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Inopal Ii Final Report, Population Council

Reproductive Health

The goal of the Population Council's “Investigación Operacional en Planificación Familiar y Atención Materno-Infantil para América Latina y el Caribe” (INOPAL) program was to conduct operations research and provide technical assistance to improve the coverage, quality, and sustainability of family planning (FP) services in Latin America and the Caribbean. INOPAL II was the successor to INOPAL I (1984–1989). Like its predecessor, INOPAL II was supported by a contract from the USAID Office of Population, when it was replaced by a new USAID-funded project, INOPAL III. INOPAL II objectives included: expanding access to FP services, improving the operations of programs by …

Male Involvement In Family Planning: A Challenge For The National Programme Workshop, National Institute Of Population Research And Training, Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (Gtz), Population Council, Avsc International

Reproductive Health

The Bangladesh family planning (FP) program has achieved success in reducing fertility during the past decades, but male involvement is lagging behind. A two-day seminar on "Male Involvement in Family Planning: A Challenge for the National Programme" was held in Dhaka June 25–26, 1996. The objectives were to review research findings on methods currently used, determine male involvement policy and strategy, and formulate an action plan including IEC, counseling, and programmatic interventions. Speakers emphasized the need for more male involvement in FP and the prevailing misconceptions about male contraception that should be addressed with IEC programs. Participants felt that to …

Women's Experiences Of Unwanted Pregnancy And Induced Abortion In Nigeria, Friday E. Okonofua, Clifford Odimegwu, Bisi Aina, Patrick H. Daru, Agnes Johnson

Reproductive Health

A population-based study was conducted to determine the prevalence and pattern of abortion use among women in two communities of Nigeria. The results show a high frequency of reports of unwanted pregnancy and induced abortion among the women. Furthermore they suggest that detailed information can be obtained on abortion in areas with restrictive laws if a sensitive approach to interviewing is adopted. The results presented in this report have implications as the Nigerian government begins designing a set of realistic policies and programs to address the high rate of morbidity and mortality associated with induced abortion in that country. The …

What's Sex Got To Do With It? Challenges For Incorporating Sexuality Into Family Planning Programs, Kirsten Moore, Judith F. Helzner

Reproductive Health

In February 1996, IPPF/WHR and the Population Council’s Ebert Program on Critical Issues in Reproductive Health jointly hosted a meeting on the challenge of incorporating sexuality into family planning. This report was compiled after organizers concluded that the ideas and strategies presented during the meeting merited wider recognition and debate within the family planning field. The meeting examined five myths that have prevented family planning and reproductive health services from dealing directly with issues of sexuality and gender. The report draws principally on the discussions from the meeting as well as on the perspectives of the organizers. The authors hope …

Issues In Essential Obstetric Care, Diana Measham, Virginia Kallianes

Reproductive Health

This report summarizes the proceedings of a meeting on essential obstetric care (EOC) convened by the Population Council on behalf of the Inter-Agency Group for Safe Motherhood (IAG). This technical meeting was held to clarify the definition of EOC, bridge the gap between research and program planning, and stimulate field-level activity. The president of the Population Council closed and summarized the meeting by noting that the IAG is making progress, but that work remains to be done. Progress will begin to occur more rapidly when we are able to prove that lives have been saved and to state definitively that …

Addressing Women's Reproductive Health Needs: Priorities For The Family Welfare Programme, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy

Reproductive Health

India's national family welfare program has two objectives—to address the needs of families, notably women and children, and to reduce population growth rates. In reality, the program has been disproportionately focused on achieving demographic targets by increasing contraceptive prevalence. In this process, women's needs have been overlooked, in terms of poor reproductive health (RH). There is a need to reorient program priorities to focus more holistically on RH needs and on woman-based services that respond to health needs in ways sensitive to the sociocultural constraints women and adolescent girls face in acquiring services and expressing health needs. This report presents …

El Coletivo: Un Colectivo Feminista De Salud Y Sexualidad Femenina En Brasil, Margarita Diaz, Debbie Rogow, Jose Barzelatto

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Este ejemplar de Quality/Calidad/Qualité narra la historia de un grupo de mujeres brasileñas que se formó en 1981 con el convencimiento compartido—no tan extendido entonces como ahora—de que los enfoques convencionales sobre la salud de la mujer y los servicios de planificación familiar estaban dominados por una perspectiva médica incapaz de dar cuenta de la relación entre sexualidad y anticoncepción, y que además restaba poder de las usuarias. Fundaron el Coletivo, que maneja una clínica, un instituto de capacitación, y un programa de educación pública que ha “dado voz” a miles de mujeres, ha proporcionado un liderazgo al gobierno brasileño …

Supporting Women Farmers In The Green Zones Of Mozambique, Ruth Ansah Ayisi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Women throughout much of the developing world are farmers, not only producing the food crops needed to feed their families, but seeking to generate the cash income necessary to gain access to education, health care, and a better way of life. However, in many countries—particularly in sub-Saharan Africa—women farmers must deal not only with the inherent difficulties of gender inequities, poverty, and the vagaries of nature, but with the consequences of war and civil strife as well. This issue of SEEDS reports on a case study of the efforts underway to help women farmers survive and prosper in the Green …

Families In Focus: New Perspectives On Mothers, Fathers, And Children, Judith Bruce, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Ann Leonard, Patrice L. Engle, Niev Duffy

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Despite the rhetoric of recent years lamenting the loss of the "traditional family," families have never fit nicely into any single model. "Family" may refer to people linked by marriage or kinship or to people claiming descent from common ancestors. People may form and extend families by adopting or fostering children, defining nonrelatives as family, or establishing consensual partnerships. Families are as adaptable as they are diverse, reconfiguring themselves over their life cycles and evolving to accommodate the myriad pressures of the external world. This book focuses on families with dependent children specifically—on the roles of mothers, fathers, and children, …

Doing More With Less: The Marie Stopes Clinics In Sierra Leone, Nahid Toubia, Grace Ebun Delano

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité reports on the Marie Stopes Sierra Leone (MSSL) organization which pursues its goals with compassion and ambition, despite seemingly insurmountable economic hardships. MSSL has established a service model that many programs in richer countries should try to imitate. Several particularly important lessons emerged, including: creative, skillful management, well-organized and flexible financial administration, and human motivation and perseverance can enable an organization to overcome financial difficulties; family planning is an integral part of people's reproductive and general health concerns and can dovetail with concern for development in useful and practical ways; men appreciate being involved in the …

The Coletivo: A Feminist Sexuality And Health Collective In Brazil, Margarita Diaz, Debbie Rogow, Jose Barzelatto

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité tells the story of a group of Brazilian women who came together in 1981 with the shared belief—not as widely understood then as it is now—that conventional approaches to women's health and family planning services were overly medicalized, incapable of dealing with the relationship between sexuality and contraception, and disempowering to clients. They started the Coletivo which runs a clinic, a training institute, and a public education program that has “given voice” to thousands of women, provided leadership to the Brazilian government and women’s health movement, and has been active in research and international policy affairs. …

What We Do And Do Not Know About The Menstrual Cycle Or, Questions Scientists Could Be Asking, Sioban D. Harlow, Sara A. Ephross

Reproductive Health

The objective of this paper is to consider from a public health perspective the types of questions researchers might be asking about the relationship between menstrual function and women’s health, and to evaluate to the extent to which these questions have or have not been addressed by the scientific community. Based on the findings in this report, it is obvious that a comprehensive program of research is needed in order to begin filling the myriad gaps in scientific knowledge about the menstrual cycle. Given the lack of knowledge about many fundamental aspects of menstrual function and about linkages between the …

Sexual Coercion And Reproductive Health: A Focus On Research, Lori L. Heise, Kirsten Moore, Nahid Toubia

Reproductive Health

Gender-based violence is ignored or denied in most societies and neglected by health professionals and researchers, yet it persists in almost all societies, and, in some, it is on the increase. This report is aimed at those in the family planning/reproductive health field who desire to conduct research or implement programs to address sexual violence and its impact on women's reproductive health. Furthermore, it contributes to a better understanding of the context of sexual coercion as well as its causes and consequences. The ideas presented herein are derived largely from a two-day meeting jointly organized by the Ebert Program in …

Gender Inequalities And Demographic Behavior: Egypt, Nora Guhl Naguib, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara L. Ibrahim

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This is one of three reports on the relationship between gender equity, family structure and dynamics, and the achievement of reproductive choice prepared by the Population Council for the 1994 International Year of the Family and the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development. These reports provide critical reviews of the relationship between gender inequality and demographic behavior in three demographically significant, culturally distinct parts of the developing world: Egypt, India, and Ghana and Kenya. Their purpose is to help governments and international agencies design and implement policies that are affirmative of women, sensitive to the family's central role in …

Partnership For Prevention: A Report Of A Meeting Between Women's Health Advocates, Program Planners, And Scientists, Population Council

Reproductive Health

In May 1994, the Population Council, in conjunction with the Pacific Institute for Women's Health and the International Women's Health Coalition, hosted a meeting for women's health advocates from around the world to discuss the development of microbicides. This process was the first step in building greater understanding and mutual respect among women's health advocates and Population Council staff and scientists with regard to the technology of microbicides. Participants hoped that the recommendations resulting from this initiative would have a positive influence not only on the development of microbicides, but on all reproductive health technologies. This report aims to reproduce …

Reproductive Health Approach To Family Planning, Population Council

Reproductive Health

This report collects presentations from a panel held on Professional Development Day at the USAID Cooperating Agencies meeting in November 1994. The panel was designed to review key reproductive health elements that relate to family planning, including: reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections, including AIDS; the prevention and treatment of unsafe abortion; pregnancy, labor, and delivery care; and postpartum care. While there is increasing international consensus that family planning should be broadened to include reproductive health care, it is far from clear as to how this should be done, and which elements should be incorporated. This panel explored some of …

Factors That Contribute To The Varying Performance Of Bspos And Bhws In The Delivery Of Family Planning Services In Iloilo City, Fely David, Fely Chin

Reproductive Health

In 1992, the Population Council established the Family Planning Operations Research and Training (FPORT) Program in the Philippines. It brought together program managers and regional researchers to identify problem areas that might benefit from operations research. From Western Visayas (Region VI), the City Population Office (CPO) of Iloilo City in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute of the Central Philippine University, identified a problem concerning the poor performance of volunteer family planning (FP) workers and undertook to study it. The study focused on the Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs) who assist in the delivery of FP services under the …

Planning Services In Iloilo City: A Diagnostic Study Of The Implementation Of The Department Of Health Training Courses For Family Planning Providers In Region Ii And Cordillera Administrative Region, Steven Rood, Marcelo Raquepo, Mary Ann Ladia

Reproductive Health

This research project is one of several being undertaken in the Philippines under the Family Planning Operations Research and Training (FPORT) Program of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Population Council. The general aim of FPORT is to train researchers to provide information to family planning (FP) practitioners that will be of value in the operation of FP programs. It was decided that researchers in northern Luzon would focus on FP trainings undertaken by the Department of Health. Several meetings among researchers and health personnel were held to shape research questions that would be of use to the DOH …

Gente Joven/Young People: A Dialogue On Sexuality With Adolescents In Mexico, Magaly Marques, John M. Paxman, Judith Bruce

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describes the experience of one adolescent sexuality program, Gente Joven in Mexico. Gente Joven began by acknowledging reality: that the problems related to teenage sexuality will not go away simply by denying their existence. Along the way Gente Joven learned, and is continuing to learn, many lessons about how to build a successful program for adolescents. Here they share their experiences and the Afterword explores in greater depth one particular issue that Gente Joven has identified as its next major challenge: re-examining their work with young people from a gender perspective.

Findings From Two Decades Of Family Planning Research, John A. Ross, Elizabeth Frankenberg

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This book presents a selection of empirical conclusions, or findings, from the body of family planning research that has accumulated over the last two decades. Twelve topics of current interest are reviewed, as a sequel to three similar publications issued in 1971, 1972, and 1974. A findings document compresses what has been learned into straightforward declarative statements, giving summary evidence to support each statement. In cases where a conclusion is well founded, with extensive supporting evidence, only illustrative or summary references are needed. In other cases, citations are required for individual studies. Generalizations that are unsupported or too ambiguous to …

Fertility, Family Size, And Structure: Consequences For Families And Children, Cynthia B. Lloyd

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 1989 the Population Council began a research project on the consequences of high fertility at the family level and its implications for the next generation. Since its inception, the project has been supported by Swedish SIDA and has involved the collaboration of researchers from selected developing countries. In countries where there has been limited research on this topic, such as India, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Senegal, the Population Council provided funding for new studies or for analysis of existing data with the potential for producing insights on this topic. In instances where relevant research was already underway, the Council …

Wasteland Development And The Empowerment Of Women: The Sarthi Experience, Madhu Sarin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDS describes an innovative approach to rehabilitation of wastelands developed by Social Action for Rural and Tribal Inhabitants of India (SARTHI), a nongovernmental organization based in the Panchmahals District of Gujarat State in Western India. By assisting rural women to organize themselves around the rehabilitation of patches of degraded common land, SARTHI has been able to help them not only meet their needs for biomass in a more efficient and ecologically sound manner, but also to empower them to start asserting themselves in dealing with a broader range of problems. As primary gatherers and users of biomass, …

Aménagement Des Terres Incultes Et Émancipation Des Femmes L'Expérience De Sarthi, Madhu Sarin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Ce numéro de SEEDS est consacré a une approche innovative ayant pour but d’aménager des terres incultes, développée par Action Sociale en faveur des population rurales et autochtones d’lnde (SARTHI), une organisation non gouvernementale basée dans le district de Panchmahals dans l’État de Gujarat en Inde occidentale. En aidant les femmes rurales à s’organiser pour mettre en valeur des lopins de terres communaux, SARTHI a permis à ces femmes de satisfaire leurs besoins en biomasse de façon plus efficace et saine d’'un point de vue écologique et d’améliorer d’autres aspects de leur vie. Étant donné que ce sont essentiellement les …

Review Of Existing Norplant® Acceptor Tracking System, Joedo Prihartono

Reproductive Health

Family planning (FP) activities in Indonesia are considered a successful national program. Since its introduction in the 1970s, the total number of active contraceptive users dramatically increased to 21 million couples. The government continuously tries to improve the quality of FP services. New developments in contraceptives at the international level have been monitored to assess the possibility of their application in Indonesia, to broaden the variety of available contraceptives. Norplant® implants were introduced in 1981, and as of 1993 there were more than two million cumulative Norplant users in Indonesia. As a long-term progestin-only contraceptive, this method must be removed …

The 1992 Indonesia Norplant® Use-Dynamics Diagnostic Study, Dinan S. Bratakoesoema, Abdul Rodjak, Sulaiman Sastrawinata, Faisal R. Djamal, Hafni Bachtiar, Dr. Masrul, Nadra B. Azwar

Reproductive Health

Although the Indonesian Norplant® program is unique in terms of scale and pace of expansion, it also characterizes many of the operational problems that other developing countries are likely to confront as they expand their Norplant programs. Many of the concerns—such as screening and counseling, use-effectiveness, removal on demand, and tracking and notification systems for five-year removal—can only be answered through research on the Indonesian program. As this report states, operations research on issues related to Norplant within the Indonesian program will be of direct relevance to the growing number of Norplant programs in other developing countries. While the Indonesian …

Medicare Supplemental Insurance: Today's Crisis, Health Care For All, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The purpose of health insurance is to spread risk. The system works under the assumption that, at any given point in time, only a percentage of the people in a given group will be sick. Regardless of health status, all members of the group will be paying premiums in order to cover the cost of care for those who need it.

As a group, however, seniors represent a high-risk population. They are more likely than younger people to need health care services and tend to require longer hospital stays. Yet, while their expenses are greater, their financial resources are generally …

Family Planning And Child Survival Programs As Assessed In 1991, John A. Ross, W. Parker Mauldin, Steven R. Green, E. Romana Cooke

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This volume continues a tradition initiated at the Population Council nearly 25 years ago when the first edition of “Population and Family Planning Programs” was issued. That factbook began a series of 12 editions produced through 1993. The data in that series were consolidated and updated in another publication, and the present volume is now issued, based partly upon a 1989 questionnaire inquiry to over 100 developing countries. A range of maternal and child survival data were added to the family planning information. The relationships among fertility behavior, infant and child mortality, and maternal health are closely interwoven; moreover, many …

By And For Women: Involving Women In The Development Of Reproductive Health Care Materials, Valerie J. Hull, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Nadia Farah, Blanca Figueroa, Margaret Winn

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The studies in this issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describe three efforts to involve women in the development of reproductive health care materials in different settings in the developing world. In Cairo, a women's health collective produced a comprehensive reference book for women; in Peru, a woman's group, with the extensive involvement of their nonliterate audience, developed a series of illustrated teaching materials; and in the South Pacific, an all-woman production crew produced three motivation and teaching videos developed in response to the expressed needs of Pacific Island women. Despite contrasts in the characteristics of the intended audiences, the development process, and …

Por Y Para Mujeres: Motivando Su Participación En El Desarrollo De Materiales Para La Atención En Salud Reproductiva, Valerie J. Hull, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Nadia Farah, Blanca Figueroa, Margaret Winn

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Los estudios en este número de Calidad/Quality/Qualité describen tres esfuerzos para involucrar a las mujeres en el desarrollo de materiales de atención de salud reproductiva en diferentes escenarios del mundo en desarrollo. En El Cairo, un colectivo de salud de mujeres elaboró un libro comprehensivo de consulta para mujeres; en Perú, un grupo de mujeres, con una gran participación de su audiencia analfabeta, desarrolló una serie de materiales ilustrados para la enseñanza; y en el Pacífico del Sur, un grupo de producción integrado por mujeres, produjó tres videos motivacionales y para la enseñanza, desarrollados como respuesta a las necesidades expresadas …

Faire Oeuvre De Pionnier: Atteindre Les Femmes Agriculteurs En Zambie Occidentale, Janice Jiggins, Paul Maimbo, Mary Masona

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Au cours des dernières décennies, des projets à petite-échelle furent mis en place sur I'ensemble du continent africain pour tenter d'incorporer les femmes aux politiques de développement agricole. Dans ce numéro de SEEDS, on présente un exemple particulièrement éloquent qui vient de la Province Occidentale de la Zambie—le Programme de Vulgarisation à I'intention des Femmes à partir des locaux de la division "Économie ménagère" du Département de I'Agriculture. Le projet en question vise à operer un changement radical de la manière dont fonctionne une bureaucratie agricole en redéfinissant les mandates, en encourageant un changement d'attitude par le biais de programmes …