Proposals have been developed to clarify physician responsibility in withholding treatment to terminally ill patients. These proposals seek to provide a legal shield against malpractice proceedings and to reduce confusion over how to resolve high medical costs through standardizing procedures for withholding treatment. When first published,…

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has become an issue that schools must understand, especially in terms of the legal requirements of educating students who contract this disease. In a review of some recent court cases involving children with AIDS, this paper focuses on how to educate these children. Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,…

The Polonoroeste program is a World Bank-funded colonization project in central Brazil. This document looks at the indigenous peoples of the Aripuana Park which lies in the path of the development plan. The main objective of the $1.5 billion project is to pave a highway from Cuiaba to Porto Velho. The project consists of the highway, colonization…

Demographic data are used in this report to present information about infant mortality in more- and less-developed countries. One chapter is devoted to rising infant mortality rates in developed countries, which defy the typical post-World War II pattern. Severe economic conditions are linked to this increase. Direct causes of infant deaths are…

Biological, medical, legal, psychological, and educational issues associated with children with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the school setting are reviewed. National guidelines, federal regulations, and legal procedures are also discussed. (TJH)

The author argues that the achievement of health in developing countries requires that health workers be trained to prevent disease in addition to any training they receive in the identification and management of disease. This preventive role includes communication of health promotion concepts to people and gaining the confidence of communities.…

The director of the Birth Defects Center at the University of California at San Francisco addresses the reasons for developing good ways of teaching human genetics. Genetic counseling is discussed within the context of several case histories. (SA)

The debate about cost as it pertains to medical technology misses the mark by not pressing on the central problem of increased prevalence of chronic illness. Far from cost containment, what are needed are additional services which may in the end reduce total costs. (Author/MJL)

Presented are a series of five short essays on the topic of improving the health of Americans through nutrition education. The future demography is discussed as it relates to declines in sizes of households, more fast-food establishments, and increased needs for nutrition information. (SA)

Historically, conceptions of gender in education revolved around a distinctive set of assumptions about male and female sexuality. This article focuses on the principal arguments, related to education, associated with sexuality and sex equity during three critical periods in American history: antebellum, latter nineteenth century, early twentieth…

Sex equity issues which are emphasized in this article include: (a) how boys and girls negotiate reproductive transitions; (b) how male and female sexual maturity is treated differently by parents, educators, and society; and (c) how the consequences of puberty and sexual behavior may differ for boys and girls. (IAH)

The need for reform of the national health care system is particularly evident when viewed from an intergenerational standpoint. None of the generations is currently adequately protected against catastrophic illness or the costs of long-term care. The National Health Care Campaign is sponsoring an initiative for comprehensive intergenerational…

For the last 2 decades, researchers and practitioners dedicated to improving the health of gay and bisexual men have largely focused their work on the need to reduce the incidence of HIV infection. This is certainly warranted given the intensity of this particular epidemic in the gay community and the challenges it has presented to the nation's…

This volume is a collection of nine papers focusing on different aspects of play. The first section, "Play, Growth, Development, and Learning," contains discussions dealing with make-believe play and learning; an all-in-fun approach to thinking, playing, and language learning for young children; and ways children learn through play. The…

Every child who enters the doors of the nation's school system deserves an education, including children with AIDS. Parents of AIDS-free children fear that the AIDS-infected child in the classroom threatens the health and safety of the general school community. But according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, casual contact with…