The relationship between religious obligations and female genital cutting is explored using data from Burkina Faso, a religiously and ethnically diverse country where approximately three-quarters of adult women are circumcised. Data from the 2003 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey are used to estimate multilevel models of religious variation in the intergenerational transmission of fema...

Compared to other world regions, the region under the auspices of the UN Economic Commission for Europe is undoubtedly the most diversified and most heterogeneous one. It currently spans over 56 countries in three continents – Europe, North America, and Asia – reflecting a great variety in political and socioeconomic contexts as well as in demographic trends and in coping capacities of the coun...

The following two research questions were examined in this study: 1) What is the public's level of concern with ethics in science; and 2) Are religious affiliation, religious involvement, and education predictors of that concern in Asia? The sample includes 7,963 men and women between the ages of 20 and 59 from ten Asian countries. An overall low level of relative concern toward ethics in scien...

BACKGROUND Incorporating religious beliefs into mental health therapy is associated with positive treatment outcomes. However, evidence about faith-sensitive therapies for minority religious groups is limited. METHODS Behavioural Activation (BA), an effective psychological therapy for depression emphasising client values, was adapted for Muslim patients using a robust process that retained co...

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Since becoming independent at the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, the countries of Central Asia have made profound changes to their health systems, affecting organization and governance, financing and delivery of care. The changes took place in a context of adversity, with major political transition, economic recession, and, in the case of Tajikistan, civil war, and with varying degrees o...

Muslim countries, previously considered protected from HIV/AIDS due to religious and cultural norms, are facing a rapidly rising threat. Despite the evidence of an advancing epidemic, the usual response from the policy makers in Muslim countries, for protection against HIV infection, is a major focus on propagating abstention from illicit drug and sexual practices. Sexuality, considered a priva...

Religious fundamentalism is a distinctive set of beliefs and behaviour pattern in most modern religious communities. It is a religious way of being that manifests itself as a strategy among the believers to preserve the authenticity of their identity based on doctrines, beliefs and practices from a sacred past. This religious identity becomes the exclusive basis for a reimagined political and s...