| U.S. Funding for the United National Population Fund (UNFPA) Witheld for the Third Consecutive Year |
| On July 16, the Bush administration once again denied funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the world's largest provider of reproductive health programs. For the third consecutive year, the United States will withhold its $34 million contribution, funding that Congress had already set aside for the UNFPA, because ... |
| House Committee Approves Increases in Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Funding |
| On July 14 the House Appropriations Committee approved its Fiscal Year 2005 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) funding bill. The bill, approved the week prior by the committee's LHHS subcommittee, included an additional $35 million for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
This $35 million increase, which would bring total FY05 ... |
| HIV/AIDS in Vietnam: An Epidemic on the Verge |
| In Vietnam, the recorded number of people infected with HIV has nearly doubled since 2001, from 43,4101 to 81,2062. Vietnamese public health officials estimate that the actual number of people living with HIV is close to 200,0003 Although the percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam and other parts ... |
| Efforts Continue to Make Emergency Contraception (EC) Available Over-the-Counter |
| Several steps were taken during July in the on-going effort to make emergency contraception (EC) available over-the-counter to women in the United States. EC is a high dose of regular birth control pills that can reduce a woman's chance of becoming pregnant by 75 to 89 percent if taken within ... |
| Debate Over Health Education Textbooks in Texas |
| Four health textbooks in Texas are causing a controversy that is getting national attention. In June, a panel appointed by the Texas Education Agency recommended these four textbooks for the Texas schools. Of the four textbooks, only one mentions condoms in the actual textbook. The other three discuss condoms only ... |
| Bush Judicial Nominations Watch: Four More Nominees Blocked; Still No Vote on Claude Allen |
| Less than one week before the U.S. Senate recessed for the summer, Republicans pushed for a vote on four of President Bush's federal judicial nominees. All four were blocked when Republicans failed to end the Democrat's filibusters on each nominee. A filibuster enables Senators to delay a vote by holding ... |
| HRSA Announces 50 New SPRANS-CBAE Grantees |
| On July 12, 2004, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the distribution of $31 million in implementation grants to 50 organizations as part of the Special Projects of Regional and National Significance-Community Based Abstinence Education (SPRANS-CBAE) program. These grants fund both public and private organizations to implement abstinence-only-until-marriage ... |
