PIP:
This paper presents data on contraceptive prevalence from 26 national sample surveys conducted in the Asian and Pacific region during the 1966-84 period. The basic data presented are: contraceptive prevalence rates, cross-classified by age where possible; the percentage of couples using each contraceptive method, also cross-classified by age where possible. To facilitate comparison between countries and across time, the data are presented in a standardized form, both numerically and graphically. Contraceptive prevalence rates range from 1-85% (the highest and lowest ever reported). In the Asian and Pacific region as a whole, the prevalence rate was around 40%, which was about the same level as in the Latin American region. In Africa the prevalence rate was around 12%, and in developed countries around 70%. In the late 1960s, prevalence rates in the Asian and Pacific region were less than 20%. By the early 1980s, contraception had spread throughout all parts of society so that the rates in many countries were over 50%, and in some over 60%. Most of the countries with high prevalence rates were in East and Southeast Asia, and most of those with low prevalence in South Asia. Displayed graphically with the age of wife (from 15-49 years) on the x axis, contraceptive prevalence rates appear as an inverted U, low at both ends of the age range and high in the middle. Curves skewed to the left generally have stronger effects on fertility than those skewed to the right. This is due to the fact that most births occur among younger couples and contraception used by younger couples prevents more births than contraception used by older couples. The curves of countries relying primarily on sterilization are generally skewed to the right. The data show a wide variation in the mix of contraceptives used in each country. The use of various contraceptives by age is similar throughout the region. Young couples generally use oral contraceptives (OCs), those in the middle of the reproductive ages the IUD, and those near the end of the childbearing ages sterilization. Rhythm and withdrawal methods appear to be preferred both by couples in the youngest and oldest age groups. Contraceptive needs change as couples progress through the life cycle. Consequently, family planning programs must work to provide a broad mix of contraceptives. The tables show that Thailand and the Republic of Korea, 2 countries which are thought to have excellent family planning programs, have provided well-balanced mixes of contraceptives. Other countries in the region have depended on only 1 or 2 methods.
North American strains of Aedes albopictus, an Asian mosquito recently introduced into the Western Hemisphere, exhibit photoperiodic sensitivity and cold-hardiness characteristics similar to strains originating from temperate zone Asia. Trade statistics for used tire imports, the most likely mode of introduction, also indicate a north Asian origin. Aedes albopictus, an important vector of dengue and a potential vector of many other arboviral diseases, may therefore have the capability of infesting much of temperate North America.
The distribution of serum transferrin subtypes was determined by PAG electrophoresis and isoelectric focussing in a group of 2288 individuals from 10 Mongoloid populations of East Asia. The sample comprised 857 Chinese from different localities: Singapore (239), Malaysia (228), Taiwan (265), Hong Kong (65), Fouzhou (60); Koreans (332), Filipinos (281), Thais (455), Malays (335) and Indonesians (28). The frequencies of TfC1 varied from 0.73 to 0.79 in the Chinese and from 0.76 to 0.83 in the other Mongoloid populations. TfC3 was observed at a frequency of 0.02 in the Koreans and Chinese from Fouzhou. TfDChi was present in a low frequency (0.01 to 0.03) in all the populations. A low frequency of TfB was also present in all the populations. The phenotypic distribution of transferrin subtypes was at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in all the populations.
Throughout India and China, South Korea and Taiwan, Pakistan and Malaysia, the same sentiment recurs: "The birth of girl is an occasion for gloom, not cheer, for bitterness, not pleasure." In all these countries "patriarchal traditions and social stigmas" make females the unwanted sex, reports Asiaweek. The tragic result: prenatal gender tests are flourishing. And for many women, if the test indicates a female, they abort. In India, sex tests and abortions are legal, cheap and readily available. Some 1500 sex-tested girls are aborted annually in Bombay alone. In China, abortions are legal, but gender tests strictly forbidden. Says one official: We cannot afford to let people know what sex the fetus is because all the girls would be aborted." Yet the numbers of baby girls in China have been reduced--and illicit gender tests and female infanticide are considered partly to blame. In South Korea, gender tests have been banned and most abortions are illegal, but "clandestine tests" are available, and according to the government some 30,000 pregnancies are terminated annually. The number of aborted females is not known, but birth ratios have shown "an alarming swing towards males" in recent years. Can laws and education change the social attitudes against girls in these Asian countries? Indian activist Vibhuti Patel, a lobbyist for stronger controls over sex-testing, hopes so. She urges a "continuous campaign" to fight the "centuries-old values" that encourages gender tests. Says Patel: Nothing less than the very survival of women is at stake."
The distribution of red cell phosphoglucomutase (PGM) subtypes was determined by starch-gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing in a group of 2,484 unrelated individuals from ten Mongoloid populations of East Asia. The sample comprised 998 Chinese from various localities--Singapore, 325; Malaysia, 270; Taiwan, 276; Hong Kong, 67; Fouzhou, 60--as well as 342 Koreans; 252 Filipinos; 529 Thais; 336 Malays, and 27 Indonesians. Altogether 15 phenotypes controlled by four common and five rare alleles at the PGM1 locus were observed in these populations. The frequency of the most frequent allele (PGM1+) varied from 0.56 to 0.74, with the highest frequency observed in the Singapore Chinese and the lowest in the Malays. Within the Chinese from different localities a significant degree of heterogeneity was observed at the PGM1 locus. The rare allele (PGM17)6 was observed only among the Chinese, Thais, and Malays, while the PGM1 was lacking in the Filipinos. A new allele with ahigh pI (6.5) was observed in a low frequency in all the populations but the Malays.
The distribution of group-specific component (Gc) subtypes was determined by isoelectric focussing in thin layer polyacrylamide gels of pH range 4 to 6.5, in a group of 2412 individuals from 10 Mongoloid populations of East Asia. The sample comprised 959 Chinese from different localities (Singapore, 249; Malaysia, 347; Taiwan, 246; Hong Kong, 57; Fuzhou mainland, 60), 338 Koreans, 277 Filipinos, 484 Thais, 330 Malays and 24 Indonesians. The Filipinos and Malays had lower frequencies of Gc2 (0.15 and 0.18) compared to other Mongoloid populations (0.23 to 0.32) and the Chinese (0.24 to 0.32). The frequencies of Gc1F varied from 0.39 to 0.49 in the Chinese and 0.35 to 0.52 in other Mongoloid populations. Low frequency of rarer variants was observed in most of the populations. The average frequency of Gc2 was higher in the Japanese (0.26 +/- 0.01) than in the Chinese (0.24 +/- 0.02), and in Mongoloids of East Asia (0.23 +/- 0.01) and South-East Asia (0.17 +/- 0.01). The average frequencies of Gc1F and Gc1S were similar in the Chinese and Japanese, whereas the Mongoloids of South-East Asia had a much higher frequency of Gc1F and a lower frequency of Gc1S than the Chinese, Japanese and East Asian Mongoloid populations.
Many studies have shown that schooling levels of husband and wife are important determinants of household behavior in developing countries. This article asks how the schooling levels of husband and wife come to be associated with each other through the marriage market. The Kiefer-Neumann model of labor market search is adapted to marital search, the aim being to explain both the positive sorting on educational levels for spouses, and the positive relationship between female schooling and age at 1st marriage. World Fertility Survey data for Indonesia, Korea, and Malaysia are employed in the analyses.
"A recent conference sponsored by the United Nations Center for Regional Development (UNCRD) in Nagoya, Japan examined the growing importance of labor migration for four major Asian labor importers (Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) and five major labor exporters (Bangladesh, Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, and Thailand).... The conference concluded that international labor migration would increase within Asia because the tight labor markets and rising wages which have stimulated Japanese investment in other Asian nations, for example, have not been sufficient to eliminate migration push and pull forces...."
PIP:
Fertility trends and prospects for east and southeast Asian countries including cities in China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Myanmar, and Viet Nam are described. Additional discussion focuses on family planning methods, marriage patterns, fertility prospects, theories of fertility change, and policy implications for the labor supply, labor migrants, increased female participation in the labor force (LFP), human resource development, and social policy measures. Figures provide graphic descriptions of total fertility rates (TFRS) for 12 countries/areas for selected years between 1960-90, TFR for selected Chinese cities between 1955-90, the % of currently married women 15-44 years using contraception by main method for selected years and for 10 countries, actual and projected TFR and annual growth rates between 1990-2020 for Korea and Indonesia. It is noted that the 1st southeast Asian country to experience a revolution in reproductive behavior was Japan with below replacement level fertility by 1960. This was accomplished by massive postponement in age at marriage and rapid reduction in marital fertility. Fertility was controlled primarily through abortion. Thereafter every southeast Asian country experienced fertility declines. Hong Kong, Penang, Shanghai, Singapore, and Taipei and declining fertility before the major thrust of family planning (FP). Chinese fertility declines were reflected in the 1970s to the early 1980s and paralleled the longer, later, fewer campaign and policy which set ambitious targets which were strictly enforced at all levels of administration. Korea and Taiwan's declines were a result of individual decision making to restrict fertility which was encouraged by private and government programs to provide FP information and subsidized services. The context was social and economic change. Indonesia's almost replacement level fertility was achieved dramatically through the 1970s and 1980s by institutional change in ideas about families and schooling and material welfare, changes in the structure of governance, and changes in state ideology. Thailand's decline began in the 1960s and is attributed to social change, change in cultural setting, demand, and FP efforts. Modest declines characterize Malaysia and the Philippines, which have been surpassed by Myanmar and Viet Nam. The policy implications are that there are shortages in labor supply which can be remedied with labor migration, pronatalist policy, more capital intensive industries, and preparation for a changing economy.
It has been known that intrahepatic biliary lithiasis (IHBL) is prevalent in East Asia including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In contrast, the entity has drawn little attention in Europe and the United States where only scattered reports appear. IHBL can be placed in the category of the benign disease. Its distinctive clinical picture is an intractable course necessitating multiple surgical interventions because recurrence is usual, rather than exceptional. This is in distinct contrast to ordinal stones which originate in the gallbladder. Patients with IHBL do not rarely die of progressive hepatic damage resulting from longstanding obstructive jaundice, cholangitis, liver abscess, septicemia, and so forth.