The Islamic movement, development, and health education: recent changes in the health of rural women in central Sudan.

Follow-up research on women's work and health in two rural areas of Sudan in 1989 identified several areas of change since the 1970s. Health improvements due to better access to education and health services were noted. However, interethnic contacts have led to some experimentation with the severe form of female circumcision in one area while health education and the Islamic movement have contributed to a decline in popularity of it in another area. Further, the structure of agricultural development has resulted in changes in women's participation in agriculture and polygyny rates, which have had impacts on birth rates.