Reactions to medical abortion among providers of surgical abortion: an early snapshot.(1/207)

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Reproductive health and AIDS prevention in sub-Saharan Africa: the case for increased male participation. (2/207)

Reproduction is a dual commitment, but so often in much of the world, it is seen as wholly the woman's responsibility. She bears the burden not only of pregnancy and childbirth but also the threats from excessive child bearing, some responsibility for contraception, infertility investigation and often undiagnosed sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including AIDS. Failure to target men in reproductive health interventions has weakened the impact of reproductive health care programmes. The paper proposes that sophisticated and dynamic strategies in Africa and elsewhere which target women's reproductive health and research (such as control of STDs including AIDS, family planning, infertility investigation) require complementary linkage to the study and education of men. Men's perceptions, as well as determinants of sexual behavioural change and the socioeconomic context in which STDs, including AIDS, become rife, should be reviewed. There is a need to study and foster change to reduce or prevent poor reproductive health outcomes; to identify behaviours which could be adversely affecting women's reproductive health. Issues of gender, identity and tolerance as expressed through sexuality and procreation need to be amplified in the context of present risks in reproductive health. Researchers and providers often ignore the social significance of men. This paper reviews the impact of male dominance, as manifested through reproductive health and sexual decisions, against the background of present reproductive health problems. A research agenda should define factors at both macro and micro levels that interact to adversely impinge on reproductive health outcomes. This should be followed up by well-developed causal models of the determinants of positive reproductive health-promoting behaviours. Behaviour specific influences in sexual partnership include the degree of interpersonal support towards prevention, for example, of STDs, unwanted pregnancy or maternal deaths. Perceived efficacy and situational variables influencing male compliance in, say, condom use, form part of the wider study that addresses men. Thus preventive reproductive health initiatives and information should move from the female alone to both sexes. Women need men as partners in reproductive health who understand the risks they might be exposed to and strategies for their prevention.  (+info)

Infertility services and managed care. (3/207)

The birth of the McCaughey septuplets in Iowa in November 1997 brought issues of fertility assistance and their potential outcomes to worldwide attention. This Pergonal-stimulated multiple pregnancy ended successfully, but not without health hurdles and economic consequences for the new siblings and their family. This article reviews the general situation surrounding infertility services and, within the current debate of epidemiological, economic, legal and social issues, posits that managed care may be able to make greater strides than the present fee-for-service system in providing more accessible and comprehensive care to the 5.3 million US citizens at risk for infertility. Our conclusions suggest that managed care plans for infertility can aid in assuring quality and decreasing unnecessary costs. Managed care organizations should take the lead in providing infertile couples with an organized, humanistic approach that is mindful of the attending social issues. On May 5, 1997, a US District court in Chicago ruled that infertility fits the definition of a disability, and thus is subject to the antidiscrimination enforcement under the Americans with Disabilities Act.  (+info)

Rapid appraisal of needs in reproductive health care in southern Sudan: qualitative study. (4/207)

OBJECTIVES: To identify the need for reproductive health care among a community affected by conflict, and to ascertain the priority given by the community to reproductive health issues. DESIGN: Rapid appraisal. This comprised interviews with key informants, in-depth interviews, and group discussions. Secondary data were collated. Freelisting, ranking, and scenarios were used to obtain information. SETTING: Communities affected by conflict in southern Sudan. PARTICIPANTS: Interviews and group discussions were chosen purposively. Twenty interviews with key informants were undertaken, in-depth interviews were held with 14 women, and 23 group discussions were held. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Need for reproductive health care. Perceived priority afforded to reproductive health issues in comparison with other health problems. RESULTS: Reproductive health in general and sexually transmitted diseases in particular were important issues for these communities. Problems in reproductive health were ranked differently depending on the age and sex of the respondents. Perceptions about reproductive health issues in communities varied between service providers, and community leaders. Settled and displaced communities had different priorities and differing experiences of reproductive health problems and their treatment. CONCLUSION: Rapid appraisal could be used as the first step to involving communities in assessing needs and planning service provision.  (+info)

Some thoughts on ICPD+5.(5/207)

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Integrating reproductive health: myth and ideology. (6/207)

Since 1994, integrating human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) services with primary health care, as part of reproductive health, has been advocated to address two major public health problems: to control the spread of HIV; and to improve women's reproductive health. However, integration is unlikely to succeed because primary health care and the political context within which this approach is taking place are unsuited to the task. In this paper, a historical comparison is made between the health systems of Ghana, Kenya and Zambia and that of South Africa, to examine progress on integration of HIV/STD services since 1994. Our findings indicate that primary health care in Ghana, Kenya and Zambia has been used mainly by women and children and that integration has meant adding new activities to these services. For the vertical programmes which support these services, integration implies enhanced collaboration rather than merged responsibility. This compromise between comprehensive rhetoric and selective reality has resulted in little change to existing structures and processes; problems with integration have been exacerbated by the activities of external donors. By comparison, in South Africa integration has been achieved through political commitment to primary health care rather than expanding vertical programmes (top-down management systems). The rhetoric of integration has been widely used in reproductive health despite lack of evidence for its feasibility, as a result of the convergence of four agendas: improving family planning quality; the need to improve women's health; the rapid spread of HIV; and conceptual shifts in primary health care. International reproductive health actors, however, have taken little account of political, financial and managerial constraints to implementation in low-income countries.  (+info)

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CPD and its aftermath: throwing out the baby?  (+info)

Assessment of impact on health of residents living near the Nant-y-Gwyddon landfill site: retrospective analysis. (8/207)

OBJECTIVES: To compare indices of health in a population living near a landfill site with a population matched for socioeconomic status and to review environmental monitoring data. DESIGN: Ecological study with small area statistics and environmental reports. SETTING: Electoral wards in valleys of South Wales. SUBJECTS: Populations in the five wards near the landfill site who had formally complained of odours (exposed population), and comparison populations in 22 wards in the same unitary authority within the same fifth of Townsend score. OUTCOME MEASURES: Mortality, rates of hospital admission, measures of reproductive health (proportion of all births and stillbirths of infants weighing <2500 g; rates of admissions for spontaneous abortion; rates of all reported congenital malformations). Environmental data on site emissions. RESULTS: There were no consistent differences in mortality, rates of hospital admissions, or proportion of low birthweight infants between the two populations. There was an increased maternal risk of having a baby with a congenital abnormality in residents near the site, both before its opening (relative risk 1.9; 95% confidence interval 1.3 to 2.85; P<0.001) and after (1.9; 1.23 to 2.95; P=0.003). Environmental monitoring showed that hydrogen sulphide from the site was probably responsible for odours. CONCLUSIONS: The area surrounding the landfill site has an increased rate of reported congenital malformations, which predated the opening of the landfill, although the cluster of cases of gastroschisis post-dated its opening. Several chemicals emitted from the site, including hydrogen sulphide and benzene, were found in air samples in the nearby community. Further studies of the reproductive risk in such communities are needed to examine the safety of waste disposal sites.  (+info)