Contraceptive News and Research

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Survey shows rise in unprotected sex among youth, raises concern about sex education

"The number of young people having unprotected sex in the West has risen sharply over the past two years," according to a global survey conducted by the International Planned Parenthood Federation between April and May of this year, Agence France-Presse reports.

28 Sep 2011

With increasing population, now is not the time to cut international family planning funding

Robert Walker, executive vice president of the Population Institute, writes in this Huffington Post opinion piece that despite an increase in government and NGO support for maternal and child health programs, including family planning services, announced last week by the U.N. as part of its Every Woman, Every Child campaign, "the world's largest donor nation, the United States, is retreating on its commitments to international family planning, and other donor nations may follow suit."

27 Sep 2011

Rising number of young people having unprotected sex: Survey

A new study showed that the proportion of young people admitting to having had unprotected sex with a new partner has risen over the past two years.

26 Sep 2011

Global partnership accelerates progress in maternal, child health

In a post in the State Department's "DipNote" blog, Scott Radloff, director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health at USAID, examines how, for the past year, the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal, and Newborn Health, a partnership between USAID, the U.K. Department for International Development, the Australian Agency for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched at last year's U.N. General Assembly Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, has "accelerated progress in improving maternal and child health" worldwide.

23 Sep 2011

Berson UV used to treat hospital wastewater prior to discharge

Berson’s medium pressure UV systems are being used in a trial in the Netherlands to treat hospital wastewater prior to discharge. In the trial, UV is applied in combination with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to generate OH- radicals in a so-called “Advanced Oxidation Process” (AOP). The very reactive OH- radicals attack the pharmaceutical residues in the wastewater, breaking them down into H2O, CO2 and harmless metabolites.

21 Sep 2011

Financial and political commitments to improve health of women and children

In only one year, more than 100 countries, foundations, multilateral organizations, the UN, the private sector, and academic and professional associations have made unprecedented financial and political commitments to greatly improve the health of women and children.

21 Sep 2011

Qualitest recalls birth control pills citing “packaging error”

Alabama-based Qualitest Pharmaceuticals is voluntarily recalling several lots of birth control pills because of a packaging error that could leave women at risk for unplanned pregnancy, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced.

20 Sep 2011

LA BioMed andrologist leads new male contraceptive Phase I clinical study

Christina Wang, M.D., lead investigator at Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) - one of the leading biomedical research institutes in the country - is currently working on a Phase I single dose and multiple dose study that tests the safety and tolerability of a new androgen dimethandrolone undecanoate that is being developed as a potential male contraceptive agent.

20 Sep 2011

CONRAD announces results of SILCS Diaphragm contraceptive effectiveness study

CONRAD, a leading reproductive health research organization, will announce results of the SILCS Diaphragm contraceptive effectiveness study September 17th at the Reproductive Health 2011 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.

19 Sep 2011

Roundup: San Diego launches new HIV testing effort; Study finds economy hurt by Mass. health law; Texas schools turning to safe sex curriculum

The Centers for Disease Control says 20 percent of Americans with HIV don't know they're infected, and those people are responsible for about half of all new infections. A new effort in San Diego is trying to reduce those numbers by making HIV testing more widespread.

17 Sep 2011

Roundup: Major Mass. health system, insurer near reimbursement deal; HHS funds Planned Parenthood in N.H.; 10 Iowa towns to get healthy

Partners HealthCare System Inc. is close to reaching an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts that could provide relief to tens of thousands of insurance customers by slowing the rate of their premium increases, potentially by nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.

15 Sep 2011

IUDs may protect from cervical cancer

According to the results of an international study, coil contraceptive devices might protect women against developing cervical cancer even though they don't stop the infection that commonly leads to the disease.

14 Sep 2011

Intrauterine devices may lower risk of cervical cancer among users, study shows

Contraceptive intrauterine devices (IUDs), also called coils, "might actually protect women against developing cervical cancer even though they don't stop the infection that commonly leads to the disease," according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Oncology, Reuters reports.

14 Sep 2011

New contraceptive website for young women

Friends, the mainstream media and the internet, all potentially unreliable sources, continue to be the way America's young adults find their health information. Research has found that while they trust health professionals and health educators, they often do not turn to them for information, especially when it comes to their sexual health.

13 Sep 2011

Roundup: Scott's plan stalls to outsource Fla. prison health care; Calif. Blue Shield begins issuing credits after profit cap

Florida's plan to outsource health care in the third-largest U.S. prison system to save $30 million has stalled, hindering efforts by Governor Rick Scott and lawmakers to hire private operators for state services. Requests for proposals on the prison work were withdrawn last month less than a week after they were issued.

9 Sep 2011

Family planning, contraceptives a national priority for saving women's lives, U.N. meeting participants say

First ladies, health and finance ministers, and parliamentarians from 12 developing countries participating in the U.N. Population Fund's (UNFPA) Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security, which was launched in 2007, declared at a U.N. meeting held on Wednesday that "voluntary family planning, secured by a steady supply of contraceptives, is a national priority for saving women's lives," the U.N. News Centre reports.

9 Sep 2011

Rwandan health ministry campaign promotes vasectomy for family planning

"Rwanda's health ministry has launched a campaign encouraging men to undergo vasectomies, in an effort to curb population growth in Africa's most densely populated country," Reuters reports. The government says to compete with Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the country's economy must continue to grow at an average seven to eight percent per year, and to do so, "the birth rate must be below three children per family," according to the news agency.

8 Sep 2011