Commentary : Thailand; sexual and reproductive health before and after universal health coverage in 2002

Comprehensive sexuality education, including for out-of-school youth, is urgently needed to reverse the trend of unintended pregnancies among girls, violence against women, and an apparent increase in marriage before 18. The adolescent birth rate has sharply increased from 31 per 1000 women aged 15–19 years in 2000 to 53 in 2012. The under-15 pregnancy rate has increased threefold, from 0.5 per 1000 in 2000 to 1.8 in 2012

Spectrophotometric analysis of color change processes of redwood, yellow birch, and yellow poplar

Master of ScienceWood TechnologyUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101249/1/39015003286195.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101249/2/39015003286195.pd

Healthcare Providers’ Knowledge and Attitude Towards Abortions in Thailand: A Pre-Post Evaluation of Trainings on Safe Abortion

Although physicians in Thailand can carry out abortions legally, unsafe abortion rates remain high and have serious consequences for women’s health. Training programs for healthcare providers on the ‘Care of unplanned and adolescent pregnancies for the prevention of unsafe abortions’ have been implemented in Thailand with the aim of providing information and challenging negative attitudes about abortions. This study investigated the participants of the training courses in order to: (i) evaluate their knowledge and attitudes towards safe abortions; and (ii) investigate the factors that determine their knowledge and attitudes. A pre-post study design was applied. Descriptive statistics were calculated to provide an overview of the data. Bivariate analysis, a Wilcoxon signed rank test and a multivariable analysis using multiple linear regression were applied to determine the changes in attitudes and assess the likelihood of behaviour change towards adolescents and women experiencing unplanned pregnancy and abortions, according to demographic and professional characteristics. Having had the training, healthcare providers’ change in attitudes towards adolescents and women experiencing unplanned pregnancies and abortions were found to be 0.67 points for the nine responses of attitudes and 0.79 points for the 14 responses on various abortion scenarios. Changes in attitude were significantly different among the varying health professional types, with non-doctors increasing by 0.53 points, non-obstetricians and non-gynaecologists increasing by 0.46 points and obstetricians and gynaecologists (OBGYN) increasing by 0.32 points. Positive attitudes towards unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions and attitudes towards abortion scenarios significantly increased. The career type of the health professional was a significant factor in improving attitudes. The training program was more effective among non-doctor healthcare providers. Therefore, non-doctors could be the target population for training in the future