Developing Countries

Although male partner cooperation is often essential for successful use of the female condom, only a few studies have directly assessed men's experiences of using the device. We examined barriers to and facilitators of female condom use via qualitative in-depth interviews with 38 young men (18 to 28 years) in South Africa whose partners, all university students, were enrolled in a female condom intervention trial. In all, 21 men used the female condom; the remaining 17 did not attempt use. The main facilitators to female condom use were convenience of use for men, curiosity to see how female condoms compared to male condoms, enhanced sexual sensation, and perceptions of better safety and comfort of the device compared to male condoms. The main barriers were men's limited familiarity with the device, insertion difficulties, and men's concerns about loss of control over sexual encounters. We recommend that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and condom promotion ...

The fourteen chapters in this book are the selected proceedings of the 6th Language & Development Conference which was held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 2003 with the theme 'Linguistic Challenges to National Development and International Cooperation'. The chapters discuss language policy issues in Azerbaijan, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and elsewhere.

E-books, print on demand, online sales sites, the boom in mobile phones… new technologies are profoundly transforming the way texts circulate. Developing countries, however, which face serious limitations in infrastructure, have a considerable challenge ahead of them.

What new actors are emerging in the countries of the South, outside of the powerful platforms already existing in the US, Europe and Japan? Is it conceivable that there may be an autonomous evolution of digital publications in developing countries, entirely independent of the richest nations? What support policies could be implemented to promote the growth of this new industry and accompany traditional actors in the process of adapting to the changes involved?

The digital experiences undertaken in the South suggest that new technologies represent a great opportunity for developing countries – particularly in terms of diffusion –, but on the condition that local entrepreneurs seek out original models adapted to the concrete needs of their communities.

A significant proportion of the population in sub-Saharan Africa live in the rural areas, with the majority living on less than US$1 per day. Access to electricity is considered an essential element in the sustainable development of rural areas and an enabler for countries to achieve their Millennium Development Goals. This paper contributes the first analytical study of the socio-economic factors which have a significant impact on rural electrification (RE) development in sub-Saharan Africa. The study employs cross-sectional data for 24 of the 47 countries in the sub-Saharan region and finds factors including the Human Development Index, wealth distribution, institutional development and urban population size of a country to have a significant impact on RE development. A detailed policy survey of four countries from the sample; two countries categorised as over-performing (Nigeria and Madagascar) and two as under-performing (Tanzania and Chad), highlights that collaboration with in...

Undernutrition in early childhood has long-term physical and intellectual consequences. Improving child growth should start before the age of two years and be an integrated effort between all sectors, covering all aspects such as diet and nutrient intake, disease reduction, optimum child care, and improved environmental sanitation. To discuss these issues, the Indonesian Danone Institute Foundation organized an expert meeting on Child Growth and Micronutrient Deficiencies: New Initiatives for Developing Countries to Achieve Millennium Development Goals. The objective of the meeting was to have a retrospective view on child growth: lessons learned from programs to overcome under-nutrition in the developed countries and to relate the situation to the Indonesian context, as well as to discuss implications for future programs. Recommendations derived from the meeting include focus intervention on the window of opportunity group, re-activation of the Integrated Health Post at the village...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the extent and causes of microbiological contamination of household drinking water between source and point-of-use in developing countries. METHODS: A systematic meta-analysis of 57 studies measuring bacteria counts for source water and stored water in the home to assess how contamination varied between settings. RESULTS: The bacteriological quality of drinking water significantly declines after collection in many settings. The extent of contamination after water collection varies considerably between settings, but is proportionately greater where faecal and total coliform counts in source water are low. CONCLUSIONS: Policies that aim to improve water quality through source improvements may be compromised by post-collection contamination. Safer household water storage and treatment is recommended to prevent this, together with point-of-use water quality monitoring.

Background: This study compared the diversity of common diarrhoeal pathogens and antimicrobial susceptibility in four hospitals in Bangladesh. Methodology: A total of 13,959 diarrhoea patients, comprising rural Mirzapur [2,820), rural Matlab (2,865), urban Dhaka (5,287) and urban Mirpur (2,987) were included under the diarrhoeal disease surveillance system of icddr,b during 2010-2011; stool specimens were tested for Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli and rotavirus. Results: Rotavirus was highest in Mirzapur (28%) followed by Dhaka (24%), Matlab (19%) and Mirpur (18%). Overall, Shigella was significantly more prevalent in rural sites (Mirzapur 13% and Matlab 7%), than in urban sites (Dhaka 3% and Mirpur 3%). Vibrio cholerae was more common in the urban sites of Dhaka (14%) and Mirpur (12%). 72% of Shigella isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin in Mirzapur, and 88% to mecillinam. In Dhaka, the figures for Shigella were 65% and 50%, in Matlab 65% and ...

A Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU), established in a district hospital in India, substantially reduced the neonatal mortality rate in the district; it, however, suffered from a dearth of trained nurses. Local girls with 10-12 years of school education underwent structured and hands-on training for six months, followed by a six-month internship at the SNCU and were assigned to it as stipendiary ‘Newborn Aides’. Based on the results of formal examinations, internal on-the-job assessment and interview of doctors, nurses, and parents and their technical skills and motivation were rated very high. Although the incremental cost of training is small, the cost of sustaining them, i.e. stipend and replacing attrition, needs to be addressed. Trained Newborn Aides may substantially alleviate human-resource constraint for SNCUs and Sick Newborn Stabilization units in smaller peripheral hospitals for care of sick newborns at an affordable cost.

Little is known about the effect of community versus health facility-based interventions to improve and sustain antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, virologic suppression, and retention in care among HIV-infected individuals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We systematically searched four electronic databases for all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and comparative cohort studies in LMICs comparing community versus health facility-based interventions. Relative risks (RRs) for pre-defined adherence, treatment engagement (linkage and retention in care), and relevant clinical outcomes were pooled using random effect models. Eleven cohort studies and eleven RCTs (N = 97,657) were included. Meta-analysis of the included RCTs comparing community- versus health facility-based interventions found comparable outcomes in terms of ART adherence (RR = 1.02, 95 % CI 0.99 to 1.04), virologic suppression (RR = 1.00, 95 % CI 0.98 to 1.03), and all-cause mortality (RR = 0...

Despite the importance of specialized manpower in leading a country's economy, statistics show the departure of a large number of thinkers in various fields of science who for some reason prefer to stay in developed countries to stay in their own country. In fact, brain drain represents the flow of human capital in which skills are transferred. The econometric method used is the generalized method of moment (GMM). In this study, developing countries have been selected as emmigrant countries and the United States as an immigrant country, and immigration statistics by nationality have been obtained from the International Organization for Migration (OECD. Stat) during the years 2002-2018. The first lag of brain drain, government effectiveness and freedom of expression have a positive effect on brain drain from developing countries to the U.S and the rule of law, corruption control and the quality of law have a negative effect on brain drain and elite migration. considering the impact of the rule of law, control of corruption and the quality of laws on reducing elite immigration, the necessary institutional reforms to improve property rights, contractualization, social security, competition, transparency and quality of law in the field of economic activities is suggested. Therefore, countries should prepare comprehensive programs to create a dynamic and active environment for human resources and provide the ground for creativity and innovation for the elites to prevent them from leaving their country.

Introduction: Guidelines recommend storing tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) refrigerated. However, especially in developing countries, maintaining the product refrigerated under field conditions can be difficult, limiting its use. Here we determine the effect of prolonged exposure to high temperatures on the potency of human, bovine and avian tuberculin PPD. Methodology: Human, bovine and avian tuberculin PPD were stored for several weeks exposed to temperatures ranging from 37º to 100ºC. The potency was evaluated in vivo, in sensitized or naturally infected animals. Results: Most test situations didn't affect the biological activity of the tuberculin PPDs and only very long and extreme incubations (several days at 100°C) compromised the potency. Conclusions: Tuberculin PPD is very stable and can be stored or transported for long periods without refrigeration. 

The impact of widespread international labor migration on the family in Tonga is examined. The author describes how migration has affected gender and kinship relations. She also examines the ways in which church and state ideologies encourage the development of the nuclear family, while overseas labor migration creates a need to maintain extended support systems among family networks.

Objectives To analyse the sources and reasons for referral of women who have undergone genital mutilation to a recently established specialist clinic, and to determine the consequences of the genital mutilation procedure. ... Setting The maternity units of Guy's and St. Thomas's ...

CHAPTER 8 Economic Reforms, Growth, and Governance: The Political Economy Aspects of Bangladesh's Development Surprise Wahiduddin Mahmud, Sadiq Ahmed, and Sandeep Mahajan Bangladesh emerged from its war of independence desperately poor, overpopulated, and ...

An estimated 40 % of the population in Benin lives in urban areas. The purpose of the study was to estimate malaria endemicity and the fraction of malaria-attributable fevers in health facilities in Cotonou. A health care system evaluation and a series of school parasitaemia surveys and health facility-based surveys were carried out during the dry season in of 2003, applying standard Rapid Urban Malaria Appraisal (RUMA) methodology. This study was part of a multi-site assessment supported by the Roll Back Malaria Partnership. The field work was carried out in February-March 2003. In 2002 and out of 289,342 consultations in the public health facilities of Cotonou there were 100,257 reported simple malaria cases (34.6%) and 12,195 complicated malaria cases (4.2%). In the school parasitaemia surveys, a malaria infection was found in 5.2 % of all samples. The prevalence rates of parasitaemia in the centre, intermediate and periphery zones were 2.6%, 9.0% and 2.5%, respectively. In the h...