May 22, 2013

A new UN report finds that AIDS-related deaths are declining in Africa and the number of people receiving AIDS treatment is going up. From VOA:

The report from the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS says the number of people in Africa who receive anti-retroviral drugs increased from less than 1 million in 2005 to more than 7 million last year.

It says AIDS-related deaths fell by nearly a third during that same period, and that new HIV infections are also falling.

Many African countries have taken steps over the past decade to ensure that at least some of their HIV patients have access to treatment.

The report, released Tuesday, notes that Africa continues to be affected by HIV more than any other region in the world. It says the continent accounts for nearly 70 percent of people living with the virus worldwide.

It also notes that in 2011, there were still 1.8 million new HIV infections in Africa, and 1.2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

May 21, 2013

A new study from the Guttmacher Institute finds that modern contraceptives are lagging in developing countries. From VOA:

Guttmacher says between 2003 and 2012 the number of women wanting to avoid pregnancy – and in need of modern contraception – rose from 716 million to 867 million. The sharpest increase was seen, it says, in the 69 poorest countries “where modern method use was already very low.”

Senior fellow Jacqueline Darroch co-authored the study with Susheela Singh and published their findings in a special edition of The Lancet medical journal. Darroch said that the figures are based on household surveys.

“The Guttmacher Institute for a long time has focused on issues of reproductive health and especially the high rates of unplanned child bearing and unplanned pregnancies across the world – the United States, as well as other countries. And part of the answer to both why we have such high rates of unintended pregnancy – and part of the solution – has to do with contraceptive use.”

She said between 2003 and 2012, overall modern contraceptive use in the developing world increased from 71 to 74 percent among women wanting to avoid pregnancy.

“Methods ranging from condoms to pills, implants, injections, IUD’s, sterilization,” Darroch said.

However, rates can vary across sub-regions. For example, Eastern Africa rose from 31 to 46 percent; Southern Africa from 75 to 83 percent; Southeast Asia increased from 64 to 72 percent; and South America from 73 to 79 percent.

However, there was virtually no increase reported in mid and western African countries. Darroch said that has consequences.

“Couples are having children more than they want to. They are having what we call unintended births – births, that they tells us in surveys, that they either wanted later or they didn’t want to have at all. So there’s difficulty controlling fertility.”

Some couples, she said, are turning to induced abortions in unsafe conditions that can lead to maiming or death.

“The timing and the number of children and how you control that affects women’s health by preventing pregnancies when they’re most risky – when women are very young or older – by preventing the deaths and disability from pregnancy itself, as well as for newborns. In today’s societies, smaller families tend to do better off economically in terms of the resources that families are able to use for their children.”

May 20, 2013

More than 20 boys in South Africa have died during coming-of-age rituals in the past week. Police say botched circumcisions are the probable cause. From Reuters:

More than 20 South African boys have died over the past week during coming of age rituals, police said on Thursday, and they blamed botched circumcisions as the likely cause of death.

Northern Mpumalanga province’s police department has opened 22 murder cases but no arrests have been made so far, spokesman Colonel Leonard Hlathi said.

Every year in South Africa, boys aged 10 to 15 years from several of the country’s tribal groups are circumcised in traditional “initiation rituals”. The ceremonies usually take place over a number of weeks in remote rural areas.

Deaths are often caused by blood loss or infection when circumcisions are poorly performed by traditional practitioners.

Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane this week called the recent deaths “regrettable”.

“This has happened to young people who were still at their prime, looking forward to a brighter future where they could still reach their potential,” he said in a statement.

May 17, 2013

An estimated 14,000 villagers from 20 communities in Niger participated in a public vow to end Female Genital Mutilation and forced underage marriage. From Reuters:

Though Niger outlawed the practice in 2003, FGM and other violent treatment of young women remain prevalent among some ethnic groups in the impoverished Sahel nation, which ranks bottom of the United Nations’ world development index.

At a ceremony in Makalondi, about 85 km (53 miles) west of the capital Niamey, villagers threw scissors, knives and blades into a pit in the village square which was then filled in.

Participants in the ceremony, sponsored by Niger’s government and non-governmental groups including U.N. child agency UNICEF, also vowed to end forced early marriages and the removal of young girls from schools.

About 38 percent of girls in Niger are married off before the age of 15, according to official statistics.

Niger’s minister for population, women and child protection, said the government was determined to end such practices.

“The government is aware of its responsibilities,” Maikibi Kadidiatou Dan Dobi said during the ceremony on Wednesday.

FGM is the partial or total removal of external female genitalia and leads to physical and psychological problems including painful sex and childbirth, infections, infertility and incontinence.

It is done for religious and cultural reasons and is prevalent in 28 African nations and parts of the Middle East and Asia, notably Yemen, Iraqi Kurdistan and Indonesia.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in December urging countries to ban the practice, calling it an “irreparable, irreversible abuse” that threatens about three million girls annually.

The World Health Organization estimates 140 million girls and women have undergone FGM.

In Niger, the practice is still common among certain ethnic groups such as the Gourmantche where about 65 percent of girls have undergone FGM. The rate is around 13 percent among the Peuls and about 3 percent among Nigerien Arab girls.