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NewsLines
June 27, 2006 Nhan Dan Fast Developing Vietnam Sees Smaller Families. There is a trend towards small families in Vietnam. The number of family members was reduced to 4.61 in 1999 from 5.22 in 1979. Family sizes differ depending on an areas developmental level. The Red River Delta region has the lowest family size with an average of 4.1, and the northwestern mountainous region, with over five to a family, is the highest family size in the nation. Smaller-sized families provide more female equality and better care for children, but they pose challenges to traditions such as taking care of the elderly and the establishment of good child characteristics. Up to 30% in Ha Noi said they have not had time to teach their children beneficial characteristics. The trend that married children live apart from parents has driven old people into a danger of loneliness and economic difficulties. All Vietnamese families face problems such as drug addiction, prostitution and street children. Agencies and social organisations have worked together to increase public awareness to build a model of sustainable families. Vietnam Family day is celebrated every June 28 with activities to raise public awareness against social evils involving the family. rw 
July 05, 2006 Press Association (UK) Safe-Sex Message Failing as Cases of Disease Double to Record 20,000. Statistics showed safe-sex was not getting through to the public and more educational campaigns are required. A total of 20,138 sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in Scotland last year - up 7% from 2004. The figures showed cases increasing more in Scotland than England, which saw STIs rise by just 2% last year. Scottish cases of chlamydia climbed 14% in 2005 to 8,095, compared with a 4% rise in England. There has been an increase of 457% in chlamydia cases in Scotland since 1996. People having sex is a normal, occurrence but we are still struggling to get people to talk about it. Greater efforts were needed to educate the public about the risks of STIs. Health messages should focus on sex education in schools, but also on adults and gay men who also have high rates of infections. Figures also showed that gonorrhoea increased by 10% between 2004 and last year, to 834. The UK as a whole saw gonorrhoea drop by 13% per cent. There were 188 cases of syphilis in Scotland in 2005 compared with 21 in 1996. These figures demonstrate that the public-health message we have at the moment is not being communicated with the public. The increase in cases of chlamydia was due to increased screening and detection of STIs. More people have the confidence to come forward and visit clinics and, can access the treatment they need. More men needed to be tested for chlamydia to prevent a cycle of re-infecting women that can lead to infertility and pelvic inflammatory disease. Between 5,000 and 10,000 women needed IVF treatment each year because of fertility problems caused by chlamydia. A pilot study using postal testing kits for chlamydia is being carried out in the Lothian region. rw
U.S.: Science Over Ideology. The Centers for Disease Control has July 06, 2006 Palm Beach Post U.S.: Science Over Ideology. The Centers for Disease Control has urged all girls ages 11 to 26 to receive a new vaccine that prevents most cases of cervical cancer. The vaccine prevents infection from four strains of the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, the human papillomavirus. It can cause cervical cancer, which is the second-most common cancer in women and, worldwide, is estimated to cause over 233,000 deaths each year. States and public health departments must educate the public about the benefits of the three doses over six months. If the committee's recommendation, are followed, the federal government would spend an estimated $2 billion to vaccinate poor girls and teenagers. Vaccine opponents stress abstinence-only to prevent HPV and say the vaccine would encourage promiscuity. The advisory panel's recommendation reflects that not all youngsters will delay intercourse and other risky sexual behaviors. The panel focused on the health benefit of living disease-free. The FDA acted quickly in approving the vaccine after overwhelmingly successful clinical trials. By aiming to prevent potentially fatal cervical cancer, the advisory group kept the emphasis where it belongs: on saving lives. rw
July 03, 2006 The Independent We Need Regulation to Reduce This Waste of Energy. If low-energy lighting were installed around the world, global energy could be cut by nearly a tenth. The technology is available, would curb light pollution, and could keep up to 16 billion tons of carbon out of the atmosphere over the next quarter century. Artificial lighting accounts for nearly 20 %of the world's electricity consumption, and will be 80% higher in 2030. The average American home uses 10 times the artificial light of the average Chinese home, and 30 times that of the average Indian home. Greenpeace U.K. is urging governments to mandate efficient lighting in building codes. rw
June 25, 2006 China News China: Selective Abortions Unlikely to Be Outlawed. China is unlikely to criminalize selective abortions of female fetuses. The first two versions of the draft amendment provided penalties of up to three years in jail, for those involved in gender identification of embryos for non-medical purposes. But in the third version lawmakers removed the stipulation. Some argued the rising imbalance of the newborn sex ratio called for a combination of solutions and putting it into the criminal law would drive potential offenders underground, although criminal penalties should not be sacrificed because of difficulties in evidence gathering. China has 119 boys born for every 100 girls. But other experts attributed the gender imbalance to entrenched beliefs of "valuing boys more than girls" and "bringing up boys to provide for old age", contending that such concepts should not be changed by legal means. They held that pregnant women should enjoy the right to know the sex of the fetus and an ultrasound test did not necessarily lead to abortion. Traditionally, sons have been more valued as a way for the family name to continue and to provide for the parents as they got older. rw
June 25, 2006 Nepal Rising Nepal: Number of Women Having Safe Abortion Increasing. The number of women having abortion in Nepal at government and NGO health centres in the last 26 months of abortion has reached 44,000. According to a report the number of others undergoing abortion secretly because of social reasons is almost double that figure. These reasons come from negative social concepts that there will be increased evils and aberrations by making the women vulgar Director of the Department of Health Services, said that counseling has been increased through training of health manpower of various levels. It was only a short time ago that women went to prison for abortion in Nepal. rw
June 20, 2006 PRNewswire Survey of 17,500 Women in 10 Countries Shows Global Lack of Awareness of Basic Facts About Fertility; Results Of International Study Indicate That Inadequate Reproductive Health Education May Be Fueling Rising Infertility Rates. The majority of women in the world do not know many of the basic facts about fertility, including the age at which female fertility begins to decline, or the impact that sexually transmitted diseases or obesity can have on reproductive health. Most women have never been educated about these issues. In this survey, women were asked to respond to 15 questions addressing fertility issues. Not one participant in 17,000 in the study was able to answer all 15 questions correctly. The study results also show that people who are infertile are more knowledgeable about reproductive health. Respondents with a college education were more knowledgeable than those with only a high school education. Regional or cultural influences may also play a role in fertility awareness. German respondents were much less likely to be able to define infertility. A higher percentage of Slovakian respondents were unable to identify the age at which a women's fertility declines. Women in Sweden appeared less interested in learning about fertility issues while more women in Uganda were eager to learn. rw
June 26, 2006 ANSA Italy: Turco Defends Abortion Pill Clinic. Italy's new Health Minister Livia Turco defended a clinic at the centre of a long-running abortion pill row. Turco, said ministry documents confirmed that the clinic was respecting the terms of Italy's 1978 abortion law and the requirement that pregnancy terminations be carried out inside the hospital. Sant'Anna clinic triggered a national storm when it became the first Italian hospital to introduce the RU486 abortion pill. The hospital was forced to suspend its administration after the health minister accused it of breaching the abortion law by sending some patients home after they had received the pill when inspectors found that one patient had a partial 'expulsion' and a haemorrhage outside hospital. Sant'Anna allows patients to remain at the institute for the duration of their treatment but continues to be fiercely criticised by the Catholic Church. Judicial sources said hospital gynaecologist Silvio Vialee was being investigated in connection with the law's requirement that women only abort in hospital. Viale said he did not know what they're accusing him of, the RU486 pill is being used in other hospitals, in Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Trentino and Puglia. The pill is now available in several other European countries, including Britain, Germany and Sweden. French women can self-administer the pill. But Catholic lawmakers and pro-life activists have rejected RU486 as a "death pill" and vowed to battle its use in Italy. Pope Benedict XVI condemned the pill saying that "it is important not to introduce drugs which in some way disguise the seriousness of abortion, as a choice against life". RU486 supporters, say it is safer than a traditional abortion. Some women experience no physical discomfort while others suffer nausea, vomiting, headaches and heavy cramping. rw
June 26, 2006 The Independent Britain's First Olive Grove is a Sign of Our Hotter Times. Britain's first olive grove has been planted in southwestern England. Traditionally a crop of Mediterranean regions, the olive may soon be able to flourish in more northerly climes, thanks to rising temperatures. Olive entrepreneur Mark Diacono hopes that his "climate-change farm" will produce Britain's first homegrown olive oil in five to seven years. Diacono, has also planted warm-weather-loving apricots and almonds. The only question, he says, is have I done this 10 years too early or 20 years too early? But I don't think so. rw
June 07, 2006 InterPress Service Peru: Women: the Enemy at Home. Almost 70% of all the women killed in a year in Peru died at the hands of their husbands, partners, lovers or boyfriends. More than 300 women have been murdered in Ciudad Ju'rez, Mexico, in the last 11 years. In Guatemala, 500 women were killed in the 2000-2004 period. But the biggest danger is not out on the street. According to a study in Peru femicide in this country takes the shape of domestic violence. The press tends to describe them as "crimes of passion," because the perpetrators usually claim to have committed them in a fit of jealousy. These cases become invisible when the newspapers lump them together as 'crimes of passion,' and official reports do not discriminate between them at all. There was no official government monitoring of killings of women. The figures for January to March of this year confirm that three-quarters of the killers were cohabiting partners, boyfriends, husbands, ex-partners or ex-boyfriends of the victims. And the crime was nearly always committed in a place the couple shared. Perpetrators usually argue that they killed their partners out of jealousy, or because of alleged infidelity, in an attempt to mitigate their responsibility. In 2005, 58% claimed infidelity or jealousy as their motive. In a police report obtained by IPS, Juan Jos' Galiano, 36, confessed that on Apr. 2 he strangled his partner, Rosa Trujillo, 38, because he suspected her of carrying another man's child. Mar'a Elena Salas, a lawyer and researcher for the non-governmental organisation Demus, said the nationwide average was 12 cases of femicide a month. According to the monitoring of news items, 52% of murdered women are between 16 and 35. One out of three women is killed by being strangled, throttled or knifed. Only one out of two is killed with a firearm. Many perpetrators of femicide tell the judge their violence was due to their sense of outraged honour, because of an infidelity that is very hard to prove. In over half the cases, the woman was murdered after several previous instances of violence, and in some cases the victims had reported their partners to the police. The State does not prevent violence against women, much less do anything to eradicate it. The perpetrators of these crimes have a record of violence against their partners. Peru has signed the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women, but Peruvian law has not been reformed to ensure that those responsible for the murders of Peruvian women are sentenced appropriately. rw
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June 21, 2006 Kaiser Network U.S.: Poll Findings Support Greater Access to SRH
