Advances in International Maternal and Child Health, Volume I

Abstract

This first annual review has brought together “up-todate information on major conditions affecting mothers and young children from a global point of view”—major current issues in immunization, adolescent reproduction, family planning issues, oral rehydration, low birthweight, and the relationship of infant mortality and morbidity to breast vs. bottle feeding. Comments on these topics follow.Regarding immunization, J. P. Stanfield has discussed the differing benefit-cost issues in developed and developing countries; consumer involvement; liability/compensation; problems of immunization in the third world; and the current status of pertussis, measles, rubella, poliomyelitis, enteric, and other viral and bacterial vaccines.G. Edstrom gives an overview of reproductive health in adolescence, noting the dearth of information for many areas, and the biases of existing data. She finds that adolescent sexuality and reproduction, both intramarital and premarital, exist in all societies, developed and developing, with strong health reasons for helping young teenagers postpone pregnancies to more