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Browse POLICY Project (1995-2006) Materials

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List entries are alphabetical by title and contain the title, abstract, language, and then the filename which is hyperlinked and will open in a new browser window. Many files are PDFs but some of the older ones are Word documents.

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  • This paper identifies eight interventions for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment of construction workers. Where prevalence is low, cost of the eight interventions is 0.14 percent of the cost of a major construction project. With high prevalence levels of ten percent of the workforce, costs of the package of interventions would still fall below one percent of total project costs. These percentages are low enough to permit contractors to include the costs of such services among the indirect costs for worker injury protection, insurance and emergency care without substantially increasing total project costs. Economics of AIDS and Access to HIV/AIDS Care in Developing Countries, Issues and Challenges The following series of documents (in PDF) are the chapters of this book, which was assembled by ANRS in June 2003. This paper is part of a book which contributes to the debate on expanding access to HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries. It presents an important and innovative aspect of the work of the ANRS (Agence Nationale de Recherches sur le Sida), one of the few agencies to have initiated research in this field. Its aim is to increase the engagement of the economic and social science perspective so as to clarify international and national discussions about the best way to overcome the scandalous inequality in access to HIV/AIDS treatment between poor and rich region of the world. For more information on the book follow this link: http://www.iaen.org/papers/anrs.php/
    English
    McGreevey.pdf

  • A primary goal of reproductive health and family planning programs is to ensure that people can choose, obtain, and use a wide range of high-quality, affordable contraceptive methods and condoms for STI/HIV prevention. Referred to as contraceptive security, this goal requires sustainable strategies to ensure and maintain access to and availability of supplies. This wall chart presents a tool developed to measure a country's level of contraceptive security and to monitor it over time. The tool uses a set of indicators covering the primary components of contraceptive security to measure the level of contraceptive security in countries. These indicators can be used separately to monitor progress in each component. They are also aggregated to establish a composite index, which can be used to compare countries at a point in time or to monitor progress over time within a country.
    English
    CS_Wallchart.pdf

  • U.S. Ambassadors in Africa are uniquely positioned to engage in policy dialogue to strengthen the political will needed to institute policies and strategies still lacking in the battle against HIV/AIDS. These notes are meant to serve as a starting point for discussions on identifying the most important messages that U.S. Ambassadors in Africa can make in speaking with various leaders and leadership groups in their countries. These issues can also serve as a guide to priorities for actions that U.S. Ambassadors can take to increase political commitment to HIV/AIDS policies and programs and to mobilize human and financial resources needed to rapidly scale up the HIV/AIDS activities in their countries.
    English
    DakarSpeakingPoints-Final_Version.pdf

  • Each year, nearly 530,000 women and girls die due to pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes and another 8 to 20 million suffer serious injuries and disabilities (WHO, 2003; UNFPA, 2005). The majority of maternal deaths occur immediately after or within one day of delivery, often due to severe hemorrhaging, obstructed labor, infection/sepsis, and eclampsia/hypertension. While proper care and nutrition throughout pregnancy (including regular antenatal checkups) are essential for reducing and identifying risks, researchers, health professionals, and policymakers are increasingly recognizing that skilled delivery assistance, access to emergency obstetric care, and prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage are the most important strategies for preventing maternal and neonatal deaths and disabilities. It is skilled assistance at the critical time of delivery that can make the difference between life and death for thousands of women and their babies around the world.
    English
    Safe Motherhood Brief 1 HQP.pdf

  • The term “safe motherhood” refers to efforts to prevent maternal and infant death and disability through improved access to healthcare and other supportive services (White Ribbon Alliance, 2005). Sadly, women in the developing world experience a 1 in 61 lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications (World Health Organization, 2003). This is compared to a 1 in 2,800 lifetime risk for their counterparts in developed countries. Common causes of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity are excessive bleeding, obstructed labor, infections, and hypertensive disorders. They can occur suddenly, often with little warning. However, negative outcomes can be greatly reduced with proper nutrition throughout the pregnancy, skilled assistance at delivery, and access to regular antenatal checkups, emergency obstetric care, and postpartum care. Effective operational policies are essential for ensuring access to maternal health services, especially for underserved and hard-to-reach populations. Operational policies are the rules, regulations, codes, guidelines, and administrative norms that governments and organizations use to translate laws, policies, and resources into programs and services on the ground (Cross et al., 2001). These policies and guidelines affect all aspects of service quality and accessibility. Examples of operational barriers include unreliable supplies of medicines, unnecessary restrictions on the types of services that can be performed by various healthcare providers, high user fees for services, and inconsistent resource allocation and staffing plans that neglect rural health facilities.
    English
    Safe Motherhood Brief 2 HQP.pdf

  • In countries with high fertility rates and poor access to maternal healthcare services, each pregnancy can put a woman’s life at risk. Women in the developing world experience a 1 in 61 lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. This is compared to a 1 in 2,800 lifetime risk for their counterparts in developed countries. Lifetime risk of maternal death considers the “probability of becoming pregnant and the probability of dying as a result of pregnancy cumulated across a woman’s reproductive years” (WHO, 2003, p. 1). Factors that increase the likelihood of complications during pregnancy and delivery include (1) too many pregnancies, (2) too short an interval between pregnancies, (3) having a pregnancy too early in life, or (4) having a pregnancy too late in life. These risk factors can negatively affect a woman’s long-term health by depleting her nutritional and overall health status— contributing to anemia, fatigue, increased blood pressure, and decreased immunity to diseases such as malaria and reproductive tract infections. These factors can also increase the risk of birth injury, miscarriage, or stillbirth. It stands to reason, then, that maternal and neonatal deaths can be prevented by (1) limiting the number of pregnancies each woman experiences during her lifetime and (2) improving access to reproductive and maternal healthcare—particularly antenatal care, skilled attendance at delivery, emergency obstetric care, postpartum care, and postabortion care. Family planning allows for healthy spacing and timing of pregnancies and limits the number of unintended pregnancies, both of which are essential components of comprehensive safe motherhood strategies (see Figure 1). Through integration of family planning and safe motherhood programs, women can limit their overall fertility and reduce the number of times they are at risk for maternal death; space births, thereby allowing their bodies to recover from previous pregnancies; and time their pregnancies. Improving access to and integrating family planning and safe motherhood programs provides additional societal benefits, including: healthier women who are better able to contribute economically to their families and communities; a reduction in neonatal deaths, deaths among children under 5, and children orphaned by maternal mortality; a reduced burden on public health and social welfare systems; and a reduction in abortions.
    English
    Safe Motherhood Brief 3 HQP.pdf

  • Recent news, events, and current policymaking efforts within the field of youth reproductive health.
    English
    Youth-policyNews(Jan05).pdf

  • Recent news, events, and current policymaking efforts within the field of youth reproductive health.
    English
    Youth-policyNews(Apr05).pdf

  • Recent news, events, and current policymaking efforts within the field of youth reproductive health.
    English
    youth-policy Newsletter Peru (color) final.pdf