Transitions to Adulthood
Reproductive Health Program for Youth Successful in Kenya
Standardized interventions rarely meet all the needs of clients in every location. Thus, Population Council investigators have long advocated using social science research findings to guide program priorities. A recent evaluation of a reproductive health program for young Kenyans provides an example of the power of this method. Program strategies were tailored to specific geographic areas based on the results of research in the local communities. Not only was the intervention acceptable, but a postintervention survey found that young people living in the project area were more likely than other young people to discuss issues of sexuality with adults and to protect themselves against HIV infection and unwanted pregnancy.
Epidemiology
Education, Wealth Play Different Roles in Health
Much research has shown that the more educated and wealthy people are, the more likely they are to be healthy. Very few researchers, however, have investigated the relative contributions of education and wealth to various health-related processes. Population Council demographer Zachary Zimmer and University of Michigan researcher James S. House collaborated on a study of the roles played by education and wealth in the onset and progression of ill health.
Family Planning
Door-to-Door Delivery Enhances Women’s Status in Bangladesh
From 1978 until 1997, female family welfare assistants in Bangladesh delivered contraceptives to women in their homes. This service was stopped in 1997, in part because of the arguments of observers who believed that doorstep delivery of contraceptives may prevent improvements in women’s status by reinforcing the customs of patriarchy and purdah, or female seclusion. Population Council demographer James F. Phillips and his Morgan State University colleague Mian Bazle Hossain questioned the qualitative research evidence cited to support this change in policy and noted that other qualitative research had demonstrated that home services enhance the status of women over time. They conducted a large-scale statistical analysis to determine which perspective was supported by quantitative evidence.
Safe Motherhood
Reducing C-Sections May Require Multifaceted Approach
Latin America has some of the highest rates of cesarean section in the world, involving 25 to 30 percent of all deliveries. The World Health Organization recommends a safe target rate for c-sections of 15 percent. Researchers with the Latin American Cesarean Section Study Group, including Population Council regional director Ana Langer, investigated whether instituting mandatory second opinions in hospital obstetric wards would reduce the rate of unnecessary cesarean sections.
Field Report
Lessons from Introducing Postabortion Care in Egypt
Complications from unsafe or incomplete abortion include hemorrhage, severe infection, and shock. These conditions can arise with either induced or spontaneous abortion and can kill a woman if not treated promptly. Research has shown that women who experience complications from miscarriage or unsafe abortion are among the most neglected of all reproductive health care patients. In the early 1990s, Council staff in Egypt began discussions with government representatives about a program of work to improve post abortion care in that country. This initiative eventually developed from research investigations to program implementation, offering insights into working with sensitive topics like abortion and female genital cutting.
Biomedical Research
Potential Long-Acting Male Contraceptive Studied
Scientists know much more about the basic workings of the female reproductive system than about the male reproductive system. Thus, while for more than 40 years birth control pills and intrauterine devices have been providing highly effective, practical, and acceptable long-term contraception for women, the development of reversible long-term male contraception has confounded researchers. Recent research conducted by biomedical researchers at the Population Council’s Center for Biomedical Research and the Council’s International Committee for Contraception Research confirms the promise of MENT®, the Council’s trademarked synthetic androgen, as a component of a male contraceptive method.
