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Biomedical subjects

Anita Hardon

Publications and source records attributed to Anita Hardon.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Social and cultural efficacies of medicines: complications for antiretroviral therapy.

Using ethnographic examples of medicine use, prescription, distribution and production, the authors argue that social and cultural effects of pharmaceuticals should be taken into account. Non-medical effects deeply influence the medical outcome of medicine use. Complications around the advent of anti-AIDS medicines in poor countries are taken as a point in case. The authors are medical anthropologists specialised in the social and cultural analysis of pharmaceuticals.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed2005

Contesting contraceptive innovation--reinventing the script.

The article describes how the merging of Southern and Northern women's health groups resulted in a powerful transnational movement, with a collective oppositional identity based on shared solidarity in campaigns for reproductive rights and against state coercion in reproductive matters. It focuses on the ways in which the movement framed issues of rights and safety and pointed to the possible abuse potential of two new longer-acting contraceptive technologies, Norplant and the anti-fertility vaccines. The contestations by women's health advocates resulted in the emergence of a strong commitment among scientists to involve women's health advocates in the development and introduction of new contraceptive technologies. By engaging in the construction of safety and efficacy claims, and by outlining conditions for the introduction of the new technologies (so-called introduction scripts) women's health advocates were able to reinscribe the technologies with representations of bodily integrity and reproductive rights, rather than population control. I argue that a split within the women's health movement on the need to ban the new technologies did not weaken its impact, but, in fact, enhanced this success. I describe, in detailed case studies on the Norplant and Anti-fertility vaccine controversies, how both strands of women's health advocacy claim to be able to represent the interest of users, but that their representations of users differ. The 'no-to-Norplant' and 'no-to-anti-fertility' vaccines strands see users as victims of a state-led medical establishment enabled power, which is inscribed in the technology. The more moderate strand of activism argue that women's interests and needs differ from one setting to another, and that they are best met by making available to women a range of contraceptive options which allow for a free and informed choice.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Shifts in global immunisation goals (1984-2004): unfinished agendas and mixed results.

The turn of the millennium has been marked by a large-scale mobilisation of resources for immunisation programmes in developing countries. The resources have been generated by public and private sector parties collaborating in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI). GAVI was formed in response to deteriorating immunisation coverage rates occurring in the late 1990s. GAVI is the latest in a line of vaccine initiatives, which have operated over the past 20 years. This article reviews the five most important global immunisation initiatives that have taken place over those past 20 years. It analyses their origins, shifts in global immunisation goals, identifies key actors, assesses the initiatives' capacity to mobilise resources and increase immunisation coverage, and points to possible unintended effects of the initiatives. The study argues that shifts in global immunisation goals lead to fragmentation in the implementation of vaccine programmes at the local level in developing countries. It also suggests that global actors involved in the formulation of these initiatives appear to miss opportunities to build on past experiences and fail to learn from previous mistakes. This raises questions about the initiatives' sustainability and relevance to the overall objective of preventing vaccine-preventable deaths.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Gender and medication use: an exploratory, multi-site study.

OBJECTIVE: This comparative study in four countries was designed to explore differences in women's and men's patterns of medication use. METHODS: A total of 539 individuals, 303 women and 236 men, aged 15 years and older, were interviewed in Mexico, the Philippines, Uganda, and the US. Country-specific variables and codes adapted questions and answers to local contexts, and the instrument alternated between closed- and open-ended questions. RESULTS: In all sites, women reported using medications more frequently than men. Differences in reported use between women and men over the month preceding the survey were significant in Mexico and Uganda, but not in the two countries with the highest medication use, the Philippines and the USA. Gender differences are explained in part by differences in the frequencies with which major symptoms/conditions are reported, as women were generally more likely to report these conditions then men, but not more likely to treat symptoms or conditions with medications. This analysis also found gendered patterns of communication and information about health: women are central to the process of communication about health and therapies and they appear to draw on a richer repertoire of knowledge, perceptions and attitudes regarding medications. CONCLUSIONS: This study documents differences in patterns of medication use, with women reporting higher use than men overall. It also finds gendered patterns of use, manifested in information and perceptions surrounding medications.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Reproductive health care in The Netherlands: would integration improve it?

Since the 1994 ICPD, relatively little attention has been given to constraints in improving reproductive health programmes in industrialised countries. The Netherlands is known for its low rates of unwanted pregnancy, safe and accessible abortion services, low perinatal and maternal mortality and well-developed programmes for adolescent sexual health, but recent studies show a rising incidence of abortions and STDs, particularly among young people and immigrants. This article describes reproductive health services in the Netherlands, their historical roots and current constellation, including services for family planning, abortion, STDs, infertility, information, education and counselling on sexuality, and antenatal and delivery care, in the context of cost containment and other recent reforms. It shows that although these core components are well covered and the system of reimbursement for costs has greatly helped to increase accessibility, they are not all well integrated into the primary health care system. In some cases, they are well covered by other providers, such as midwives. Prevention and management of STDs and infertility, however, are particularly split between different providers and in some cases the extent and quality of service provision is lacking. What emerges is a still fragmented landscape--with many successes but also some significant shortcomings.

Contraception Behavior↗