birth control
Analysis of the marriage and fertility survey of Yi minority women in the fringe areas of Liangshan Mountain.

Pan X, Wang R, Zhang P.

PIP: Based on data from a survey of 937 Yi women aged 15-64 years in Bianyuan on Liangshan Mountain in Malong and Gaoping Townships in China, this study compared the marriage and fertility characteristics of 1986 to those of 1982. The more closely the Yi live together, the worse their economic and health care conditions are due to their isolation from the outside world. These conditions are not conducive to the practice of birth control. The results show that married Yi women living in fringe areas have fewer live births than Yi women living on Liangshan Mountain. Child survival is similar in both areas. The Yi of Liangshan Mountain believe that high fertility is a necessary compensation for high mortality. Evidence from Yi in fringe areas may help dispel the fears of birth control and change beliefs about the balance between mortality and births. The Yi in fringe areas have better economic, cultural, and health care facilities. They exhibited a postponed mean age of first marriage, fewer early marriages, and lower mortality. Life expectancy was longer and fertility lower as a result of the birth control program operating in the fringe area. Fertility among the Yi women in Bianyuan is 19.85% among the unmarried, 75.46% among the married, 4.48% among the widowed, and .21% among the divorced. Fertility is higher for the married and unmarried but lower for the divorced or widowed than in fringe areas. A higher percentage of 15-19 years old and a lower percentage of 20-24 years olds are married in Liangshan Mountain. 80% of Yi women 20-24 years old who live in fringe areas are married. The mean age at marriage has been slowly rising, and until the 1980s, there was little significant difference between Yi women in fringe or mountain areas. There is as low rate of widowed and divorced women in fringe areas. The mean age of first birth has also risen over time. Liangshan Mountain fertility was 201.12/1000 for general fertility and 7.49993 for total fertility, while for fringe areas it was 85.11/1000 and 2.7738 respectively. This demonstrates controlled fertility in fringe areas. Enforcement of family planning policy is lax on Liangshan Mountain. THe peak fertility among Liangshan Mountain women is 358.38/1000 in the peak age group of 25-29 years, while for fringe areas, it is 236.38/1000 with the peak age group being 20-24 years. Live births/woman are 3.72 on Liangshan Mountain and 2.72 in fringe areas.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12317653&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
Birth control in the Third World - is it Neo-colonialism in disguise?

Measham AR.

PIP: This paper challenges the simplistic, though popular, view that the world must choose between programs for fertility control and socioeconomic development; between the Malthusian focus on population control and the Marxist one on exploitation control. In the developing world there is great need for achievement on both fronts through a broad range of policies and programs. It is inaccurate and injust to label social policies aimed at ensuring stabilization of world population size in the next century as neoMalthusian. It is also a fact that Soviet scholars now consider excessive population growth a problem for development planners. Accusations that birth control programs advocated for the Third World represent race genocide are based on erroneous thinking. Those who advocate contraception want to make it available to less privileged members of both more and less developed societies. It is not a neo-colonialist plot against the Third World: China herself has a population policy. On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church, in common with some socialist countries, seeks to inhibit international action aimed at spreading contraception. Even though there is no optimal strategy for development per se, it is understandable that most developmental aid is viewed in terms of a desired model of social change by the donor countries. However, leadership by the U.S. in providing family planning assistance since the 1950s should not be construed as an imperialist plot. No group has the right to impose its preferences on the Third World. A rational approach towards development suggests that 1) developing countries should accept aid without undue concern of the motives involved in the giving of aid; and 2) the development assistance by donors should be increased, made more easily available, should be more multilateral, given without strings attached, and generally made less discriminatory. Birth control assistance will succeed only if general development assistance is redefined and restructured.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12276794&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
AIDS prevention and the Church. Kenya: mixed messages.

Freidman GS.

PIP: In Kenya, the church provides a 2-way channel of information on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and could act as a power base in the fight against the epidemic. The views of people are accessed through the church's web of schools, clinics, and vocational training facilities; their needs are ascertained through its development projects, women's groups, and youth groups. The same web returns the moral doctrines and social views of the church leadership to the people. On December 15, 1993, the Catholic Church condemned the use of condoms and any form of birth control; Protestant churches have been less harsh, but also condemn premarital sex, birth control, and condoms. In spite of this, most schools and local clinics, including those run by various churches, are conducting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education and condom distribution programs. In some youth groups, HIV prevention methods are being discussed with the full knowledge of the church hierarchy. Government nurses and health educators have been allowed to conduct classes on family planning, premarital sex, and birth control in Catholic schools. Condoms are distributed within this framework for the prevention of HIV. Although not publicly approved, Kenyan churches, Catholic and Protestant, are permitting HIV prevention programs to enter through their back doors.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12319331&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
Fertile changes.

Cherkaoui M.

PIP: In Morocco, fertility levels have dropped in the past 30 years, and women have found that freedom from perpetual child-bearing has allowed them to make various contributions to society. One of the first Moroccan women elected to parliament noted that family planning best succeeds when it is the result of informed, personal choice enabled by education. A woman who is a prominent journalist noted that the availability of oral contraceptives has contributed to the emancipation of Moroccan women. A female television personality decried currently available television health messages, yet found cause for optimism in the receptiveness of Moroccan society to properly presented television messages. A woman who is a singer as well as a clinical psychologist found that birth control has made women more fulfilled, more independent, and has freed them of the aging which occurs with continual child-bearing. Another female journalist found that the Moroccan women who have been able to overcome social pressure to view themselves primarily as child-bearers attribute the advent of birth control to their liberation. Not only can they pursue careers, they can expend more energy on each of their children and assume equal position with the men in their lives. Finally, a female film maker asserted that birth control has enhanced life for women, who now have choices; children, who benefit from being wanted; and men, who are relieved of the burden of providing for large families.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12319841&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
Technological forecasting and research inputs in the area of birth control technology.

Rohatgi K, Bowonder B, Rohatgi PK.

PIP: Technological forecasting, defined as quantified probabilistic prediction of timings and degree of change in the technological parameters, capabilities desirability or needs at different times in the future, is applied to birth control technology (BCT) as a means of revealing the paths of most promising research through identifying the necessary points for breakthroughs. The present status of BCT in the areas of pills and the IUD, male contraceptives, immumological approaches, post-coital pills, abortion, sterilization, luteolytic agents, laser technologies, and control of the sex of the child, are each summarized and evaluated in turn. Fine mapping is done to identify the most potentially promising areas of BCT. These include efforts to make oral contraception easier, improvement of the design of the IUD, clinical evaluation of the male contraceptive danazol, the effecting of biochemical changes in the seminal fluid, and researching of immunological approaches and the effects of other new drugs such as prostaglandins. The areas that require immediate and large research inputs are oral contraception and the IUD. On the basis of population and technological forecasts, it is deduced that research efforts could most effectively aid countries like India through the immediate production of an oral contraceptive pill or IUD with long-lasting effects. Development of a pill for males or an immunization against pre gnancy would also have a significant impact. However, the major impediment to birth control programs to date is attitudes, which must be changed through education.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12276924&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
The most neglected intimacy -- birth control. How to shorten the responsibility gap between men and women.

Woodman S.

PIP: Many men still know very little about birth control, which is rooted in their different upbringing concerning their awareness about their own bodies and reproductive systems. Most women go regularly to a gynecologist for checkups and continue to pick up information about their anatomy. They also acquire information about contraception and reproduction from women's magazines, while men's magazines do not provide such information. Most men's lack of involvement in birth control more often reflects their own insecurity than ambivalence toward their partner. By taking their pill without mentioning it they encourage their partners to remain uninvolved. Many women also are used to believing that contraception is solely their responsibility. Birth control is a constant fact in most women's lives for many years, and can present different problems at different stages. Some couples may find it easier to talk about birth control in the presence of a counselor or a gynecologist. Family planning clinics, such as those run by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, welcome partners who come together for consultation. However, the reaction of private gynecologists to the idea of joint consultation is still somewhat mixed. They do not consider it their function to educate men. Because of the sensitive nature of the doctor-patient relationship, a gynecologist's loyalties must remain firmly with his female patient. Some experts believe that responsibility for joint visits should come from the medical establishment and birth-control agencies. Many men say they dislike condoms because they tend to reduce sensitivity. Women should tell men if they want them to use condoms. It is still fairly new for women to want men to share the responsibility for contraception, but the key to sharing responsibility is to treat it as a positive and liberating factor in a relationship.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12320243&dopt=Abstract birth control



birth control
Karnataka: pioneer in family planning.

Rao S.

PIP: A century ago the administration of Mysore (India) realized the need for family planning, and Dewan Rangacharlu, when addressing the 1st session of the Mysore State Representative Assembly on October 7, 1881, indicated concern at the rapid population growth which hampered production. On June 11, 1930 Shri Nyapathy Madhava Rao, Chief Secretary, passed orders for the establishment of birth control clinics, making Mysore the 1st government in the world to start a network of birth control clinics in the state. Clinics at Bangalore and Mysore were frequented by married women in need of advice from experts. Despite the social taboo, many took advantage of the facility provided by the state. When World War 2 broke out in 1939, the work in these clinics had to slow down because of a lack of funds. The text of the orders for the birth control clinics included the proposals of the Senior Surgeon who recognized the need to provide the necessary knowledge and the means for contraception: the Lady Medical Officers of the Victoria and the Maternity Hospitals, Bangalore and the Krishnarajendra and the Vani Vilas Hospitals, Mysore, be authorized to provide information to women who want knowledge on the subject and to teach the necessary technique; contraceptive appliances be supplied at cost price to those who want them; and Dr. C. V. Natarajan be asked to cooperate with the Lady Medical officers by giving them such advice as they may require for the development of the birth control clinics.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12311998&dopt=Abstract birth control