PUSH JOURNAL MEDIA SUMMARY

HIV & AIDS

Back to Square One on AIDS Vaccine: On March 26, The New York Times reported that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said more fundamental knowledge is needed about HIV and the way the body and experimental vaccines respond to it before a licensed HIV vaccine can be made. The recommendation came after a widely anticipated vaccine trial failed last year. Read: The New York Times

AIDS Epidemic Possible for Central Asia: On March 21, The Times of Central Asia reported that Central Asian health officials say immediate action is required to avoid an AIDS epidemic in the region. A U.S.-sponsored survey in 2006 found that five per cent of the population was HIV-positive in some areas of Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan's deputy prime minister, Nur uulu Dosbol, said Central Asia needs more qualified medical consultants and a further-reaching strategy for testing individuals. A second-generation surveillance technique recommended by the World Heath Organization is being employed in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to better understand how the virus works there and to curb infection rates. Read: The Times of Central Asia

Women Bear Brunt of AIDS in South Africa: On March 18, Agence France Presse reported on a new study finding that the typical South African HIV-positive profile has changed from a gay white male to a poor woman living in a rural setting. The report also found that women younger than 25 were up to four times more likely to be infected with HIV than men of the same age. “The co-existence of the epidemics of both HIV and violence against women has raised the costs of violence for South African women and girls – both physically and psychologically,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy director of AI’s Africa Programme. Read: Agence France Presse

 

SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS

Study Says Abstinence-Only Doesn’t Work: On March 20, The Seattle Times reported that a new study from the University of Washington found that teenagers who received comprehensive sex education were half as likely to become teen parents as peers who received abstinence-only sex education. The study found no difference in the rates of sexually transmitted infections among participants in both programs. We're building more and more evidence that [abstinence-only] education isn't having much effect," said Pamela Kohler, lead author of the study. "Ultimately, what happens is that people have sex" eventually. Read: The Seattle Times

Lawmakers Debate Abstinence-Only Education: On March 24, ABC News reported that lawmakers nationwide are reconsidering state use of abstinence-only sex education in light of a new finding by the Centers for Disease Control that one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection. Under the Bush administration, funding for abstinence-only sex education has gone from US$20 million to $113 million per year. Several studies, one congressionally mandated, were released last year finding that abstinence-only programs were ineffective at delaying teen sexual activity and preventing pregnancy. To date, 17 states have rejected federal funding for abstinence-only education on grounds it does not work. Read: ABC News

Group Says EU Must Make Abortion Legal: On March 21, The Brussels Journal and the Daily Mail (London) reported that a committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), has officially recommended that those few European Union countries that still limit access to abortion should provide completely unrestricted access. A draft resolution from the Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men says countries should "decriminalize abortion if they have not already done so." The committee also recommended mandatory sex education for youth. Read: The Brussels Journal, Daily Mail

Older Partners Raises STI Rate for Teenage Girls: On March 18, The Washington Times reported on a new study by the Guttmacher Institute finding that teenage girls who have older partners were more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections than girls dating among their peers. The findings come after the Centers for Disease Control’s recent finding that one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection. "What we found," said Suzanne Ryan, lead author of the study. "is that for girls, a combination of factors - having sex before their 16th birthday and having a sex partner at least three years older than them - is especially risky in relation to getting sexually transmitted diseases in young adulthood." Read: The Washington Times

Church-Owned Drugstore Ceases Selling Condoms: On March 18, Deustche Welle (Germany) reported that a drugstore in the German city of Faulda must send customers elsewhere to buy condoms due to a clause in the rental agreement. Monika Michel, manager of the branch, said she believed the clause was completely outdated but had no choice but to oblige, or she would have to close her pharmacy. Read: Deustche Welle

Guideline May Violate Conscience Laws: On March 19 and 20, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition reported on confusion over new guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) that the Bush administration says may violate “conscience” laws. The guidelines state that a physician who does not wish to perform a medical procedure on moral grounds must refer a patient to another physician or risk losing medical certification. After some confusion in interpreting the guidelines, the ACOG has publicly stated that any physician who refuses to perform an abortion will not lose his or her medical license. Read: National Public Radio, National Public Radio

Court Upholds Abortions for Inmates: On March 24, the Associated Press and CNN reported that the Supreme Court had decided to uphold an Arizona female inmate’s right to obtain an abortion. The case arose after corrections officials in Maricopa County refused to transport an Arizona female inmate to receive an abortion without a court order. A state court ruled in favor of the inmate and the Supreme Court declined to review the decision, refusing comment on whether the county’s act violated a woman’s due process rights. Read: Associated Press, CNN

Catholics Disagree With Church on Condoms: On March 26, the Irish Examiner reported that a recent Irish Examiner/Red C poll found that most Catholics disagree with the Church on matters of contraception, divorce and same-sex marriage. Another survey by Catholics for Choice gauged the opinion in predominantly Catholic countries, including Mexico, Ghana and the Philippines, and found that four out of five people disagree with the Church on issues like condom use. "The condom issue is a pro-life issue. Condoms are saving lives,” said Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice. “Catholics are in control of so much of the health care in Africa and this stance is wrong." Read: Irish Examiner

 

SAVING WOMENS LIVES

Domestic Abuse Rising in Iraq: On March 19, the Globe and Mail (Canada) reported that a recent survey by the Washington-based Women for Women International found a staggering rise in domestic abuse in Iraq since the start of the Iraq War, as well as a steep drop in the number of girls being enrolled in school. United Nations figures suggested that the number of illiterate Iraqi women has jumped from just 2 per cent in the 1970s and 1980s to 27 per cent today. The number of sex workers has increased and so has the number of women suicide bombers. Read: Globe and Mail (Canada)

Women Activists Targeted in Dubai: On March 23, The New York Times and the Associated Press Worldstream reported on Sharla Musabih, an activist who opened City of Hope, the first shelter in the United Arab Emirates for female victims of battering or trafficking. Musabih has been accused of mistreating the women in her shelter, accusations she says are false and systemic harassment. She has made many enemies, including angry husbands, law enforcement agencies and even the director of a government-run shelter. “I’ve repatriated 400 victims in the past six months,” said Musabih about the success of her shelter. Prostitution is common although illegal in Dubai, which serves as a stopover for many travelers and business people. The State Department recently listed the Emirates as one of the most common places in the world for sex trafficking and is monitoring the area. Read: The New York Times, Associated Press Worldstream

 

WOMEN’S EQUALITY

Sex Workers Need Safety: On March 17, Women’s Enews published a piece by Juhu Thukral, director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, about the confusion surrounding sex trafficking and prostitution in the wake of the Elliot Spitzer scandal. New York Governor Spitzer helped pass state legislation that prosecutes those buying sex rather than prostitutes, and it muddles the difference between trafficking and prostitution in a negative way. Thukral wrote: “Until we think about and treat sex workers as human beings rather than objects, as people with economic and social needs just like their clients, we are not going to deal successfully with any of the larger social and moral questions that arise from the durability of the world's oldest profession. Eliot Spitzer's sad situation is proof of that.” Read: Women’s Enews

South Africa to Host Summit on Poverty: On March 18, Inter Press Service reported that South Africa will host the 118th Inter-Parliamentary Union, an umbrella group for parliamentary governments worldwide. The April 13-18 summit will focus on the impact of global warming on poverty, peace-building and reconciliation, and on poverty in relation to maternal and child health. The summit will also look at the role of women in government. “It is important for women to be given time to talk about the issues that affect them and what the implications are of these issues. Since the Inter-Parliamentary Union was established in 1889, women have fought for this," said Baleka Mbete, speaker of South Africa's National Assembly. Read: Inter Press Service

 

EDITORIALS and COLUMNS: On March 26, The Washington Post published an editorial about the need for federal legislation to vaccinate Americans girls against the human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer. A new study from the CDC demonstrated that one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted infection and that HPV was contracted most often. The Post wrote: “The case for the HPV vaccine is clear-cut. This vaccine was rigorously tested and won federal approval, and its effectiveness is undisputed. A backlash of sorts developed because the notion of vaccinating girls as young as 11 against a sexually transmitted disease made some people squeamish. The average age at which girls first have sexual intercourse is 15, and the vaccine must be administered before that.” Read: The Washington Post

On March 23, The New York Times published a book review by Nicholas Kristof about the long and shaky history and reputation of family planning. Kristof maintained that although mistakes were made in early programs, those mistakes must be left in the past. “The family planning movement has corrected itself, and today it saves the lives of women in poor countries and is central to efforts to reduce poverty worldwide. If we allow that past to tarnish today’s efforts by family planning organizations, women in poor countries will be doubly hurt.” Read: The New York Times

 

On March 21, The Washington Post published letters by Linda Bales, director of the Louise and Hugh Moore Population Project, United Methodist Church, and Kate Bourne, vice president of Programs International at the Women’s Health Coalition. The letters responded to Michael Gerson's March 12 op-ed, "The AIDS Relief Miracle," that defended PEPFAR’s lack of funding and programs for family planning. Both letters stressed that family planning encompasses more than abortion and is a vital tool in preventing the spread of HIV worldwide, especially in developing nations. Bourne wrote: “This [PEPFAR’s success] does not alter the fact that for every person put on treatment, six people are newly infected. The idea that we don't need to redouble our prevention efforts divorces logic from reality.” Read: The Washington Post

On March 21, The Washington Post published an opinion piece by Robert E. Fullilove, Adaora Adimora and Peter Leone, members of a panel convened by the CDC in June 2007 to examine trends in HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), about the recent finding that one in four teenage girls has an STD. The authors noted the different infection rate trends among race, socioeconomic status and geographic location, pointing out that a national dialogue on race and sex needs to be open and honest to effectively treat this new epidemic. “Simply put, we will never rid the United States of HIV and other STDs if our only weapon is medical treatment. And if we are unable to engage in a national dialogue about the sexual health of our youths and the social dynamics that drive STDs, this epidemic will go largely ignored, and many more lives will be lost.” Read: The Washington Post

On March 17, the Contra Costa Times (California) and the International Tribune Herald published opinion pieces about the new STD findings. Both papers called on expanding access to family planning services, the HPV vaccine and comprehensive sex education programs. The Times wrote: “Many teens are ignorant about the risks. It is only through a steady bombardment of messages -- to counter the constant barrage of a sex-soaked culture -- that we can begin to change teen attitudes.” Read: Contra Costa Times, International Tribune Herald

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The above summary is produced by the Communications Consortium Media Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW, Suite 450, Washington, DC 20004, 202.326.8700. Redistribution is encouraged with credit to CCMC.

 

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