UNAIDS LAUNCHES PLAN TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS TO PREVENT HIV
The lead UN agency tackling the AIDS epidemic, along with rock and roll icon Annie Lennox, launched an action plan to empower women and girls to protect themselves against HIV, the UN News reported (2//3/10).
Known as the Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV (2010-2014), the five-year plan partners the UN with governments, civil society and development partners to address gender inequalities and human rights violations that put women and girls at risk for HIV infection.
“The operational plan that we are launching this morning has been needed for some time now,” Deputy Secretary- General Asha-Rose Migiro said at a meeting on women and HIV.
“For too long, the inequalities that affect women and girls have made them more vulnerable to HIV. For too long, societies have been unable – or unwilling – to talk about these inequalities as drivers of the epidemic. For much too long, cohesive action to address these inequalities have been lacking,” she said. More than 33.4 million people have been living with HIV worldwide since December 2008, half of them women. In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 per cent of people living with HIV are women.
“I believe we need a broad movement for change,” said Ms Lennox, an advocate since taking part in an HIV and AIDS event with Nelson Mandela in South Africa in 2003. “I see this Agenda for Action as a great opportunity to bring the realities faced by many women and girls to the forefront and to call attention to the injustices faced by many women and girls, placing them at a bigger risk of HIV.”
72 CRITICAL HOURS FOR TREATING SEXUAL VIOLENCE
In the lead up to International Women’s Day on 8 March, the international medical-humanitarian organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières, is delivering a lecture series on the medical consequences of sexual violence, a MSF media release stated (4/3/10).
The lecture series, presented by Women’s Health Advisor, Bronwyn Hale, will address the 72 critical hours following an act of sexual violence when medical care should be given to provide the best possible outcome for the patient.
“Sexual violence affects thousands of men, women and children each year, many of whom already live within the context of a humanitarian crisis” said Bronwyn Hale. “The first 72 hours following an act of sexual violence are critical for providing medical care which will ensure the prevention of transmission of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV.”
Lectures on the issue are being held at universities and hospitals throughout Australia and New Zealand.
“In many countries where we work, patients may have difficulty accessing essential health care following sexual violence for a number of reasons including distance, conflict, prohibitive cost or stigma,” she said. “Our three greatest challenges therefore are to overcome this stigma, to raise awareness within communities that the medical consequences of rape can be treated and to provide access to survivors of sexual violence for this vital medical care.”
Each year, MSF provides essential medical treatment for thousands of people affected by sexual violence. For example in 2008, MSF teams treated 15,145 women, men and children for the medical consequences of sexual violence in countries around the world such as Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea and Colombia.
UN HELPS PREGNANT WOMEN IN HARSH MONGOLIAN WINTER
Severe winter conditions in Mongolia are
preventing expectant mothers from
reaching health facilities
Severe winter conditions in Mongolia are preventing expectant mothers from reaching health facilities, requiring the United Nations to bring medical help closer to them (3/3/10).
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA), in coordination with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO), has been supporting life-saving mobile medical teams and local district hospitals by providing medicines, equipment and supplies to the hardest-hit western section of the Central Asian country.
“The needs of pregnant women and newborns cannot wait until normal times. That is why mobile teams are needed to reach them where they are,” said Argentina Matavel, UNFPA Representative in Mongolia.
REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33961&Cr=mongolia&Cr1=
ALL HANDS ON DECK IN THE BATTLE AGAINST DENGUE MOSQUITO
The battle against the mosquito that spreads dengue, a serious illness that affects around 50 million people each year, needs more than insecticides alone, according to a study published in the current international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
This important study, held in six Asian cities, explored the breeding patterns of the Aedes aegypti mosquito (the species that transmits dengue) and discovered significant differences in breeding and dengue transmission between the sites, affected by such factors as household habits, local environmental conditions and the ecology and behaviour of the mosquito.
For the first time, this large-scale multi-country study, supported by a research partnership between the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) at the World Health Organization and the International Development Research Centre in Canada, comprehensively combed public and private buildings and open spaces in selected areas in six cities in India, Indonesia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It identified almost 50 000 containers holding water and found the highest number of mosquito larvae in unused and uncovered outdoor containers on private land.
While the study found that this mosquito prefers to breed in containers filled with rainwater, when larvicides were used at the study site in Thailand, the mosquitoes found alternative breeding sites indoors in covered containers filled with tap water.
“Traditionally, communities expect public health services to carry out mosquito control, normally through insecticide fogging,” says co-author Dr Johannes Sommerfeld, of TDR in Geneva. “Large-scale insecticide spraying, however, is not effective in reducing immature (larval) stages of the mosquito. These mosquitoes breed in various water containers in and around households so individuals, families and communities have an equally important role to play in reducing these breeding sites in their own backyards. Communities need to work closely with public health and other services in this battle.”
Dengue is a serious, potentially lethal, illness. Infections have dramatically increased in recent decades due to increased urbanisation, trade and travel. No effective drug or vaccine is available yet so the only solution is to prevent the disease-carrying mosquito from breeding and biting humans.
HAITI: MANY LIVES SAVED BY SPEED AND GENEROSITY
Seven weeks after a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, health needs remain great, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said, stressing need for stepped-up disaster risk reduction and early recovery efforts to help the devastated nation, the UN News reported (2/3/10).
The scale and complexity of the crisis in the wake of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake means the emergency response phase will continue for months to come, according to the latest health bulletin.
“Many lives have been saved by the speed and generosity the world showed in its first response in the first days and weeks after the earthquake,” it said. “Nonetheless, there is still a tremendous amount to be done.” Of the $1.4 billion called for in the revised humanitarian appeal launched last month, $134 million is earmarked for health-related needs.
One of the biggest challenges foreseen in coming weeks is moving patients in hospitals to external locations where they can still receive the care they need.
Needs are continuing to be assessed as the reconstruction process continues, ahead of a meeting later this month of all major partners, including the UN, Haitian Government, World Bank and European Commission. Dozens of non- governmental organisations (NGOs) have set up 160 sites – both fixed and mobile clinics – across Haiti.
AUSTRALIAN LOCAL HOSPITAL NETWORKS TO DELIVER ON LOCAL NEEDS
Local Hospital Networks will be established across Australia and paid directly by the Australian Federal Government for each public hospital service they provide in a major reform of the Australian hospital and health system, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced at the National Press Club, Canberra, on Wednesday (3/3/10).
Local Hospital Networks will be made up of a small group of hospitals that will work together to provide a range of hospital services and manage their own budgets.
He said the new networks would be run locally, funded nationally, and be accountable for performance against strong national standards. The states and territories, which have been responsible for hospital and health management up to this time, are to discuss the new structure at the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in April.
The Federal Government will pay Local Hospital Networks directly for each public hospital service they provide, rather than just handing over block funding grants to the states. An independent umpire will set the "efficient national price" for different hospital services - in other words, the amount a service should cost if it is being delivered efficiently, taking into account factors such as remoteness and the complexity of patients' needs.
This reform would provide an incentive for hospitals to minimise waste and deliver services as efficiently as possible, empower local clinicians and local communities, with doctors and nurses having more say in hospital decision-making through the establishment of clinical senates and representation in the Local Hospital Networks' management structures.
The Australian Government is to work with states and territories to determine the network structure that best meets the needs of communities and the challenges of managing multiple small hospitals.
The media releases stated that changing the way hospitals were funded and run would make Australia's public hospital services more responsive to local communities, reduce waste and duplication, and ensure taxpayer health dollars were used to deliver health services as effectively and efficiently as possible.
RELEASE: http://www.pm.gov.au/node/6539
PLAN WELCOMED BY HEALTH POLICY ACADEMIC
Director of the ANU Menzies Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) Director Mr Robert Wells welcomed the plan to set up a National Health and Hospitals Network to establish standards and manage the federal and state funding for hospitals.
“The announcement provides a bold blueprint to take Australia’s health system forward,” Mr Wells said. The Federal Government had committed to raise its contribution to hospital funding from about 35 cents per dollar to 60 cents per dollar, through readjustments of GST revenue.
“This is a good start for health reform that this country sorely needs,” he said. “The onus for making the reform work now shifts to the states, and the clinical leaders who’ll be expected to take responsibility for implementing the reforms.”
US AND NORTH KOREAN SCIENTISTS WORK TOGETHER AGAINST TB
US and North Korean scientists have worked together to launch North Korea's first diagnostic laboratory to detect drug-resistant tuberculosis. The country has witnessed an explosion in tuberculosis cases that began during the 1990s famine: The New York Times (1/3/10)/UN Wire.
US and North Korean scientists have worked together to launch North Korea's first diagnostic laboratory to detect drug-resistant tuberculosis. The country has witnessed an explosion in tuberculosis cases that began during the 1990s famine: The New York Times (1/3/10)/UN Wire.
SWEDES INVENT INEXPENSIVE SANITATION
A Swedish entrepreneur has designed a solution to sanitation crises that plague about 40% of the global population that lacks access to a toilet: the Peepoo, an inexpensive and sanitary bag designed to collect human waste and convert it into pathogen-free fertiliser. The disposable toilet could assist urban slums and other places where sanitation is poor, a market whose value is estimated at about a trillion dollars: The New York Times (free registration) (1/3/10)/UN Wire.
A Swedish entrepreneur has designed a solution to sanitation crises that plague about 40% of the global population that lacks access to a toilet: the Peepoo, an inexpensive and sanitary bag designed to collect human waste and convert it into pathogen-free fertiliser. The disposable toilet could assist urban slums and other places where sanitation is poor, a market whose value is estimated at about a trillion dollars: The New York Times (free registration) (1/3/10)/UN Wire.
‘CHIP’ COULD TEST FOR SEVERAL DISEASES
Harvard University chemistry Professor George Whitesides is developing a blood test that could help health workers in developing countries test for several diseases at once, including HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis. The "chips," made with comic book ink, interact with blood samples to display instant results: CNN (25/2/10)/UN Wire.
GOVERNMENTS CELEBRATE FIVE YEARS OF ANTI-TOBACCO CONVENTION
A ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was held in Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization (26/2/10).
"With 168 parties to date, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is one of the most widely embraced treaties in the history of the UN," said Dr Thamsanqa Dennis Mseleku, President of the Conference of the Parties. "Recent years have seen rapid progress in establishing the treaty tools and institutions, and putting its implementation in place."
According to recent analysis of 117 national implementation reports, 85% of the parties have established inter- ministerial coordination teams for tobacco control or have nominated a focal point, and nearly 80% prohibited the sales of tobacco products to minors, 70% have introduced large, clear and visible health warnings on the packages of tobacco products.
The Convention aims to protect people from the consequences of tobacco consumption by reducing the demand for and supply of tobacco. It calls for: stronger tax and price measures, regulation of tobacco advertisements and the introduction of strong health messages on tobacco packages; parties to adopt protective measures against exposure to tobacco smoke, to ban sales to minors and to support tobacco growers in making the transition to alternative livelihoods; and protecting public health policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.
Tobacco use is one of the biggest public health threats and one of the main risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including cancer, lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
"It is estimated that tobacco use kills more than 5 million people per year – an average of one person every 6 seconds – and accounts for 1 in 10 adult deaths worldwide," said Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of the World Health Organization. "The convention demonstrates that health can indeed persuade other sectors to take action, through taxes, graphic health warnings, legislation, and marketing bans."
DETAILS: Tarik Jasarevic, FCTC, Geneva on +41 22 791 50 99; mob +41 79 747 27 56; and jasarevict@who.in; http://www.who.int/fctc; www.who.int
TRACHOMA ‘STILL BIG PROBLEM IN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES’
A study has found that an eye disease that causes blindness is still a big problem in Indigenous communities, the ABC reported (2/3/10). The study published in the Medical Journal of Australia looked at rates of trachoma in 30 communities across the country.
One of authors, Professor Hugh Taylor, says thousands of Aboriginal people are at risk of going blind, describing it as a “national shame”. The Australian Government last year made a commitment to eliminate trachoma and so the study’s data would provide very important baseline data to close the gap as far as vision and trachoma was concerned, he said.
GOVERNMENT RUSHES HEALTH ID DESPITE CIVIL SOCIETY CONCERNS
Consumer groups, civil liberties people and privacy experts are worried about the Rudd Government introducing a half- baked national health identifiers scheme - a number to uniquely identify every Australian - without protections and safeguards reports the newsletter of Civil Liberties Australia (1/3/10). Health Minister Nicola Roxon introduced the "anti-privacy" bill into parliament last month.
Consumer groups, civil liberties people and privacy experts are worried about the Rudd Government introducing a half- baked national health identifiers scheme - a number to uniquely identify every Australian - without protections and safeguards reports the newsletter of Civil Liberties Australia (1/3/10). Health Minister Nicola Roxon introduced the "anti-privacy" bill into parliament last month.
"This is about politics and what you can get away with before other regulatory issues are resolved," said David Vaile, executive director at the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre at the University of NSW, as reported by Karen Dearne in ‘The Australian’.
"The larger scheme is all about bringing tens of thousands of different information technology systems together, yet discussions about risks and regulatory controls are off into the distance."
The Healthcare Identifiers Bill will become the foundation for secure messaging between doctors and for keeping of individual health records electronically. It establishes an identity service - your health number - under a scheme which Medicare will run from July.
REPORT: http://au.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=35g4uhm91jogq
REPORT: http://au.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=35g4uhm91jogq
GUSI NUMBERS SET TO TRACK CHILDREN'S MOVEMENTS
Deputy Prime Minister Julie Gillard wants to introduce "Gillard Unique Student Identifier" numbers for all school children to track them between different schools, systems and states.
The numbers will be known as GUSIs (pron. 'gooseys'), says Civil Liberties Australia. She said GUSIs would mean she could evaluate schools and teachers ''with full rigour''. Details could be published on the My School website. The Australian Education Union federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos, said the GUSI idea raised serious issues about privacy and the ethical use of student data.
REPORT: http://au.mg1.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=35g4uhm91jogq
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