| Georgia Teen Centers Stay Open, Must Emphasize Abstinence |
| In mid-September, Georgia's Board of Human Resources which oversees policy for the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR) voted to continue funding the state's 30 teen health centers. However, the funding is contingent upon a number of new rules, including an increased focus on abstinence.
The closure of the teen ... |
| Studies Suggest Positive Outcomes from Educating Both Girls and Boys About Reproductive Health |
| A study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) suggests that a reproductive health education program for eighth grade girls, implemented at local public schools by a publicly funded hospital, may be responsible for the county's decline in teenage pregnancies.1 The education outreach program aims to encourage ... |
| Congress Moves Closer to Significant Increases in Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding |
| As in recent years, Congress has once again failed to approve the spending bills it needs for the start of the new fiscal year. The new fiscal year (FY 2005) started on October 1 but Congress has continued funding at Fiscal Year 2004 levels by passage of a bill called ... |
| Virginity Testing: Increasing Health Risks and Violating Human Rights in the Name of HIV-Prevention |
| In several places in Africa, "traditionalists" are calling for a revival of virginity testing, a practice that typically involves checking for an in-tact hymen. In Swaziland, where King Mswati promotes abstinence-only-until-marriage for young women to reduce the spread of HIV, virginity testing is widespread.1 In South Africa, in July 2004, ... |
| UNFPA Releases the State of the World Population 2004 |
| In September, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released it's annual The State of World Population entitled The Cairo Consensus at Ten: Population, Reproductive Health and the Global Effort to End Poverty. This year's State of World Population is part of an international collaborative effort to examine the progress countries ... |
| Changes at the CDC Continue to Impact Longtime HIV/AIDS Prevention Organizations |
| Changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to have a potentially harmful effect on HIV/AIDS prevention throughout the nation. CDC recently announced proposed changes to HIV/AIDS guidelines that would require more information to be disclosed about patients as well as putting a greater emphasis on abstinence. ... |
| Suicide Prevention Funding Hampered by "Family Values" |
| Conservative House Republicans refused to pass suicide prevention legislation until it was amended to require that parental permission be obtained before these programs take place in schools. The Garret Lee Smith Memorial Act (S. 2634/ H.R. 4799) would set aside $82 million over the next three years to identify and ... |
