Asia-Pacific Population & Policy

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Asia-Pacific Population & Policy is a four-page policy brief, issued quarterly, that summarizes research on population and reproductive health for policymakers and others concerned with the Asia-Pacific region.

The East-West Center ScholarSpace community contains digital versions of just some of the several thousand books, periodicals, and unpublished papers generated by the Center over the past 50 years. Find a complete list of recent East-West Center publications and learn how to obtain them at EastWestCenter.org/publications . Search for recent and older works from 1960 - present using the Center's library catalog at EastWestCenter.org/riscatalog.



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Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 10 of 69
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    Age at marriage is rising for Asian women and men, according to new data
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1992-09) Greenspan, Allison
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    Evidence mounts for sex-selective abortion in Asia
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1995) Westley, Sidney B.
    In Asian societies with a strong preference for sons, there is growing evidence that couples are using ultrasound and other modern methods to identify the sex of unborn fetuses, followed by selective abortion of females. Population statistics in South Korea, China, Taiwan, and some parts of India show a record preponderance of male births, leading to predictions of gender imbalance in future generations. This combination of son preference with modern technology poses a social, economic, and ethical dillema for policymakers. Governments are responding by severely penalizing the use of fetal screening for sex identification and are trying to address the deep-rooted problem of son preference that underlies the incidence of sex-selective abortion.
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    Falling fertility in Indonesia : success in national family planning
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1989) Robey, Bryant
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    What's happening to marriage in East Asia?
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1998) Westley, Sidney B.
    A trend toward late marriage has brought birth rates in Japan and South Korea to unprecedented low levels. In recent surveys, young people in these countries have expressed more negative attitudes about marriage than young people in the United States, and married people in Japan and South Korea have expressed less satisfaction with their marriages than their American counterparts. Women's views on marriage may be affected by the disproportionate burden of housework reported by married women, even those who work fulltime outside the home. Policymakers might counter attitudes associated with low fertility by making employment conditions more favorable to women who are married.
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    Caring for the elderly and holding down a job : how are women coping in Japan?
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 2003) Ogawa, Naohiro ; Retherford, Robert D. ; Saito, Yasuhiko
    Findings from Nihon University's 1999-2000 Japan Longitudinal Study of Ageing show that more than half of Japanese women who live with an elderly parent or parent-in-law are employed outside the home. Even in households where the elderly family member is very old or seriously disabled, large proportions of women continue to hold down full- or part-time jobs. These finding should be reassuring to Japanese policymakers who are concerned that middle-aged women remain in the labor force while continuing to care for elderly family members at home.
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    Community-based contraceptive distribution : a Korean success story
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1987) Robey, Bryant
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    HIV/AIDS awareness is improving in China
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 2004) Chen, Sheng Li ; Zhang, Shikun ; Westley, Sidney B.
    The AIDS epidemic is one of the most urgent threats to public health in China. According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an estimated 840,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in 2003, including 80,000 AIDS patients. Some observers believe that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS already exceeds one million. First observed in coastal and border regions, the epidemic is spreading across the country. Between 2001 and 2002, the number of reported AIDS cases increased by 44 percent. By 2003, cases had been reported in 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. Some have estimated that if infection levels continue to increase at the current rate, an estimated 10 million Chinese will be living with HIV/AIDS by 2010. In addition to expanding geographically, the epidemic is spreading from high-risk groups to the general population. The main transmission route is through needle sharing among injecting drug users, but the proportion of sexually transmitted infections is rising from 6 percent in 1997 to 11 percent at the end of 2002. Data from sentinel surveillance indicate that HIV prevalence is increasing among sex workers. Mother-to-child transmission of the virus is also rising. Behavioral surveys suggest substantial ongoing risk to support further spread of the epidemic. Needle sharing is common among injecting drug users, condom use between sex workers and clients is low, sexually transmitted infections (which increase the likelihood of HIV transmission) are widespread, and there is continuing risk of infection through blood transfusions and other medical procedures. One area of concern for the Chinese government has been the low level of awareness among the general population. Lack of knowledge is often accompanied by continuing risk behavior, limited adoption of preventative measures, and negative attitudes toward people living with HIV and AIDS. This issue of Asia-Pacific Population & Policy discusses a three-year information, education, and communication project conducted by the National Population and Family Planning Commission to improve HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes in China.
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    Women are key players in the economies of east and southeast Asia
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1997) Westley, Sidney B. ; Mason, Andrew
    As gender differences in economic activity have diminished, Asian women have played an increasingly important role in economic growth. An international study of six East and Southeast Asian economies sheds light on women's changing marriage and childbearing patterns, educational attainment, and labor-force participation over the past 40 years.
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    Do family planning programs enhance children's health?
    (Honolulu: East-West Center, 1996) Jensen, Eric R. ; Westley, Sidney B.
    The 1993 National Demographic Survey (NDS) in the Philippines provides data on the incidence of childhood diarrhea and acute respiratory infection and on the health care that children receive when they become ill. This information indicates that children who were "unwanted" at the time of conception are more likely to become ill than other children. Children from large families are less likely than other children to receive medical treatment when they become ill. These results confirm the justification for family planning programs based on child health.
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