Reproductive Health News and Research

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Cervical Cancer vaccine, increased awareness could help lower disease rate in Kenya

AllAfrica.com/Guardian examine efforts to prevent and treat cervical cancer among women in Kenya, where an estimated 3,400 women die of the disease each year and only five percent receive screening.

14 Jun 2012

Viewpoints: Praise for insurers' move to keep consumer protections; Supreme Court's reputation falters

UnitedHealthcare, one of the nation's largest health insurers, announced this week that it would keep some of the popular benefits and consumer protections required by the federal health care law even if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of it. ... But such voluntary actions are not a substitute for the broader mandatory reforms that will take effect after 2014 under the law.

13 Jun 2012

IVF linked to increased relapse rate among MS patients

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is linked to an increased rate of relapse among women with multiple sclerosis (MS), suggests a small study published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.

12 Jun 2012

What are vitamins?

Most people have heard of vitamin C and its effects upon the body; but how much do you know about other vitamins? How many even are there? And what do they all do?

8 Jun 2012

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Nearly 15 million babies were born prematurely in 2010—more than one in ten of all births. Sixty percent of these premature babies were born in south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, but this is not just a problem of the poorest nations: the USA (517 000 preterm births) and Brazil (279 300) ranked in the top ten countries with the highest number of premature births in 2010. Worse still, over the past 20 years preterm birth rates have decreased in just three countries, according to the first ever national level estimates and time series published in this week’s Lancet.

8 Jun 2012

Successful pregnancies common for female liver transplant recipients

New research confirms that successful pregnancies are common for female liver transplant recipients. The study appearing in the June issue of Liver Transplantation, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, found miscarriage risk was lower and the live birth rate higher among women following liver transplantation than in the general U.S. population.

7 Jun 2012

WHO calls for greater vigilance on correct use of antibiotics against gonorrhoea

Millions of people with gonorrhoea may be at risk of running out of treatment options unless urgent action is taken, according to WHO. Already several countries, including Australia, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are reporting cases of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics - the last treatment option against gonorrhoea. Every year an estimated 106 million people are infected with gonorrhea, which is transmitted sexually.

7 Jun 2012

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

As the UN Special Rapporteur on maternal mortality in India points out there is a 'yawning gulf between commendable maternal mortality policies and their urgent, focused, sustained, systematic and effective implementation', the May issue of Reproductive Health Matters explores the causes and impact of this gap, but also highlights hopeful signs of progress.

2 Jun 2012

Poll: A third of women fear efforts to control reproductive rights

According to a poll conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than four in ten women have taken action in response to recent dustups on women's reproductive health issues.

1 Jun 2012

State roundup: Federal judge rejects Calif. request to end oversight of prison health care; States push prescription drug databases; Medicare drug benefit at issue in Utah Senate race

A federal judge rejected a request by California prison officials Wednesday to regain control of inmate health care, which has been under court-supervised receivership for six years, and said the state must first show it can provide adequate medical treatment. ... The current receiver, Clark Kelso, has reported improvements in the prisons' medical staff and facilities, and said a "turnaround plan" he proposed for the system in 2008 is about 80 percent complete.

1 Jun 2012

First Edition: May 31, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about various health-related measures currently on the move in Congress.

31 May 2012

Despite progress, more effort 'urgently' needed to prevent maternal mortality in Africa

Citing a U.N. report released in May, titled "Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010," which shows "the number of women worldwide dying of pregnancy and childbirth-related complications has almost halved in the last 20 years," Agnes Odhiambo, a researcher for women in Africa at Human Rights Watch, writes in this Inter Press Service opinion piece.

31 May 2012

Participants of 5th International Parliamentarian Conference on Population, Development reiterate commitment to 1994 program of action

"Participants at the Fifth International Parliamentarians' Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) ended a two-day meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday with a joint pledge to advocate for increased funding for full implementation of the decades-old ICPD Programme of Action," Inter Press Service reports.

30 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

World Health Assembly endorses Global Vaccine Action Plan

Ministers of Health from 194 countries at the Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly today endorsed a landmark Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), a roadmap to prevent millions of deaths by 2020 through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities.

28 May 2012

Prevalence of contraceptive use among women during first sexual encounter is 70.4%

Contraceptive use in Spain during the first sexual encounter is similar to other European countries. However, there are some geographical differences between Spanish regions: women in Murcia use contraceptives less (55.8%) whereas women in the Basque Country use them more (76.7%).

25 May 2012

Revive rights-based focus on women's health

"We need to revive the rights-based agenda and realign research priorities for women's health," journalist Priya Shetty writes in this SciDev.Net opinion piece. "The activists who fought to put human rights at the center of women's sexual and reproductive health, at the landmark International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994, may have won the battle -- but they are still fighting the war," she continues and outlines the "radical set of resolutions" produced by the conference.

25 May 2012

Scientists discover key gene essential for sperm development

A new type of male contraceptive could be created thanks to the discovery of a key gene essential for sperm development.

25 May 2012

Congressional appropriations decisions will affect women's health worldwide

"[E]vidence shows that family planning prevents the needless deaths of women worldwide," which should "be cause to sustain or even increase U.S. investments in these programs," Chloe Cooney, director of global advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), writes in this RH Reality Check blog post.

24 May 2012

Invest in proven ways to curb maternal mortality, morbidity

Christy Turlington Burns, maternal health advocate and founder of Every Mother Counts, notes in this GlobalPost "Global Pulse" opinion piece that "99 percent of women who die during or after childbirth live in the developing world," and women and girls ages 19 and younger are at a higher risk of maternal mortality and morbidity.

23 May 2012

Reproductive Health News and Research

Cervical Cancer vaccine, increased awareness could help lower disease rate in Kenya

Viewpoints: Praise for insurers' move to keep consumer protections; Supreme Court's reputation falters

IVF linked to increased relapse rate among MS patients

What are vitamins?

Preterm birth rates over past 20 years only dropped in 3 countries

Successful pregnancies common for female liver transplant recipients

WHO calls for greater vigilance on correct use of antibiotics against gonorrhoea

Yawning gulf between maternal mortality policies and implementation

Poll: A third of women fear efforts to control reproductive rights

State roundup: Federal judge rejects Calif. request to end oversight of prison health care; States push prescription drug databases; Medicare drug benefit at issue in Utah Senate race

First Edition: May 31, 2012

Despite progress, more effort 'urgently' needed to prevent maternal mortality in Africa

Participants of 5th International Parliamentarian Conference on Population, Development reiterate commitment to 1994 program of action

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

World Health Assembly endorses Global Vaccine Action Plan

Prevalence of contraceptive use among women during first sexual encounter is 70.4%

Revive rights-based focus on women's health

Scientists discover key gene essential for sperm development

Congressional appropriations decisions will affect women's health worldwide

Invest in proven ways to curb maternal mortality, morbidity

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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