"Focuses on AIDS/HIV cases in the Caribbean Area as of January 2003. Percentage of people affected with the disease; Information on the University of the West Indies HIV/AIDS Response Program (UWI HARP); Comments from professor Farley Cleghorn on the response of the government to the disease; Impact of the UWI HARP on the students." (author)
Seeks to quantify how socioeconomic, health care, demographic, and geographic effects explain racial disparities in low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) rates in Brazil. Methods. Focused on disparities in LBW and PTB prevalence between infants of African ancestry alone or African mixed with other ancestries, and European ancestry alone. Differences in prenatal care use and geographic location were the most important contributors, followed by socioeconomic differences. The model explained the majority of the disparities for mixed African ancestry and part of the disparity for African ancestry alone.
"We sought to estimate the prevalence of substance disorders for African Americans and Caribbean Blacks in the United States using data from the National Survey of American Life. Methods. A national household probability sample of noninstitutionalized African Americans (n = 3570) and Caribbean Blacks (n = 1621) was obtained between February 2001 and June 2003 using a slightly modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview." (authors)
Case studies demonstrate how countries in the same region can develop health care policies that represent different biomedical and sociocultural outcomes. For example, Cuba's policies result in the lowest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the Caribbean, whereas Belize experiences the second highest rates.
Among the 3.2 million unsafe abortions in young women 15–19 years old, almost 50% are in the Africa region. 22% of all unsafe abortions in Africa compared to 11% of those in Asia (excluding Eastern Asia) and 16% of those in Latin America and the Caribbean are among adolescents aged 15–19 years.
