User:Zakira seidu/sandbox

= Assignment evaluation = The U.S Census Bureau article was very informative and well-written. However, I do see the need for slight improvement in some parts of this article. Although the article had lots of information about the history of the U.S Census, some of them were irrelevant whereas others could have been condensed into one section. For example, a section was provided for each computer equipment and handheld computer. It can be consolidated into one section called U.S Census technological advancement. The article was written with a neutral mindset and all the views were represented equally. However, it would have been great if the process of census taking was covered. Most of the citation links work, and they were from credible sources with few exceptions. One of the link for the U.S Census Bureau was not functioning, and another link was to a technology company which might bias their opinion since their equipment is used in the Census. In addition, most of the information were outdated and others were unclear. The author failed to include the current head of Geography division of the U.S census, instead the name of the former head, Robert W. Marx, was used. The author stated “…some argue that unclear results from population data…” The author failed to explain who the “some” was referring to. The talk page of the article was very informative. It included grammatical error correction, and suggestions on how to make the article better. This was a wiki project for government, public policy, economics, elections and referendum class. The article focused more about the history than what the Census is and how it put in action. Last but not least, there was no conclusion to summarize all the main ideas. In all it was an okay article about the US. Census Bureau.  Generally, nice job with this evaluation - Prof Hammad 

Article: Contraception use in Africa
Most of the prevalence rate on contraption use in Africa in the article are outdated. My plan is to go back, look for current statistics and add them to the article. I also found a peer reviewed article which talked about the role of public-sector family planning in Sub-Saharan Africa. I find this addition to the article helpful because as mentioned in class, most of these African countries greatly rely on their government. So it will be very helpful to include the government. There was a lot of focus on Sub-Saharan African because that is where the problem currently is and most have not gone through the fertility transition. Another addition will be Coale's Precondition for fertility declines as it relates to contraception use as well.

Most of the countries with the lowest rates of contraceptive use; highest maternal, infant, and child mortality rates; and highest fertility rates are in Africa. However, there has been a decline in fertility rates and infant and child mortality rates in developing countries due to increased contraception use. Infant mortality Rate has decline from 142 deaths per 1000 live births to 99 death per 1000 live births. The Total Fertility Rate in Africa has decreased from 6.5 births per woman in 1960 to 2.4 births per woman in Southern Africa, 3.1 births per woman in Northern Africa, 4.5 births per woman in Eastern Africa and 5.2 live birth per woman in Western and Middle Africa. Decline in fertility rates, especially decline in adolescent fertility rates in Africa is greatly influenced by the increased age at which women get married and increased level of education. Contraception use is higher among sexually active women age 15-44 in Africa than in Asia or Latin American where it is lower. Approximately 64% of married and sexually active women worldwide use birth control, although over half of all African women would use birth control if it were available. 33% of married women and sexually active women of childbearing age use birth control in Africa. Approximately 24% of these women have unmet needs for birth control compared to 12% worldwide. By 2030, contraception use among married and sexually active women is expected to increase in West Africa from 17% (2015) to 27%, 23-34% in Middle Africa, 39-45% in Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia, 40-55% in Eastern Africa, A decrease in contraception use from 24% to 18% is expected in Eastern Africa by 2030. The main problems that prevent access to and use of birth control are unavailability, poor health care services, spousal disapproval, religious concerns, and misinformation about the effects of birth control. The most available type of birth control is condoms. There is evidence that increased use of family planning methods decreases maternal and infant mortality rates, improves quality of life for mothers, and stimulates economic development.

Public policies and cultural attitudes play a role in birth control prevalence.

Methods
In most African countries, only a few types of birth control are offered, which makes finding a method that fits a couple's reproductive needs difficult. Many African countries had low access scores on almost every method. In the 1999 ratings for 88 countries, 73% of countries offered condoms to at least half their population, 65% of countries offered the pill, 54% offered IUDs, 42% offered female sterilization, and 26% offered male sterilization. Low levels of condom use are cause for concern, particularly in the context of generalized epidemics in Sub-Saharan Africa. The use rate for injectable contraceptives increased from 2% to 8%, and from 8% to 26% in Sub-Saharan Africa, while the rate for condoms was 5%–7%. The least used method of contraception is male sterilization, with a rate of less than 3%. 6%–20% of women in Sub-Saharan Africa used injectable contraceptives covertly, a practice more common in areas where contraceptive prevalence was low, particularly rural areas. Countries such as Asia and North America use sterilization and IUD (long term effects) compared to Africa where pill, condoms and injections are commonly used (temporary effect). Sterilization and IUD are the most commonly used contraceptive methods worldwide accounting for 19% (sterilization) and 12% (IUD) use among married and sexually active women of reproductive age. Injectable contraceptives are more commonly used in southern and Eastern Africa and Eastern-Asia while male condoms are commonly used in Europe, which is about 17% prevalence.

In 2016, 10.9% of women in Burkina Faso use implant, 0.5% IUD, and 8.8% use injectable. Democratic Republic of Congo had 6.5% implant rate and 4.0% injectable use in 2015. Nigeria used more pill contraceptive (16.3%) compared to 7.3% injectable, and 12.9% of women in Ghana prefer injectable contraceptive to the other types.

''' I like how you linked the main page of "birth control" to your method section so readers can read about the different types of birth controls. It seems like you are focusing a lot more on condoms than the other birth controls. I think it would be helpful if you compare the rate of birth controls of countries in Africa that have been through demographic transition to countries that have not. - Shao Yang 4/2/18 '''

 I'd like to see you add some more about how contraceptives are related to fertility transition/DTM - but generally nice work - Prof H 

Health
Africa has the highest maternal death rate, which measures the death rate of women due to pregnancy and childbirth. In 1995, the maternal mortality ratio in Sub Saharan Africa was 1,006 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. There has been a 44% decline in MMR from 1990 to 2016. In 2016, MMR was 216 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 1990 where MMR was 385 deaths per 100,000 live birth. An article by Baggaley et al. suggests that increasing access to safe abortion would reduce maternal mortality due to unsafe abortions in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Alvergne et al. argue in “Fertility, parental investment, and the early adoption of modern contraception in rural Ethiopia” that an increase in usage of family planning increases birth spacing which consequently decreases infant mortality, although it had no observed effect on overall child mortality, possibly due to a recent overall decrease childhood death rates among both contraception users and nonusers. Under-five deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa was 15 times high when compared to under-five deaths worldwide. However there has been a huge decrease in under-five deaths globally, from 12.7 million deaths in 1990 to 5.9 million deaths in 2015.

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