Books฀&฀Electronic฀Media

all฀the฀necessary฀tools฀to฀understand฀ scientific฀evidence฀is฀available,฀have฀
Reproductive฀health฀and฀ the฀challenging฀issues฀that฀form฀Part฀II,฀ proven฀to฀be฀extremely฀difficult฀to฀realize.
human฀rights:฀integrating฀ such฀as฀female฀genital฀cutting;฀use฀of฀ The฀authors฀of฀this฀book฀are฀dis-
medicine,฀ethics฀and฀law฀ sexual฀and฀reproductive฀health฀services฀ tinguished฀specialists฀with฀the฀highest฀
by฀adolescent฀girls;฀medically฀assisted฀ credentials฀in฀sexual฀and฀reproductive฀
Authors:฀Rebecca฀J.฀Cook,฀Bernard฀M.฀Dickens,฀ reproduction;฀involuntary฀female฀steril- health฀(Mahmoud฀F.฀Fathalla),฀repro-
Mahmoud฀F.฀Fathalla฀ ization;฀counselling฀and฀care฀for฀women฀ ductive฀and฀sexual฀health฀law฀(Rebecca฀
Publisher:฀Clarendon฀Press,฀Oxford;฀2003 who฀are฀HIV-positive;฀and฀requests฀for฀ J.฀Cook),฀and฀medicine฀and฀ethics฀
ISBN:฀฀0฀19฀924132-5;฀hardback;฀582฀pages;฀฀
pregnancy฀termination.฀The฀variety฀ (Bernard฀M.฀Dickens).฀They฀worked฀on฀
฀ price฀UK£฀60
of฀examples฀discussed฀makes฀the฀book฀ this฀common฀endeavor฀for฀four฀years,฀
฀ 0฀19฀924133-3;฀paperback;฀582฀pages;฀฀
appealing฀to฀a฀global฀readership.฀Part฀ during฀which฀time฀they฀were฀able฀to฀go฀
฀ price฀UK£฀19.99
III฀provides฀a฀historical฀and฀empirical฀ beyond฀the฀limits฀of฀their฀disciplines฀
framework฀for฀the฀previous฀sections:฀ and฀merge฀their฀complementary฀areas฀
An฀adolescent฀woman฀requests฀a฀contra-
essential฀reproductive฀health฀data฀from฀ of฀expertise฀to฀produce฀a฀brilliant฀and฀
ceptive฀method฀from฀a฀health฀provider฀
around฀the฀world฀obtained฀from฀the฀ unique฀book.
in฀a฀country฀where฀access฀for฀under-aged฀
most฀reliable฀international฀sources;฀a฀ The฀intended฀readership฀includes฀
users฀is฀restricted;฀a฀couple฀denounces฀an฀
list฀of฀human฀rights฀treaties฀and฀UN฀ health฀providers,฀lawyers,฀researcher฀
involuntary฀sterilization฀to฀a฀local฀non- conference฀documents฀with฀references฀ workers,฀ethical฀analysts,฀health฀adminis-
governmental฀organization;฀a฀woman฀ to฀sexual฀and฀reproductive฀health;฀and฀ trators,฀members฀of฀grassroots฀organiza-
requests฀a฀legal฀abortion฀in฀a฀context฀ bibliographic฀details฀of฀key฀relevant฀ tions,฀and฀legislative฀aides.฀The฀book’s฀
where฀termination฀of฀pregnancy฀is฀highly฀ papers฀that฀have฀appeared฀over฀the฀last฀ interdisciplinary฀approach,฀contents,฀and฀
stigmatized฀and฀access฀to฀safe฀services฀ 50฀years. good฀balance฀between฀theory,฀concepts,฀
is฀denied฀her.฀These฀are฀just฀examples฀ The฀authors’฀main฀objective฀is฀am- concrete฀examples฀and฀recommenda-
of฀terribly฀unfortunate฀but฀common฀ bitious:฀to฀make฀readers฀understand฀that฀ tions฀will฀make฀it฀appealing฀and฀relevant฀
features฀in฀developing฀countries,฀where฀ “reproductive฀and฀sexual฀ill-health฀does฀ to฀this฀broad฀audience.฀Additionally,฀it฀
women,฀particularly฀poor฀women,฀lack฀ not฀occur฀in฀a฀vacuum,฀but฀is฀condi- is฀written฀in฀a฀language฀that฀is฀relatively฀
the฀necessary฀power฀to฀successfully฀fight฀ tioned฀by฀cultures,฀laws฀and฀values.”฀This฀ accessible฀and฀reader-friendly.฀Neverthe-
for฀their฀needs฀and฀rights. is฀fully฀achieved฀thanks฀to฀the฀authors’฀ less,฀the฀complexity฀of฀some฀of฀the฀issues฀
A฀meaningful฀and฀appropriate฀ encyclopaedic฀knowledge฀and฀interna- it฀discusses,฀its฀size฀and฀wealth฀of฀detail,฀
response฀to฀these฀complex฀situations฀ tional฀perspective.฀Although฀obvious฀ may฀constitute฀a฀barrier฀for฀lay฀people฀
requires฀a฀comprehensive฀approach.฀As฀ to฀some,฀this฀perspective฀may฀be฀new฀ and฀even฀for฀some฀professionals฀in฀
acknowledged฀by฀the฀authors฀of฀Repro- for฀many฀readers฀who฀don’t฀have฀access฀ developing฀countries.฀The฀fact฀that฀it฀is฀
ductive฀health฀and฀human฀rights:฀integrat- to฀views฀from฀disciplines฀other฀than฀ written฀in฀English฀may฀also฀be฀barrier฀to฀
ing฀medicine,฀ethics฀and฀law,฀no฀single฀ their฀own฀or฀have฀knowledge฀of฀distant฀ some฀readers฀in฀developing฀countries.
discipline฀or฀perspective฀will฀resolve฀the฀ geographic฀areas฀and฀diverse฀cultural฀set- The฀publication฀of฀this฀book฀is฀
many฀dilemmas฀involved฀in฀protecting฀ tings.฀฀A฀further฀objective฀is฀to฀stimulate฀ opportune฀because฀this฀is฀a฀particularly฀
reproductive฀and฀sexual฀health.฀Health฀ readers฀to฀develop฀their฀own฀analyses฀and฀ challenging฀time฀for฀the฀sexual฀and฀
providers,฀advocates฀and฀public฀officials฀ approaches฀based฀on฀local฀circumstances.฀ reproductive฀health฀and฀rights฀move-
struggling฀with฀real฀cases฀on฀a฀daily฀basis฀ Part฀II฀is฀instrumental฀in฀achieving฀this฀ ment.฀After฀gaining฀momentum฀during฀
are฀not฀always฀able฀to฀adopt฀such฀an฀in- goal.฀Each฀of฀its฀fifteen฀chapters฀analyses฀ the฀1990s,฀this฀movement฀has฀been฀
clusive฀view,฀largely฀because฀previously฀ the฀medical,฀ethical,฀legal฀and฀human฀ dramatically฀affected฀by฀a฀conservative฀
available฀publications฀dealt฀separately฀ rights฀aspects฀of฀a฀separate฀issue;฀provides฀ backlash฀and฀a฀financial฀recession฀that฀
with฀sexual฀and฀reproductive฀health,฀ solid฀recommendations฀for฀use฀at฀the฀ have฀undermined฀multilateral฀and฀bilat-
rather฀than฀focusing฀on฀their฀links฀ clinical฀and฀health-care฀system฀levels;฀and฀ eral฀international฀aid฀programmes฀and฀
and฀interactions.฀This฀monograph฀is฀ describes฀the฀social฀actions฀needed฀to฀ad- the฀support฀provided฀by฀many฀private฀
therefore฀an฀important฀addition฀to฀the฀ dress฀the฀underlying฀problem฀involved.฀ foundations.฀This฀monograph฀highlights฀
scarce฀literature฀at฀the฀interface฀between฀ Relevant฀and฀concrete฀recommendations฀ the฀crucial฀importance฀and฀complexity฀
medicine,฀ethics,฀human฀rights,฀and฀law,฀ for฀improving฀the฀quality฀of฀care฀received฀ of฀sexual฀and฀reproductive฀health฀and฀
and฀represents฀a฀unique฀reference฀source฀ by฀individuals฀with฀reproductive฀and฀ rights,฀which฀are฀currently฀under฀attack฀
that฀seeks฀to฀fulfil฀this฀unmet฀need. sexual฀health฀problems฀are฀also฀given.฀ and฀at฀risk฀of฀being฀excluded฀from฀
The฀book’s฀three฀parts฀comple- This฀approach฀may,฀however,฀be฀limited฀ international฀and฀national฀agendas.฀฀O
ment฀each฀other.฀Part฀I,฀theoretical฀and฀ in฀its฀usefulness:฀attempts฀to฀change฀
conceptual,฀provides฀the฀reader฀with฀ prevalent฀practices,฀even฀when฀strong฀ Ana฀Langer1

1
฀฀Population฀Council,฀Regional฀Office฀for฀Latin฀America฀and฀the฀Caribbean,฀Panzacola฀No.฀62฀–฀102,฀Col.฀Villa฀Coyacan,฀Mexico฀City,฀Mexico฀฀
฀ (email:฀[email protected]).

Bulletin฀of฀the฀World฀Health฀Organization฀|฀July฀2004,฀82฀(7) 549
 Books฀&฀Electronic฀Media
฀ ฀

hierarchical฀structure฀with฀accompanying฀ code,฀a฀“MORE”฀button฀is฀displayed;฀by฀
ICF฀illustration฀library฀ codes,฀text฀and฀illustrations.฀The฀site’s฀ clicking฀on฀it,฀the฀user฀is฀taken฀to฀the฀next฀
The฀ICF฀illustration฀library฀is฀an฀illus- design฀permits฀other฀languages฀to฀be฀ deeper฀code฀layer.฀The฀route฀by฀which฀
trated฀website฀version฀of฀the฀WHO฀฀ added฀simply฀to฀the฀library. the฀user฀has฀arrived฀at฀a฀particular฀code฀is฀
International฀Classification฀of฀Func- Upon฀opening฀the฀web฀site,฀the฀ displayed฀on฀screen,฀allowing฀easy฀access฀
tioning,฀Disability฀and฀Health฀(ICF).฀It฀ user฀is฀presented฀with฀a฀screen฀showing฀ to฀any฀part฀of฀the฀hierarchy,฀thus฀making฀
provides฀a฀simple฀and฀understandable฀ the฀top฀level฀structure฀of฀ICF:฀Body฀ the฀web฀pages฀very฀easy฀to฀navigate.฀
way฀of฀navigating฀the฀structure฀and฀ Functions;฀Body฀Structures;฀Activities฀฀ Fig.฀1฀shows฀the฀image฀of฀a฀page฀of฀the฀
construction฀of฀ICF.฀The฀web฀site฀shows฀ and฀Participation;฀Environmental฀Factors.฀ ICF฀illustration฀library,฀with฀the฀right-
Japanese฀(http://www.tokyo.image-lab. Clicking฀on฀any฀one฀of฀these฀head- hand฀expanded฀set฀of฀images฀showing฀
or.jp/icf/ill/)฀and฀English฀(http://www. ings฀leads฀to฀a฀display฀of฀the฀associated฀ the฀page฀obtained฀when฀a฀user฀presses฀the฀
tokyo.image-lab.or.jp/icf/ill/english/)฀ chapters.฀The฀key฀feature฀of฀the฀library฀ “MORE”฀button฀shown฀below฀d410.
versions฀of฀the฀library.฀Access฀to฀both฀฀ is฀its฀use฀of฀illustrations฀at฀all฀levels฀to฀ Development฀of฀the฀illustrative฀
versions฀is฀free,฀and฀the฀web฀pages฀enable฀ support฀the฀text.฀If฀a฀concept฀can฀be฀ library฀was฀based฀on฀experience฀gained฀
the฀user฀to฀view฀the฀classification฀via฀a฀ further฀classified฀by฀a฀more฀detailed฀ICF฀ in฀devising฀a฀functional฀assessment฀tool฀

550 Bulletin฀of฀the฀World฀Health฀Organization฀|฀July฀2004,฀82฀(7)
 ฀ Books฀&฀Electronic฀Media฀
฀฀ ฀

for฀the฀elderly฀in฀Japan.฀The฀illustrations,฀ of฀interest฀and฀scientific฀misconduct฀are฀ in฀making฀decisions฀to฀approve฀—฀or฀

which฀were฀drawn฀by฀a฀professional฀artist฀ also฀covered.฀Examining฀the฀contents฀ to฀conduct฀—฀proposed฀biomedical฀
under฀supervision,฀are฀marked฀by฀their฀ of฀the฀book฀in฀terms฀of฀reviewing฀our฀ research฀projects.฀Scholarly฀discussion฀
simplicity฀and฀provide฀a฀good฀graphical฀ curriculum฀and฀putting฀together฀assigned฀ tends฀to฀confuse฀them฀and฀to฀leave฀them฀
description฀of฀the฀classification฀concepts฀ reading฀material฀for฀the฀participants฀in฀ still฀hoping฀for฀clear฀guidelines฀regard-
and฀codes.฀The฀illustrations฀are฀copy- the฀course,฀we฀thought฀that฀many฀of฀the฀ ing฀particular฀decisions฀that฀have฀to฀be฀
righted฀by฀Dr฀Tai฀Takahashi฀(Interna- chapters฀easily฀deserved฀to฀be฀required฀ made.฀Some฀of฀the฀participants฀in฀our฀
tional฀University฀of฀Health฀and฀Welfare,฀ reading฀—฀not฀only฀for฀the฀particular฀ courses฀may฀tend฀to฀have฀such฀feelings฀
Japan)฀but฀the฀creators฀are฀keen฀to฀allow฀ course฀module฀that฀we฀were฀about฀to฀ upon฀reading฀Ethical฀and฀regulatory฀
the฀non-commercial฀use฀of฀their฀work.฀ give฀but฀for฀subsequent฀modules฀that฀ aspects฀of฀clinical฀research.฀Such฀feelings฀
The฀textual฀information฀taken฀from฀ were฀to฀follow.฀The฀book’s฀contents฀ cannot,฀however,฀be฀ascribed฀to฀the฀book฀
ICF฀is฀comprehensive฀and฀includes฀the฀ easily฀fit฀the฀requirement฀for฀a฀single฀ itself.฀Perhaps฀it฀should฀be฀the฀responsi-
full฀descriptions฀of฀the฀codes฀as฀well฀as฀ volume฀that฀contains฀most฀of฀the฀ bility฀of฀regulatory฀bodies฀to฀show฀how฀
notes฀on฀inclusions฀and฀exclusions. materials฀that฀one฀would฀have฀wanted฀ materials฀such฀as฀those฀in฀monographs฀
The฀pages฀on฀the฀site฀can฀be฀poten- —฀providing฀an฀introduction,฀current฀ such฀as฀this฀relate฀directly฀to฀the฀work฀of฀
tially฀used฀as฀a฀training฀aid฀to฀under- international฀guidelines,฀theoretical฀ ethics฀reviewers฀and฀researchers,฀and฀to฀
standing฀the฀structure฀and฀composition฀ analyses,฀as฀well฀as฀excellent฀selections฀ particular฀positions฀that฀they฀may฀take฀
of฀ICF,฀as฀well฀as฀an฀online฀aid฀to฀using฀ on฀specialized฀issues฀and฀the฀most฀recent฀
with฀respect฀to฀certain฀issues.
and฀interpreting฀the฀ICF฀classification฀฀ controversies.
The฀book฀is฀clearly฀primarily฀in-
system.฀Use฀of฀the฀illustrations฀in฀addi- Most฀of฀the฀readings฀that฀have฀been฀
tended฀for฀an฀American฀audience,฀which฀
tion฀to฀the฀text฀may฀also฀result฀in฀a฀more฀ chosen฀for฀the฀book฀can฀lay฀claim฀to฀
is฀understandable,฀since฀the฀editors฀are฀
standardized฀interpretation฀of฀the฀clas- being฀classics.฀They฀represent฀sophisti-
American฀academics.฀Also,฀the฀indi-
sification฀and฀thus฀ensure฀consistency.฀฀ cated฀thinking฀on฀various฀topics.฀Also฀
Although฀the฀library฀has฀been฀specifi- they฀chronicle฀the฀advances฀in฀ethical฀ vidual฀contributors฀are฀from฀developed฀
cally฀designed฀for฀dealing฀with฀elderly฀ theory฀that฀have฀come฀about฀in฀response฀ country฀institutions.฀One฀wonders฀
patients,฀its฀design฀would฀also฀lend฀itself฀฀ to฀the฀controversy-ridden฀strides฀that฀ whether฀this฀reflects฀a฀bias฀in฀favour฀of฀
to฀being฀adapted฀for฀other฀patients฀groups฀ have฀been฀made฀in฀biomedical฀research฀ authors฀who฀could฀be฀appreciated฀by฀
and฀used฀in฀other฀cultural฀settings.฀฀O over฀the฀past฀half฀century.฀However,฀ an฀American฀readership;฀a฀dearth฀of฀
there฀can฀be฀drawbacks฀to฀elegance฀and฀ relevant฀material฀written฀by฀scholars฀
Steve฀Sutch2 sophistication฀in฀thought฀if฀the฀objective฀ from฀other฀parts฀of฀the฀world;฀a฀lack฀of฀
in฀mind฀is฀the฀practical฀application฀of฀ appreciation฀for฀perspectives฀expounded฀
information.฀Classical฀writings฀do฀not฀ by฀developing฀country฀authors;฀or,฀as฀we฀
necessarily฀constitute฀the฀best฀materials฀ hope,฀a฀simple฀oversight฀that฀the฀editors฀
Ethical฀and฀regulatory฀aspects฀ for฀educating฀people฀who฀have฀differ- will฀attempt฀to฀rectify฀in฀a฀subsequent฀
of฀clinical฀research:฀readings฀ ent฀levels฀of฀scholarly฀commitment฀and฀ edition.฀Nevertheless,฀the฀compendium฀
and฀commentary฀ practical฀involvement฀in฀research฀and฀ of฀articles฀in฀this฀book฀is,฀on฀the฀whole,฀
review฀of฀research฀ethics.฀For฀example,฀ relevant฀internationally,฀with฀some฀
Editors:฀Ezekiel฀J.฀Emanuel,฀Robert฀A.฀Crouch,฀ participants฀in฀our฀training฀courses฀ qualification.฀฀O
John฀D.฀Arras,฀Jonathan฀D.฀Moreno,฀&฀฀ have฀occasionally฀told฀us฀that฀they฀are฀
Christine฀Grady more฀interested฀in฀being฀given฀specific฀ Leonardo฀D.฀de฀Castro3
Publisher:฀Johns฀Hopkins฀University฀Press,฀ rules฀or฀guidelines฀that฀they฀can฀refer฀to฀
Baltimore,฀MD,฀USA;฀2004฀
ISBN:฀0-8018-7813-6;฀paperback;฀528฀pages;฀
price฀US$฀39.95
Bulletin฀board:฀have฀your฀say
It฀was฀quite฀propitious฀that฀this฀book฀ Readers฀now฀have฀the฀opportunity฀to฀comment฀on฀recently฀published฀articles฀that฀have฀
arrived฀for฀review฀just฀as฀we฀were฀prepar- appeared฀in฀the฀Bulletin,฀฀in฀the฀form฀of฀an฀informal฀letter฀to฀the฀editor.฀These฀comments฀
ing฀to฀conduct฀another฀training฀course฀ will฀then฀be฀published฀on฀the฀ Bulletin’s฀web฀site,฀after฀quick฀editorial฀review,฀under฀
in฀research฀ethics฀at฀the฀University฀of฀ our฀new฀“Bulletin฀board”฀section฀and฀a฀selection฀will฀be฀chosen฀to฀appear฀in฀the฀print฀
the฀Philippines฀for฀health฀researchers฀฀ version฀of฀the฀journal.฀Please฀visit฀our฀web฀site฀at฀http://www.who.int/bulletin/en/฀to฀
and฀members฀of฀Ethics฀Review฀Com- access฀the฀latest฀articles฀and฀email฀your฀contributions฀to:฀[email protected].
mittees฀in฀the฀Asia–Pacific฀region.฀The฀book฀
begins฀with฀a฀history฀of฀human฀subjects฀
research฀and฀then฀covers฀various฀aspects฀
of฀clinical฀trial฀process,฀including:฀฀
designing฀the฀trial,฀recruiting฀partici-
pants,฀ensuring฀informed฀consent,฀and฀
studying฀special฀populations.฀Conflicts฀

2
฀฀Senior฀Consultant฀and฀Analytical฀and฀Statistical฀Services฀Manager,฀NHS฀Information฀Authority,฀King’s฀Court,฀The฀Broadway,฀Winchester฀SO23฀9BE,฀England฀฀
฀ (email:฀[email protected]).
3
฀฀Department฀of฀Philosophy,฀University฀of฀the฀Philippines,฀Diliman,฀Quezon฀City,฀1104฀Philippines฀(email:[email protected]).

Bulletin฀of฀the฀World฀Health฀Organization฀|฀July฀2004,฀82฀(7) 551

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