June 2005

Council Board Convenes in Mexico City, Elects New Leadership,
Meets with President Fox

Council trustees and staff members with President Vicente Fox of Mexico (front row, center). To the left of Fox is the late board chairman Rodney Wagner and Mexico’s Minister of Health Julio Frenk; to the right, new Council president Peter Donaldson and LAC director Ana Langer. Photo credit: Gustavo Benítez

The 119th meeting of the board of trustees was held January 9–12 in Mexico City, the Council’s regional headquarters in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The first order of business was the appointment of Peter J. Donaldson
as Council president; Jotham Musinguzi, director of the Population Secretariat in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Uganda, was elected a trustee (see related stories)

On Monday, January 10, LAC Regional Director Ana Langer
outlined for the board the key challenges and trends in LAC and their implications for the Council’s work. “Poverty and inequality drive many problems in the region,” she said. “Inequality in LAC is among the most extreme in the world, with the wealthiest 5 percent of the population holding 24 percent of national income across the region.” Langer noted that disparities in health outcomes and access to services reflect the income gap, and that the semblance of regional economic growth and development obscures large pockets of deep poverty. She also cited the importance of such trends as urbanization, the growth of mega-cities, the rural/urban transition, and international labor migration. Langer’s remarks were followed by LAC staff presentations.

LAC staff presentations
Ricardo Vernon, of the Frontiers in Reproductive Health program, described efforts to increase women’s access to and knowledge of reliable contraceptive methods and technologies, including intrauterine devices and emergency contraception.

Karla Berdichevsky, of the Reproductive Health (RH) program, explained that in Mexico maternal mortality is considered an indicator of inequality and that rates have

A sewing class at the Oportunidades secondary        Women at an Oportunidades clinic class on school.                                                                      infant health. To deliver at the clinic, mothers-                                                                                 to-be agree to attend classes and bring their Photo credit: Leena Ruusuvaara                              children for vaccinations and check-ups.

not declined in ten years. Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal death among rural, less-educated, and indigenous women in Mexico; the Council is testing an anti-shock garment—developed in the United States to stabilize trauma victims—for efficacy and suitability in helping save lives among women from rural areas who may lack immediate access to transfusions and/or surgical treatment. The study is being conducted in low-resource primary care facilities and in rural hospitals.

Sandra García, director of the Council’s RH Program for LAC, reported on the high rates of unsafe abortion in the region, noting in fact that LAC has the world’s highest annual incidence of unsafe abortion. Over the past decade, Council staff in Mexico have developed a strong portfolio of research documenting the public health burden of unsafe abortion. Congruent with these research activities, the Council is working to improve public knowledge of the circumstances under which women have a legal right to an abortion and to build awareness that access to safe, legal abortion services, as well as postabortion care, is critical to saving women’s lives.

Jennifer Catino, of the Gender, Family, and Development program, reported that poor, rural, and indigenous women have far less say in their own lives than do their better-off peers. The Council is undertaking 14 interventions across the region to promote greater gender equity. The 2002 diagnostic study of the circumstances of Mayan adolescent girls in Guatemala* has led to an intervention that gives older, literate girls in that country opportunities to serve as “change agents” while serving as full-time interns with Mayan nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Boys learning carpentry in the secondary school. Photo credit: Leena Ruusuvaara

Daniel Grossman, of the RH program, described efforts of Council staff to curtail the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In Bolivia, they studied rapid point-of-care tests to overcome women’s inadequate access to laboratory services; the tests enable health care providers to inform clients about their health status and provide treatment in a single visit. Plans are under way to scale up the program in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and USAID, which will purchase the rapid-strip tests. In the Dominican Republic, the Council is studying the use of female-controlled barrier methods to stem the spread of STIs among women who are unable to negotiate condom use, and in Brazil, Council staff are seeking to introduce STI home-testing, to allow women concerned about stigma to conduct these tests in privacy.

Juan Díaz, Council representative in Brazil, noted that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is growing among the poor and women. The disease is spreading most rapidly in Brazil’s outer regions, as opposed to the urban areas, where the epidemic has stabilized. The Council is assessing the efficacy of a “health on the road” program, which serves truckers through a mobile clinic.

In conclusion, Langer said LAC staff plan to go beyond research to advocacy and to continue their focus on difficult issues such as HIV/AIDS, emergency contraception, and adolescents’ health, as well as educating donors about the social and economic disparities in the region.

Trustee Angel Gurría, Mexico’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Secretary of the Treasury, commented, “Poor and underserved populations in Latin America are larger than those in many sub-Saharan countries. Countries such as Bolivia and Guatemala—where populations are very poor and mostly illiterate, but local institutions are strong—present opportunities to have a great impact.” Langer added, “Because institutions in the region conduct high-quality research, LAC is also well positioned to share best practices that can be applied in other regions of the developing world.”

*See Momentum, May 2003: http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/momentum/default.htm

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