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AMERICAS The Population Council has been working on programs and research in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) since the 1960s. Staff members in the Council's Mexico office have conducted activities in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, and Peru. Additional projects and country offices are located in Bolivia, Brazil, and Guatemala. The Population Council's program in Latin American and the Caribbean is extensive and includes biomedical, social science, and operations research projects. Council efforts are designed to inform public policies that promote client-centered services and reproductive and sexual health. Another goal is to support expanded service access—especially for underserved or neglected populations, such as adolescents, indigenous people, and rural women. Specific initiatives include research to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, improve the quality of contraceptive services, introduce emergency contraception, and address unsafe and legal abortion. Other efforts seek to prevent and treat sexually transmitted infections, particularly congenital syphilis and cervical infections (such as chlamydia and gonorrhea), as well as the human papillomavirus, which can lead to cervical cancer and is a leading killer of women in LAC. Additional objectives of Council research are minimizing the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and, where abortion is legal, increasing its safety. In many countries governments are also seeking ways to improve postabortion care. Research on gender issues which takes into account both socioeconomic position and ethnicity has documented women's perceptions of their own reproductive health and sexuality. Several pioneering studies were done in Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru regarding breastfeeding as well as domestic violence and HIV/AIDS. Currently, a major objective in this area is encouraging men's participation as supportive partners and fathers. Projects in this area have been completed recently in Bolivia and Guatemala. The Council manages two global operations research programs in collaboration with partner organizations. Both programs work in the LAC region. The Horizons Program identifies effective HIV/AIDS interventions and policies; tests prevention, care, support, and service delivery strategies; and disseminates and promotes utilization of findings. The Council's Frontiers in Reproductive Health conducts research to improve the delivery of family planning and reproductive health services. Projects have also been implemented in the Dominican Republic and Brazil, where the Council conducts a range of HIV/AIDS studies. Indigenous adolescent girls in Guatemala must cope with the transition to adulthood without access to high-quality educational, health, and other social services. The Population Council has launched a one-year diagnostic study to better understand these girls. Data obtained will provide the basis to develop appropriate, feasible, and effective interventions. In Mexico, research is underway to evaluate the World Health Organization's (WHO) Reproductive Health Library. WHO implemented this project in hospital maternity departments to see if having the resource library translated into changed clinical practices. For details on specific programs and
countries, see the individual country profiles. See the staff
list for names and
e-mail addresses of key staff members in this region.
See Also
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