Effects of a Community-Based Program on Voluntary Modern Contraceptive Uptake Among Young First-Time Parents in Cross River State, Nigeria.

Background: Reproductive health programs for youth have largely overlooked first-time parents (FTPs)-defined as young women younger than 25 years old who are pregnant or already have 1 child, and their partners. To address this gap, we implemented and evaluated a program to improve child spacing, modern contraceptive use, and related gender outcomes among FTPs in Cross River State (CRS), Nigeria. This paper examines the effectiveness of FTP interventions in improving voluntary uptake of contraception.

Emergency contraceptive knowledge and use among urban women in Nigeria and Kenya.

Rates of emergency contraceptive (EC) use in sub-Saharan Africa are highest in Kenya and Nigeria, although little is known about user characteristics and use dynamics in these countries. To better meet women's emergency contraceptive needs and to contribute to the limited knowledge base regarding this method in Africa, this study examines data from a sample of EC users drawn from a large, representative household survey that included sexually experienced women in urban Kenya and Nigeria. Bivariate and multivariate analyses reveal greater knowledge of EC among these urban women than was reported in other nationally representative surveys.

Is repeat use of emergency contraception common among pharmacy clients? Evidence from Kenya.

Background: As emergency contraception (EC) becomes more widely available in African pharmacies, public concern in many countries has emerged over perceived "repeat use" of the method. This study examines issues of repeat use in Kenya, a country where women almost exclusively obtain EC from pharmacies.

Study Design: Interviews were conducted with all clients who purchased EC from private pharmacies located in five urban areas across Kenya.

Using mass media campaigns to promote voluntary counseling and HIV-testing services in Kenya.

Background: Kenya, a country with high HIV prevalence, has seen a rapid scale-up of voluntary counseling and HIV-testing (VCT) services from three sites in 2000 to 585 by June 2005. From 2002 onwards, services were promoted by a four-phase professionally designed mass media campaign.

Objective: To assess the impact of a mass media campaign on VCT services.

Reproductive health risk and protective factors among unmarried youth in Ghana.

Context: In Ghana, as in many other Sub-Saharan African countries, the behaviors of the current cohort of adolescents will strongly influence the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This study sought to identify factors associated with elevated risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection among unmarried Ghanaian youth.

Methods: A nationally representative sample of 3,739 unmarried 12-24-year-olds were surveyed.

Reproductive health risk and protective factors among youth in Lusaka, Zambia.

Purpose: To: (a) identify risk and protective factors for behaviors that expose Zambian youth to risk of HIV infection and, (b) assess whether research findings from the United States concerning protective factors in "high-risk" environments might apply to other settings.

Methods: A community-based sample of 2328 youth ages 10-24 years residing in Lusaka, Zambia was interviewed. Multivariate statistical methods were used to isolate risk and protective factors for selected sexual and contraceptive behaviors.