Measuring maternal mortality : an overview of opportunities and options for developing countries

Background:There is currently an unprecedented expressed need and demand for estimates of maternal mortality in developing countries. This has been stimulated in part by the creation of a Millennium Development Goal that will be judged partly on the basis of reductions in maternal mortality by 2015. Methods: Since the launch of the Safe Motherhood Initiative in 1987, new opportunities for data capture have arisen and new methods have been developed, tested and used. This paper provides a pragmatic overview of these methods and the optimal measurement strategies for different developing country contexts. Results: There are significant recent advances in the measurement of maternal mortality, yet also room for further improvement, particularly in assessing the magnitude and direction of biases and their implications for different data uses. Some of the innovations in measurement provide efficient mechanisms for gathering the requisite primary data at a reasonably low cost. No method, however, has zero costs. Investment is needed in measurement strategies for maternal mortality suited to the needs and resources of a country, and which also strengthen the technical capacity to generate and use credible estimates. Conclusion: Ownership of information is necessary for it to be acted upon: what you count is what you do. Difficulties with measurement must not be allowed to discourage efforts to reduce maternal mortality. Countries must be encouraged and enabled to count maternal deaths and act.WJG is funded partially by the University of Aberdeen. OMRC is partially funded by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. CS and SA are partially funded by Johns Hopkins University. CAZ is funded by the Health Metrics Network at the World Health Organization. WJG, OMRC, CS and SA are also partially supported through an international research program, Immpact, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development, the European Commission and USAID

Ageing in the Middle East and North Africa: A Contemporary Perspective

One of the central themes in the study of population growth has been ageing. Ageing in the world's population has grown into a dominant demographic feature in twenty-first century society. An ageing population is the result of many contributing factors including the improvement of the health care system. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in recent years has attracted much interest from scholars, policy makers and social gerontology. By applying the geographical case studies of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) this paper critically explores the issues and debates of ageing in a social policy context

Transgender inmate experiences in prison systems, jails, and detention centers in the United States: a systematic review

Historically, transgender individuals have faced varying levels of systematic discrimination, harassment, and violence based on their gender identity. The standard method that jails and prisons incarcerate inmates is based on assessing female versus male genitals. Transgender inmates challenge the protocols of jails and prisons because of their gender variance. These inmates, who have no power, query how places of reform treat the most vulnerable when they are marginalized by peers and those in positions of authority. Consequently, the disregard that the prison system imposes by not offering other ways to assess transgender inmates poses a risk to them that other inmates do not experience. This systematic review aimed to add to the scholarly literature and to aid policymakers, prison personnel, medical doctors, psychologists, and others in positions of authority to make informed decisions concerning the vulnerable population of transgender prison inmates. This systematic review utilized an integrative approach in an analysis of both quantitative and qualitative studies to create a comprehensive summary and synthesis of existing literature that addresses the research questions (RQs). This search yielded 16 sources that met inclusion criteria. Findings revealed various themes under each RQ and suggested that safety and violence were the most prevalent underlying themes in all publications