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        <title>InfoShare Partner - Guttmacher Institute</title>
        <description>Population and Health InfoShare : Newest 15 Documents by Guttmacher Institute. Sharing Knowledge to Improve Public Health Worldwide</description>
        <link>http://www.phishare.org/documents/Guttmacher/?order=Date%20DESC</link>
        <lastBuildDate>Tue, 13 May 2008 21:08:10 +0100</lastBuildDate>
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            <title>Population and Health InfoShare logo</title>
            <link>http://www.phishare.org/</link>
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        <item>
            <title>CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES A MAJOR HIV PREVENTION STRATEGY MOSTLY OVERLOOKED BY POLICYMAKERS</title>
            <link>http:// http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2008/02/26/index.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Integrating the provision of voluntary contraceptive services into programs where HIV-positive women are going for HIV-related treatment is essential to make U.S. efforts to combat the AIDS epidemic more effective, according to a new Guttmacher Institute policy analysis (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/gpr/11/1/gpr110102.html). Unintended pregnancy prevention is a critical, but largely overlooked, component of any prevention strategy since so many HIV-positive women wish to delay or prevent pregnancy, the analysis finds.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:05:41 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Providers in Jamaica and Barbados Refuse to Dispense EC</title>
            <link>http://guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3316007.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Half of Providers in Jamaica and Barbados Have Refused to Dispense Emergency Contraception
 
Despite widespread belief that emergency contraception is necessary to reduce levels of unintended pregnancy, almost half of more than 400 health care providers surveyed in Jamaica and Barbados have at some point refused to provide the method to women seeking it, according to “Jamaican and Barbadian Health Care Providers’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices Regarding Emergency Contraceptive Pills,” by Eileen A. Yam et al. The reasons providers gave for refusing the method to eligible women included misperceptions about the overall safety of emergency contraception, negative attitudes toward the method and lack of supplies. This article appears in the December 2007 issue of International Family Planning Perspectives.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 2008 18:11:56 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>New briefs from Guttmacher focus on protecting the sexual and reproductive health of ...</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Three new briefs—from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua—show that access to information and services is essential if young people are to improve and protect their sexual and reproductive health. Written in Spanish, each brief highlights key research findings specifically focusing on risk and protective behaviors related to STIs/HIV and pregnancy, and makes programmatic and policy recommendations for the way forward.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:56:52 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Earlier and more detailed sex education needed in Africa, as found in a new report from the ...</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2007/12/12/index.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[New programs and policies aimed at preventing HIV in Africa should focus on providing earlier and more comprehensive sex education and reinforcing national health care systems to better serve youth, according to important new research released today from the Guttmacher Institute…for more information, visit: http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2007/12/12/index.html]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:30:29 +0100</pubDate>
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        <item>
            <title>ABORTION DECLINES WORLDWIDE, FALLS MOST WHERE ABORTION IS BROADLY LEGAL</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2007/10/11/index.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[NEWS RELEASE
125 Maiden Lane, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10038
Ph 212 248 1111 Fax 212 248 1951

Joerg Dreweke
mediaworks@guttmacher.org 

Thursday, October 11, 6:30 PM EST

ABORTION DECLINES WORLDWIDE, 
FALLS MOST WHERE ABORTION IS BROADLY LEGAL 
Eastern Europe Sees Most Significant Decline,
First Global Review Since 1995 Shows 
Unsafe Abortion Remains a Major Global Health Challenge
London, UK: The number of induced abortions worldwide declined from nearly 46 million to under 42 million between 1995 and 2003. Abortion rates fell most significantly in Eastern Europe, a trend that corresponds with substantially increased contraceptive use in the region, according to “Induced Abortion: Rates and Trends Worldwide,” a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO) published in the 13 October 2007 issue of The Lancet. 

For every 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44) worldwide, 29 were estimated to have had an induced abortion in 2003, compared with 35 in 1995. The decline was most substantial in Europe, where the rate fell from 48 to 28 abortions per 1,000 women, largely because of dramatic declines in Eastern Europe. On the whole, the abortion rate decreased more in developed countries, where abortion is generally safe and legal on broad grounds (from 39 to 26), than in developing countries, where the procedure is largely illegal and unsafe (from 34 to 29). Significantly, the abortion rate for 2003 was roughly equal in developed and developing regions—26 and 29, respectively—despite abortion being largely illegal in developing regions. Health consequences, however, vary greatly between the two regions, since abortion is generally safe where it is broadly legal and mostly unsafe where restricted.

“The overall downward trend in abortion rates is encouraging, but positive change is happening too slowly and too unevenly across different regions,” says Dr. Sharon Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute. “We know, and the new evidence confirms yet again, that the best way to make abortion less necessary is to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place. And we know that the crucial first step in making abortion safer is to legalize the procedure, ensuring that it is performed by skilled providers under the best possible conditions. It’s high time for policymakers worldwide to renew their commitment to women’s health by addressing these crucial issues.”

The lowest abortion rate in the world in 2003 was for Western Europe (12 per 1,000 women aged 15–44), where contraceptive services and use are widespread and safe abortion is easily accessible and legal under broad grounds. The rate was 17 for Northern Europe and 21 for the Northern America region (Canada and the United States). Africa, Asia and Latin America had the highest regional abortion rates, even though abortion is generally legally restricted and often unsafe in those regions. Abortion rates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean have declined since 1995, but the estimated number of abortions has increased in Africa because of the increasing number of women of reproductive age and a possible underestimate of abortions in 1995. Because the world’s population is concentrated in Asia, most abortions occurred there—about 26 million yearly; China alone accounted for nine million procedures. 

The study also found that an estimated 20 million unsafe abortions occurred in 2003, 97% of these in developing regions. The prevalence of unsafe abortion remains high, with up to 39 unsafe abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in Eastern Africa and 33 per 1,000 in South America. By contrast, developed regions, where almost all countries allow abortions with few restrictions, had an average unsafe abortion rate of two per 1,000. The consequences of unsafe abortion—death, serious injury, infertility and increased health care cost are largely borne by poor women. The report concludes that reducing the incidence of unsafe abortion would result in an immediate and substantial reduction of maternal mortality and improve maternal health. 

"Nearly half of all induced abortions are unsafe, putting the lives and health of women at major risk. Each year, about 70,000 women die due to unsafe abortion and an additional five million suffer permanent or temporary disability," notes Dr. Paul F.A. Van Look, director of WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research. “The widespread unmet need for contraception must be addressed if we are to see further decline in abortion rates, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, where contraceptive use is low and unsafe abortion-related mortality is the high, compared with other regions"

“Induced Abortion: Rates and Trends Worldwide” was authored by Gilda Sedgh, Stanley Henshaw, Susheela Singh, Elisabeth Aahman and Iqbal Shah.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:50:56 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Millions of Women at Risk of Unplanned Pregnancy in Developing Nations Are Not Using Contraceptives</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2007/07/09/index.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[More than 100 million married women living in developing countries have an unmet need for contraception, meaning that they are able to become pregnant but do not want to, and yet are not using either a traditional or modern method of contraception. According to “Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries: Levels and Reasons for Not Using a Method,” a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, about 15% of married women and 7% of never-married women in developing countries have an unmet need for contraception; however, that proportion varies widely by region, country and socioeconomic characteristics.

More than one-third of pregnancies in developing countries are unintended and two-thirds of those are to women who are not using any method of contraception. This new study identifies the populations with the greatest unmet need for contraceptive services in developing countries and examines why women with unmet need are not using a method. The authors found that young women and married women in rural areas are most likely to have unmet need and that women in Sub-Saharan Africa have a greater need than women in other regions. The reasons women do not use contraceptives most commonly include concerns about possible health and side effects and the belief that they are not at risk of getting pregnant. Few women with an unmet need indicate that they are unaware of family planning options. The situation is markedly different compared with 20 years ago, when many women with an unmet need were unfamiliar with family planning.

“Although we’ve seen progress in most regions of the world, the proportion of women with unmet need is greatest, and has declined the least, in Sub-Saharan Africa,” says lead study author Gilda Sedgh, senior research associate at the Guttmacher Institute. “Family planning programs have made significant strides in reducing unmet need around the world and educating women about contraception, but there is still a long way to go.”

The study authors recommend making available a range of contraceptive methods, providing counseling and education about the safety of those options, and improving contraceptive technologies. Such strategies will enable women and their partners to more easily find methods that match their needs and lifestyles. Investing resources in those regions, countries and population subgroups with the highest unmet need will ensure continued progress by family planning programs in reducing the unmet need for contraception and, subsequently, the number of women experiencing unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortion.

Click here for Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries: Levels and Reasons for Not Using a Method http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2007/07/09/or37.pdf  

Click here for the slide show New Evidence to Address the Unmet Need for Contraception http://www.guttmacher.org/presentations/unmetNeed.ppt 

Click here for Facts About the Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2007/07/09/FB_unmetNeed.pdf 

What is Unmet Need?
A woman has an unmet need for contraception if she is married, in a consensual union, or never-married and sexually active; is able to become pregnant; does not want to have a child in the next two years or wants to stop childbearing; and is not using any method of contraception, either modern or traditional.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Mon, 09 Jul 2007 15:22:02 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Abortion Morbidity in Uganda: Evidence from Two Communities</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/or26.pdf</link>
            <description><![CDATA[A qualitative summary of the health, economic and social implications of unsafe abortion drawing from focus groups and in-depth interviews conducted with health care providers and men and women community members.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:36:16 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 33, No. 1, March 2007</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/journals/toc/ifpp3301toc.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Innovative Mexican Health Policy Increases Contraceptive Use

Talking to pregnant women about using family planning is an effective strategy for increasing their contraceptive use after they give birth, according to a study examining a change in Mexico’s national guidelines for prenatal care. The policy change requires providers to offer family planning counseling during all prenatal care visits at public clinics. The study analyzed surveys of more than 2,200 women who had recently given birth in urban Mexico and found that women who had received family planning counseling during prenatal visits were more than twice as likely to use a contraceptive method after they gave birth as women who had not received this information. 

The article, “Family Planning Advice and Postpartum Contraceptive Use Among Low-Income Women in Mexico,” by Sarah L. Barber of the University of California, Berkeley, appears in the March 2007 issue of International Family Planning Perspectives.  
   
Also in this issue:


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In Tanzania, where the need for contraception is high, only 1% of men choose vasectomy. Feeling as though they could not afford to support more children and concerns for their wives’ health were among the main motivations for seeking a vasectomy cited in “Factors Affecting Vasectomy Acceptability in Tanzania” by Arwen Bunce of Family Health International, et al. The authors analyzed qualitative data from vasectomy clients and their wives, potential vasectomy clients, and women who had had tubal ligations. Reasons for avoiding vasectomy included misconceptions and concerns about the safety and effects of vasectomy, a lack of available providers and the possibility of wanting children in the future. 


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Global and regional family planning efforts have increased over the past decade in the developing world, according to “Family Planning Programs in 2004: New Assessments in a Changing Environment,” by John Ross of Constella Futures, et al. The study asked 1,037 experts in 82 developing countries to rate the success of national family planning programs based on 30 features in four categories: quality of family planning policies, range of available services, evaluation system and accessibility of family planning supplies. Despite improvements, in every region the staff ranked the quality of services as only “mediocre.” Among the challenges cited by the in-country staff were funding cuts and increasingly decentralized governments.   


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Although the number of Bangladeshi women using contraceptives is rising, the country’s fertility rate remains high. To explain this mystery, Unnati Rani Saha of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research and Radheshyam Bairagi of Fordham University, analyzed demographic information from two sources, the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey and the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System. In “Inconsistencies in the Relationship Between Contraceptive Use and Fertility in Bangladesh” the authors conclude a decrease in breast-feeding and increased use of less-effective contraceptive methods both played a role in the country’s persistently high fertility rate.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:33:03 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 32, No. 4, December 2006</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/journals/toc/ifpp3204toc.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Premarital sex—often with a future spouse—on the rise in Vietnam

Though HIV prevalence in Vietnam is currently estimated to be less than 1%, public health officials fear that an increasing number of men are having sex before marriage and that this trend may lead to a rise in the epidemic.  A new study reveals that many men who have sex before they marry do so only with the woman who eventually becomes their wife. Overall, 22% of men in the South and 17% of those in the North report having had premarital sex with a girlfriend they did not marry, thus increasing their risk of contracting and spreading HIV.      

The study, "Continuity and Change in Premarital Sex in Vietnam," by Sharon Ghuman of the Population Council, et al., appears in the current issue of International Family Planning Perspectives.  

Also in this issue:

Nigerian women often turn to abortion to end unwanted pregnancies, according to “Unwanted Pregnancy and Associated Factors Among Nigerian Women,” by Gilda Sedgh of the Guttmacher Institute, et al.  The authors analyzed findings from a community survey of nearly 3,000 Nigerian women and found that of the 28% who reported having experienced an unwanted pregnancy, half had attempted to end that pregnancy.  Forty-four percent of women not practicing contraception when they became pregnant said they were not aware of family planning and 22% said that they did not have access to contraceptive services, that services were too expensive or that they were afraid of side effects.  

In analyzing surveys of women from Burkina Faso, Ghana and Kenya, Ilene Speizer of the University of North Carolina and MEASURE Evaluation Project, both in Chapel Hill, NC, argues that measures of unmet need for contraceptive services may not be the best way to identify prospective clients of contraceptive services.  In “Using Strength of Fertility Motivations to Identify Family Planning Program Strategies,” she explains that while one in four women want to delay their next pregnancy or limit the number of pregnancies they experience, 16–31% of women surveyed in Burkina Faso and Ghana and 30–56% of those in Kenya said that getting pregnant in the next few weeks would be no problem or a small problem.

In “Relationship Between HIV Risk Perception and Condom Use: Evidence from a Population-Based Survey in Mozambique,” Ndola Prata of the University of California, Berkeley, et al., find that most men and women in Mozambique underestimate their risk of exposure to the virus and that this misperception of risk appears to affect whether they use condoms.  Men and women who had never been married and who assessed their risk correctly were, respectively, 18% and 17% more likely than others to use condoms.  Educational campaigns to help individuals correctly estimate their risk are needed, the authors conclude.  

Reproductive health providers should take into account the effects of sexual and physical violence on their patients, according to “Domestic Violence and Symptoms of Gynecologic Morbidity Among Women in North India,” by Rob Stephenson of Emory University, Atlanta, et al.  The authors analyzed surveys from 3,642 couples in North India and found that women who had experienced sexual and physical violence were more likely than other women to have gynecological health symptoms.  

In “Choice Is Empowering: Getting Strategic About Preventing HIV Infection in Women,” by Erica L. Gollub of the University of Bordeaux II, Bordeaux, France, argues that effective HIV prevention for women must address the fact that most women around the world rely on men’s use of the male condom as their sole protection against the virus.  A better solution would include investing in the development of women-controlled methods like microbicides.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 24 Apr 2007 20:29:40 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>International Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 32, No. 3, September 2006</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/journals/toc/ifpp3203toc.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Guatemalan Health Care System Fails Women

While Guatemalan women increasingly want smaller families, their levels of contraceptive knowledge and use remain low, especially among the country’s poor and rural populations.  Two new studies published in International Family Planning Perspectives outline urgent next steps for health care providers to help women get the contraceptive information they need to avoid becoming one of the 65,000 Guatemalan women who have an unsafe abortion each year, and the even larger number who have an unplanned birth.

According to “Induced Abortion and Unintended Pregnancy in Guatemala,” by Susheela Singh of the Guttmacher Institute et al., abortion is prevalent in Guatemala although it is legal only to save a woman’s life.   National estimates, available for the first time, show that about one in three pregnancies are unintended and that one abortion occurs for every six births.  

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3213606.html

In “Internal Migration and Contraceptive Knowledge and Use in Guatemala,” authors David P. Lindstrom of Brown University and Coralia Herrera Hernández of El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City, analyze findings from Ladino and Mayan men and women to determine the relationships between moving to an urban area and a woman’s likelihood of using modern contraceptives.  The analysis finds that over time, the negative association between being a rural-to-urban migrant and possessing information about modern contraceptives fades, suggesting that as rural women adapt to new environments, they also gain knowledge of contraception.   

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3214606.html

Also in this issue:

Adolescents in the Philippines typically wait about one year after their first crush or date before having sex for the first time.  In “Before First Sex: Gender Differences in Emotional Relationships and Physical Behaviors Among Adolescents in the Philippines,” authors Ushma D. Upadhyay of Johns Hopkins University et al. analyze survey data from more than 2,000 17–19-year-olds in Cebu and find that although young men often become sexually active at a younger age than young women, men and women become emotionally invested in relationships at around the same age.  They recommend that young people be armed before they start having sex with the information they need to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3211006.html

Unintended pregnancy and not son preference underlie the demand for abortion in India as a whole, according to nationally representative survey data analyzed in “Maternal and Social Factors Associated with Abortion in India: A Population-Based Study,” by Saseendran Pallikadavath and R. William Stones of the University of Southampton, United Kingdom.  In addition, women in rural areas have a reduced risk of abortion, suggesting that access to services may influence India’s abortion rate.  Though not a national-level predictor, son preference could play a role in certain Indian states, the authors suggest.  

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3212006.html

Some young women in Thailand are starting to have sex at younger ages, according to “Sexual Initiation, Substance Use, and Sexual Behavior and Knowledge Among Vocational Students in Northern Thailand,” by Alice Liu of Stanford University et al.  The characteristics associated with young women starting to have sex at a young age include living away from the family, not having a confidant within the family, having smoked marijuana and a perception of high personal risk for sexually transmitted infections.  These characteristics, the authors suggest, should be used to identify groups likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and most in need of outreach.   

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3212606.html]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:55:50 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Early Childbearing in Guatemala: A Continuing Challenge</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/11/09/rib-Guatemala-en.pdf</link>
            <description><![CDATA[This report provides a profile of the current childbearing and marital experiences of adolescent women in Guatemala. It explores the factors associated with the varying levels of teenage childbearing across the country to help inform decision-making at both the national and regional levels.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:41:31 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Protecting the Next Generation Data Now Available to Other Researchers</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/PNG-data.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Data from the Protecting the Next Generation: Understanding HIV Risk among Youth study in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda project are now available to the public, though the timing and conditions of availability vary.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:35:51 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Estimating the Impact of Serving New Clients by Expanding Funding for Title X</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/11/16/or33.pdf</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The report examines four different scenarios for increasing funding for the federal Title X family planning program (increases of 10%, 25%, 50% and 100%). All four scenarios would result in reductions in the numbers of unplanned pregnancies, abortions and unplanned births, while also saving $3.80 in public dollars for every $1 invested.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:32:29 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, Volume 38, Number 4, December 2006</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/journals/toc/psrh3804toc.html</link>
            <description><![CDATA[ONE IN THREE TEENS GET NO FORMAL EDUCATION ABOUT BIRTH CONTROL

Even When They Do, Many Do Not Get It When They Need It Most: 
BEFORE They Start to Have Sex
The proportion of U.S. teens who had received any formal instruction about birth control methods declined sharply between 1995 and 2002, while the proportion who had received only information about abstinence more than doubled to more than one in five, according to “Changes in Formal Sex Education: 1995–2002,” by Laura Duberstein Lindberg et al., published in the December 2006 issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health. Only 66% of males and 70% of females received formal instruction about birth control in 2002, compared with 81–87% in 1995. Black teens were even less likely than whites to have received any instruction about birth control methods 

While the vast majority of Americans support a comprehensive approach to sex education that encourages young people to delay sexual activity but also provides medically accurate information about contraception, these findings suggest that schools have retreated from this approach. The authors analyze data from the 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males and the 1995 and 2002 National Surveys of Family Growth to examine changes in adolescents’ reports of the sex education they have received from formal sources such as schools, churches and other community groups. They find dramatic shifts in the type of information teens receive and when they receive that information.

In fact, many teens receive information about contraception and abstinence too late—after they have begun to have sex. In 2002, slightly more than half of sexually experienced males and six in 10 such females had received any instruction about birth control methods before they first had sex, down from 61% of males and 72% of females in 1995; one-quarter of each had not received information about abstinence in 2002, either. Again, black teens were at greater disadvantage—only one in three sexually experienced black males and fewer than half of sexually experienced black females had received instruction about birth control methods before they first had sex. 

“Other research has clearly shown that improving contraceptive use reduces teen pregnancy. Yet instead of providing teens with the information they need to protect themselves, our results show that we are retreating from talking about contraceptive use and instead focusing on unrealistic approaches that try to convince teens to abstain from sex until marriage,” says lead author Laura Duberstein Lindberg. “As a result, young people are increasingly unlikely to receive medically accurate information in schools, and many do not get that information when they need it most—in time to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases” 

These findings complement earlier Guttmacher research showing that four in 10 sex education teachers do not teach their students about contraceptives at all, or teach that contraceptives are ineffective. The lack of information on birth control is not surprising in light of the federal government’s billion-dollar investment over the past decade in unproven abstinence-until-marriage programs that do not provide medically accurate information about contraception. To ensure that public dollars are being put to good use, the authors call for the reversal of these policies and for evaluations of the impact of abstinence-only education on teens’ knowledge, behavior and outcomes.

Also in this issue of Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health: 
---------------------------------------
Many birth control pill users in France use the pill inconsistently, according to “Social, Demographic and Situational Characteristics Associated with Inconsistent Use of Oral Contraceptives: Evidence from France,” by Caroline Moreau et al. Twenty percent of women surveyed missed at least one pill during the month prior to the interview, and 7% missed two or more pills; 10% missed at least one pill without using contraceptive backup during subsequent intercourse. Inconsistent use was more common among women with small children and those who do not have a daily routine for taking the pill, situations in women’s lives that can or will change over time. The authors recommend that physicians help patients choose the contraceptive method best suited to the context of their lives in order to ensure consistent and long-term contraceptive use.
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New findings from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth suggest that both young women and young men who start having sex before age 16 with an older partner have an increased likelihood of being involved in a teenage birth, according to “Young Teenagers and Older Sexual Partners: Correlates and Consequences for Males and Females,” by Jennifer Manlove et al. An estimated two million women and 800,000 men aged 18–24 first had sex before age 16 with a partner at least three years their senior. The authors suggest that parents, service providers and communities work to help teens understand appropriate age differences between partners and to negotiate decisions about whether to have sex and use birth control with their partners, even when the partners are older.
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Latina teenagers in the United States have high pregnancy rates and birthrates, but researchers, policymakers and program planners do not really understand why. “Acculturation and the Sexual and Reproductive Health of Latino Youth in the United States: A Literature Review,” by Aimee Afable-Munsuz and Claire D. Brindis, examines 17 studies that investigate the impact of various measures of acculturation—language, culture, area of residence and the length of time a teen’s family has spent in the United States—on sexual and reproductive health outcomes. 
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Washington State’s experience with integrating emergency contraception into its health care and social service systems shows that state agencies and local partners can effectively work together to expand women’s options for preventing unintended pregnancy, according to “Expanding Access to Emergency Contraception Through State Systems: The Washington State Experience,” by Marian Weldin et al. The Washington State Departments of Health and of Social and Health Services reached out to state and local groups and communities for help in educating the public about unintended pregnancy and available resources, with the thought that communities were best positioned to know what would work locally. Making emergency contraception widely available takes time and persistence, according to key individuals in the process, so it is essential to keep emergency contraception on the agenda at all levels while building on small successes.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Tue, 12 Dec 2006 18:00:50 +0100</pubDate>
        </item>
        <item>
            <title>Unwanted Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in Nigeria: Causes and Consequences</title>
            <link>http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/08/08/Nigeria-UP-IA.pdf</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Based on research conducted by Guttmacher and The Campaign Against Unwanted Pregnancy in Nigeria, Unwanted Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in Nigeria: Causes and Consequences paints the most complete picture to date of abortion in Nigeria. It examines levels of unintended pregnancy and induced abortion; explores the characteristics of women who have abortions, the circumstances of and reasons for their abortions, and their decision-making processes; explains how and where women have abortions, and the health complications that often result from the widespread practice of clandestine abortion in this country; and makes concrete recommendations for policies and programs to reduce the incidence of unsafe abortion and help women prevent unintended pregnancies.]]></description>
            <author>info@guttmacher.org (Guttmacher Institute)</author>
            <pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:41:52 +0100</pubDate>
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