IN THE NEWS

X Failure to deliver. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a survey of over 400 health care providers in Jamaica and Barbados revealed that almost half have refused emergency contraception to women seeking it. Their reasons: a lack of supplies, negative attitudes towards the method, and misperceptions about its overall safety.

X Under the influence leads to the unacceptable. An anonymous survey has found that nearly one-third of female participants at a university in Santiago, Chile had experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact since age 14. As reported by the Guttmacher Institute, researchers found that in over half the reported cases of rape or attempted rape both the survivor and attacker had used alcohol or drugs.

X HIV transmission update. CDC researchers are reporting that HIV can be transmitted to infants through pre-chewed food if the parent or caregiver is HIV-positive. According to the New York Times, pre-chewing food happens more often in developing countries since it is the only means to soften food for a little one. The virus is transmitted in blood that is in the saliva of HIV-positive persons who have oral inflammations or sores via cuts from the infant’s teething.

Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services for Men Dangerously Lacking

• U.S. men spend an average of nearly 10 years being sexually active and unmarried.

• Only about 14% of U.S. men 15-49 make a sexual and reproductive health visit annually; young men who are at the greatest risk of unintended pregnancies and STIs are the least likely to make a sexual and reproductive health care visit.

• In Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as in the United States, most men with more than one sexual partner did not use a condom the last time they had sex.

• The proportion of men 15-44 who know that condom use is a way of preventing HIV varies widely in developing countries—from 9% in Bangladesh to 82% in Brazil.

UPCOMING EVENTS