The next child: spacing strategy in Yorubaland (with translations from taped interviews)

The translations of taped interviews with Yoruba parents in two\u27 sub-ethnic groups, the lkale and the Ekiti, are the substance of this Working Paper. Very rarely do the views expressed at the field level survive into research reports, much less reach the demographer, concerned as he or she is ultimately with aggregated analysis. Very rarely, too, does the opportunity arise for parents involved in demographic surveys to \u27.have en input into the development of survey concepts. They are usually faced with readymade conceptualization, definition and operationalization of phenomena closely related to their lives, and asked to respond within these limits. The convention of pre-testing questionnaires, embodying those pre-determined concepts, helps up to the point of identifying inappropriate concepts, but not those that may be most germane

Serial marriages and AIDS in Masaka District

In the process of studying the functioning of households under the conditions of the AIDS epidemic in the districts of Masaka, Kabarole and Rukungiri, information was collected on the marital history of persons aged 12 years and above who had ever been involved in a regular union or marriage. That information allows the discussion of the pattern of marital mobility and the exploration of the possible links between serial marriages and the dynamics of the current epidemic. Serial marriages can be defined as the participation in a sequence of regular partnerships or unions. By this definition, males in polygamous unions are involved in the practice of serial marriages in that they go through the formation of regular unions more than once in their lifetime and are often involved in more than one such union at a time. In the case of females, serial marriage takes the form of transition from first to second and subsequent unions within a monogamous or polygamous framework. This paper describes the pattern of these serial marriages, the causes of the dissolution of unions, and the relationship between the observed patterns and selected social and demographic factors such as sex, residence, education and the household-level experience of a previous HIV/AIDS related illness or death. Particular attention is paid to the role of death of spouse and especially of death from AIDS in the dissolution of unions. Apart from the use of basic descriptive statistics, a hierarchical log linear regression is carried out and the tests of partial association between the fact of serial marriage and selected variables are presented

Social context of HIV infection in Uganda

Some of the important policy and research implications of accumulating HIV/AIDS data are being ignored because of the attraction of social science research focused on the ‘multiple sexual mechanism’ of infection and transmission. Attention is drawn to the other policy and research issues relating to information on the timing of infection through a reanalysis of existing data on cumulative AIDS cases. The most urgent need is to supplement the mainstream research on risk groups with studies of the timing and circumstances of entry into sexual activity in the pre-teen years

Assessing the Level of Preparedness of Private Health Providers for Clinical Management of HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Nassarawa State, Nigeria

Very little information is available on the extent to which the private health sector is involved in clinical management of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria. This study assessed the potentials and existing capacity of 15 private health facilities in Nassarawa state for clinical management of HIV/AIDS. Information was obtained from 25 staff (15 proprietors and 10 professionals) of the randomly selected health facilities in the state using structured questionnaire. Of the 15 health facilities, three provided voluntary counselling and testing (VCT), seven had never admitted persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), two provided laboratory services, none provided home-based care for PLWHAs, two had anti-retro-viral drugs in stock, two had rooms for counselling, three had full-time doctors, and six had registered nurses. Of the 25 health workers, 5 had skills/training in conducting VCT, 15 had skills in the treatment of opportunistic infections, 14 were aware of anti-retro-viral drugs and 13 did not feel comfortable attending to PLWHAs. The study recommended capacity building on HIV/AIDS related services for the private health-workers.Evaluation du niveau de préparation des dispensateurs privés de la santé en rue du traitement clinique de l'épidémie du VIH/SIDA dans l'Etat de Nassarawa, Nigéria. Nous n'avons que très peu de renseignement sur l'étendue de l'implication du secteur de la santé privé dans le traitement du VIH/SIDA au Nigéria. Cette étude a évalué le potentiel et la capacité actuelle des 15 centres médicaux dans l'état de Nassarawa pour le traitement clinique du VIH/SIDA. Les renseignements ont été recueillis au sein des 25 membres de personel (15 propriétaires et 10 professionnels) de ces centres médicaux dans l'état selectionnés au hazard à l'aide des questionnaires structurés. De 15 établissements de santé, 3 assuraient les services de conseil et de test volontaires (CTV), 7 n'ont jamais admis les personnes vivant avec le VIH/SIDA (PVVS), 2 assuraient des services de laboratoire, aucun n'assurait pas de services à la maison pour les PVVS, 2 avaient en stock les médicaments antirétroviraux, 2 disposaient de salles de conseil, 3 avaient des médecins à plein temps et 6 avaient des infirmières qualifiées. De 25 membres du personnel médical, 5 avaient le savoir-faire en matière de CTV, 15 étaient habilités par rapport au traitement des infections opportunistes, 14 étaient au courant de l'existence des médicaments antirétroviraux et 13 ne sentaient pas à l'aise en s'occupant des PVVS. L'étude a préconisé le renforcement de la capacité à l'égard des services liés au VIH/SIDA pour le personnel de la santé privée

Forum: What are the limits to health intervention?

Thirteen authors contribute to seven articles which constitute the 'forum' on a variety of issues concerned with and relating to health interventio