1.  Title: How to put an end to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM)? Panel discussion report (6 February 2008). Author: Inter-Parliamentary Union; International Organization for Migration [IOM]; Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children; Switzerland. Geneva. Departement des Institutions Source: Geneva, Switzerland, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2009. 32 p. Abstract: Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the world, a little girl is a victim of genital mutilation. Three million girls are excised every year. To mark the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM on 6 February 2008, more than 100 representatives of international organizations, civil society, media, diplomatic missions and the local authorities in Geneva gathered at The House of Parliaments to discuss ways of putting an end to this harmful practice. The IPU, the Departement des Institutions de l?Etat de Geneve (Geneva Department of Institutions), the International Organization for Migration and the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices decided to join forces to put an end to this human tragedy. This publication contains the experts' contributions, extracts of the debates and conclusions of the seminar. (Excerpts) Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | CRITIQUE | RECOMMENDATIONS | EVALUATION | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | POLICYMAKERS | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | FEMALE GENITAL CUTTING | POLITICAL FACTORS | ADVOCACY | RELIGION | LEADERSHIP | SOCIAL POLICY | WOMEN'S RIGHTS | CULTURE | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Adolescents | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Harmful Traditional Practices | Traditional Health Practices | Sociocultural Factors | Communication | Policy | Human Rights Document Number: 331363 |
2.  Peer Reviewed Title: Structural barriers and human rights related to HIV prevention and treatment in Zimbabwe. Author: Amon JJ; Kasambala T Source: Global Public Health. 2009 Mar 26;:1-17. Abstract: There has long been recognition that individual risk factors can only partially explain vulnerability to HIV infection, and that a broader range of socioeconomic, cultural and political factors must be taken into account. More recently this understanding has been applied to addressing obstacles to accessing HIV treatment. Yet, while structural interventions aimed at contextual factors related to HIV prevention and treatment have been shown to be effective, they have not been widely implemented. Using the situation of Zimbabwe as an example, we will present an illustration of how contextual barriers can be understood in human rights terms, and how using a human rights analysis can specifically help define 'structural-rights' interventions and compel their implementation. Language: English Keywords: ZIMBABWE | CRITIQUE | EVALUATION | PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS | POLICYMAKERS | HUMAN RIGHTS | HIV PREVENTION | AIDS PREVENTION | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | CULTURE | POLITICAL FACTORS | INTERVENTIONS | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | HEALTH POLICY | SOCIAL POLICY | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Sociocultural Factors | AIDS | Economic Factors | Programs | Policy Document Number: 341476 |
| 3. Title: The abortion-breast cancer connection. Author: Brind J Source: Specialty Law Digest. Health Care Law. 2009 Jan;(340):9-35. Abstract: This article examines the abortion breast cancer link in some historical scientific detail, offering a perspective on an issue that is at the center of a long-running public policy debate that plays out in legislatures, courtrooms, and newspaper editorials, as well as in scientific and medical journals. Even as politically correct studies have been promulgated to neutralize the data proving the abortion breast cancer link, even stronger data have emerged in recent years that firmly link abortion to premature births in subsequent pregnancies, which in turn raise the risk of breast cancer in mothers and cerebral palsy in prematurely born children. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | RESEARCH ACTIVITIES | ABORTION | BREAST CANCER | RISK FACTORS | EPIDEMIOLOGY | HORMONES | PREMATURE BIRTH | POLITICAL FACTORS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Research Methodology | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Cancer | Neoplasms | Diseases | Health | Public Health | Endocrine System | Physiology | Biology | Pregnancy Outcomes | Pregnancy | Reproduction | Sociocultural Factors Document Number: 341317 |
| 4. Peer Reviewed Title: Community-based environmental management for malaria control: evidence from a small-scale intervention in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Author: Castro MC; Tsuruta A; Kanamori S; Kannady K; Mkude S Source: Malaria Journal. 2009;8:57. Abstract: BACKGROUND: Historically, environmental management has brought important achievements in malaria control and overall improvements of health conditions. Currently, however, implementation is often considered not to be cost-effective. A community-based environmental management for malaria control was conducted in Dar es Salaam between 2005 and 2007. After community sensitization, two drains were cleaned followed by maintenance. This paper assessed the impact of the intervention on community awareness, prevalence of malaria infection, and Anopheles larval presence in drains. METHODS: A survey was conducted in neighbourhoods adjacent to cleaned drains; for comparison, neighbourhoods adjacent to two drains treated with larvicides and two drains under no intervention were also surveyed. Data routinely collected by the Urban Malaria Control Programme were also used. Diverse impacts were evaluated through comparison of means, odds ratios (OR), logistic regression, and time trends calculated by moving averages. RESULTS: Individual awareness of health risks and intervention goals were significantly higher among sensitized neighbourhoods. A reduction in the odds of malaria infection during the post-cleaning period in intervention neighbourhoods was observed when compared to the pre-cleaning period (OR = 0.12, 95% CI 0.05-0.3, p < 0.001). During the post-cleaning period, a higher risk of infection (OR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.4, p = 0.0069) was observed in neighbourhoods under no intervention compared to intervention ones. Eighteen months after the initial cleaning, one of the drains was still clean due to continued maintenance efforts (it contained no waste materials and the water was flowing at normal velocity). A three-month moving average of the percentage of water habitats in that drain containing pupae and/or Anopheles larvae indicated a decline in larval density. In the other drain, lack of proper resources and local commitment limited success. CONCLUSION: Although environmental management was historically coordinated by authoritarian/colonial regimes or by industries/corporations, its successful implementation as part of an integrated vector management framework for malaria control under democratic governments can be possible if four conditions are observed: political will and commitment, community sensitization and participation, provision of financial resources for initial cleaning and structural repairs, and inter-sectoral collaboration. Such effort not only is expected to reduce malaria transmission, but has the potential to empower communities, improve health and environmental conditions, and ultimately contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Language: English Keywords: TANZANIA | URBAN AREAS | RESEARCH REPORT | MALARIA PREVENTION | VECTOR CONTROL | INTERVENTIONS | SANITATION | MALARIA | PREVALENCE | COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION | POLITICAL FACTORS | FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES | Developing Countries | Africa, Eastern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Geographic Factors | Population | Parasitic Diseases | Diseases | Disease Transmission Control | Prevention and Control | Programs | Organization and Administration | Public Health | Health | Measurement | Research Methodology | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 341983 |
| 5. Peer Reviewed Title: Achieving the health Millennium Development Goals for South Africa: challenges and priorities. Author: Chopra M; Lawn JE; Sanders D; Barron P; Abdool Karim SS; Bradshaw D; Jewkes R; Abdool Karim Q; Flisher AJ; Mayosi BM; Tollman SM; Churchyard GJ; Coovadia H Author: Lancet South Africa team Source: Lancet. 2009 Sep 19;374(9694):1023-31. Abstract: 15 years after liberation from apartheid, South Africans are facing new challenges for which the highest calibre of leadership, vision, and commitment is needed. The effect of the unprecedented HIV/AIDS epidemic has been immense. Substantial increases in mortality and morbidity are threatening to overwhelm the health system and undermine the potential of South Africa to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However The Lancet's Series on South Africa has identified several examples of leadership and innovation that point towards a different future scenario. We discuss the type of vision, leadership, and priority actions needed to achieve such a change. We still have time to change the health trajectory of the country, and even meet the MDGs. The South African Government, installed in April, 2009, has the mandate and potential to address the public health emergencies facing the country--will they do so or will another opportunity and many more lives be lost? Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | RESEARCH REPORT | POLITICAL FACTORS | LEADERSHIP | GOALS | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | HIV PREVENTION | AIDS PREVENTION | HEALTH SERVICES | GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Sociocultural Factors | Organization and Administration | Planning | Economic Factors | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | AIDS | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Programs Document Number: 342958 |
| 6. Title: From reproductive choice to reproductive justice. Author: Cook RJ; Dickens BM Source: International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics. 2009 May 6; Abstract: Since the 1994 Cairo Conference on Population and Development, the human rights movement has embraced the concept of reproductive rights. These are often pursued, however, by means to which objection is taken. Some conservative political and religious forces continue to resist implementation of several means of protecting and advancing reproductive rights. Individuals' rights to grant and to deny consent to medical procedures affecting their reproductive health and confidentiality have been progressively advanced. However, access to contraceptive services, while not necessarily opposed, is unjustifiably obstructed in some settings. Rights to lawful abortion have been considerably liberalized by legislative and judicial decisions, although resistance remains. Courts are increasingly requiring that lawful services be accommodated under transparent conditions of access and of legal protection. The conflict between rights of resort to lawful reproductive health services and to conscientious objection to participation is resolved by legal duties to refer patients to non-objecting providers. Language: English Keywords: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | CRITIQUE | EVALUATION | POLICYMAKERS | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | RELIGION | CONSERVATISM | POLITICAL FACTORS | CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION | CONTRACEPTION | ABORTION LAW | LITIGATION | PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Human Rights | Sociocultural Factors | Ethics | Family Planning | Fertility Control, Postconception | Program Evaluation | Programs Document Number: 341457 |
| 7. Peer Reviewed Title: The health and health system of South Africa: historical roots of current public health challenges. Author: Coovadia H; Jewkes R; Barron P; Sanders D; McIntyre D Source: Lancet. 2009 Sep 5;374(9692):817-34. Abstract: The roots of a dysfunctional health system and the collision of the epidemics of communicable and non-communicable diseases in South Africa can be found in policies from periods of the country's history, from colonial subjugation, apartheid dispossession, to the post-apartheid period. Racial and gender discrimination, the migrant labour system, the destruction of family life, vast income inequalities, and extreme violence have all formed part of South Africa's troubled past, and all have inexorably affected health and health services. In 1994, when apartheid ended, the health system faced massive challenges, many of which still persist. Macroeconomic policies, fostering growth rather than redistribution, contributed to the persistence of economic disparities between races despite a large expansion in social grants. The public health system has been transformed into an integrated, comprehensive national service, but failures in leadership and stewardship and weak management have led to inadequate implementation of what are often good policies. Pivotal facets of primary health care are not in place and there is a substantial human resources crisis facing the health sector. The HIV epidemic has contributed to and accelerated these challenges. All of these factors need to be addressed by the new government if health is to be improved and the Millennium Development Goals achieved in South Africa. Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | HISTORICAL REVIEW | PUBLIC HEALTH | COLONIALISM | POLITICAL FACTORS | ECONOMIC FACTORS | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | SEX DISCRIMINATION | INEQUALITIES | FAMILY LIFE | VIOLENCE | HEALTH SERVICES | HUMAN RESOURCES | POLICY | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Health | Political Systems | Sociocultural Factors | Social Problems | Socioeconomic Factors | Family and Household | Behavior | Delivery of Health Care Document Number: 342803 |
| 8. Peer Reviewed Title: Adolescent access to emergency contraception: a comment on the UK context. Author: Fallon D Source: European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care. 2009 Apr;14(2):120-6. Abstract: The provision of emergency contraception (EC) in the United Kingdom (UK) has been transformed over the past decade through advances in pharmacology and the implementation of governmental measures to reduce teenage pregnancy rates. This paper considers how these issues have developed in the current social and political context with specific reference to adolescent access to EC in the UK. It highlights the concerns caused by increased availability of EC and the tension between adolescent rights to confidential treatment and advice, and professional anxiety about encouraging secrecy or parental deception. It concludes that adolescents, whilst benefiting from increased access to EC may also face a series of challenges as a result. Language: English Keywords: UNITED KINGDOM | RESEARCH REPORT | CLINICAL RESEARCH | ADOLESCENTS, FEMALE | EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION | CONTRACEPTIVE AVAILABILITY | GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS | ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY | PREVENTION AND CONTROL | POLITICAL FACTORS | CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION | FAMILY PLANNING EDUCATION | PARENTAL CONSENT | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Research Methodology | Adolescents | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Contraception | Family Planning | Programs | Organization and Administration | Reproductive Behavior | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Diseases | Sociocultural Factors | Ethics | Education Document Number: 330933 |
| 9. Peer Reviewed Title: International family-planning budgets in the "new US" era. Author: Gillespie D; Maguire ES; Neuse M; Sinding SW; Speidel JJ Source: Lancet. 2009 May 2;373(9674):1505-7. Abstract: Anticipating major shifts in the political complexion of Washington as a result of the 2008 Presidential election, we, as five former directors of the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) population and reproductive health programme, recently issued a report as part of an effort to increase USAID's stagnant family-planning budget. Our evidence-based report, Making the case for international family planning, recommends an increase from the present level of US$457 million to $1.2 billion in 2010, with modest further annual increases thereafter. With dramatic political shift in Washington, we are optimistic that our message will resonate well in the new policy environment. We have no illusions about the treacherous political terrain of reproductive health in the USA. However, we are much encouraged by President Obama's commitment to bring science back into the service of public policy, his efforts to find common ground in the national debate about abortion, and his and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's determination to make international development cooperation and women's rights far more prominent features of US foreign policy. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | CRITIQUE | USAID | FAMILY PLANNING | FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES | POLITICAL FACTORS | HEALTH POLICY | REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH | SOCIAL SCIENCES | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMS | PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Government Agencies | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Policy | Health | Science | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 341020 |
| 10. Peer Reviewed Title: Conceptualising abortion stigma. Author: Kumar A; Hessini L; Mitchell EM Source: Culture, Health and Sexuality. 2009 May 12;:1. Abstract: Abortion stigma is widely acknowledged in many countries, but poorly theorised. Although media accounts often evoke abortion stigma as a universal social fact, we suggest that the social production of abortion stigma is profoundly local. Abortion stigma is neither natural nor 'essential' and relies upon power disparities and inequalities for its formation. In this paper, we identify social and political processes that favour the emergence, perpetuation and normalisation of abortion stigma. We hypothesise that abortion transgresses three cherished 'feminine' ideals: perpetual fecundity; the inevitability of motherhood; and instinctive nurturing. We offer examples of how abortion stigma is generated through popular and medical discourses, government and political structures, institutions, communities and via personal interactions. Finally, we propose a research agenda to reveal, measure and map the diverse manifestations of abortion stigma and its impact on women's health. Language: English Keywords: CRITIQUE | KAP SURVEYS | POLICYMAKERS | ABORTION | STIGMA | SEX DISCRIMINATION | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | INEQUALITIES | POLITICAL FACTORS | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | FEMALE ROLE | PUBLIC OPINION | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Sociocultural Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Social Behavior | Behavior | Attitudes | Psychological Factors Document Number: 341497 |
| 11. Peer Reviewed Title: WEALTH, INTELLIGENCE, POLITICS AND GLOBAL FERTILITY DIFFERENTIALS. Author: Meisenberg G Source: Journal of Biosocial Science. 2009 Mar 27;41:519-535. Abstract: SummaryDemographic trends in today's world are dominated by large fertility differentials between nations, with 'less developed' nations having higher fertility than the more advanced nations. The present study investigates whether these fertility differences are related primarily to indicators of economic development, the intellectual level of the population, or political modernity in the form of liberal democracy. Results obtained with multiple regression, path models and latent variable models are compared. Both log-transformed GDP and measures of intelligence independently reduce fertility across all methods, whereas the effects of liberal democracy are weak and inconsistent. At present rates of fertility and mortality and in the absence of changes within countries, the average IQ of the young world population would decline by 1.34 points per decade and the average per capita income would decline by 0.79% per year. Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | RESEARCH REPORT | MATHEMATICAL MODEL | STATISTICAL REGRESSION | POPULATION | FERTILITY RATE | DIFFERENTIAL FERTILITY | POLITICAL FACTORS | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | DEMOCRACY | GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | DEATH RATE | INTELLIGENCE | Theoretical Models | Research Methodology | Data Analysis | Birth Rate | Fertility Measurements | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Political Systems | Production | Macroeconomic Factors | Mortality | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 341480 |
| 12. Title: A rock in a weary land: AIDS, South Africa, and the church. Author: Miller RL Jr Source: Social Work In Public Health. 2009 Jan-Apr;24(1-2):22-38. Abstract: This article explores the contributing factors to the endemic problems exacerbating the AIDS crisis in South Africa. The legacy of Apartheid, including the attendant problems of poverty, illiteracy, and disparate health statuses between the beneficiaries and victims of Apartheid, is explored. Because women are bearing the brunt of the infection, their experience of AIDS is also considered. A brief case study illuminating an AIDS-sensitive church is offered as an exemplar of self-determination and social networks used to sustain a South African township riddled by HIV disease. The article concludes by suggesting that the benefits of communal religious participation as a coping response to HIV disease requires further examination by social work and public health workers in South African communities of color with minimal resources to combat HIV disease. Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | CRITIQUE | HIV INFECTIONS | AIDS | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | POVERTY | CHRISTIANITY | RELIGIOUS ASPECTS | POLITICAL FACTORS | STIGMA | WOMEN'S STATUS | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Religion Document Number: 341956 |
| 13. Peer Reviewed Title: The language of "sexual minorities" and the politics of identity: a position paper. Author: Petchesky RP Source: Reproductive Health Matters. 2009 May;17(33):105-110. Abstract: In any highly contested political domain, language can be a potent force for change or an obstacle to understanding and coalition building across difference. This is surely the case in the global debates over sexuality and gender, where even those terms themselves have aroused heated conflicts. In this spirit, we want to challenge the uncritical use of the term “sexual minorities”, based on a number of historical and conceptual problems with which that term – like the larger thicket of identities and identity politics it signifies – is encumbered. These include: ignoring history, legitimating dubious normativity, fixing biological categories, and recreating exclusions. With this struggle, we seem caught in a modernist dilemma between two desires: to name and honour difference by signifying identities and to avoid exclusivity and hierarchy by reclaiming universals. The insistence of diverse groups on naming themselves and achieving recognition of their distinctness and variety will go on as long as aspirations for democracy exist, because that is the nature and necessity of emancipatory politics. At the same time, our language needs to reflect the fluidity and complexity of sexuality and gender expressions in everyday life and their intricate interweaving with other conditions such as class, race, ethnicity, time and place. Spanish Abstract: En toda esfera política muy refutada, el idioma puede ser una fuerza potente para lograr cambios o un obstáculo a la comprensión y al desarrollo de coalición para saldar diferencias. Indudablemente, ese es el caso en los debates mundiales sobre la sexualidad y el género, donde incluso esos mismos términos han suscitado conflictos acalorados. En ese espíritu, queremos cuestionar el uso ciego del término “minorías sexuales”, basándonos en varios problemas históricos y conceptuales de los cuales está cargado ese término, como el matorral más amplio de identidades y política de identidades que significa. Algunos ejemplos son: hacer caso omiso de la historia, legitimar normatividad dudosa, arreglar categorías biológicas y recrear exclusiones. Con esta lucha, parecemos estar atrapados en un dilema modernista entre dos deseos: nombrar y honrar diferencias expresando identidades y evitar la exclusividad y jerarquía reclamando universales. La insistencia de diversos grupos en autonombrarse y lograr el reconocimiento de su particularidad y variedad perdurará siempre que existan aspiraciones de democracia, porque esa es la naturaleza y necesidad de la política emancipadora. A la vez, nuestro idioma debe reflejar la fluidez y complejidad de las expresiones de sexualidad y género en la vida cotidiana, así como su intrincado entrelazado con otras condiciones como clase, raza, etnia, tiempo y lugar. French Abstract: Dans tout domaine politique très contesté, le langage peut être une force puissante de changement ou un obstacle à la compréhension et à la création de coalitions dépassant les différences. C'est sûrement le cas dans les débats mondiaux sur la sexualité et le genre, où même ces termes ont suscité des conflits houleux. Dans cet esprit, nous souhaitons remettre en question l'utilisation non critique de l'expression « minorités sexuelles », en nous basant sur les problèmes historiques et conceptuels avec lesquels ce terme, comme l'enchevêtrement d'identités et de politiques identitaires qu'il signifie, est associé. Ignorer l'histoire, légitimer une normativité douteuse, fixer des catégories biologiques et recréer des exclusions figurent au nombre de ces problèmes. Avec cette lutte, nous semblons nous trouver dans un dilemme moderniste pris entre deux désirs : désigner et honorer la différence en signifiant des identités, et éviter l'exclusivité et la hiérarchie en récupérant des normes universelles. L'insistance de divers groupes pour se nommer eux-mêmes et faire reconnaître leur différence se poursuivra aussi longtemps que les aspirations à la démocratie existeront, car telle est la nature et la nécessité des politiques émancipatoires. En même temps, notre langage doit refléter la fluidité et la complexité des expressions de la sexualité et du genre dans la vie quotidienne et leurs liens complexes avec d'autres conditions comme la classe, la race, l'origine ethnique, le temps et le lieu. Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | MINORITY GROUPS | GENDER ISSUES | SEXUALITY | POLITICAL FACTORS | LANGUAGE | ADVOCACY | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | SOCIAL CLASS | HUMAN RIGHTS | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Communication | Social Problems | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 342019 |
| 14. Title: Foot soldiers of global health: teaching and preaching AIDS science and modern medicine on the frontline. Author: Robins S Source: Medical Anthropology. 2009 Jan-Mar;28(1):81-107. Abstract: This article investigates the ways in which global health messages and forms of health citizenship are mediated by AIDS activists in rural South Africa. It focuses on how these activists and treatment literacy practitioners are not only concerned with changing the lives of people living with AIDS to better manage biological conditions associated with their seropositive status, but also with how they are also committed to recruiting new members into their biopolitical projects and epistemic communities. These mobilization processes involve translating and mediating biomedical ideas and practices into vernacular forms that can be easily understood and acted on by the "targets" of these recruitment strategies. However, these processes of "vernacularization" of biomedical knowledge often occur in settings where even the most basic scientific understandings and framings of medicine cannot be taken for granted. This ethnographic case study shows that global health programs and their local mediators often encounter "friction" from the most powerful national actors as well as the most marginalized local ones. Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | RURAL AREAS | CRITIQUE | CASE STUDIES | NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS | GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS | HIV INFECTIONS | AIDS | ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY | IMPLEMENTATION | ADVOCACY | MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT | OBSTACLES | POLITICAL FACTORS | BELIEFS | TRADITIONAL MEDICINE | Developing Countries | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Geographic Factors | Population | Studies | Research Methodology | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Administrative Personnel | Organization and Administration | Viral Diseases | Diseases | HIV | Programs | Communication | Culture | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health Document Number: 342376 |
| 15. Title: Youth, women's rights, and political change in Iran. Author: Roudi F Source: Washington, D.C., Population Reference Bureau [PRB], 2009 Jul. [1] p. Abstract: Recent political developments in Iran highlight the country's demographic and social shifts over the past 20 years. One in three Iranians is between the ages of 15 and 29. Furthermore, 60 percent of the Iranian population is under 30, born around the 1979 Islamic revolution or after. This youth bulge, along with changes in women's fertility and reproductive health, provide a backdrop for understanding Iran's current political instability. Language: English Keywords: IRAN | RESEARCH REPORT | YOUTH | WOMEN | WOMEN'S RIGHTS | POLITICAL FACTORS | CHANGES | SEX DISTRIBUTION | FERTILITY DECLINE | Middle East | Developing Countries | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Human Rights | Sociocultural Factors | Social Change | Sex Factors | Fertility Changes | Fertility | Population Dynamics Document Number: 342028 |
| 16. Peer Reviewed Title: Unintended consequences: exploring the tensions between development programs and indigenous women in Mexico in the context of reproductive health. Author: Smith-Oka V Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2009;68:2069-2077. Abstract: This article offers a case study of the politics of reproduction present between development programs, medical practitioners, and population policies in Mexico. It particularly explores how these policies have shaped indigenous women's family planning choices. It analyzes the unintended consequences that emerge from the interaction between indigenous women, medicine, and an economic development program-Oportunidades. The study was based on participant observation and in-depth interviews carried out between 2004 and 2007 with 53 women, as well as doctors and nurses, in northern Veracruz. Results show that the close association of government policies with medical practitioners serves to constrain women's reproductive decisions. Medical practitioners use this association to promote the state's concern for family planning, unintentionally disempowering their target population. This article uses a political economy of fertility framework to look at broader processes affecting women's choices beyond thepersonal or domestic level. Such a framework allows us to analyze these connections and place women's reproductive rights within a larger struggle for human rights and dignity. Language: English Keywords: MEXICO | RESEARCH REPORT | INDIGENOUS POPULATION | WOMEN | REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS | FERTILITY | FAMILY PLANNING | SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT | POLITICAL FACTORS | PROGRAM EVALUATION | North America | Americas | Developing Countries | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Human Rights | Sociocultural Factors | Population Dynamics | Economic Factors | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 340202 |
| 17. Peer Reviewed Title: Incarcerated women and abortion provision: a survey of correctional health providers. Author: Sufrin CB; Creinin MD; Chang JC Source: Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. 2009 Mar;41(1):6-11. Abstract: CONTEXT: Many women entering jail or prison are pregnant, and correctional facilities are therefore an important venue for providing a range of pregnancy-related care, including access to abortion services. However, the availability of abortion services to inmates in the United States is unknown. METHODS: Between October 2006 and March 2007, surveys about abortion provision were mailed to 951 health professionals who provided clinical care in correctional facilities. Descriptive statistics were tabulated, and measures of association were calculated using chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Of the 286 respondents who returned analyzable surveys, 68% indicated that inmates at their facility can obtain "elective" abortions. Eighty-eight percent of this group indicated that their facility provides transportation, but only 54% said that they help arrange appointments. Responses did not differ by providers' individual or institutional characteristics. However, providers from states with a Republican-dominated legislature or with a Medicaid policy that severely restricted coverage for abortion were more likely to indicate that availability of abortion services was limited than were those whose state had a predominantly Democratic legislature or a Medicaid program that covered all or most medically necessary abortions. CONCLUSIONS: Although incarceration does not preclude women's need for access to abortion, full access to services is not available in all settings. Improving women's overall health care in correctional settings should include increasing the accessibility of abortion services. Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | SURVEYS | HEALTH PERSONNEL | ABORTION | PRISONS | PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY | POLICY | POLITICAL FACTORS | TITLE 19 MEDICAL ASSISTANCE | Developed Countries | North America | Americas | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Crime | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration | Public Assistance | Grants | Financial Activities | Economic Factors Document Number: 341657 |
| 18. Peer Reviewed Title: Sweeping changes in marriage, cohabitation and childbearing in Central and Eastern Europe: new insights from the developmental idealism framework Transformations radicales du mariage, de la cohabitation et de la cohabitation et de la procreation en Europe Centrale et Orientale: de nouvelles perspectives a partir de la conception ideationnelle du developpement. Author: Thornton A; Philipov D Source: European Journal of Population. 2009 May;25(2):123-156. Abstract: In Central and Eastern Europe following the political transformations of the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were dramatic declines in marriage and childbearing, significant increases in nonmarital cohabitation and childbearing, and a movement from reliance on abortion to a reliance on contraception for fertility limitation. Although many explanations have been offered for these trends, we offer new explanations based on ideational influences and the intersection of these ideational influences with structural factors. We focus on the political, economic, social, and cultural histories of the region, with particular emphasis on how countries in the region have interacted with and been influenced by Western European and North American countries. Our explanations emphasize the role of developmental models in guiding change in the region, suggesting that developmental idealism influenced family and demographic changes following the political transformations. Developmental idealism provides beliefs that modern family systems help to produce modern political and economic accomplishments, and it helps establish the importance of freedom and equality as human rights in both the public and private spheres. The disintegration of the governments and the fall of the iron curtain in the late 1980s and early 1990s brought new understanding about social, economic, and family circumstances in the West, increasing consumption aspirations and expectations which clashed with both old economic realities and the dramatic declines in economic circumstances. In addition, the dissolution of the former governments removed or weakened systems supporting the bearing and rearing of children; and the legitimacy of the former governments and their programs was largely destroyed, thereby removing government support for old norms and patterns of behavior. In addition, the attacks of previous decades on the religious institutions in the region had in many places left these institutions weak. During this period, many openly reached out to embrace the values, living standards, and economic, political, and familial systems of the West. And, the thirst for freedom-and its considerable expansion-operated in personal and familial as well as political and economic realms. These dramatic changes combined together to produce the many changes occurring in family and demographic behavior. Language: English Keywords: EUROPE, CENTRAL | EUROPE, EASTERN | HISTORICAL REVIEW | MARRIAGE PATTERNS | CONSENSUAL UNION | FERTILITY DECLINE | SOCIAL CHANGE | POLITICAL FACTORS | ECONOMIC CONDITIONS | SOCIALISM | CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE | VALUE ORIENTATION | Developing Countries | Europe | Developed Countries | Marriage | Nuptiality | Demographic Factors | Population | Fertility Changes | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Sociocultural Factors | Macroeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Political Systems | Contraception | Family Planning | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 340171 |
| 19. Peer Reviewed Title: International health policy and stagnating maternal mortality: is there a causal link? Author: Unger JP; Van Dessel P; Sen K; De Paepe P Source: Reproductive Health Matters. 2009 May;17(33):91-104. Abstract: This paper examines why progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5 on maternal health appears to have stagnated in much of the global south. We contend that besides the widely recognised existence of weak health systems, including weak services, low staffing levels, managerial weaknesses, and lack of infrastructure and information, this stagnation relates to the inability of most countries to meet two essential conditions: to develop access to publicly funded, comprehensive health care, and to provide the not-for-profit sector with needed political, technical and financial support. This paper offers a critical perspective on the past 15 years of international health policies as a possible cofactor of high maternal mortality, because of their emphasis on disease control in public health services at the expense of access to comprehensive health care, and failures of contracting out and public–private partnerships in health care. Health care delivery cannot be an issue both of trade and of right. Without policies to make health systems in the global south more publicly-oriented and accountable, the current standards of maternal and child health care are likely to remain poor, and maternal deaths will continue to affect women and their families at an intolerably high level. Spanish Abstract: En este artículo se examinan las razones por las que los avances hacia el Objetivo 5 de Desarrollo del Milenio respecto a la salud materna parecen haberse estancado en gran parte del sur global. Argüimos que además de la existencia, ampliamente conocida de sistemas de salud débiles, con servicios deficientes, número reducido de personal, debilidades administrativas y falta de infraestructura e información, este estancamiento está relacionado con la incapacidad de la mayoría de los países para satisfacer dos condiciones esenciales: crear acceso a servicios de atención integral de la salud financiados por el sector público y brindar al sector sin fines de lucro el apoyo político, técnico y financiero que necesita. Este artículo ofrece un punto de vista crítico sobre los últimos 15 años de políticas internacionales de salud como un posible cofactor de las altas tasas de mortalidad materna, debido a su énfasis en el control de enfermedades en servicios de salud pública a expensas del acceso a la atención integral de la salud, así como a los fracasos de subcontratación y alianzas entre los sectores público y privado de salud. La prestación de atención de salud no puede ser un asunto tanto de comercio como de derecho. Sin políticas para lograr que los sistemas de salud del sur estén más orientados hacia el público y sean más responsables, los niveles actuales de atención materno-infantil probablemente continuarán siendo deficientes, y las muertes maternas continuarán afectando intolerablemente a las mujeres y sus familias. French Abstract: Pourquoi les progrès vers l'OMD 5 relatif à la santé maternelle semblent-ils stagner dans la plupart des pays du Sud ? Les auteurs de l'article avancent qu'en plus des faiblesses largement reconnues des systèmes de santé, notamment les déficiences des services, l'insuffisante dotation en personnel, les lacunes de la gestion, ainsi que le manque d'infrastructure et d'information, cette stagnation est due à l'incapacité de la plupart des pays à rencontrer deux conditions essentielles : élargir l'accès à des soins de santé globaux et financés par l'État, et doter le secteur non lucratif d'un soutien politique, technique et financier cruellement nécessaire. L'article propose une perspective critique sur les politiques sanitaires internationales des 15 dernières années comme corrélat possible de la mortalité maternelle élevée, en raison de l'accent que ces politiques placent sur la lutte contre les maladies dans les services de santé publique, aux dépens de l'accès à des soins de santé globaux, et le manque de recours aux services extérieurs et aux partenariats public-privé dans la santé. Les soins de santé ne peuvent relever à la fois du commerce et du droit à la santé. Sans politiques qui orienteront les systèmes de santé du Sud vers une logique sociale et les rendront plus comptables de leurs activités, les normes actuelles des soins de santé maternelle et infantile risquent de rester médiocres, et les décès maternels continueront de toucher les femmes et leurs familles à un niveau intolérable. Language: English Keywords: GLOBAL | PHILOSOPHICAL OVERVIEW | INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES | HEALTH POLICY | GOALS | MATERNAL MORTALITY | PUBLIC HEALTH | MATERNAL-CHILD HEALTH SERVICES | DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE | POLITICAL FACTORS | FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES | PRIVATE SECTOR | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Policy | Planning | Organization and Administration | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Health | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Economic Factors | Macroeconomic Factors Document Number: 342018 |
| 20. Peer Reviewed Title: Adolescent reproductive health in Indonesia: contested values and policy inaction. Author: Utomo ID; McDonald P Source: Studies in Family Planning. 2009 Jun;40(2):133-146. Abstract: This study examines the changing social and political context of adolescent sexual and reproductive health policy in Indonesia. We describe how, in 2001, Indonesia was on the brink of implementing an adolescent reproductive health policy that was consistent with international agreements to which the Indonesian government was a party. Although the health of young Indonesians was known to be at risk, the opportunity for reform passed quickly with the emergence of a new competing force, Middle Eastern fundamentalist Islam. Faced with the risk of regional separatism and competing politico-religious influences, the Indonesian government retreated to the safety of inaction in this area of policy. In the absence of a supportive and committed political environment that reinforces policy specifically targeted to young people's reproductive health, extremist approaches that involve considerable health risk prevailed. The sexual and reproductive values and behaviors that are emerging among single young people in contemporary Indonesia are conditioned by a political context that allows the conflicting forces of traditional Indonesian values, Westernization, and the strong emerging force of fundamentalist Islam to compete for the allegiance of young people. Language: English Keywords: INDONESIA | CRITIQUE | ADOLESCENTS | REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH | HEALTH POLICY | ISLAM | POLITICAL FACTORS | SOCIAL CHANGE | LEGISLATION | SEXUALITY | SEX EDUCATION | MASS MEDIA | VALUE ORIENTATION | Developing Countries | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Health | Policy | Sociocultural Factors | Religion | Personality | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Education | Communication Document Number: 341897 |
| 21. Peer Reviewed Title: Improving maternal and child health in difficult environments: the case for "cross-border" health care. Author: Walraven G; Manaseki-Holland S; Hussain A; Tomaro JB Source: PLoS Medicine. 2009 Jan 13;6(1):e5. Abstract: Health indicators, including levels of maternal and infant mortality, are very different in adjacent geographical border areas of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. These differences reflect the combined and complex interplay of elements within the different health systems, as well as political, economic, social, and cultural factors. Reducing maternal and child mortality requires focus and balance in all of these dimensions and can best be achieved through service interventions underpinned by general development. A policy promoting "cross-border" health programmes could immediately make available existing resources that could contribute to reducing maternal and child mortality in all three geographical locations. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: ASIA | CRITIQUE | RECOMMENDATIONS | CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | PREGNANT WOMEN | INFANT | BORDER CROSSING | MATERNAL-CHILD HEALTH SERVICES | CULTURE | ECONOMIC FACTORS | POLITICAL FACTORS | CHILD SURVIVAL | MATERNAL HEALTH | INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION | Developing Countries | Comparative Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Economic Development | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Youth | Age Factors | International Migration | Migration | Population Dynamics | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Sociocultural Factors | Survivorship | Length of Life | Mortality Document Number: 330709 |
| 22. Peer Reviewed Title: The cost of silence? [editorial] Source: Nature. 2008 Dec 4;456(7222):545. Abstract: It is not often that the cost of political leaders being wrong gets quantified. It's doubly important to bring science to bear on such a question when people have paid with their lives, as happened with the AIDS epidemic in South Africa under the leadership of thenpresident Thabo Mbeki. An article from the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative published this week (P. Chigwedere et al. J. Acq. Immun. Def. Synd. 49, 410-415; 2008) provides such a service by estimating the benefits lost through underuse of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in South Africa. Using modelling and clinical data of ARV-drug efficacy, it compares the number of people who received ARV therapy and of pregnant women who received treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV between 2000 and 2005 with the number who could feasibly have been treated during the same period. It concludes that the lack of an ARV drug programme caused the loss of more than 330,000 lives - consistent with an estimate along different lines by the South African economist Nicoli Nattrass (N. Nattrass Afr. Affairs 107, 157-176; 2008) - and that 35,000 babies were needlessly born with HIV. The authors, by their own account, have been conservative in deriving these estimates. Mbeki was deposed in September, and his successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, moved swiftly to replace Mbeki's chief accomplice, health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, with Barbara Hogan. Hogan has rejected the dissident line, subscribed to by both her predecessor and Mbeki, that AIDS is not caused by HIV. Moreover, describing herself as "ashamed" about the estimates, she has declared that "the era of denialism is over completely in South Africa". This is almost certainly true. Motlanthe, who supported Mbeki's stand on HIV-AIDS at the time, has his support base in the country's trade-union movement, which was never happy about Mbeki's line on this issue. Jacob Zuma, leader of the African National Congress and a presidential contender in next year's election, also supported Mbeki's standpoint before he was fired by him. He now espouses only populist causes, and has moved on from denialism about AIDS: the South African electorate has no more appetite for it. The needless deaths that occurred in South Africa prompt reflection on Mbeki's now infamous presidential AIDS advisory panel on the link between HIV and AIDS, the fate of which was chronicled in this journal in 2000-01. Its inconclusive report enabled Mbeki and his cabinet, who must bear collective responsibility, to portray this link as "deeply contested, and contestable", to quote Nattrass. Certainly, the AIDS dissidents (much criticized by Nature in the past) couldn't wait to participate in the panel. But should orthodox scientists have signed up? Even in retrospect, this is a difficult question to answer. Once leading South African scientists, such as Malegapuru Makgoba, then president of the South African Medical Research Council and an outspoken critic of Mbeki, had agreed to do so, others were bound to follow suit in support. In turn, members from outside of the country in good faith believed that their colleagues deserved similar support, and so agreed to participate. Ultimately it became clear that these efforts were a waste of time, as there was no possibility of consensus being reached among the panel's two diametrically opposed camps. Mbeki used this lack of consensus to justify a national policy that refrained from rolling out ARV drugs until late 2003, although some of the country's nine provinces, which enjoy a level of autonomy on matters relating to health, defied this with varying degrees of success. Even as late as 2006 the South African health department's stand at the International AIDS Conference was extolling the virtues of garlic, beetroot and lemon juice as a solution to the epidemic. In retrospect, the panel, constituted as it was, should never have been supported. Yet several of the country's key scientific institutions explicitly endorsed its establishment, and also desisted from criticizing Mbeki. Along with his cabinet, they bear some culpability for the consequences that have now been documented. There is a moral to this tragic tale that may prove relevant in other contexts. In a young democracy with a historically hierarchical culture, and with attitudes often hardened by a colonial past, scientific institutions need not only to guard their independence fiercely but also to make their reasoned voices heard above the fray of political sycophancy. (full-text) Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | SUMMARY REPORT | AIDS | HIV INFECTIONS | POLITICAL FACTORS | MISINFORMATION | HEALTH POLICY | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Sociocultural Factors | Communication | Policy Document Number: 329643 |
| 23. Peer Reviewed Title: Nepalese women under the shadow of domestic violence. Source: Lancet. 2008 Feb 16;371(9612):547-548. Abstract: Although Nepal's decade-long conflict has ended, every year, tens of thousands of women in the country still experience violence. In about 80% of cases, the perpetrator is not a stranger to the woman but a member of her own family. Sanjaya Dhakal reports from Kathmandu. Despite rising political awareness, most women in Nepal are still subject to deeply entrenched discrimination, resulting in a scary situation where violence against them is commonplace. Domestic violence against women, including beatings by husbands. dowry-related murders, and physical and psychological harassment by families is rampant in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. "Of the total incidence of violence against women, domestic violence constitutes over 80%", said Dhana Kumari Sunar, a member of the National Women's Commission (NWC). "Among the various causes of domestic violence, dowry-related hostilities, second marriage by husbands, assaults on women accused of being witches, and disputes involving propertiestop the list", she added. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: NEPAL | SUMMARY REPORT | WOMEN | DOMESTIC VIOLENCE | PREVALENCE | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | HUMAN RIGHTS | DEMOCRACY | POLITICAL FACTORS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Demographic Factors | Population | Crime | Social Problems | Sociocultural Factors | Measurement | Research Methodology | Political Systems Document Number: 324556 |
| 24. Peer Reviewed Title: Political insanity. Mad leadership [editorial] Source: South African Medical Journal. 2008 Jul;98(7):489. Abstract: Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | CRITIQUE | EVALUATION | GOVERNMENT AGENCIES | IMMIGRANTS | MEDICINAL PLANTS | AIDS PREVENTION | POLITICAL FACTORS | VITAMINS AND MINERALS | ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | VIOLENCE | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Migrants | Migration | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | AIDS | HIV Infections | Viral Diseases | Diseases | Physiology | Biology | HIV | Social Problems | Behavior Document Number: 328512 |
| 25. Title: A strong supply chain responds to increased demand for contraceptives in Rwanda. Author: John Snow [JSI]. DELIVER Source: Arlington, Virginia, JSI, DELIVER, 2008. 4 p. (USAID Deliver Project, Task Order 1) Abstract: Contraceptive security is achieved when individuals have the ability to choose, obtain, and use quality contraceptives whenever they need them. The success story, "A Strong Supply Chain Responds to Increased Demand for Contraceptives in Rwanda," highlights how, during the last 10 years, the many changes made by the Rwandan Ministry of Health and its partners (including the USAID | DELIVER PROJECT) led to an increased demand for family planning at the local level. As a result, Rwanda made impressive gains in its contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR)-a sevenfold increase in the use of modern methods-from 4 percent in 2000, post-conflict, to 27 percent in 2008. Language: English Keywords: RWANDA | PROGRESS REPORT | EVALUATION | GOVERNMENT AGENCIES | LOGISTICS | EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES | CONTRACEPTIVE DISTRIBUTION | CONTRACEPTIVE AVAILABILITY | FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM EVALUATION | POLITICAL FACTORS | STORAGE AND WAREHOUSES | Africa, Central | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Organizations | Sociocultural Factors | Management | Organization and Administration | Medical Procedures | Medicine | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Distributional Activities | Program Activities | Programs | Contraception | Family Planning | Family Planning Programs Document Number: 329564 |
| 26. Title: Maternal health: fifth report of Session 2007-08. Volume I. Report, together with formal minutes. Author: United Kingdom. House of Commons. International Development Committee Source: London, United Kingdom, Stationery Office, 2008 Mar 2. 71 p. (HC 66-I) Abstract: Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5), which seeks to reduce by three-quarters the level of maternal mortality by 2015, has seen the least progress of all the MDGs. A key factor in this collective failure has been insufficient political will to drive actions to improve the health of women, both at the international and national levels. The Department for International Development (DFID) has been a leading donor to maternal health programmes. It deserves credit for its creation of international partnerships, its willingness to address sensitive issues such as abortion, its support to research and its consistent focus on strengthening health systems. Major challenges remain. Only two in five women in sub-Saharan Africa deliver their babies with the assistance of a skilled attendant and this is largely unchanged since the early 1990s. Addressing the huge shortage of midwives worldwide and increasing the availability of emergency obstetric care to all women has been and must remain at the centre of DFID's approach. Increasing access to basic drugs and equipment-including family planning supplies-is also vital. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: UNITED KINGDOM | DEVELOPING COUNTRIES | CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES | RECOMMENDATIONS | EVALUATION | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | MATERNAL HEALTH | GENDER ISSUES | POLITICAL FACTORS | MATERNAL MORTALITY | PREVENTION AND CONTROL | INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION | DEVELOPMENT POLICY | MATERNAL-CHILD HEALTH SERVICES | Developed Countries | Europe, Western | Europe | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Health | Sociocultural Factors | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Diseases | Policy | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care Document Number: 325495 |
| 27. Peer Reviewed Title: Reproduction in upheaval: Ethnic-specific fertility responses to societal turbulence in Kazakhstan. Author: Agadjanian V; Dommaraju P; Glick JE Source: Population Studies. 2008 Jul;62(2):211-233. Abstract: This study contributes to the literature on demographic adjustments to societal crises by examining ethnic-specific probabilities of having first, second, and third marital births in late-twentieth-century Kazakhstan. Discrete-time logit models, employing data from the 1995 and 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Surveys, are fitted. The results show that the probability of a first birth responded to societal cataclysms of the post-Soviet transition, but this response was most manifest and enduring in the ethnic group that had been most demographically advanced and that also found itself most politically and economically vulnerable. While ethnic differences in the probabilities of second and third births were generally more pronounced than in the probability of first birth, the pace of their post-Soviet decline was relatively uniform across all ethnic groups. (author's) Language: English Keywords: KAZAKHSTAN | RESEARCH REPORT | DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH SURVEYS | THEORETICAL MODELS | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | POLITICAL FACTORS | ECONOMIC FACTORS | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | FERTILITY CHANGES | ETHNIC GROUPS | FIRST BIRTH | FIRST BIRTH INTERVALS | Asia, Central | Asia | Developing Countries | Demographic Surveys | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Research Methodology | Sociocultural Factors | Fertility | Cultural Background | Population Characteristics | Pregnancy History | Fertility Measurements | Birth Intervals Document Number: 327527 |
| 28. Title: Prospects for feminism in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Author: Barlow R; Akbarzadeh S Source: Human Rights Quarterly. 2008;30:21-40. Abstract: There is a stark contrast between the level of Iranian women's social and political engagement and what the conservative regime prescribes. The gap between the reality of women's participation in public life and their restricted legal status has emboldened women's groups to campaign for legal reforms. But the Iranian regime has adopted an uncompromising position in relation to such demands. This is seen as an existential matter for the state. As a result, the Islamic regime has adopted a highly intolerant and repressive approach to women's groups. This is most evident in relation to secular-oriented feminists, such as the Nobel Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, driving a wedge between the latter and the more religiously-oriented feminists. (author's) Language: English Keywords: IRAN | CRITIQUE | EVALUATION | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | WOMEN'S GROUPS | GOVERNMENT | ISLAM | FEMINISM | POLITICAL FACTORS | WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT | LEGISLATION | WOMEN'S STATUS | WOMEN'S RIGHTS | Developing Countries | Middle East | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Interest Groups | Sociocultural Factors | Religion | Socioeconomic Factors | Human Rights Document Number: 324454 |
| 29. Title: Analyzing the origin of armed conflicts and their impact on women: the case of western Cameroon. Author: Bechon CR Source: Women's World. 2008;43:19-23. Abstract: Language: English Keywords: CAMEROON | HISTORICAL REVIEW | EVALUATION | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN | WAR | COLONIALISM | HUMAN RIGHTS | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | POLITICAL FACTORS | LAND TENURE | AGRICULTURE | VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN | WOMEN'S RIGHTS | Developing Countries | Africa, Western | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Political Systems | Macroeconomic Factors | Domestic Violence | Crime | Social Problems Document Number: 331340 |
| 30. Title: [Government tutelage of mothers and children in Argentina: administrative structures, law, and technical staff (1936-1955)] La tutela estatal de la madre y el nino en la Argentina: estructuras Author: Biernat C; Ramacciotti K Source: Historia, Ciencias, Saude. 2008 Apr-Jun;15(2):331-51. Abstract: The article describes and analyzes one of the political projects that gained strength in Argentina during the between-war years and remained in place throughout Peronism: government tutelage of mothers and children. It examines how the Direccion de Maternidad e Infancia viewed the mother-child dyad, how this office proposed to address the issue of infant mortality, what type of technical staff was in place, and what limitations were encountered in trying to enforce these ideas. It also looks at what changed and what stayed the same at the office under Peronism. Language: Spanish Keywords: ARGENTINA | RESEARCH REPORT | MOTHERS | CHILDREN | MATERNAL-CHILD HEALTH SERVICES | INFANT MORTALITY | EVALUATION | POLITICAL FACTORS | South America, Southern | South America | Latin America | Americas | Developing Countries | Parents | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Health | Mortality | Population Dynamics Document Number: 341149 |
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