Reproductive Health News and Research

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Reproductive coercion and partner violence increase risk of unintended pregnancy

Young women and teenage girls often face efforts by male partners to sabotage birth control or coerce pregnancy - including damaging condoms and destroying contraceptives - and these efforts, defined as "reproductive coercion," frequently are associated with physical or sexual violence, a study by a team of researchers led by UC Davis has found.

25 Jan 2010

High intake of iron and copper can contribute to age-related disorders in older adults

With scientific evidence linking high levels of copper and iron to Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and other age-related disorders, a new report in ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology suggests specific steps that older consumers can take to avoid build up of unhealthy amounts of these metals in their bodies.

21 Jan 2010

Symposium to discuss strategies for prevention and treatment of infertility announced

ESHRE invites you to attend its campus symposium on 'Prevention and treatment of infertility in modern society'.

19 Jan 2010

CARE's disaster-response teams teach water purification techniques in earthquake-ravaged Haiti

CARE's disaster-response teams find themselves in a race against time in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, coaching survivors how to purify contaminated water and preparing hygiene kits to help prevent a secondary crisis: the outbreak of disease.

19 Jan 2010

Bone marrow transplantation survivors can father children: new study says

Men who were previously deemed sterile due to aggressive cancer treatments may still be able to biologically father children according to a new study published in the journal, Bone Marrow Transplantation.

18 Jan 2010

Also in Global Health News: Family planning in Philippines; drug pricing in Africa

A government survey in the Philippines "found 73 percent of married women would use birth control if it were available, 22 percentage points higher than the 51 percent that did use such methods," Agence France-Presse reports.

17 Jan 2010

American Fertility Association to educate gay and lesbian community on gestational surrogacy

The American Fertility Association's Manicures & Martinis Family Building Program returns to Los Angeles this month, with a focus on gestational surrogacy, an option often used by men in same sex relationships.

13 Jan 2010

Antares Pharma, Population Council report positive Phase 2 results for novel NES/E2 contraceptive gel

Antares Pharma, Inc. and the Population Council today announced successful results from a dose-finding Phase 2 trial for a novel contraceptive gel containing the progestin Nestorone and estradiol (NES/E2) utilizing the Antares ATD (advanced transdermal delivery) gel system. Based on this successful data, the two parties continue to expect to partner with a worldwide or regional pharmaceutical company in order to commercialize this novel contraceptive gel.

12 Jan 2010

Obama administration supports Cairo conference goals, Clinton says

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday "reiterated the Obama administration's support" for universal access to family planning, improving maternal health care and other goals outlined at the 1995 International Conference on Population and Development Action Plan held in Cairo, Egypt, All Headline News reports.

12 Jan 2010

U.S. Government supports ICPD; next five years crucial to meet reproductive healthcare goals

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered a major speech today to mark the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Her strong message showed top-level U.S. Government support for the ICPD and other such UN goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015.

9 Jan 2010

Health and development groups applaud Clinton speech; call for action

A broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Americans applauded today's statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the United States unequivocally supports the worldwide consensus that achieving universal access to reproductive health is critical for individual health, family well-being, broader economic development and a healthy planet.

9 Jan 2010

Urologists use robot-assisted surgery to cut off average surgery time for vasectomy reversal

University of Florida urologists have used robot-assisted surgery to cut about 20 minutes off average surgery time for conventional vasectomy reversal using a microscope.

8 Jan 2010

Antiretroviral therapy improves health outcomes for HIV patients

High antiretroviral therapy adherence, which has been shown to be a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, is now associated with lower health care costs, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

7 Jan 2010

Most of world's 13m preterm births occur in Africa, Asia

The "vast majority" of the world's 13 million preterm births each year occur in developing countries where the babies' "chances of survivals are low," according to an article published Monday in the January issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Reuters reports.

6 Jan 2010

NPR examines future of U.S. global AIDS strategy

NPR's "All Things Considered" examines the Obama administration's global HIV/AIDS policy. "Instead of relying on one program, such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR, [U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric] Goosby says the U.S. has a new five-year strategy that would help low and middle income countries build their own health care systems that incorporate international health programs," according to NPR.

5 Jan 2010

Flawed health care bill must be improved, says National Partnership for Women & Families

The following is a statement of Debra L. Ness, President, National Partnership for Women & Families:"The Senate took a historic step to fix our nation's broken health care system this morning by passing comprehensive reform that will cover 31 million more people, prohibit insurance practices that undermine meaningful, affordable coverage, help contain costs, and put us on track to improve the quality and coordination of care. But this flawed bill must be improved. The anti-choice provisions in the Senate and House bills are bad and worse, and represent a step the nation simply should not take.

28 Dec 2009

Opinions: Community-based health care models; U.S. leadership in reproductive health care

"We don't need to start fresh to create patient-centered medical homes. We just need to look to community-based models of care that are effective but often go unrecognized," according to a Boston Globe opinion piece by Heidi Behforouz, the director of the Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment project, which is based on "a model that Partners in Health pioneered to fight HIV in rural Haiti and drug-resistant tuberculosis in Peru."

22 Dec 2009

Pregnant and breastfeeding women exposed to workplace hazards

A new study shows the employment and sociodemographic characteristics involved in the exposure of pregnant women to workplace hazards. Of these, 56% say they often work standing up or have to lift heavy objects, 63% are exposed to workplace stress and 62% say they are frequently exposed to some physical risk in their place of work.

17 Dec 2009

Today's opinions and editorials: Public option, Catholic Bishops, nurses, Medicare

If we are to move forward, we must do a better job of providing policymakers, health care leaders and the public with the evidence showing the link between nursing care and patient safety. Any health care reform legislation must support the role of nurses in building a better system that provides the highest standard of care that is not only safer but is also likely to save money (Mary Nailer and Mark Paly, 12/10).

10 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

Ahead of the U.N. Climate Change conference in Copenhagen next week, a Lancet comment examines the health consequences associated with climate change and the case for linking climate and health goals. "The issue now is not whether climate change is occurring, but how we can respond most effectively. ... Responding to climate change is not a distraction from the business of protecting health: it is part of the same agenda," the author writes (Chan, 12/5).

4 Dec 2009