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The international confederation of midwives 25th triennial congress
International news
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reference to micronutrient status in any programme to combat malnutrition; - the prevention of nutritional emergencies and the provision of 'safety nets' for the most vulnerable in case the unavoidable happens. Child malnutrition. WHO Factsheet 1996 May; (119): 1-3.
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W H O , HIV A N D AIDS Since 1987 W H O ' s Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) has provided support and guidance for AIDS projects in more than 150 countries. Together with five other United Nations agencies WHO set up the new Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 1995 and the new programme formally superseded the old on 1 January 1996. To aid continuity in this area WHO has also set up its Office of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (ASD) with four main objectives: - to ensure a co-ordinated global, regional and national WHO response to STDs and AIDS; to facilitate integration of related activities in the work of WHO through the provision of appropriate support; - to ensure liaison between WHO, UNAIDS and the other co-sponsors, and other UN, and non-UN, organisations; to co-ordinate within WHO, and jointly with UNAIDS and the other co-sponsors the mobilisation of resources for these activities.
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increase the risk of HIV infection by 300-400%, but STD control slows the process; as families become sick the household becomes poorer because of the expenses of care, but support from the extended family and the community reduces the economic impact; there is a significant depletion of the workforce, but more businesses are offering HIV/AIDS prevention programmes to their workers; certain professions are more at risk but intervention programmes have been successful in educating people in safer practices; in urban areas up to 75% of hospital beds may be occupied by AIDS patients, but these patients now play a significant role in educating the rest of the community about the disease. HIV/AIDS epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS Fact Sheet, 1996
SLEEPING W I T H MOTHER
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WHO and HIV/AIDS. WHO Factsheet 1996 May; (120): 1-2
HIV / AIDS IN AFRICA The burden of AIDS in many African countries is 100 times heavier than that in industrialised countries, and yet their resources to alleviate it may be several hundred times less. UNAIDS estimates that nearly 13 million adults are living with HIV in subSaharan Africa, some 65% of the world total, and that by 2000 this will have risen to 30-40 million, or 60% of the total. However, in some countries, such as Uganda, the rate of new infections appears to be stable or even decreasing. This indicates that efforts at prevention can be successful. Over 50% of new HIV infections in Africa occnr in women, and women also carry the main burden of caring for family members with the virus. The impact of this epidemic is felt in several ways: - sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) fuel the epidemic, if untreated they can
In Western societies the practice of parents sleeping with their babies has come to be thought strange, unhealthy and dangerous. It is said that the babies may become too dependent on their parents or risk accidental suffocation. However, this is not supported by human experience worldwide where babies have traditionally slept with, usually, their mothers as a matter of course. The baby receives protection, warmth, emotional reassurance - and breast milk in the right quantities, and also prompt attention if it cries, chokes or has any other needs. Suffocation is only a real danger in situations of poverty and overcrowding, where there may be smoke-filled and under-ventilated rooms. The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) from 'co-sleeping' is also greatly exaggerated. If the mother is a smoker then the risk is increased, but research from, for example, Japan where women traditionally sleep with their babies, shows that SIDS rates are among the lowest in the world. Furthermore, research has shown that bed sharing increases breast feeding episodes, reduces crying and leaves the baby spending less time awake. Research has also shown how tightly bound up the mother-baby relationship is and how any degree of separation has adverse consequences. McKenna JJ 1996 Babies need their mothers beside them. World Health 49 (2): 14-15
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T R A D I T I O N A L MEDICINE The WHO is well aware that some traditional medicines are more beneficial than others and, since 1977, its Traditional Medicine Programme has been involved in examining all aspects of traditional medicine critically and with an open mind. In 1994 WHO was asked to consider the contribution it might make in promoting respect for and maintaining traditional remedies. In developing countries the traditional practitioners still perform most of the medical and other health-related functions. For example, TBAs may conduct up to 95% of all births in rural areas (and up to 70% in the cities). Meanwhile in industrialised countries there is an ever-growing interest in alternative medicine. Medicinal plants and herbs have become big business - in China in 1993 sales of herbal medicines totalled US$2.4 billion and in Japan between 1979 and 1989 sales increased fifteen-fold. There are now 24 WHO Collaborating Centres for Traditional Medicine, eight concerned with acupuncture and the remainder with herbal medicines. Their role is to support WHO in implementing its policies and decisions and have significantly advanced the standardisation of practices and the exchange of information. Government and other national research institutes have also been set up in developing and industrialied countries alike, and there is no doubt that this branch of medicine will make a significant contribution to the achieving of health for all. Zhang X 1996 Traditional medicine and WHO. World Health 49 (2): 4-5
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY The International Confederation of Midwives 25th Triennial Congress This congress will be hosted by" the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines Inc at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila from May 22 to 26, 1999. The Congress theme will be Midwifery and Safe Motherhood: Beyond the Year 2000. For further details please contact: The Secretariat, 25th ICM Triennial Congress, Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines Inc, Pinaglabanan corner Ejercito Streets, San Juan, Metro Manila, PO Box no SJPO 175346. Fax: +63 2 70 53 35.
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Midwifery
XVth European Congress of Perinatal Medicine Date: 10-13 September 1996 Venue: Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, UK Fee: £385.00 (nurses and midwives £330.00 to include accommodation) All enquiries: European Congress of Perinatal Medicine, Concorde Services Ltd, Unit 5, SECC, Glasgow G3 8YW, UK. Tel: +44 141 221 3553
Nursing, women's history and the politics of welfare Date: 18-21 September 1996 Venue: University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Fee: £295.00 (residential); £205.00 (nonresidential) All enquiries: Conference Secretary, Department of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, University of Nottingham, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK. Tel: +44 115 970 9724; fax: +44 115 970 9955; e-mail: MNZSS@mnnl. nursing.nottingham.ac.uk
Midwifery Today Conference: Midwifery: reaching beyond our goals Date: 3-7 October 1996 Venue: Orlando, Florida, USA Fee: Full conference - $375 (subscriber), $405 (non-subscriber). Range of day and two-day options also available.
All enquiries: Midwifery Today, PO Box 2672-242, Eugene, OR 97402, USA. Tel +1 503 344 7438, +1 800 743 0974; Fax +1 503 344 1422; e-mail: Midwifery@ aol.com
W A B A Global Forum: Breastfeeding: Science and Ethics, Theory and Practice Date: 14-18 October 1996 Venue: Asia Further information: Global Forum on Breastfeeding, c/o WABA Secretariat, PO Box 1200, 10850 Penang, Malaysia
Research and the Midwife Conference Date: 22 November 1996 Venue: Bristol, UK Further information: Ann Thomson, School of Nursing Studies, University of Manchester, Coupland III Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel and Fax: +44 161 275 5336.
W A B A Global Forum: Children's health, children's rights: Action for the 21 st Century Date: 2-6 December 1996 Venue: Bangkok, Thailand Further information: Susan Siew, WABA Global Forum Coordinator, WABA PO Box 1200, 10850 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +60 4 658 4816; fax: +60 4 657 2655; e-mail: [email protected]
PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO MIDWIVES International Confederation of Midwives 24th Triennial Congress Proceedings, 26-31 May 1996, Oslo. ISBN 82 993903 0 3. Den Norske Jordmorforening (The Norwegian Association of Midwives), Tollbugaten 35, N-0157 Oslo, Norway. NOK 250 (=£25.00). Safe motherhood: education material for teachers of midwifery. 1996. World Health Organization, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Foundation module: the midwife in the community. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.1). Postpartum haemorrhage module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.2) Obstructed labour module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.3) Puerperal sepsis module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.4) Eclampsia module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.5) Students' notes. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.6) (as launched at the ICM Congress in May) The Progress of Nations 1996. ISBN 92 806 3224 8. Produced for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) by P&LA, 18 Observatory Close, Benson, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 6NU, UK. The State of World Population 1996. ISBN 0 89714 269 1. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.
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reference to micronutrient status in any programme to combat malnutrition; - the prevention of nutritional emergencies and the provision of 'safety nets' for the most vulnerable in case the unavoidable happens. Child malnutrition. WHO Factsheet 1996 May; (119): 1-3.
-
-
W H O , HIV A N D AIDS Since 1987 W H O ' s Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) has provided support and guidance for AIDS projects in more than 150 countries. Together with five other United Nations agencies WHO set up the new Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 1995 and the new programme formally superseded the old on 1 January 1996. To aid continuity in this area WHO has also set up its Office of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (ASD) with four main objectives: - to ensure a co-ordinated global, regional and national WHO response to STDs and AIDS; to facilitate integration of related activities in the work of WHO through the provision of appropriate support; - to ensure liaison between WHO, UNAIDS and the other co-sponsors, and other UN, and non-UN, organisations; to co-ordinate within WHO, and jointly with UNAIDS and the other co-sponsors the mobilisation of resources for these activities.
-
increase the risk of HIV infection by 300-400%, but STD control slows the process; as families become sick the household becomes poorer because of the expenses of care, but support from the extended family and the community reduces the economic impact; there is a significant depletion of the workforce, but more businesses are offering HIV/AIDS prevention programmes to their workers; certain professions are more at risk but intervention programmes have been successful in educating people in safer practices; in urban areas up to 75% of hospital beds may be occupied by AIDS patients, but these patients now play a significant role in educating the rest of the community about the disease. HIV/AIDS epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS Fact Sheet, 1996
SLEEPING W I T H MOTHER
-
-
WHO and HIV/AIDS. WHO Factsheet 1996 May; (120): 1-2
HIV / AIDS IN AFRICA The burden of AIDS in many African countries is 100 times heavier than that in industrialised countries, and yet their resources to alleviate it may be several hundred times less. UNAIDS estimates that nearly 13 million adults are living with HIV in subSaharan Africa, some 65% of the world total, and that by 2000 this will have risen to 30-40 million, or 60% of the total. However, in some countries, such as Uganda, the rate of new infections appears to be stable or even decreasing. This indicates that efforts at prevention can be successful. Over 50% of new HIV infections in Africa occnr in women, and women also carry the main burden of caring for family members with the virus. The impact of this epidemic is felt in several ways: - sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) fuel the epidemic, if untreated they can
In Western societies the practice of parents sleeping with their babies has come to be thought strange, unhealthy and dangerous. It is said that the babies may become too dependent on their parents or risk accidental suffocation. However, this is not supported by human experience worldwide where babies have traditionally slept with, usually, their mothers as a matter of course. The baby receives protection, warmth, emotional reassurance - and breast milk in the right quantities, and also prompt attention if it cries, chokes or has any other needs. Suffocation is only a real danger in situations of poverty and overcrowding, where there may be smoke-filled and under-ventilated rooms. The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) from 'co-sleeping' is also greatly exaggerated. If the mother is a smoker then the risk is increased, but research from, for example, Japan where women traditionally sleep with their babies, shows that SIDS rates are among the lowest in the world. Furthermore, research has shown that bed sharing increases breast feeding episodes, reduces crying and leaves the baby spending less time awake. Research has also shown how tightly bound up the mother-baby relationship is and how any degree of separation has adverse consequences. McKenna JJ 1996 Babies need their mothers beside them. World Health 49 (2): 14-15
155
T R A D I T I O N A L MEDICINE The WHO is well aware that some traditional medicines are more beneficial than others and, since 1977, its Traditional Medicine Programme has been involved in examining all aspects of traditional medicine critically and with an open mind. In 1994 WHO was asked to consider the contribution it might make in promoting respect for and maintaining traditional remedies. In developing countries the traditional practitioners still perform most of the medical and other health-related functions. For example, TBAs may conduct up to 95% of all births in rural areas (and up to 70% in the cities). Meanwhile in industrialised countries there is an ever-growing interest in alternative medicine. Medicinal plants and herbs have become big business - in China in 1993 sales of herbal medicines totalled US$2.4 billion and in Japan between 1979 and 1989 sales increased fifteen-fold. There are now 24 WHO Collaborating Centres for Traditional Medicine, eight concerned with acupuncture and the remainder with herbal medicines. Their role is to support WHO in implementing its policies and decisions and have significantly advanced the standardisation of practices and the exchange of information. Government and other national research institutes have also been set up in developing and industrialied countries alike, and there is no doubt that this branch of medicine will make a significant contribution to the achieving of health for all. Zhang X 1996 Traditional medicine and WHO. World Health 49 (2): 4-5
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY The International Confederation of Midwives 25th Triennial Congress This congress will be hosted by" the Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines Inc at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila from May 22 to 26, 1999. The Congress theme will be Midwifery and Safe Motherhood: Beyond the Year 2000. For further details please contact: The Secretariat, 25th ICM Triennial Congress, Integrated Midwives Association of the Philippines Inc, Pinaglabanan corner Ejercito Streets, San Juan, Metro Manila, PO Box no SJPO 175346. Fax: +63 2 70 53 35.
156
Midwifery
XVth European Congress of Perinatal Medicine Date: 10-13 September 1996 Venue: Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, UK Fee: £385.00 (nurses and midwives £330.00 to include accommodation) All enquiries: European Congress of Perinatal Medicine, Concorde Services Ltd, Unit 5, SECC, Glasgow G3 8YW, UK. Tel: +44 141 221 3553
Nursing, women's history and the politics of welfare Date: 18-21 September 1996 Venue: University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Fee: £295.00 (residential); £205.00 (nonresidential) All enquiries: Conference Secretary, Department of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, University of Nottingham, Medical School, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK. Tel: +44 115 970 9724; fax: +44 115 970 9955; e-mail: MNZSS@mnnl. nursing.nottingham.ac.uk
Midwifery Today Conference: Midwifery: reaching beyond our goals Date: 3-7 October 1996 Venue: Orlando, Florida, USA Fee: Full conference - $375 (subscriber), $405 (non-subscriber). Range of day and two-day options also available.
All enquiries: Midwifery Today, PO Box 2672-242, Eugene, OR 97402, USA. Tel +1 503 344 7438, +1 800 743 0974; Fax +1 503 344 1422; e-mail: Midwifery@ aol.com
W A B A Global Forum: Breastfeeding: Science and Ethics, Theory and Practice Date: 14-18 October 1996 Venue: Asia Further information: Global Forum on Breastfeeding, c/o WABA Secretariat, PO Box 1200, 10850 Penang, Malaysia
Research and the Midwife Conference Date: 22 November 1996 Venue: Bristol, UK Further information: Ann Thomson, School of Nursing Studies, University of Manchester, Coupland III Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK. Tel and Fax: +44 161 275 5336.
W A B A Global Forum: Children's health, children's rights: Action for the 21 st Century Date: 2-6 December 1996 Venue: Bangkok, Thailand Further information: Susan Siew, WABA Global Forum Coordinator, WABA PO Box 1200, 10850 Penang, Malaysia. Tel: +60 4 658 4816; fax: +60 4 657 2655; e-mail: [email protected]
PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST TO MIDWIVES International Confederation of Midwives 24th Triennial Congress Proceedings, 26-31 May 1996, Oslo. ISBN 82 993903 0 3. Den Norske Jordmorforening (The Norwegian Association of Midwives), Tollbugaten 35, N-0157 Oslo, Norway. NOK 250 (=£25.00). Safe motherhood: education material for teachers of midwifery. 1996. World Health Organization, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Foundation module: the midwife in the community. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.1). Postpartum haemorrhage module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.2) Obstructed labour module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.3) Puerperal sepsis module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.4) Eclampsia module. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.5) Students' notes. (WHO/FRH/MSM/96.6) (as launched at the ICM Congress in May) The Progress of Nations 1996. ISBN 92 806 3224 8. Produced for United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) by P&LA, 18 Observatory Close, Benson, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 6NU, UK. The State of World Population 1996. ISBN 0 89714 269 1. United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, USA.