception has risen rapidly, particularly in the developing world, and the mix of methods is now dominated by modern methods. Despite these trends, the incidence of unintended pregnancy remains high mainly because the number of children desired has declined. Worldwide there are almost as many unintended as intended pregnancies each year (not counting miscarriages, which are excluded in this analysis) and more than half of these unintended pregnancies end in abortion. This study examines the potential role of further increases in contraceptive prevalence and effectiveness in reducing abortion rates. The model used …


Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar Jan 2000

Greater Investments In Children Through Women's Empowerment: A Key To Demographic Change In Pakistan?, Valerie L. Durrant, Zeba Sathar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Women’s status has received considerable attention as a significant factor in demographic behavior and outcomes in South Asia however, little research has addressed the links between women’s status and their investments in children. In this paper, we empirically investigate how women’s status on multiple levels is associated with demographic outcomes. Using data from the Pakistan Status of Women and Fertility Survey in rural Punjab, we confirm that empowered women, or those with higher status, are better able to make positive investments in their children, thus increasing their children’s chances of survival during infancy and increasing their likelihood of ever attending …


Spatial Variation In Contraceptive Use In Bangladesh: Looking Beyond The Borders, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu, Rob Stephenson Jan 2000

Spatial Variation In Contraceptive Use In Bangladesh: Looking Beyond The Borders, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu, Rob Stephenson

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper tries to promote a more complete understanding of social change by analyzing spatial patterns of contraceptive use in Bangladesh and the contiguous state of West Bengal in India. The paper takes it’s cue from earlier analysis which found strong evidence of higher contraceptive prevalence in districts of Bangladesh that border Bengali speaking districts on India, as well as from analysis of fertility decline in historical Europe where language played a critical role. Using multilevel analysis to control for variations in individual and household level correlates, mapping districts that deviate considerably from their regional averages, the analysis highlights an …


From The Home To The Clinic: The Next Chapter In Bangladesh's Family Planning Success Story Rural Sites, Linda Bates, Md. Khairul Islam, Sidney Ruth Schuler, Md. Alauddinn Jan 2000

From The Home To The Clinic: The Next Chapter In Bangladesh's Family Planning Success Story Rural Sites, Linda Bates, Md. Khairul Islam, Sidney Ruth Schuler, Md. Alauddinn

Reproductive Health

This study reports on Bangladesh’s new program model for reproductive health service delivery and people's reactions to it. NGOs in Bangladesh have discontinued door-to-door contraceptive distribution in response to the government’s integrated, clinic-focused approach. The findings from this study strongly support these policy changes: clients and communities are responding favorably to many aspects of the new model, and there do not seem to be intractable social barriers to service utilization. As the NGOs and the Bangladesh government proceed with implementation of the integrated, essential health services model, additional strategies will be needed to erode the paternalistic service delivery culture that …


Integrating Men Into The Reproductive Health Equation: Acceptability And Feasibility In Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Violet Kimani, Ann Leonard Jan 2000

Integrating Men Into The Reproductive Health Equation: Acceptability And Feasibility In Kenya, Esther G. Muia, Violet Kimani, Ann Leonard

Reproductive Health

This study’s objective was to improve understanding of Kenyan men’s actual and potential roles as supportive partners in various phases of reproductive health (RH), to help in the design of strategies to encourage men’s greater participation in a variety of RH initiatives in Kenya. The results of the study clearly show that, to a larger extent than anticipated, men in Kenya already participate in women-centered RH services. Overall the institutional barriers seemed to be more overwhelming than the cultural barriers, given that one of the reasons frequently given for nonparticipation was fear of non-acceptance by the health providers. Based on …


Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory Jan 2000

Rights, Technology, And Services In Reproductive Health: A Report From A Meeting, Marion Carter, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory

Reproductive Health

The Population Council’s Robert H. Ebert Program on Critical Issues in Reproductive Health convened a two-day meeting to explore some of the compelling issues at the intersection of technology, services, and rights. Nearly 70 professionals from the research, policy, service delivery, human rights, and advocacy fields came together to grapple with some of the political aspects of reproductive technologies. Participants also discussed how these technologies can facilitate or constrain rights, depending on the interests involved and the particular social, political, and economic contexts in which they are used. This report on the meeting concludes that in order for program managers …