Research Findings

Despite their fight with breast cancer and the wealth of resources available, survivors remain uninformed of the risk of cancer recurrence, according to a new important Canadian survey. The survey, led by the Canadian Breast Cancer Network (CBCN) and conducted by Ipsos-Reid, shows that only one in 10 women surveyed are aware of their risk of relapse after five years of tamoxifen treatment.

For the full news release.

Annals of Plastic Surgery. 59(2):119-123, August 2007.
Lipworth, Loren ScD; Nyren, Olof MD; Ye, Weimin PhD [S]; Fryzek, Jon P. PhD; Tarone, Robert E. PhD; McLaughlin, Joseph K. PhD

This report indicates that women who receive implants for breast enhancement are three times more likely to commit suicide. The report also shows that deaths related to alcohol or drug dependence also were three times higher among women who had the cosmetic procedure.

To read the abstract: http://tinyurl.com/23rp49.

Cook Islands, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Estonia, Guinea, Honduras, Hungary,Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore

Submitted by the International Alliance of Women to the 39th session of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women- 23 July to 10 August 2007, New York

Tobacco poses a threat to achieving the MDGs. That was the conclusion of a WHO report, The Millennium Development Goals and Tobacco Control (WHO, Geneva, 2002). The study shows an alarming trend that links poverty with tobacco use. Poor families are more likely to have smokers than richer families. They allocate a substantial part of their total expenditures to tobacco often exceeding what they pay for education or health care. For example, in Indonesia , low income families spend 5 to 15 percent of their income on tobacco.

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world, killing 4.9 million persons each year. Two-thirds of the poor nations have male smoking rates higher than the 35 percent in the developed world. Male prevalence rates in Estonia (44 percent), Hungary (53 percent), Guinea (58.9 percent), Kenya (66.8 percent), Indonesia (69 percent), Republic of Korea (64.8 percent) and Jordan (48 percent) are examples (country data based on Tobacco Control Country Profile 2003, Atlanta , The American Cancer Society et al, 2003.) Death and disability due to tobacco affects women even if they are not smokers. When the male head of household no longer provides an income, women are forced to enter the labor market or manage farmland. With unequal access to credit, agricultural resources, and financial know-how, rural women suffer dire economic consequences.

Canadian Institute for Health Information

After declining for a number of years, the number of underweight babies born in Canadian hospitals began to increase in 2001-2002, steadily growing from 5.7% of births to 6.2% of births in 2005-2006, or one in every 16 babies. These low birth weight babies often spend a long time in hospital and may experience lifelong complications and challenges. A new analysis available today from the Canadian Institute for Health Information also looks at these low birth weight rates, along with C-section rates, epidural use and assisted delivery rates at a national, provincial and health region level.

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A Report for the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for Ethics in Leadership
Gordon Laird  

Report discusses how homelessness is now chronic and is quickly becoming one of the country's defining social issues. Discusses the need for a national housing strategy and a more robust income security program.

For the full report: http://www.chumirethicsfoundation.ca/files/pdf/SHELTER.pdf

Statistics Canada

Between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006 , nearly 106,000 women and children were admitted to shelters, most often to escape abuse, according to a new report. While the number of women admitted to shelters to escape abuse has stayed relatively stable during the past nine years, the number of children has fallen substantially.

Children accounted for 41% of these admissions in 2006, compared with 49% in 1998, when Statistics Canada first began collecting these data, the report showed.

The report is based on data from the latest Transition Home Survey (THS), a national survey of residential facilities providing shelter to abused women and their children. The survey, conducted every two years, provides information on the facilities, their services and a snapshot of the clients they serve.

More >>> http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/070629/d070629c.htm .

These Guidelines have been prepared by the Ethics Office of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), in conjunction with its Institute Of Aboriginal Peoples ' Health, to assist researchers and institutions in carrying out ethical and culturally competent research involving Aboriginal people. The intent is to promote health through research that is in keeping with Aboriginal values and traditions. The Guidelines will assist in developing research partnerships that will facilitate and encourage mutually beneficial and culturally competent research. The Guidelines will also promote ethics review that enables and facilitates rather than suppresses or obstructs research.

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/29134.html .

By Marc Frenette and Simon Coulombe

Statistics Canada , Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, 2007

From the executive summary: "It has been well documented that young women have been gaining ground on young men in terms of educational attainment. In 1981, 16.2% of women and 15.5% of men aged 25 to 29 who were in the labour force held a university degree. The gap only widened moderately by 1991, as 19.1% of young women and 16.1% of young men held a university degree. By 2001, the gap had increased dramatically: 31.3% of young women and 21.6% of young men held a university degree.

The objective of this study is to assess the role of rapidly rising educational attainment of young women in explaining trends in the gender gap in labour market outcomes, such as obtaining full-time employment and earnings. Census data are used to examine these issues."

Read the full report: Has Higher Education Among Young Women Substantially Reduced the Gender Gap in Employment and Earnings? (PDF 286KB/26p.)

Statistics Canada

Longer maternity leaves for Canadian mothers have meant that more of them have met breastfeeding targets recommended by public health agencies, according to a new study.

The study examined the impact that an increase in maternity leave entitlement had on time away from work, breastfeeding, and the health of both mothers and their children.

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Brigette Krieg, Diane Martz, Lisa McCallum

The Northwest Métis Women's Health Research Project investigated the health care needs of elderly women and their caregivers in the Métis community of Buffalo Narrows , Saskatchewan . The research project looked at access to home care and long-term care services for elderly women in the particular demographic, social, cultural and economic context of northern Métis communities.

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