Browsing by Author "Ahmed, F. Humera"

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    Adults’ Perceptions of Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health: Qualitative Evidence from Uganda
    (New York: Guttmacher Institute, 2008) Kibombo, Richard; Neema, Stella; Moore, Ann M.; Ahmed, F. Humera
    Over the past 15 years, adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) has increasingly received special attention in many African countries mainly due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has swept across the continent with devastating impact, particularly among young people (15–24 years old) who account for about half of all new HIV infections. However, adolescents frequently do not have access to appropriate sexual and reproductive health services due to a host of factors ranging from dysfunctional health care systems to stigma regarding seeking reproductive health care. While research has been done on adolescents’health-seeking behaviors, little is known about the attitudes and perceptions of adults who play a key role in adolescents’ lives, adolescents’ sexual behavior and access to reproductive health services. It is for this reason that the Guttmacher Institute, in collaboration with the Makerere Institute of Social Research, conducted 60 indepth interviews with parents, community leaders, teachers and health workers in one urban and one rural setting in Uganda to learn about their perceptions, attitudes and experiences of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health issues.
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    Protecting the Next Generation in Uganda
    (Guttmacher Institute., 2008) Darabi, Leila; Bankole, Akinrinola; Serumaga, Kalundi; Neema, Stella; Kibombo, Richard; Ahmed, F. Humera; Banoba, Paul
    As young people grow into adolescence and young adulthood, most will become sexually active and thus be exposed to the dual risks of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), most importantly HIV. Although Uganda’s multi pronged HIV prevention program—consisting of direct programmatic efforts to promote abstinence, monogamy and condom use, as well as a wide range of other strate gies to fight stigma, such as outreach to religious leaders—successfully contributed to a drop in HIV preva lence in the 1990s, that decline may have reached a plateau. Key to Uganda’s continued success in reducing HIV/AIDS, as well as unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion, is a commitment to focusing on young people, who dominate the country’s population. This, however, is no simple task. Those committed to protecting the next generation of Ugandans must recognize the diversity and varying needs of adolescents. For all adolescents, one thing is certain: Any program or policy aimed at protecing the sexual and reproductive health of youth will be more successful if it reaches them at the appropriate time,in some cases before they become sexually active.