Abstract BackgroundWe studied the association between sex in exchange for money, drugs or goods and HIV for women who inject drugs (WWID) in Ukraine, as previous data on this association from the post-USSR region are contradictory.MethodsData come from the Integrated Bio-Behavioral Survey of Ukrainian people who inject drugs collected in 2011 using respondent-driven sampling. Participants were interviewed and tested with rapid HIV tests.ResultsThe sample included 2465 WWID (24% HIV positive); 214 (8.7%) of which reported having had exchange sex during the last 90 days. Crude analysis showed no association between exchange sex and HIV (OR = 0.644; 95% CI 0.385–1.077). No confounders were found to alter this result in a multivariable analysis. Further modeling showed that exchange sex modifies association between HIV and alcohol use: no association between HIV and daily alcohol use was found for those women who exchanged sex (OR = 1.699, 95% CI … [Read more...] about Engagement in sex work does not increase HIV risk for women who inject drugs in Ukraine
Women
International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on nurses as leaders
By Wendy Nicholson, National Lead Nurse – Children, young people & Families & Deputy Head of World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Public Health Nursing and Clearly, nursing is a diverse and far-ranging profession. The traditional stereotype of nursing and nurses is changing and the drive to provide care closer to home and really get serious about prevention has quite rightly put public health nursing in the spotlight. When I pulled on my crisp new student nurse uniform in the early 1980s I could never have imagined I would find myself working in public health, as the focus and direction of travel for most nurses was gaining experience in hospitals before venturing into the ‘community!’ Like my peers and other nursing colleagues, I recognised that many of those hospital admissions were avoidable and many of the A&E visits could have been prevented. Shifting the balance to upstream prevention and public health was certainly not a new … [Read more...] about International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on nurses as leaders
More than 200 million women still lack access to modern contraception
A new study published Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute reports that some 214 million women, mostly in the developing world, lack access to modern methods of contraception and other reproductive services routinely available in the West. The Guttmacher researchers report that the number of women with an unmet need for contraception has generally declined over the past three years — down from 225 million in 2014 — but say that further progress will depend on ongoing commitments and investments in family planning. “Meeting the sexual and reproductive health needs of women in developing regions is an achievable and affordable goal if world leaders give this global health priority the urgent attention it needs,” says Ann Starrs, President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, in a statement accompanying the report’s findings. Today, some 1.6 billion women of reproductive age live in the developing world and about half of those wish to … [Read more...] about More than 200 million women still lack access to modern contraception
Is a global shift developing to reduce penalties for violence against women?
Is a global shift developing to reduce penalties for violence against women? Author : Jennifer Wagman, Jay Silverman, Anita RajJennifer Wagman is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health and Associate Director of the Center on Gender Equity and Health at the University of California, San Diego; and Co-Deputy Director of the University of California Global Health Institute’s Center of Expertise on Women’s Health, Gender and Empowerment. Jay Silverman is a Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health and the Director of Research for the Center on Gender Equity and Health and the University of California, San Diego. Anita Raj is a Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health and the Director of the Center on Gender Equity and Health at the University of California, San Diego. One in three women globally has experienced violence from a male intimate partner (IPV) or sexual violence (SV) from a non-partner. Such violence is not only a human … [Read more...] about Is a global shift developing to reduce penalties for violence against women?
Good for body and mind: Women who go for a walk at least twice a week reduce their risk of heart failure by 20 percent
Monday, March 26, 2018 by: Zoey Sky Tags: cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular health, exercise, fitness, goodhealth, heart disease, heart failure, heart failure risk, heart health, Menopause, physical activity, post-menopausal women, post-menopause, postmenopause, prevention, regular walking, walking, weight loss, women's health (Natural News) According to a recent study, “[walking] for at least 40 minutes several times per week at an average to fast pace is associated with a near 25-percent drop in the risk of heart failure among post-menopausal women.” Dr. Somwail Rasla, a cardiologist at Saint Vincent Hospital, explained that while it has already been established that physical activity can lower the risk of heart failure, it’s possible that –contrary to popular belief – walking alone may be enough. In the U.S., at least 6.5 million adults have heart failure, a condition where the heart is too weak to pump enough blood for the … [Read more...] about Good for body and mind: Women who go for a walk at least twice a week reduce their risk of heart failure by 20 percent