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Reproductive Health Problems (reproductive + health_problem)
Selected AbstractsMiddle Eastern Masculinities in the Age of New Reproductive Technologies: Male Infertility and Stigma in Egypt and LebanonMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2004MARCIA C. INHORNArticle first published online: 8 JAN 200 Worldwide, male infertility contributes to more than half of all cases of childlessness; yet, it is a reproductive health problem that is poorly studied and understood. This article examines the problem of male infertility in two Middle Eastern locales, Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon, where men may be at increased risk of male infertility because of environmental and behavioral factors. It is argued that male infertility may be particularly problematic for Middle Eastern men in their pronatalist societies; there, both virility and fertility are typically tied to manhood. Thus, male infertility is a potentially emasculating condition, surrounded by secrecy and stigma. Furthermore, the new reproductive technology called intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), designed specifically to overcome male infertility, may paradoxically create additional layers of stigma and secrecy, due to the complex moral and marital dilemmas associated with Islamic restrictions on third-party donation of gametes. [male infertility, masculinity, new reproductive technologies, stigma, Egypt, Lebanon] [source] The Reproductive Health of Young people in Côte d'Ivoire: Issues and ProspectsINTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL, Issue 164 2000Aminata Touré In Côte d'Ivoire, young people aged between 14 and 24 represent 25% of the population, and this is the age group that is particularly vulnerable to reproductive health problems. Sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS in the main affect 15 to 18-year-olds; the early pregnancy rate is high; and the widespread recourse to illegal abortion by women at an increasingly young age reflects the emergence of an unfilled need for family planning services among the young. To cope with this situation, the Côte d'Ivoire authorities have adopted several strategies, which include launching wide-ranging information campaigns and making condoms generally available. However, over and beyond such actions, which are beginning to bear fruit, it seems that particular attention needs to be focused on young people not at school and on girls, whose social status is low. The promotion of equality between the sexes and the legalisation of abortion could give added force to strategies to promote the reproductive health of young people. [source] Overheard in the Halls: What Adolescents Are Saying, and What Teachers Are Hearing, About Health IssuesJOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 7 2007Alwyn T. Cohall MD ABSTRACT Background:, Schools have long been recognized as an excellent place to offer health education and supportive services. Teachers are among the most important influences in the lives of school-aged children and can provide valuable insight into the health issues important to adolescents. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential role general academic teachers may play in facilitating adolescent health promotion efforts. Methods:, To determine what teachers think about the role of health promotion in schools and what tools and topics they would find most helpful as critical advisers to students, we administered a 28-question survey at staff development meetings in 4 New York City schools. Results:, Teachers agreed that schools were an important venue for discussing and providing health messages. More than half of those surveyed reported having overheard student discussions about health once a week or more, and 70% stated that they had been actively approached by students 1-3 or more times per semester with reports of personal problems or health issues. Teachers expressed concern about their ability to handle student mental, behavioral, and reproductive health problems and desired additional staff development workshops to address these needs. Conclusions:, Teachers felt that schools were important places to promote dialogue about health and accept the importance of playing a broader role in the lives of youth beyond education. To enhance the prospect of health-promoting interactions between teachers and students, attention must be paid to developing the overall skill and comfort level of teachers with respect to adolescent health concerns. [source] African Independent Churches in Mozambique: Healing the Afflictions of InequalityMEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2002James Pfeiffer The recent explosive proliferation of African Independent Churches (AICs) in central Mozambique coincided with rapid growth of economic disparity in the 1990s produced by privatization, cuts in government services, and arrival of foreign aid promoted by Mozambique's World Bank/International Monetary Fund Structural Adjustment Program. Drawing on ethnographic research in the city of Chimoio, this article argues that growing inequality has led to declining social cohesion, heightened individual competition, fear of interpersonal violence, and intensified conflict between spouses in poor families. This perilous social environment finds expression in heightened fears of witchcraft, sorcery, and avenging spirits, which are often blamed in Shona ideology for reproductive health problems. Many women with sick children or suffering from infertility turn to AICs for treatment because traditional healers are increasingly viewed as dangerous and too expensive. The AICs invoke the "Holy Spirit" to exorcise malevolent agents and then provide a community of mutual aid and ongoing protection against spirit threats. [Mozambique, social inequality, African Independent Churches, intrahousehold, health] [source] | ||||||||||