Public Health Commons^™

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 …

Future Trends In Contraception In The Developing World: Prevalence And Method Mix, John Bongaarts, Elof D.B. Johansson

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The main objectives of this study are to review existing methodologies for projecting future trends in contraception, evaluate the validity of the assumptions underlying these projections, propose methodological improvements, and assess the prospects for new methods of contraception in the coming decade. The prevalence of contraception in the developing world has increased dramatically over the past several decades from near zero to around 60 percent in 2000. Demand for contraception can be expected to continue to rise rapidly for the next few decades as population size continues to grow and fertility declines further to near the replacement level. As a …

Some Preconditions For Fertility Decline In Bengal: History, Language Identity, And An Openness To Innovations, Alaka Malwade Basu, Sajeda Amin

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper argues that looking solely for the immediate causes of reproductive change may fail to take into account not only the impact of policies and programs but the societal decision to adopt these policies and programs to begin with. The paper examines the historical origins and spread of ‘modern’ ideas in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. It concludes that a colonial history in which education and modernization processes took hold very early among the elite in the larger Bengal region was paradoxically accompanied by a strong allegiance to the Bengali language. This strong sense of …

Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods. Essential Questions, Essential Tools: A Report On A Workshop [Arabic], 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.

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.

Alone You Are Nobody, Together We Float: The Manuela Ramos Movement, Judith Bruce, Debbie Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Quality/Calidad/Qualité, a publication of the Population Council, highlights examples of clinical and educational programs which bring a strong commitment, as well as innovative and thoughtful approaches, to the issue of quality care in sexual and reproductive health. The series is based on the philosophy that women and their partners have a fundamental right to respectful treatment, information, choice, and follow-up from reproductive health care providers. This issue discusses improving women’s health and well being through a range of empowerment strategies in rural Peru.

Managing Population-Environment Systems: Problems Of Institutional Design, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In population–environment systems human activity is inherently part of the system rather than something to be minimized in order to maintain or restore “natural” environmental conditions. Issues arising in managing such systems are discussed in this paper. The system’s boundaries must be identified, defining its human participants and its ecological content. Procedures for monitoring demographic and environmental change in the system must be set up and consensus must be reached on how to evaluate that change.

Unmet Need For Family Planning In Developing Countries And Implications For Population Policy [Arabic], John B. Casterline, Steven W. Sinding

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Unmet need for family planning has been a core concept in international population discourse for several decades. In this paper we reevaluate its utility. We review the history of unmet need and the development of increasingly refined methods of its empirical measurement. We then turn to the main questions that have been raised about unmet need during the past decade, some of which concern the validity of the concept and others its role in the post-ICPD environment. The discussion draws heavily on empirical research conducted during the 1990s, much of it localized, in-depth studies combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies, that …

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 …

Adolescent Pregnancy And Parenthood In South Africa, Carol E. Kaufman, Thea De Wet, Jonathan Stadler

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

South Africa’s total fertility rate is estimated to be one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, less than 3.0 births per woman nationally and declining. At the same time, adolescent childbearing levels remain high more than 30 percent of 19-year-old girls are reported to have given birth at least once. Using evidence from focus groups conducted in urban and rural areas in South Africa with young black women and men, and with the parents of teenage mothers, we consider the experience of early parenthood. Specifically, the analysis explores four aspects of teenage childbearing as it relates to key transitions into …

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 …

Schooling Opportunities For Girls As A Stimulus For Fertility Change In Rural Pakistan, Zeba Sathar, Cynthia B. Lloyd, Cem Mete, Minhaj Ul Haque

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper tests Caldwell’s mass schooling hypothesis in the context of rural Pakistan. His hypothesis was that the onset of the fertility transition is closely linked to the achievement of “mass formal schooling” of boys and girls. Punjab and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) were selected for this study because they appear to be on the leading edge of the demographic transition-a transition that has only recently begun-as suggested by rapid recent increases in contraceptive practice. The study covered a range of rural villages or communities with very different socioeconomic and schooling conditions in order to examine the effects of both …

Burkina Faso And Mali: Female Genital Cutting Harms Women's Health, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

In collaboration with the Ministries of Health (MOH) of Burkina Faso and Mali, the Population Council conducted two studies in 1998 to describe the occurrence and severity of health problems related to female genital cutting (FGC). Study participants were consenting women who received a pelvic exam during prenatal, family planning (FP), obstetric, or gynecological consultations at MOH clinics. Providers were trained to observe the types and complications of FGC. To assess their potential role as change agents, providers in Mali also received training on the health effects of FGC and client counseling. In Burkina Faso, health providers recorded information on …

Burkina Faso Et Mali: L'Excision Compromet La Santé Des Femmes, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Egypt: Encourage Journalists To Cover Reproductive Health, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

To raise public awareness of reproductive health (RH) issues, the Population Council’s Frontiers project and the Futures Group’s Policy project jointly organized four press briefings and provided background materials to key journalists from Arabic newspapers and magazines. From May 1999 to June 2000, project staff worked closely with 20 Egyptian journalists, including editors of women’s pages and senior editors. The press briefings covered youth, marriage patterns, contraceptive technology, and menopause. The press kit prepared for each briefing contained fact sheets, reference materials, a contact list of key experts, and an evaluation sheet. To assess RH reporting and track coverage resulting …

Egypte: Encourager Les Journalistes À Couvrir Les Questions Relatives À La Santé De La Reproduction, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

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.

Indonésie: Des Études Coordonnées Sont Nécessaires Á L'Évaluation Des Tendances, Frontiers In Reproductive Health

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

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 …

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 …

Intra-Household Decision-Making On Health And Resource Allocation In Borgou, Bénin, Pierre Ngom, Salome Wawire, Timothee Gandaho, Pierre Klissou, Toussaint Adjimon, Mbaye Seye, Emile Akouanou, Laurie Winter

Reproductive Health

The African Population and Health Research Centre carried out this study, with support from FRONTIERS and USAID, in order to inform Benin’s Projet Intégré en Santé Familiale (Integrated Project on Family Health—PROSAF) about socio-cultural factors in Borgou that can impede health improvements. More specifically, the study aimed to identify key players in household decisionmaking processes, map out patterns of health-seeking behavior, elucidate how such patterns are associated with prevailing health services utilization, assess community valuation of existing health services and products, and recommend to PROSAF approaches to identified target groups for their intervention. The findings indicate that for all the …

Integrating Issues Of Sexuality Into Egyptian Family Planning Counseling, Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Laila Nawar, Hala Youssef, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

The Population Council studied the acceptability of including sexuality issues in family planning (FP) in Egypt, a conservative society with social restrictions around discussions of sex. The study results showed that sexuality counseling is acceptable to family planning clients in Egypt; in fact, sexuality-related problems and concerns were found to be very common in the study group. Similarly, training family planning service providers on issues of sexuality is both feasible and acceptable to providers. The report offers recommendations for refining existing FP training programs and services including: integrating issues of sexuality into FP counseling, training FP service providers on the …

Increasing The Coverage Of Reproductive Health Issues In The Egyptian Press, Sahar Hegazi, Mona Khalifa

Reproductive Health

This project, based on previous experiments of the FRONTIERS and POLICY projects, aimed to widen media coverage in Egypt of critical reproductive health issues and to communicate related research findings in a more systematic manner. Increasing coverage in the Egyptian press first required an assessment of the current coverage. Second, a network was formed of about 20 journalists from newspapers and magazines of different publishing houses, followed by four roundtable discussions on critical reproductive health issues. The results of evaluation sheets from the roundtable discussions showed a general increase in the journalists’ knowledge about reproductive health issues, especially for important …

An Assessment Of The Community Based Distribution Programs In Ghana, Jane Chege, Diouratie Sanogo, Ian Askew, Angela Bannerman, Steve Grey, Evam Kofi Glover, Francis Yankey, Joana Nerquaye-Tetteh

Reproductive Health

This study was carried out to describe the major NGO community-based distribution (CBD) programs in Ghana, and to assess in some detail the functioning, quality of care, and performance of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) program. The study showed that national coverage by the NGO programs is extensive—virtually all the 110 districts in the 10 regions have at least one program. However, coverage within districts is sparse, as each program covers only a few communities. The results have been communicated to the NGOs whose programs were included in the study and PPAG has already identified a number of …

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

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 …

Predicting Milk And Soft Drink Consumption Among Female Adolescents Using The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Nada Osman Kassem

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A total of 756 female adolescents, aged 13 to 18 years, from five public high schools in Antelope Valley Union High School District located in North Los Angeles County participated in this study between February 1999 and March 1999. The ethnic composition was 53.3% White/Anglo Americans, 19.3% Hispanics or Latinos and 10.2% Black/African Americans. The constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control and their underlying beliefs) were assessed to determine the predictors of low-fat milk and regular soda consumption. A cross-sectional design with group-administered questionnaires was utilized.

Most participants (89.6%, n = 636) …

Recognition Of Treponematoses In Post Repatriation X Ray And Cd Rom Nebraska Record, Karl J. Reinhard, Bruce Rothschild, Christine Rothschild, Larry Martin

Karl Reinhard Publications

Repatriation has compromised the opportunity to directly examine skeletons and to apply new diagnostic criteria and techniques. Pre-repatriation approaches to non-metric data acquisition, must make a number of assumptions: ( I ) Phenomena must be correctly identitied and segregated; (2) Criteria for severity must be specific to the phenomena studied; and (3) As criteria for disease rewgnition may change with time, it is valuable only as long as the raw data is also recorded. As part of data preservation, x-rays and CD-ROM images were recorded for skeletons trom Nebraska sites undergoing repatriation. This report concentrates on four of them 250K …

The Role Of Mummy Studies In Paleoparasitology, Adauto Araujo, Karl J. Reinhard, Luiz Fernando Ferreira

Karl Reinhard Publications

Paieoparasitology has advance during the past decade to the status of a statistically based science focused on problems of disease ecology and geographic distribution of parasitism. For most of its development, paleoparasitology has focused on the analysis of coprolites and latrine sediments. During the past few years, mummies have been increasingly included in paleoparasitology studies. We evaluate in this paper the interpretive value of mummies relative to other sources of paleoparasitological data.

EI estudio de la paleoparasitologia ha logrado transformarse, en esta ultima decada, en una ciencia basada en la estadistica, enfocada a temas tales como la ecologia de enfermedades …

Archaeoparasitology, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

The field devoted to the identification of parasite remains in the archaeological record and the reconstruction of past human-parasite interactions. Parasitic disease has always been a major problem. Recent summaries of the prevalence of parasitic diseases in the world today show that there are 4.5 billion infections with all species of parasitic worm, 1 billion infections with giant intestinal roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), 750,000,000 infections with whipworms (Trichuris trichiura), 900,000,000 infections with hookworm (Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus), 657,000,000 infections with filarial worms, 200,000,000 with blood flukes (schistosome species), and 489,000,000 infections with malaria. These infections cause between 1,590,000 to 3,130,000 …