Practicing medicine without a license: when church law shapes health care, patients suffer.
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Since the ICPD in 1994, the Government of Indonesia has struggled with the challenge of providing sexual and reproductive health education to adolescents. Following an attempt at a family-centred approach, a pilot project was carried out in Central and East Java to train peer educators, coordinated by the National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN). A total of 80 peer educators (male/female teams) carried out small-group information sessions in ten different districts. Over 1,300 adolescents attended in all. Forty peer counsellors in 20 teams then carried out five outreach sessions each in their communities, attended by nearly 4,000 adults and adolescents. Educators chosen were older in age, knowledge level, authority and communication skills than adolescents, but were well accepted as mentors. Adolescents wanted to know how to deal with sexual relationships and feelings, unwanted pregnancy and STDs. With 42 million Indonesian adolescents needing information, the government cannot produce enough manuals to satisfy demand. New strategies are required to put information in the public domain, e.g. via the media. The approach described in this paper would probably be beyond the staffing and resource capacity of most districts in Indonesia. Nonetheless, it shows that there was great enthusiasm across a variety of communities for efforts to educate young people on protecting their reproductive health.
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OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to compare new reproductive and family planning data with data from the 1981 survey. METHODS: All 15-49-year-old married women living in seven villages of Gemlik were interviewed and the data were compared with the 1981 data of the same villages. RESULTS: In 1981, 66.8% used a family planning method, 6.8% used an intrauterine device, 10.2% used oral contraceptives and 10.0% used condoms. In 2001, these values were 93.0%, 36.5%, 6.0% and 14.8%, respectively. In 1981, 51.5% and in 2001 35.5% used coitus interruptus. CONCLUSION: In 20 years, users of both current family planning methods and modem methods have increased; users of traditional methods have decreased.
The monthly distribution of conceptions among adolescents and the proportion of adolescent pregnancies that are voluntarily terminated by induced abortion by month of conception are the objects of this study. Additionally, seasonal variations in the timing of initiation of prenatal care services by adolescents are investigated. Vital records files of single live births, fetal deaths, and induced terminations of pregnancy to residents in the State of South Carolina, 1979-86, were aggregated to estimate conceptions. There was a significant difference between adolescents and adults in the monthly distribution of conceptions. The peak month of adolescent conceptions coincided with the end of the school year. Pregnancies of adolescents occurring at this time further demonstrated later access of prenatal care services than conceptions occurring at other times of the year, most notably during the school term. These findings suggest that there is considerable opportunity for improving the availability of reproductive health care services for adolescents. The results specifically suggest the potential benefit of increasing adolescent pregnancy prevention efforts prior to high-risk events and increasing the availability of and access to health care and counseling services to adolescents during the school recess months of the summer.
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BACKGROUND: Low birth weight (LBW) is a public health problem linked to lack of equity in populations. Despite efforts to decrease the proportion of newborns with LBW, success has been quite limited. In recent years, studies focused on explaining how social factors influence this problem have shown that populations with greater inequities have a greater proportion of newborns with LBW. METHODS: The objective was to describe socioeconomic factors related to LBW adjusted by demographic, reproductive and health services variables in Mexico City. A case-control study was carried out in three hospitals with gynaecological and obstetrics services in Mexico City during the first half of 1996. During the recruiting period all children with LBW (cases), defined as newborns weighing <2500 grams, were matched with children born on the same day to control for time of birth. Upon arrival at the hospital for delivery, women were interviewed to determine if they met our inclusion criteria. Women with a history of chronic conditions and those with twin or multiple pregnancies were excluded. Variables with clinical and statistical significance were included in a multivariate model (logistic regression). RESULTS: We found that low socioeconomic level was the most important risk factor for LBW and was independent of other factors, including those related to reproduction and nutrition, smoking, morbidity during pregnancy, accessibility to health services and prenatal care (OR 2.68; 95% CI 1.19, 6.03). CONCLUSION: We found that socioeconomic factors are relevant to LBW. However further research should be done in different population groups as well as developing precise ways of measuring socioeconomic factors and their role in reproductive health.
The concept of reproductive health has changed throughout the years until it has come to be understood as a constant that goes beyond biological concerns and is related to the values, culture, and personal fulfillment of each human being. It encompasses, therefore, a wide range of action in individual and family life as well as in the collective development of populations. Promoting and maintaining reproductive health requires quality services with equitable access. PAHO has cooperated in this field with Member States for over 30 years, during which maternal and child mortality has diminished, the notion of integral adolescent health has been disseminated, the subject has been added to professional health curriculums, pertinent activities have been integrated into the health services, and new data have been gathered to inform policies and activities on reproductive health. The present situation of national health sector reforms presents a unique opportunity for approaching anew old problems related to reproductive health, to examine policies and strategies, and to implement changes that reaffirm the commitments made in international forums.
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CONTEXT: The IUD once accounted for about half of contraceptive use among Navajo women but is now little used in this population, which has a high rate of unintended pregnancy. Identifying barriers to use--including those stemming from providers' IUD-related knowledge, attitudes and practices--could help expand use of the method. METHODS: In 2000, 107 Navajo Area Indian Health Service providers who offer contraceptive services completed a mailed survey. Responses of women's health providers and other types of providers were compared, using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel method. RESULTS: Overall, 69-78% of providers had good factual knowledge about the IUD and felt adequately prepared to insert a device or counsel women about it; considerably larger proportions of women's health providers than of others felt able to counsel about and insert IUDs. Sixty-five percent of providers (88% of women's health providers and 50% of others) currently inserted IUDs, and only 8% (none of them women's health providers) never recommended the method. The main reasons providers cited for not recommending the IUD were concerns about its safety and about side effects (mentioned by 69% and 44%, respectively); these concerns did not differ by provider type. CONCLUSIONS: Provider education and training should focus on insertion techniques and on the safety of available IUDs. Training should be targeted not only to women's health providers, but to family practice physicians, nurse practitioners and other providers who offer family planning counseling and services.
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OBJECTIVE: To describe reproductive health needs and screening rates for breast and cervical cancer for newly arrived (less than 90 days) refugee women in the United States. DESIGN: A retrospective study of existing medical charts from 1996 to 2000. SETTING: Refugee health screening clinic, central Texas. PATIENTS: Refugee women (n = 283) newly arrived in the United States from Cuba (31.1%), Bosnia (26.1%), Vietnam (24.7%), and other countries (18.0%); age range = 18 to 74 years, mean age = 34.4 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of reproductive health problems and breast and cervical cancer screening rates. RESULTS: Twenty-five percent of women in the sample were pregnant or had a reproductive health problem. A significant percentage older than 40 (86%) had never had a mammogram when compared to American women of the same age (33%). Only 24% reported having had a Pap test within the previous 3 years. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of not receiving adequate reproductive health care is higher among newly arrived refugee women compared to nonrefugee women in the United States. For refugee women to enjoy optimum health, their individual needs and health care system issues must be addressed.