Population Briefs, the Population Council's semi-annual research newsletter, summarizes new peer-reviewed research published by the Council in scholarly journals.
Surveying young people in Egypt before and after the revolution | Assessing the long-term impact of the PRACHAR project in India | Early and unintended pregnancy: Impact on educational opportunities for adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa | Involving men in family planning in Pakistan
Understanding the adolescent experience in Tanzania | New program demonstrates success in reducing gender-based violence in Bangladesh | Effects of the new one-year reusable Nestorone®/ethinyl estradiol contraceptive vaginal ring on risks of vaginal infection | Estimating population-based characteristics of people who inject drugs in Kenya
Making sexuality and HIV education programs more effective | Reducing adolescent girls’ vulnerability to sexual violence in sub-Saharan Africa | Developing a highly acceptable contraceptive vaginal ring | Creating a database of HIV prevention clinical trial terminology and translations
Ethiopian projects build girls’ assets to help them avoid HIV, other risks | New insight into sexuality, gender issues, and gender-based violence in South Asia | Client and provider perspectives on adolescent reproductive and sexual health services in India | New study provides first global accounting of urban water sources and stress
Preclinical study shows microbicide gel’s effectiveness against HIV and other viruses | Ensuring that family planning programs respect, protect, and fulfill women’s rights | The influence of rural women’s autonomy on marital violence in four Indian states | Meeting the needs of adolescent girls: Using research to develop and implement programs that improve girls’ lives
“Anything can happen anytime”: Perceived lack of safety among girls in South Africa | Expanding contraceptive options for breastfeeding women: Introduction of the progesterone contraceptive vaginal ring | Reducing unmet need for contraception: Helping women to continue effective use | Estimating the size of key populations in Nairobi, Kenya
This special issue of Population Briefs focuses on 60 years of groundbreaking Population Council research.
Advancing long-acting reversible contraception | Shaping policy and practice: The Council's peer-reviewed journals | Bringing to light the hazards of smoking when using the Pill | Improving quality of care in family planning | Using research to improve programs | Developing microbicides to combat HIV transmission | Broadening the response to population momentum | Charting a positive future for girls in developing countries | Identifying the HIV risk and sexual health needs of men who have sex with men in Africa | Shaping abortion reform in Mexico City | Ensuring protections for young people in research | Placing equality, respect, and dignity at the center of sexuality and HIV education
Understanding and empowering migrant girls | Study highlights data needed to reduce child marriage | Researchers call for a green contraceptive research and development agenda | Lessons from a decade of MSM research in sub-Saharan Africa
Family planning road map points way to equitable access | Improving adherence in microbicide clinical trials: Lessons learned and recommendations | Increasing girls’ protective assets in rural Upper Egypt | Menstruation accounts for only small proportion of girls’ absenteeism in Malawi, study suggests
Population Council research defines broad benefits of family planning | Council-partnered family planning foundation significantly reduces risk of unintended pregnancy among poor women in the United States | Council research offers insights into meeting the health needs of vulnerable female sex workers | Council research improves HIV policy for male migrants in India
The power of family planning to improve lives and strengthen societies | Population Council programs offer evidence-based approaches to protecting adolescent girls at risk of HIV | Prioritize maternal morbidity, says Council expert
The potential role of community-based pregnancy and delivery care in reducing maternal and newborn mortality in rural Pakistan | Education helps girls overcome a history of disadvantage | Comparing computer and face-to-face interviewing | Vaginal microbicide combination shown effective in monkeys
Understanding the HIV risk and sexual health needs of men who have sex with men | Reducing HIV-related stigma | Improving the lives of children orphaned or made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS | Promoting gender equity to fight HIV | Increasing access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected adults and children | Shaping policies and programs to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV | The Horizons program
Improving policies and programs to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence and HIV | Shaping evidence-based policies and programs for vulnerable children in Uganda | Some lubricants increase HIV replication and may cause rectal tissue damage | National surveys provide insights into lives of adolescents in Egypt and Ethiopia
Detailing impact of Mexico's landmark legislation | Discovery advances knowledge about link between herpes and HIV infection | Increasing the availability of postabortion care services | Bringing clarity to gender equity programs
Sperm structure acts as protein gate | Integrating gender and rights into sex and HIV education | Best practices for expanding access to emergency contraception | Studies explore the sexual health needs of HIV-positive adolescents
Donors should prioritize prevention, analysis finds | Mirena® proved useful in women with endometrial cancer and precancer, preserving fertility | Young people in India: Their situation and their needs | Targeting violence against women in Bolivia and Vietnam
Abortions in Mexico increased by a third in 16 years | Study finds link between phthalate and low birth weight | Program shown to significantly delay child marriage | Family planning programs remarkably successful | Trial showed anti-HIV microbicide candidate is safe, but did not prove it effective
Empowering married young women in India and improving their sexual and reproductive health | Enhancing promotion of the female condom | Identifying the “bridging population” in Pakistan | Analysis examines availability and use of data for development
Despite laws, too many girls marry early | New data guides bring adolescents into focus | Urban transformation calls for new approach to health services | South African program promotes “resilience” and improves post-rape care | Attention to neglected postnatal period saves lives | Contraceptive research leads to an array of options
IUDs: A beneficial, underused contraceptive technology | Council researcher studies Egyptian economic paradox | Self-sampling for RTIs is valid, feasible, acceptable | Straight talk increases knowledge, improves behavior | Pakistani girls' teachers more likely to be absent
Reducing FGM/C among Somali girls in Kenya | Computerized interviewing validated in Brazil | Addressing the HIV prevention needs of men who have sex with men in Africa | Illuminating the mechanisms of sperm maturation | Has the HIV epidemic peaked?
Chemical postmaster helps deliver contraceptive to testis | Complex role for marriage in HIV risk, studies find | Examining the rollout of pediatric antiretroviral treatment in South Africa | Focused antenatal care acceptable, tricky to implement | New book explores political dimensions of population growth
Innovative program dramatically lowers child mortality in Ghana | Comprehensive program successfully decreases HIV risk behaviors | Pakistan: Multifaceted approach reduces infant deaths | Tests suggest new microbicide will have improved efficacy
Vietnamese health policies to improve fairness may miss ethnic minorities, study finds | Bad experiences underlie pregnancy-related dropout | Council works to reduce unsafe abortion in Mexico | Support programs aid vulnerable African children | Phthalates toxic to testosterone-producing cells
Unexplored elements of adolescence in the developing world | Low morale found among South African nurses | Surviving catastrophe: The elderly in Cambodia | Ethical implications of working with children | Council researchers wrestle with SUMO
Ishraq expands horizons for girls in rural Upper Egypt | Council biologist discovers stem Leydig cells | Meeting explores pricing of pharmaceutical products | Could eliminating malaria significantly extend life expectancy? | Poverty and school dropout in Pakistan
Council study clarifies states of vulnerable populations after Pakistan earthquake | Partner-delivered therapy viable in resource-poor areas | Illuminating the status of Mayan girls in Guatemala | CDB-2914 may be an effective fibroid treatment
Mixed success involving men in maternal care worldwide | Bengali perceptions of adult mortality trends distorted | Unsafe behaviors most common among poor women | Maternal health education needed in Pakistan
Globalization is transforming adolescence in the developing world | Guide for improving adherence to drug therapies | Emergency contraception's mode of action clarified | Sperm with bent tails point to possible male contraceptive | Postabortion complications prevalent in Pakistan
Physical abuse common during pregnancy in South Asia, studies find | Low chemical exposure may speed male puberty | Expanding a successful health care initiative | Can livelihoods training alter girls' lives?
Carraguard™ may block HIV by adhering to cells | Enhancing HIV/AIDS care in South India | How long will we live? Demographers refine estimates | Investigating IUD demand in Ghana and Guatemala | Potential data biases in studies exposed | Schooling trends in Africa: New assessment methods needed
Making public pensions sustainable | Bias against women in South Asia shortens lifespan | Combating HIV on multiple fronts | Review finds scarce documentation on quality-of-care efforts | Is focus on premarital sex in Vietnam warranted? | Approaches to researching women's reproductive health
Reproductive health program for youth successful in Kenya | Education, wealth play different roles in health | Door-to-door delivery enhances women's status in Bangladesh | Reducing c-sections may require multifaceted approach | Lessons from introducing postabortion care in Egypt | Potential long-acting male contraceptive studied
Adolescent behavior in the context of AIDS in South Africa | End to childbearing delays could lead to fertility rise | Mirena®-induced drop in menstrual bleeding studied | New operations research handbook targets HIV/AIDS | Trends in disability and functioning among older adults in the United States and Taiwan
Education improves breastfeeding practices in Zambia | Focus on newborn survival needed in rural Pakistan | Hormone choice may reduce risks of menopause therapy | Innovative strategies reduce fertility in Ghana | The future of training population scientists
Broad survey of Pakistani youth completed | Egyptian working women's perceptions of marriage | Improved care increases contraceptive use | New population encyclopedia offers thorough review, reflects expanded scope of field | Transformation in world's cities explored | Unlocking the mechanism of androgen action
Bridging the safe motherhood knowledge gap | Decelerating pace and human development crucial elements of fertility transition | Illuminating the role of inhibins and activins in fertility | Motivations for and barriers to study participation | Public services found lacking in many developing-country cities | What factors affect the prevalence of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa?
Altering cell bonds in testis may yield contraceptive | Demographic change and regional affiliations in East Asia | Friends strongly influence contraceptive use in Ghana | Improving provider–client interactions in the Philippines | Maternal deaths in the Dominican Republic analyzed | New book documents transformations in reproductive health programs worldwide