Reproductive Health Matters back issues from November 2006:
Condoms, yes! "abstinence", no.(Editorial)
Nov 01, 2006; ... THE slogan that could defeat the HIV epidemic is "No condom--No sex", but who champions the condom? There is highly-funded international research for the development of antiretroviral drugs and vaccines against HIV, and even microbicides, but condoms have no well-funded champion anywhere, ...
Trends in protective behaviour among single vs. married young women in sub-Saharan Africa: the big picture.(DISCUSSION)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: The trends in contraceptive uptake and condom use among single and married young women show distinct patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. A large median increase of 1.4 percentage points per year in condom use by single young women for pregnancy prevention was witnessed in 18 ...
Pleasure and prevention: when good sex is safer sex.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Most sexual health education programmes use fear and risk of disease to try to motivate people to practise safer sex. This gives the impression that safer sex and pleasurable sex are mutually exclusive. Yet there is growing evidence that promoting pleasure alongside safer sex ...
Sex, life and the female condom: some views of HIV positive women.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: This article offers some insights into the experiences of HIV positive women with the female condom, drawing on my own personal experience and responses of 18 members of the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS to an e-mail survey conducted in 2005. Major ...
The 100% condom use programme in Asia.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: One of the main reasons for the rapid spread of HIV in Asian countries is the massive transmission among sex workers and clients. Therefore, effective interventions to prevent HIV transmission through sex work are necessary. Many efforts have been made to promote condom use in ...
"No Party hat, no party": successful condom use in sex work in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Sex workers and their clients are particularly vulnerable to HIV/STI transmission. Most research on condom use has focused on barriers preventing use; less is known about attitudes, motivations and strategies employed by those who feel positively about condoms and who use them ...
Promoting condoms in Brazil to men who have sex with men.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: DKT International is a non-profit social marketing enterprise whose mission is to provide safe, affordable options for family planning and STI/HIV prevention. In Brazil, DKT sells male and female condoms to mostly lower-income couples nationwide. This paper is about the ...
Preventing HIV with young people: a case study from Zambia.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is funding thousands of community-based organisations, international NGOs and government services in high HIV prevalence countries to persuade young people to abstain from sex until marriage (Abstinence, Behaviour Change, ...
Where have all the condoms gone in adolescent programmes in the democratic republic of Congo.(education on right to adolescent sexual and reproductive health)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Decades of mismanagement, combined with the withdrawal of international cooperation and a protracted war, have seriously affected the health system in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the health status of the population. As part of a Belgian development cooperation ...
A qualitative study of condom use among married couples in Kampala, Uganda.(Clinical report)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Twenty-five years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, condom use among married/stable couples remains low and under-researched in developing countries, even countries with high HIV prevalence. Introducing condoms into a long-standing relationship, in spite of HIV risk, is likely to be ...
Promoting female condoms in HIV voluntary counselling and testing centres in Kenya.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Promotion of male condoms and voluntary counselling and testing for HIV (VCT) have been cornerstones of Kenya's fight against the HIV epidemic. This paper argues that there is an urgent need to promote the female condom in Kenya through VCT centres, which are rapidly being ...
Condoms become the norm in the sexual culture of college students in Durban, South Africa.(Clinical report)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the factors contributing to the increase in condom use among college students in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and some of the barriers to consistent condom use. The data were drawn from six focus group discussions with male and female ...
The Mpondombili Project: preventing HIV/AIDS and unintended pregnancy among rural South African school-going adolescents.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Unintended pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections are major threats to the health of South African youth. Gendered social norms make it difficult for young women to negotiate safer sex, and sexual coercion and violence are prevalent. Sexual activity among ...
Young men's project: Great Yarmouth, UK.(United Kingdom)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: The Young Men's Project has been working with young men and young fathers as part of Great Yarmouth Primary Care Trust in the UK since June 2001. The Project works in schools and other educational environments to promote positive personal development, particularly around sex and ...
Fruity, fun and safe: creating a youth condom brand in Indonesia.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: DKT Indonesia, a social marketing enterprise, undertook research among young people in Indonesia to develop a strategy to heighten understanding of safer sex and increase the availability and use of condoms among sexually active youth. The centerpiece of this campaign was the ...
Challenging and changing gender attitudes among young men in Mumbai, India.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: This article presents findings from a pilot intervention in 2005-6 to promote gender equity among young men from low-income communities in Mumbai, India. The project involved formative work on gender, sexuality and masculinity, and educational activities with 126 young men, aged ...
Romance and sex: pre-marital partnership formation among young women and men, Pune district, India.(Survey)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Using qualitative and survey data in a rural and an urban slum setting in Pune district, India, this paper describes patterns of pre-marital romantic partnerships among young people aged 15-24, in spite of norms that discourage opposite-sex interaction before marriage. 25-40% of ...
School-based sex education in Western Nepal: uncomfortable for both teachers and students.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: The National Adolescent Health and Development Strategy (2000) of Nepal considers adolescents a key target group for information and services. The extent to which sex education is being provided in schools has received little attention, however. At higher secondary level, ...
Dual protection: more needed than practised or understood.(use of condoms)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Although non-barrier contraceptive use has become a global norm, unprotected sex in relation to sexually transmitted infections remains the norm almost everywhere. Dual protection is protection from unwanted pregnancy, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and is a form ...
Unsafe condoms and other unsafe sex accessories.
Nov 01, 2006; ... Abstract: Condoms remain the sole effective method of prevention of HIV. However, in some places--including Cambodia and China--condoms have been modified to add so-called pearls, hard rubber studs or even bristles that are painful and dangerous to the receptive partner, causing injury to ...
The Less They Know, The Better: Abstinence-Only HIV/AIDS Programs in Uganda.(BOOKSHELF)(Excerpt)(Reprint)
Nov 01, 2006; ... The Less They Know, The Better: Abstinence-Only HIV/AIDS Programs in Uganda From: Jonathan Cohen and Tony Tate. Human Rights Watch 2005; 17(4a) Summary "With funding coming in now, for any youth activities, if you talk about abstinence in your proposal, ...
Big Brother and AIDS: DKT International vs. USAID.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Nov 01, 2006; ... IN Washington DC in May 2006, Judge Emmet Sullivan of the DC Federal Circuit Court handed down a major decision on free speech in the case of DKT International v. USAID. (1) The result was a major victory for DKT, for free speech and for the integrity and independence of private US ...
Second generation female condom available.
Nov 01, 2006; ... The female condom has been on the market r over ten years but despite a clear need it s not yet been adopted for wider use. In 2005 only 14 million female condoms were distributed compared to 6-9 billion male condoms around the world. However, studies in many countries have shown that the ...
Dr. Jose Barzelatto.(In Memoriam)(In memoriam)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Many tributes to Jose Barzelatto's memory speak of his intellectual brilliance, uncompromising honesty, fearless commitment to social justice and remarkable mix of innocence and realism. In my judgement, his most positive trait was a total respect for the other person's way of thinking ....
Nasreen Huq.(In Memoriam)(In memoriam)
Nov 01, 2006; ... Nasreen Huq was a member of Naripokkho and worked as Country Director of Action Aid Bangladesh up to her untimely death. Her enthusiasm, strategic thinking and the inspiration of her engagement in Naripokkho and with government, both locally and nationally, were highly valued. ...
Accuracy of condom studies affected by key measurements.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This systematic review assesses the importance of four key design and measurement factors in studying condom effectiveness: distinguishing consistent from inconsistent use; measured correct use and condom use problems; distinguished new infection from pre-existing infection; and selected a ...
Future studies on condom effectiveness.(ROUND UP: Condoms)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A review of scientific evidence on condom effectiveness for sexually transmitted disease prevention underscores the need to conduct better designed studies, which will continue to face complex design and ethical challenges. Critical design elements include the following: * a ...
Practical teaching increases correct condom use.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Incorrect condom use can increase the risk of exposure and increase negative attitudes towards condoms, so interventions to promote consistent condom use must emphasise and support correct condom skills. This research evaluates two different condom skills training courses by assessing ...
Condom discomfort associated with breakage.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This cross-sectional study of 206 US college students finds that nearly a third of students reported condom discomfort, including tightly fitting condoms, vaginal irritation and loss of sensation. The research assessed the impact of condom discomfort on condom use, condom breakage and low ...
Oral contraceptive use decreases condom use in Canada.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This study of 350 adolescent girls recruited from eight family planning clinics in Montreal, Canada, assesses condom use before and after the first prescription for oral contraception. Researchers interviewed participants at their first medical visit and three months later and asked about ...
Condom use among sex workers and their clients in Indonesia.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Five surveys of brothel-based sex workers and clients in Bali, carried out between 1992 and 1999, assessed knowledge of HIV/AIDS and condom use. Over the seven-year period there was a substantial increase in the number of sex workers who had heard of AIDS, and condom use rose from 19% to ...
Condom use in US women with high STI risk.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(sexually transmitted infections)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... A six-month prospective follow-up study of 869 women attending two STI clinics in the US supplied women with male condoms or a mixture of male and female condoms. The women kept diaries of their sexual activity each month, including instances of condom slippage and breakage. The women ...
Acceptability of two female condoms in India.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Couples in two sites in India were enrolled in a randomised cross-over study comparing the acceptability of two female condoms. The 60 men and 60 women were largely enrolled from urban slum areas. They were over 18 and currently protected against pregnancy. Couples were assigned to use ...
Condom use by Australian adults.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This study of a representative sample of 19,307 Australian adults assesses significant factors in condom use. Through computer-assisted telephone interviews conducted over 13 months in 2001-02, respondents gave information on their sexuality, sexual activity, history of condom use over the ...
Condom use in marriage, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This study of 238 couples carried out in focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and individual survey responses, assesses the extent and determinants of condom use in married and co-habiting couples in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study finds high levels of knowledge of ...
Choice of condom does not impact on STI incidence in Jamaica men.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This randomised, controlled trial divided a group of 414 men presenting with urethral discharge to a clinic in Jamaica. Half the group were allocated to a control group and offered the standard condom clinic and half were offered a choice of four different types of condoms. The ...
Impact of a safer sex media campaign in Zambia among young people.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This study evaluated the impact of a media campaign designed by youth in Zambia on HIV prevention. Using a baseline and follow-up survey of 901 and 1,156 adolescents respectively in 1999 and 2000, it aimed to find out whether a media campaign would encourage social attitudes supportive of ...
Gender inequality, sexual coercion and sexual risk in South Africa.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This study into the sexual behaviour of 50 South African secondary school students who wrote a diary for three weeks found that inconsistent condom use was more likely in relationships in which the male partner had ever used threat or force to engage in sex. Male sexual coercion was more ...
Vaginal douching, condom use and STIs among female sex workers in China.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... There is a low rate of condom use amongst Chinese female sex workers, an increasing HIV infection rate and widespread use of vaginal douching. There is evidence globally of an association between vaginal douching and adverse reproductive health outcomes. This study assessed the association ...
Impact of clinician-delivered interventions on condom use and STI prevention.(ROUND UP: Condoms)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This randomised, controlled trial compared two interventions to promote consistent and correct barrier contraceptive use. 427 women with different demographic and behavioural characteristics who had attended an STI clinic in Birmingham AL, US. All participants were interviewed, had a ...
Street vending machines facilitate access to condoms.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Condom vending machines are largely located in the lavatories of bars and nightclubs, making them inaccessible to many people who need them. Access to condoms from street vending machines when shops and bars are ...
Condom use among people living with HIV in Brazil.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Researchers interviewed 30 people living with HIV and receiving highly active anti-retroviral treatment at public health clinics in Rio de Janeiro. Semi-structured interviews with ten heterosexual women, ten heterosexual men and ten men who have sex with men sought to establish whether HIV ...
Internalised homophobia and high risk sexual practices in Mexico.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This cross-sectional study assessed the relationship between sexual practices that are a high risk for HIV and the internalised oppression of homosexual and bisexual men facing prejudice and discrimination. The study records internalised homophobia, perceptions of stigma, concealment of ...
Sugar daddy relationships in Kenya are more risky.(ROUND UP: Condoms)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The prevalence of "sugar daddy" relationships in sub-Saharan Africa and the link between such relationships and risky sexual behaviour is explored in this research carried out in Kisumu, Kenya. 1,052 men aged 21-45 were asked to talk about all their recent non-marital relationships, the ...
US abstinence-only programmes ethically flawed and threaten human rights.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Many adolescents, most younger adolescents, have not initiated sexual intercourse and many who have had sex are abstinent for varying periods of time. In theory, abstinence protects fully against STIs/HIV and pregnancy, but in practice it fails because many people do not abstain until ...
BBC World Service Trust refuses to sign pledge against commercial sex work.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(United States Agency for International Development )(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The BBC World Service Trust, which uses media to promote development goals, chose to suspend an HIV prevention campaign funded by USAID rather than comply with their policy of requiring recipients of HIV service grants to sign a pledge opposing sex work. In 2004, the Trust signed a 4 ...
US legislation on the "rights" of health workers to refuse to provide treatments.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Legislatures in 18 US states are considering 36 bills that would increase the "rights" of health workers to refuse to provide treatments they find morally objectionable. Laws are being proposed that will protect pharmacists from prosecution if they refuse to fill prescriptions for ...
Imposition of virginity testing in Palestine.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Contemporary medical and legal practices can reflect and exacerbate a political and social context of oppression. In this study, the practice in Palestinian society of imposing virginity testing when questions of sexual abuse or perceived misconduct arise, in order to learn whether abuse ...
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals for health.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focus on reducing key causes of mortality in poor countries: maternal and perinatal conditions, diseases affecting children and infants, and the major communicable diseases. The goals have gained widespread acceptance as a framework to ...
Privatisation and commercialisation of public services do not help achieve the MDGs.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Millennium Development Goals)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Basic services--such as health, education, energy and water--are essential to reducing poverty and improving quality of life, and in so doing to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The ways in which these services are provided have been subject to considerable debate. The ability ...
Involving the private sector to achieve contraceptive security.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The growing contraceptive needs of the world's population will only be met by involving the private sector, say these authors. Population growth and the desire for small families are increasing contraceptive demand, which is competing with other demands such as the AIDS pandemic for ...
Chinese civil rights campaigner arrested for opposing forced sterilisations and abortions.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Chen Guancheng)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Civil rights campaigner Chen Guancheng has been kept under house arrest for months without charge or trial for speaking out against forced sterilisations and abortions in the municipal district of Linyi. Government officials deny the allegations and say they are acting within the law which ...
Mexican and US women crossing the border for safer abortions.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Middle-class Mexican women are travelling to southern California to have abortions that are easier to access and safer than at home. This study found that up to 20% of women accessing abortions in San Diego's largest abortion clinic had Mexican addresses. Many of them reported not trusting ...
New Ethiopian abortion law recognises women's rights.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Ethiopia's new criminal code, which came into effect in May 2005, provides legal grounds for abortion in a range of circumstances. These include pregnancy resulting from rape or incest, when the pregnancy risks the health or life of the woman, in the case of fetal abnormality and for other ...
Ugandan health ministry considering abortion law reform.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Ugandan Ministry of Health is considering the recommendations of a report it commissioned into the safety and legality of abortion. The report proposes legalising abortion in specific cases such as rape. Illegal abortion in Uganda ...
Sex selection: is a universal approach ethical or appropriate?(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This article compares legal frameworks governing sex selection, attitudes to sex selection, birth ratios of girls and boys, and the social and economic status of women in China, India, Canada and Germany, to assess the reasons for prohibitions on sex selection. Scientifically reliable ...
Constantly shifting policy on safe motherhood an obstacle to progress.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This opinion piece discusses the impact of constantly shifting policy on the implementation of effective safe motherhood programmes. Drawing on case studies and literature from India, Nepal, Malawi and Indonesia, the paper highlights obstacles to implementing consistent safe motherhood ...
Priorities in global assistance for health, AIDS and population.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... HIV/AIDS has had overall priority in total official development assistance for health in the past decade. Excluding HIV/AIDS, however, the share health had in development assistance in 2003 declined from 5.4% in 1993 to 5.0%, and pro-poor health interventions from 3.1% of total development ...
Corruption costs health services billions of dollars globally.(ROUND UP: Law and Policy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Corruption in provision of health services is rife in countries of all sizes from the wealthiest to the poorest. It exists at every level, from informal payments to boosts in health workers' income, trade in substandard and counterfeit drugs, price fixing by pharmaceutical companies, ...
Legal abortion should be provided in Ghana.(ROUND UP: Advocacy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Medical experts at a seminar in Accra, Ghana, called for policies to reduce the incidence of maternal mortality caused by unsafe abortion. Abortion is legal on several grounds in Ghana, including protecting the woman's life, her mental and physical health and in cases of rape. However, ...
Demonstrators march for abortion rights and gay rights in Italy.(ROUND UP: Advocacy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Milan in January 2006 to defend abortion rights. The march was held in advance of the general election, in which abortion was a campaign issue that is thought to be increasingly under threat from some politicians who, backed by the Vatican, ...
Parents of premature babies: a new social movement in the US.(ROUND UP: Advocacy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... This article describes the changing status of premature infants in the United States and the differing levels of public sympathy accorded to these babies depending on whether they are premature as result of recreational drug use or fertility treatment. The article explores the role of ...
Pregnancy and infant loss support movement in the US.(ROUND UP: Advocacy)(Brief article)
Nov 01, 2006 ... The author of this article analyses the evolution of the pregnancy and infant loss support movement in the United States. Using ethnographic field research with three pregnancy loss organisations, analysis of their documents and websites and interviews with leaders of pregnancy loss ...
Breast ironing in Cameroon: breaking the silence.
Nov 01, 2006 ... The Tantines ("aunts") are a group of young women in Cameroon who have undergone reproductive health training and who in turn train other young people to address the issues of adolescent pregnancy and HIV. "Breast ironing" is one of the issues that the Tantines decided to initiate a ...
Cambodia: HIV-related risk behaviour, mobility and intervention programmes.(ROUND UP: HIV/AIDS)(human immunovirus )
Nov 01, 2006 ... Cambodia has experienced the most severe HIV epidemic in Southeast Asia but with support from policymakers, effective leadership and commitment from public health officials, the country's HIV programme has, despite resource constraints, been successful. Recent data indicate a downward ...