Angola - High mortality rate Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Angola - High mortality rate - Term Paper Example ain consists of agricultural highlands, with a large savanna in the east and south; and rain forest strips in the north and the enclave of Cabinda (U.S. Department of State, 2011). Angola has a tropical climate. According to the WHO (2011), the total population of Angola is 18,498,000. Its main ethnic groups are: â€Å" Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, Bakongo 13%, mixed racial 2%, European 1%† (U.S. Department of State, 2011). Around 17% of its population are children 5 years old and below. Approximately 42% live in the rural areas. The official language in Angola is Portuguese and the Portuguese compose the largest non-Angolan population. Angola has a republic government system. A new constitution was enacted on February 5, 2010 and three days after, President dos Santos established a new government. The new constitution made a party list system where citizens can vote for a party, instead of a single candidate, and the president will be the head of the winning party’s list (U.S. Department of State, 2011). It created a new office of the vice president, and removed the position of the prime minister. The next presidential and parliamentary elections are projected to occur in 2012. Angola is rich in oil, gas, and diamonds, but remains in the lower rings of 10% of numerous socioeconomic indicators (U.S. Department of State, 2011). GDP growth in 2009 did not improve, though higher GDP projections are expected for the coming years (U.S. Department of State, 2011). An estimation of Angola’s oil reserves showed it to range from 9.5 billion to 13.5 billion barrels (U.S. Department of State, 2011). Crude oil composed around 50% of Angolas GDP, as well as 95% of its exports, and 72% of government revenues in 2010 (U.S. Department of State, 2011). Angola also generates 40,000 bpd of locally refined oil. Angola ranks 160th in the UNDP Human Development Index (WHO, 2005, p.1). The main determinants of health are the financial resources of the country, the availability of

Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy Essay

Abstinence Only vs. Comprehensive Education in Teen Pregnancy - Essay Example According to studies that were aimed at providing scientific evidence for evaluation and decision making with regard to preventing teenage pregnancy for the whole nation; it was concluded by specialists that the sex education in teen pregnancy approach is efficient and effective in curbing teenage pregnancy as compared to abstinence only. The relationship between sex education, teen pregnancy and birth rates need to be taught to the teens if the situation is to be salvaged (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Consequently, other critical influences like socio-economic status, education, cultural activities, and access to contraceptives through Medicaid waivers should be critically analyzed. However, this is not taken into consideration across the nation; the emphasis are on abstinence laws rather than sex education. The teen pregnancy, abortion and birth data significantly shows that higher levels of abstinence education strongly culminates into higher levels of abstinence character hence resulting into decreased pregnancies among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). In the same line of argument, other factors as earlier mentioned impact severely on teenage pregnancy. For instance educational attainment, Ethnic composition, and socio-economic status have a hand in either alleviating or aggravating the situation. Medicaid waivers for family planning have been found to significantly reduce unplanned pregnancies especially among low income women and among teenagers (Stanger-Hall and Hall, 2011). Through comprehensive research and analysis it has been established that although elaborate sex education in the US has resulted in lower teen pregnancy rates, these rates are still high as compared to teen pregnancy levels in Europe. This is mainly associated with poor laws and policies that do not advocate for sex and STD education to