Background: Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIas), including HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) mainly affects sexually active young people. Young adults aged 15-29 years, account for 32% of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) cases reported in India and the number of young women living with HIV/AIDS is twice that of young men. The aim of the study was to evaluate adolescent school girls' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards STIs/HIV and safer sex practice and sex education and to explore their current sexual behaviour in India. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in 2007 in South Delhi, India to investigate the perception, knowledge and attitude of adolescent urban schoolgirls towards sexually transmitted Infections (STIs), HIV/AIDS, safer sex practice and sex education. the self-administered questionnaire was completed by 251 female students from two senior secondary schools. Results: More than one third of students in this study had no accurate understanding about the signs and symptoms of STIs other than HIV/AIDS. About 30% of respondents considered HIV/AIDS could be cured, 49% felt that condoms should not be available to youth, 41% were confused about whether the contraceptive pill could protect against HIV infection and 32% thought it should only be taken by married women. Conclusions: Though controversial, there is an immense need to implement gender-based sex education regarding STIs, safe sex options and contraceptives in schools in India

The HIV epidemic in Nigeria is complex and varies widely by region. In some states, it is more concentrated and driven by high-risk groups, while others ...

Climate change is likely to lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, and it will be the people in the poorest countries, ...

Girls who marry as children (younger than 18 years of age) are often more susceptible to the health risks associated with early sexual initiation and ...

In 1996, an armed Maoist insurgency grew out of the Communist Party of Nepal and resulted in 10 years of conflict, human rights violations perpetrated ...

The document finds that children with disabilities and their families constantly experience barriers to the enjoyment of their basic human rights and ...

The statistics regarding HIV/AIDS prevalence among young people in sub-Saharan Africa are well-known and often cited, with the 15 to 24 year old category ...

In the small-scale mining industry little is understood about the roles and activities of girls and the effect that this has on their lives and livelihoods. ...

ObjectiveTo compare the prevalence of gynaecological conditions among HIV infected and non-infected pregnant women. Methods: Two thousand and eight (2008) pregnant women were screened for HIV, lower genital tract infections and lower genital tract neoplasia at booking antenatal visit. Results: About 10% (198/2008) were HIV positive. All lower genital tract infections except candidiasis were more prevalent among HIV positive compared to HIV negative women: vaginal candidiasis (36.9% vs 35.4%; p = 0.678), Trichomoniasis (21.2% vs 10.6%; p <0.001), gonorrhoea (10.1% vs 2.5%; p <0.001), bacterial vaginosis (21.2% vs 15.2%; p = 0.026), syphilis (35.9% vs 10.6%; p <0.001), and Chlamydia trachomatis (38.4% vs 7.1%; p <0.001). Similarly, HIV positive women more likely to have preinvasive cervical lesions: low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) (18.2% vs 4.4%; p <0.001) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (12.1% vs 1.5%; p <0.001). Conclusions: We conclude that (i) sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common in both HIV positive and HIV negative pregnant women in Cameroon, and (ii) STIs and preinvasive cervical lesions are more prevalent in HIV-infected pregnant women compared to their non-infected compatriots. We recommend routine screening and treatment of STIs during antenatal care in Cameroon and other countries with similar social profiles.

The Government of Ecuador has made a commitment to eradicating childhood hunger, and is presently undertaking steps to develop policies and programmes ...

This report documents the findings of Local Voices, a six month qualitative research project that provided HIV orphans, vulnerable children and their ...

In spite of recent economic growth, India maintains one of the highest proportions of undernourished children in the world, partly owing to the highly ...

Although caring for children orphaned by AIDS is increasingly acknowledged as a priority area for HIV/AIDS and development programs, there is limited ...

Civil rights of children are probably the least understood rights and most challenging to realise. This guide defines some of the main government responsibilities ...

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a mechanism adopted by the UN Human Rights Council, monitors individual state fulfilment of human rights obligations ...

Background: For most tubal ectopic pregnancies (EP) surgery is the treatment of first choice. Whether surgical treatment should be performed conservatively (salpingostomy) or radically (salpingectomy) in women wishing to preserve their reproductive capacity, is subject to debate. Salpingostomy preserves the tube, but bears the risks of both persistent trophoblast and repeat ipsilateral tubal EP. Salpingectomy, avoids these risks, but leaves only one tube for reproductive capacity. This study aims to reveal the trade-off between both surgical options: whether the potential advantage of salpingostomy, i.e. a better fertility prognosis as compared to salpingectomy, outweighs the potential disadvantages, i.e. persistent trophoblast and an increased risk for a repeat EP. Methods: International multi centre randomised controlled trial comparing salpingostomy versus salpingectomy in women with a tubal EP without contra lateral tubal pathology. Hemodynamically stable women with a presumptive diagnosis of tubal EP, scheduled for surgery, are eligible for inclusion. Patients pregnant after in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and/or known documented tubal pathology are excluded. At surgery, a tubal EP must be confirmed. Only women with a tubal EP amenable to both interventions and a healthy contra lateral tube are included. Salpingostomy and salpingectomy are performed according to standard procedures of participating hospitals. Up to 36 months after surgery, women will be contacted to assess their fertility status at six months intervals starting form the day of the operation. The primary outcome measure is the occurrence of spontaneous viable intra uterine pregnancy. Secondary outcome measures are persistent trophoblast, repeat EP, all pregnancies including those resulting from IVF and financial costs. The analysis will be performed according to the intention to treat principle. A cost-effectiveness analysis will be performed within a decision analysis framework, based on costs per live birth, including IVF treatment whenever a spontaneous pregnancy does not occur. Patients' preferences will be assessed using a discrete choice experiment.DiscussionThis trial will provide evidence on the trade off between salpingostomy and salpingectomy for tubal EP in view of the pros and cons of both interventions and will offer guidance to clinicians in making the right treatment choice. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN37002267

In most disaster events, children's perspective, needs and capacities are most often neglected or taken for granted. Even though children are generally ...

Background: It is not known whether a 400 ug dose of misoprostol has a similar efficacy as an 800 ug dose when administered sublingually or vaginally 24 hours after 200 mg mifepristone. Methods: It is proposed to undertake a placebo-controlled, randomized, non-inferiority trial (3% margin of equivalence) of the two misoprostol doses when administered sublingually or vaginally using factorial design. A total of 3008 pregnant women (< 63 days of gestational age) who request legal termination of pregnancy will be recruited for the trial at 16 clinics in ten countries providing abortion services. Eligible women willing to join the study will be allocated randomly to one of the four treatment groups within each centre. Women in all treatment groups will first receive 200 mg mifepristone, followed 24 hours later by either 400 ug or 800 ug misoprostol, administered either sublingually or vaginally. The dose and route of administration of misoprostol will be blinded to women, each woman receiving four tablets vaginally and four tablets sublingually, two or four of which are 200 ug tablets of misoprostol and the rest are placebo tablets. The four treatment regimens will be compared in terms of: (i) their efficacy to induce complete abortion; (ii) induction-to-abortion interval when possible; (iii) the frequency of side effects; and (iv) women's perceptions. The initial judgment of the outcome of treatment is made at the follow-up visit on day 15 of the study and the final assessment four weeks later. It is estimated that the clinical phase will require 12-14 months for data collection. To compare the two routes and two doses, relative risks (RR) of failure to achieve a complete abortion and failure to terminate pregnancy and the two-sided 95% CIs will be calculated by standard methods, as well as risk differences and two-sided 95% CIs. The latter will be used to test the non-inferiority hypotheses (at 2.5% level of significance) for achieving complete abortion. The factorial structure will be taken into account in the analysis after testing the interaction. Trial registration ISRCTN87811512

This report focuses on girls living in the shadow of war. It outlines how girls are affected differently from every other section of society in countries ...

This report is about why and how to put girls at the center of development. It examines how the health of economies and families depends on protecting ...