Human Rights
Anti-trafficking Policies and Programs in Nepal May Infringe on Women's Rights
The Nepali government has established laws and programs to counter trafficking; nongovernmental organizations in Nepal have also targeted the crime. Recent research undertaken by the Population Council's Horizons program in conjunction with the Asia Foundation, however, reveals that many trafficking policies and programs may inadvertently infringe on the human rights of women who wish to migrate.
Immunology
Role of Dendritic Cells in HIV Infection Clarified
Population Council immunologist Melissa Pope has studied the action of dendritic cells during HIV infection for the past decade. In parallel with human studies, Pope uses rhesus macaques and the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) to model human HIV infection. Her findings have contributed to one of the widely accepted theories for the mechanism of sexual transmission of HIV. Positioned within the mucosa, dendritic cells are one of the first white blood cells that meet HIV following sexual or perinatal transmission and may be pivotal for the onset and spread of infection. Ultimately, Pope's work may identify ways to block the mucosal transmission of HIV with microbicidal formulations. This work may also provide clues in the search for a vaccine.
Child Health
Parents' Education Strongly Linked to Child Survival
Famine, drought, and war—often affecting civilian populations—have devastated many countries in Africa. Following such emergencies, most deaths in affected populations occurred among children under five years of age. Gebre-Egziabher Kiros, a Population Council Berelson Fellow, and Dennis P. Hogan, a Brown University professor, recently evaluated the role of parental education in the ability of children to survive such circumstances.
Education
Illuminating the Importance of School Quality in Egypt
Population Council social scientists Cynthia B. Lloyd, Barbara S. Mensch, and Wesley H. Clark, along with Sahar El Tawila of the American University in Cairo and other investigators, evaluated the effects of teachers' attitudes, gender inequities, the condition of school facilities, and other factors in Egypt. The assessment confirmed the importance of first-rate schools and overturned a widely held belief about gender-based disparities in the dropout rates of Egyptian students.
HIV Prevention
Involving Communities Improves Program Success
Beginning in 1999, researchers at the Population Council and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) initiated several activities to identify effective means of improving community involvement in efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. When programs solicit the opinions of community members and seek to reduce the stigma of HIV/AIDS by educating citizens, women's access to and willingness to seek help can be greatly enhanced. With support from Glaxo Wellcome's Positive Action Program and UNAIDS, the investigators reviewed the literature on community involvement and assessed community views on preventing mother-to-child transmission in Botswana and Zambia.
Program Evaluation
Assessment Methods Crucial to Program Design
The criteria used to assess family planning program success should be altered to reflect the broadened agenda of these programs instituted during the 1990s, argues Anrudh Jain, senior director of policy and regional programs in the Population Council's International Programs Division. Such a change will improve the ability of these expanded programs to incorporate reproductive health services. Jain recently tested an index designed to bring program assessment into line with program goals and design.
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