AFRO-NETS> Population Reference Bureau E-Mail News #4, November 2001

[Population Reference Bureau <news@prb.org>]

Population Reference Bureau E-Mail News #4, November 2001
---------------------------------------------------------

In this issue:
1. PRB Launches Internet Initiative
2. Debate Over Male Circumcision and HIV Prompts More Research
3. Abandoning Female Genital Cutting: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Ef-
   forts to End the Practice 
4. Healthy People Need Healthy Forests - Population and Deforestation
5. Measures for Afghan Population Troubled by Conflict, Drought
6. Contraceptive Shortages Loom in Less Developed Countries
7. Urbanization Takes on New Dimensions in Asia's Population Giants
8. Please Share PRB E-Mail News 
9. Subscription Information

Welcome to the fourth issue of the Population Reference Bureau's E-
Mail News. We will issue E-Mail News periodically as we have major 
new publications and Web postings to share with you. 

PRB's E-Mail News gives you access to the latest information on im-
portant population and health issues. We hope that you find this ser-
vice useful and we welcome your comments and suggestions. E-Mail News 
is supported through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
 
1. PRB Launches Internet Initiative
 
PRB has greatly expanded the amount of information available on our 
four websites and has made it much easier for you to use the sites. 
Here are some of the powerful new features:
* Web sections on HIV/AIDS, the environment, reproductive health, and
  population trends, with overview articles and in-depth data and re-
  ports. 
* Reports, articles, and data cross-referenced by topic and region.
* Expanded Educators site with lesson plans, resource guides, and PRB
  publications tailored for teachers. Sign up for a special educators
  e-mail newsletter (click on the "Get E-Mail News" icon throughout 
  the site or go to http://www.prb.org/email). 
* Online store where you can order PRB publications. All publications
  are free for users in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Car-
  ibbean.
* Search engine that locates information on all sites by keyword and
  selected data types and topics. You can search archived copies of
  Population Today and Population Bulletin. 
* Updated Journalists site with information on experts to call with
  questions.
* Coming soon: French and Spanish sites.


PRB's four websites contain a wealth of information, analysis, and 
data:
* http://www.prb.org - Your first stop for information on population
  and health trends and their implications. 
* http://www.ameristat.org - U.S. population data and analysis,
  covering 14 topics including income and poverty, education, mar-
  riage, and fertility. 
* http://www.measurecommunication.org - Part of the MEASURE Communi-
  cation project; promotes the wider dissemination and increased use
  of information on population, health, and nutrition for planning
  and decisionmaking in less developed countries. 
* http://www.popnet.org - A comprehensive directory of population-
  related websites, arranged by world region and by organization.
 
2. Debate Over Male Circumcision and HIV Prompts More Research

With no AIDS vaccines in sight, the pressure to expand the range of 
virus prevention measures is building. In this article, PRB senior 
editor Yvette Collymore discusses the linkages between male circumci-
sion and HIV infection. Several studies have drawn an association be-
tween high rates of HIV in some areas of sub-Saharan Africa and the 
tendency in those areas not to practice male circumcision (the par-
tial or full removal of the foreskin or prepuce of the penis). The 
international community, however, is yet to be persuaded that the 
routine circumcision of men and boys should be among AIDS prevention 
strategies. Although the association between male circumcision and 
HIV infection appears straightforward in Africa, the focus of most of 
the studies to date, it is not so in more developed countries.

(to see the document you have to copy all lines as one into your 
browser's address field):

http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Content/Content
Groups/PTarticle/0ct-Dec01/Debate_Over_Male_Circumcision_and_HIV_Prompts
_More_Research.htm


3. Abandoning Female Genital Cutting: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Ef-
forts to End the Practice

This new 34-page report from PRB examines survey data on female geni-
tal cutting from nine countries and discusses approaches for encour-
aging communities to abandon genital cutting. Author Liz Creel, a 
population specialist at PRB, notes that national prevalence levels 
of genital cutting range from nearly universal (90 percent or more) 
in Egypt, Eritrea, Mali, and Sudan, to 18 percent in Tanzania.  In 
some countries, there is a striking contrast between high prevalence 
of genital cutting and low approval for the practice. This gap be-
tween practice and attitudes may provide opportunities for interven-
tion, especially in Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, 
and Kenya. The report notes that ending female genital cutting will 
be a long and difficult process, requiring a long-term commitment to 
establishing a foundation for sustained behavior change.

http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Measure_Communication/Docum
ents/Abandoning_Female_Genital_Cutting_(PDF__380KB).htm


4. Healthy People Need Healthy Forests - Population and Deforestation
Deforestation worldwide continues at a net rate of 9.4 million hec-
tares a year, posing a serious threat to human communities and natu-
ral ecosystems at the outset of the 21st century. PRB policy analyst 
Jonathan Nash, author of this newly released policy brief, notes that 
forests cover about 27 percent of the world's land area, compared to 
roughly 50 percent 10,000 years ago. During the 1990s, human activi-
ties resulted in the gross deforestation of an area roughly the size 
of Colombia and Ecuador combined (146 million hectares, or 563,709 
square miles). During that same period, however, 52 million hectares 
were regained due to reforestation efforts and natural regrowth. In 
general, the 1990s saw forest cover expand in temperate, less devel-
oped countries, decline in tropical, less developed countries, and 
remain relatively stable in more developed countries.

http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Measure_Communication/Docum
ents/Healthy_People_Need_Healthy_Forests_(PDF__383KB).htm


5. Measures for Afghan Population Troubled by Conflict, Drought

Severe drought, more than two decades of conflict, and years of re-
pressive policies that have ravaged Afghanistan's economy and de-
prived its people - mainly women and girls - of their basic human 
rights have created major uncertainties about population measures and 
estimates. In this article, PRB senior editor Yvette Collymore de-
scribes population and health conditions in Afghanistan and neighbor-
ing countries. According to the latest estimates by the United Na-
tions, Afghanistan's population, which numbered some 14.3 million in 
the mid-1970s, had increased to some 21.7 million by the turn of the 
century. Most estimates place the number of deaths in the war that 
followed the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at more than 1 mil-
lion. That war, in addition to prolonged drought and threats of star-
vation, caused huge movements of people from rural areas into cities, 
and from Afghanistan into Iran, Pakistan, and other neighboring coun-
tries. 

http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=Content/ContentG
roups/Articles/011/Measures_for_Afghan_Population_Troubled_by_Conflic
t,_Drought.htm


6. Contraceptive Shortages Loom in Less Developed Countries

With more than 1 billion young people worldwide entering their child-
bearing years, ensuring access to contraceptives represents a chal-
lenge of immense proportions. In this article, Population Today edi-
tor Allison Tarmann considers a "crisis in the making" - a shortfall 
in contraceptives and condoms for people in the world's poorest coun-
tries. To many people in less developed countries, where thousands of 
people per day become infected with HIV and where the lifetime risk 
of maternal mortality is as high as one in seven women, contracep-
tives are life-saving devices. 

http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PT_articles/Jul-
Sep01/Contraceptive_Shortages_Loom_in_Less_Developed_Countries.htm


7. Urbanization Takes on New Dimensions in Asia's Population Giants

The United Nations projects that the proportion of the world's people 
living in urban places will hit 60 percent by 2030, up from 47 per-
cent in 1999. Terry McGee, professor of geography at the University 
of British Columbia and author of this Population Today article, 
notes that explosive urban growth will be especially dramatic and un-
even in Asia. More than 60 percent of the increase in the world's ur-
ban population over the next three decades will occur in Asia, par-
ticularly in China and India, but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh, the 
Philippines, and Vietnam. 
 
http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/Content/Content
Groups/PTarticle/0ct-dec01/Urbanization_Takes_on_New_Dimensions_in
_Asias_Population_Giants.htm

8. Please Share PRB E-Mail News

Since we published the first issue of PRB E-Mail News this past 
April, we have received many e-mails asking permission to circulate 
E-Mail News to other organizations' e-mail lists.  We are pleased 
that so many of you find this service useful, and we encourage you to 
share these newsletters.  Please continue to let us know of your 
plans to circulate this newsletter. We like to keep track of just how 
broad a circulation each newsletter receives.
 

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