Reproductive Health News and Research

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Low-carbohydrate diet may help prepubescent girls avoid obesity associated risks

A low-carbohydrate diet may help prepubescent girls avoid some risks associated with obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease, according to research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

2 Dec 2011

Quick impact interventions have not benefited health MDGs equally

Serious global discussions have begun in the lead-up to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) deadline of 2015. Governments and international agencies are asking what has been achieved, what still needs to be done and how best to proceed after the deadline.

29 Nov 2011

Tenofovir gel no more effective than placebo gel in preventing HIV

An independent review of the VOICE study, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and conducted by the Microbicide Trials Network, determined that tenofovir gel was no more effective than placebo gel in preventing HIV.

28 Nov 2011

NIH-led study advances HIV vaccine research

HIV is coated in sugars that usually hide the virus from the immune system. Newly published research reveals how one broadly neutralizing HIV antibody actually uses part of the sugary cloak to help bind to the virus. The antibody binding site, called the V1/V2 region, represents a suitable HIV vaccine target, according to the scientists who conducted the study. In addition, their research reveals the detailed structure of the V1/V2 region, the last part of the virus surface to be visualized at the atomic level.

24 Nov 2011

Prioritizing the family planning needs of young women

The world reached a population milestone in October, but "in the many discussions that have sprung up around the seven billion benchmark -- all of them important and illuminating -- I don't hear enough about our world's most vulnerable: our youth," Jill Sheffield, founder and president of Women Deliver, writes in this Huffington Post opinion piece.

23 Nov 2011

EC launches new project to improve health research and education in Africa

The European Commission has launched a project to improve health research and education in Africa by setting up excellence centres supported by advanced information and communications technologies.

22 Nov 2011

Review highlights promising interventions to improve reproductive health of women living with HIV in developing countries

An article published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society on Friday "reviews the evidence of what works to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs of women living with HIV in developing countries and includes 35 studies and evaluations of eight general interventions using various methods of implementation science from 15 countries."

21 Nov 2011

Teenage girls with recurrent PID face fivefold risk of chronic pelvic pain and high rates of infertility

A study of the long-term consequences of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center shows repeated bouts of the disease can double a woman's risk of infertility and quadruple her risk of chronic pelvic pain.

9 Nov 2011

Reuters examines reproductive health issues in Russia

Reuters examines abortion, contraception and sex education in Russia, where, "two decades after the Soviet Union's collapse, wider availability of contraception and a resurgence of religion have reduced the numbers of abortions overall, but termination remains the top method of birth control in Russia."

9 Nov 2011

Education for women, girls a more effective strategy than family planning to solve global problems

In a post in the National Review's "The Corner," Christopher White, international director of operations for the World Youth Alliance, responds to a New York Times opinion piece published Wednesday in which columnist Nicholas Kristof hailed family planning as a solution to "many of the global problems that confront us."

5 Nov 2011

Health law's reproductive health provisions continue to draw criticism

At a Wednesday subcommittee hearing, faith-based providers and some House Republicans lamented new federal rules that they say could erode long-standing "conscience clauses."

4 Nov 2011

Opinion pieces address world population of 7 billion

Though demographers do not know exactly when the world's population will hit seven billion, the U.N. symbolically marked the day on Monday with celebrations and warnings about safety, health and sustainability.

2 Nov 2011

Exclusion of family planning, HIV prevention from Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership is 'counter-intuitive'

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, examines the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership, which was launched last month by PEPFAR in conjunction with the George W. Bush Institute, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and UNAIDS with the aim of "integrating cervical and breast cancer education, screening, and treatment with HIV services."

2 Nov 2011

PEPFAR and women's health in South Africa

This report, titled "Improving Women's Heath in South Africa: Opportunities for PEPFAR," by Janet Fleischman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that with "major change ... unfolding in health and HIV services in South Africa," "[t]he United States can find feasible, flexible ways to support" the decentralization of "HIV services to the primary care level ... even though its health program through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is scaling down.

31 Oct 2011

Oral hormonal contraceptives linked to blood clots: Study

A new study has shown that women who use new type of contraceptive pills are twice as likely to develop life threatening blood clots as those who take older versions. Oral hormonal contraceptives have been known to increase the risk of a blood clot in deep leg veins, known as venous thromboembolism (VTE). These can prove fatal if they travel to the lungs. But, researchers at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, found the “third-generation” pills are doubly harmful than the older versions.

30 Oct 2011

Five actions necessary to achieve sustainable development, 'green economy' and environmental change

As the global media speculate on the number of people likely to inhabit the planet on Oct. 31 an international team of population and development experts argue that it is not simply the number of people that matters but more so their distribution by age, education, health status and location that is most relevant to local and global sustainability.

28 Oct 2011

U.N. report calls for investment in health, education as world population approaches 7 billion

"Instead of worrying about sheer numbers when the world's population hits seven billion next week, we should think about how to make the planet a better place for people to live in, the United Nations said" in its report, "The State of World Population 2011," released Wednesday, Reuters reports.

28 Oct 2011

Global Post interviews former U.N. General Assembly president on role of water, sanitation in family planning

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog interviewed Ambassador Jan Eliasson, former president of the U.N. General Assembly and Sweden's former minister for foreign affairs, on how water and sanitation play a part in family planning, as the world's population approaches seven billion.

28 Oct 2011

Disconnecting global AIDS from reproductive health stalled efforts to expand family planning services, UNFPA head says

Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNPFA), said in an interview with the Guardian that "efforts to expand family planning services in the developing world stalled for a decade while global health organizations turned their energies to fighting HIV/AIDS. 'We made a mistake. We disconnected HIV from reproductive health. We should never have done that because it is part and parcel,' he said."

27 Oct 2011

Opinion pieces respond to U.N. special rapporteur's report on reproductive health policies

Several opinion pieces respond to a report presented on Monday to the U.N. General Assembly by Arnand Grover, U.N. special rapporteur for the Right to Health, that "considers the impact of criminal and other legal restrictions on abortion; conduct during pregnancy; contraception and family planning; and the provision of sexual and reproductive education and information," according to the report summary.

27 Oct 2011

Reproductive Health News and Research

Low-carbohydrate diet may help prepubescent girls avoid obesity associated risks

Quick impact interventions have not benefited health MDGs equally

Tenofovir gel no more effective than placebo gel in preventing HIV

NIH-led study advances HIV vaccine research

Prioritizing the family planning needs of young women

EC launches new project to improve health research and education in Africa

Review highlights promising interventions to improve reproductive health of women living with HIV in developing countries

Teenage girls with recurrent PID face fivefold risk of chronic pelvic pain and high rates of infertility

Reuters examines reproductive health issues in Russia

Education for women, girls a more effective strategy than family planning to solve global problems

Health law's reproductive health provisions continue to draw criticism

Opinion pieces address world population of 7 billion

Exclusion of family planning, HIV prevention from Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership is 'counter-intuitive'

PEPFAR and women's health in South Africa

Oral hormonal contraceptives linked to blood clots: Study

Five actions necessary to achieve sustainable development, 'green economy' and environmental change

U.N. report calls for investment in health, education as world population approaches 7 billion

Global Post interviews former U.N. General Assembly president on role of water, sanitation in family planning

Disconnecting global AIDS from reproductive health stalled efforts to expand family planning services, UNFPA head says

Opinion pieces respond to U.N. special rapporteur's report on reproductive health policies

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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

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