Suchergebnisse

In Cameroon, as in many countries in subSaharan Africa, many couples like to have a large family. Previous studies have attributed this desire to have many children to the importance of children for expanding the lineage and continuing the family name, and to the children's contribution to the household economy and support in old age. This study expands on this research by recognizing that women in formal and informal unions are likely to have different reasons for wanting or not wanting to have many children. The analysis of data from the 1991 Cameroon Demographic Health Survey (CDHS) demonstrates that married women, women in coresidential informal unions, and women in non-co-residential informal unions have different perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of having many children. These findings are important for improving the efficiency of future population policies designed to reduee levels of fertility. The results also show that non-coresidential and co-residential informal unions are conceptually different from marriage, which strongly suggests that the reported increases in the prevalence of informal unions in many African societies indicate an important change in the African family, the implications of which are still poorly understood.

Several theories have suggested that Western influences would gradually alter traditional African family systems. Although the predicted convergence toward a Western type of nuclear family has not occurred, there have been important changes in African nuptiality patterns. This article examines theories stating that differentials and changes in marriage patterns are related to the relative status of women. In particular, we assess to what extent factors such as women's inheritance rights, women's involvement in trade and politics, and women's contribution to agricultural labor affect the nuptiality pattern of a society.

The objective of this study was to identify the key determinants of condom use with regular and casual partners among youth in Madagascar. Data stem from a reproductive health survey conducted in October–December 2000 among a representative sample of 2440 youth aged 15–24 living in Toamasina province. Following theoretical models of behaviour change, logistic regression was used to assess the effect of AIDS awareness, personal risk perception, condom access, perceived condom effectiveness, self-efficacy and social support on condom use. Among sexually experienced youth, only about four in ten males and two in ten females have ever used condoms. Fewer than 15% of youth used a condom in last intercourse with their regular partner. Whether youth will try condoms appears to depend largely on the perceived effectiveness of condoms for family planning, access to a nearby condom source, parental support for condom use, and patterns of risky sexual behaviour. Young males' likelihood of using a condom with a regular partner increases significantly if they perceive condoms to be effective for family planning (OR=11·4; p=0·019). For females, it increases with level of self-efficacy (OR=2·1; p=0·042) and having discussed HIV prevention with someone in the last year (OR=2·8; p=0·022). Among males, condom use with casual partners is significantly higher among those who perceive themselves to be at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (OR=2·3; p=0·014), who believe condoms are effective for family planning (OR=2·8; p=0·048), who have good access to condoms (OR=2·9; p=0·002) and who perceive their parents support condom use (OR=1·7; p=0·048). In conclusion, very few youth in Toamasina are using condoms, highlighting the need to continue and expand adolescent reproductive health interventions. In this low HIV prevalence setting, it is important for these programmes to emphasize that condoms are effective for both pregnancy prevention and STI/HIV prevention.

A "total market approach" (TMA) to family planning promotes access to family planning for individuals and couples through coordination and collaboration among government health care services, nonprofit health care services, and the business/commercial sector for family planning products. While many countries are interested in the TMA approach to family planning policies and strategies, it's difficult to know what steps to take first to inform plans and programs. MEASURE Evaluation, in collaboration with the Evidence Project (both funded by USAID), has developed several resources, including a planning tool (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning—Module 2: In-depth Analyses of the Family Planning Market) and a two-volume handbook (in addition to this one, Handbook for Research on the Family Planning Market—Volume 2: Tool and Resources for an In-depth Analysis of the Family Planning Market), to standardize a best-practice guide for countries to assess their particular need and readiness for TMA. These resources are part of a larger toolkit, which also includes a Landscape Assessment (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning—Module 1: Landscape Assessment) and Toolkit (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning: Toolkit and Glossary) produced by PATH, and a joint publication by all three projects (Guide for Assessing the Impact of a Total Market Approach to Family Planning Programs).

A "total market approach" (TMA) to family planning promotes access to family planning for individuals and couples through coordination and collaboration among government health care services, nonprofit health care services, and the business/commercial sector for family planning products. While many countries are interested in the TMA approach to family planning policies and strategies, it's difficult to know what steps to take first to inform plans and programs. MEASURE Evaluation, in collaboration with the Evidence Project (both funded by USAID), has developed several resources, including a planning tool (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning—Module 2: In-depth Analyses of the Family Planning Market) and a two-volume handbook (in addition to this one, Handbook for Research on the Family Planning Market. Volume 1: Using Data to Inform a Total Market Approach to Family Planning), to standardize a best-practice guide for countries to assess their particular need and readiness for TMA. These resources are part of a larger toolkit, which also includes a Landscape Assessment (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning—Module 1: Landscape Assessment) and Toolkit (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning: Toolkit and Glossary) produced by PATH, and a joint publication by all three projects (Guide for Assessing the Impact of a Total Market Approach to Family Planning Programs).

A "total market approach" (TMA) to family planning promotes access to family planning for individuals and couples through coordination and collaboration among government health care services, nonprofit health care services, and the business/commercial sector for family planning products. While many countries are interested in the TMA approach to family planning policies and strategies, it's difficult to know what steps to take first to inform plans and programs. MEASURE Evaluation, in collaboration with the Evidence Project (both funded by USAID), has developed several resources, including this planning tool and a two-volume handbook (Handbook for Research on the Family Planning Market. Volume 1: Using Data to Inform a Total Market Approach to Family Planning and Handbook for Research on the Family Planning Market Volume 2: Tool and Resources for an In-depth Analysis of the Family Planning Market), to standardize a best-practice guide for countries to assess their particular need and readiness for TMA. These resources are part of a larger toolkit, which also includes a Landscape Assessment (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning—Module 1: Landscape Assessment) and Toolkit (Planning Guide for a Total Market Approach to Increase Access to Family Planning: Toolkit and Glossary) produced by PATH, and a joint publication by all three projects (Guide for Assessing the Impact of a Total Market Approach to Family Planning Programs).

This study uses data from the 2004 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey to assess the reach of selected radio programs about family planning and health in Malawi and their effect on condom use and discussion of family planning. The results show that such radio programs in Malawi reach a broad audience: eight of the 12 programs were heard by at least half of the respondents, although women were less effectively reached than men. For both women and men, the radio programs were found to have a significant impact on family planning discussion with one's partner. The programs'effect on condom use was limited, however. A positive association was found with ever use of condoms, but no association was found with condom use at last intercourse. This limited impact suggests that such radio communication campaigns need to be informed by research identifying the specific constraints to current condom use in Malawi.

This paper uses retrospective event-history data covering a four-year period to examine the timing of exposure to HIV/AIDS education and social marketing condom promotion campaigns, relative to the timing of changes in sexual risk behaviour in Tanzania. Analysis of the event-history data shows that the process of exposure to AIDS education messages and exposure to brand advertising for Salama brand condoms was very different. While exposure to AIDS education was early and gradual, exposure to Salama brand condoms started later, but was much more rapid. After one year of advertising, over half of the target population had been reached by the Salama advertising campaign, mostly through newspapers, radio and television. During the study period, condom use increased from 15% at the beginning of 1993 to 42% at the end of 1996. Increases in condom use were driven both by men who became sexually active, and by men who were not yet protected, or not fully protected. The results further show that it is uncommon for men who adopted condom use to return to more risky behaviour, which suggests that behaviour change in the study population is permanent.

In Cameroon, as in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, many couples like to have a large family. Previous studies have attributed this desire to have many children to the importance of children for expanding the lineage and continuing the family name, and to the children's contribution to the household economy and support in old age. The analysis of data from the 1991 Cameroon Demographic Health Survey (CDHS) demonstrates that married women, women in co-residential informal unions, and women in non-co-residential informal unions have different perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of having many children. These findings are important for improving the efficiency of future population policies designed to reduce levels of fertility. (DÜI-Hff)