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Teenage condom use on the rise: CDC report

A federal survey revealed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday shows that sexually active teenagers are using condoms more often, but inconsistently.

13 Oct 2011

Arguing for better family planning worldwide is not coercive

In this post in the Guardian's "Response" column, Jenny Tonge, chair of the U.K. all-party parliamentary group on population, development and reproductive health, responds to a Guardian opinion piece published last month entitled "Welcome baby seven billion: we've room on Earth for you."

12 Oct 2011

Experts take study on contraceptive use, HIV risk seriously but warn about drawing conclusions prematurely because of study's 'methodological weaknesses'

In this post in RH Reality Check, Jodi Jacobson, editor-in-chief of the blog, responds to an article published in the New York Times on Tuesday regarding a study suggesting that "HIV-negative women using injectable contraception might face a two-fold risk of acquiring HIV from their infected partners, and that HIV-positive women using injectable contraceptives may be twice as likely to pass the virus on to their uninfected partners."

10 Oct 2011

Hormonal contraceptive shots and risk of HIV in African women

A new study from Africa reveals that using a hormone shot given every three months - the most popular contraceptive for women in eastern and southern Africa, may make it easier for HIV to spread between heterosexual sex partners.

5 Oct 2011

IOM essential benefits report — long-awaited — expected out later this week

The report will offer the Institute of Medicine's recommendations regarding how the health law's essential benefits package should be determined. In other health law news, federal regulators also must decide whether family planning should be included as a preventive care benefit. Religious groups say the "carve-out" exemption included in the draft regulations is too narrow.

3 Oct 2011

Abortions in Africa increased during 'Global Gag Rule,' Stanford University study shows

"In the first study to examine" the effects of a U.S. policy prohibiting foreign aid from going to any organization that performs abortions or provides information about or referral for the procedure as a method of family planning (often called the "Global Gag Rule" or "Mexico City Policy"), Stanford researchers Eran Bendavid and Grant Miller found that "the number of abortions increased in African countries where U.S. support for NGOs was cut the most," according to a Stanford University news release (Gorlick, 9/28).

1 Oct 2011

Analyzing the health law's tax credits and the CLASS Act's future

This round-up of health law implementation news also includes a report that the comment period for state health exchanges has been extended and news that Catholic organizations have stepped-up their opposition to the measure's requirement that contraceptive services be covered.

30 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 29, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that a Supreme Court ruling on the 2010 health law is now likely before the 2012 presidential election.

29 Sep 2011

Oral tenofovir discontinued in HIV clinical trial

A large-scale clinical trial evaluating whether daily use of an oral tablet or vaginal gel containing antiretroviral drugs can prevent HIV infection in women is being modified because an interim review found that the study cannot show that one of the study products, oral tenofovir, marketed under the trade name Viread, is effective.

29 Sep 2011

Think creatively to financially support global health and development goals

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, and Gro Brundtland, a board member of the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, the former prime minister of Norway, and the director-general emeritus of the WHO, discuss the notion of "innovative financing for development" and how, "faced with impending fiscal constraints, the international community has devised several promising financing models to protect investments in global health."

29 Sep 2011

VOICE HIV prevention trial to discontinue use of tenofovir tablets

VOICE, an HIV prevention trial evaluating two antiretroviral (ARV)-based approaches for preventing the sexual transmission of HIV in women - daily use of one of two different ARV tablets or of a vaginal gel - will be dropping one of the oral tablets from the study.

29 Sep 2011

FDA: Study suggests increased risk of blood clots from drospirenone-containing contraceptives

On Monday, the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") said its primary results of an agency funded study suggest a 1.5 fold increase risk of blood clots for women who use drospirenone-containing birth control products, such as Yaz and Yasmin.

28 Sep 2011

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