Confusion is the only certain ingredient in government's approach to HIV/AIDS. President Mbeki, his lapel no longer sporting an AIDS ribbon, said government would continue to implement its "comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy" when he opened Parliament last week. But his two dull sentences on the disease - as over 10 000 people massed outside to demand treatment for people with HIV - did little to convey the impression of a caring government committed to helping its 4,5 million citizens living with the disease.
Equity in Health
Consensus is still missing
Villar E: The Broker, 7 May 2009
There is overall consensus that recent decades have seen an increase in inequities in general and in health in particular. Some less-developed countries are showing deteriorating health outcome averages (in some cases due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic), as a result of the widening gap between poor and rich. The epidemiological transition has been quoted as one contributing factor. What is missing is consensus around what the solutions are. There have been justified criticisms that private foundations – the big health spenders – are too technocratic and disease-specific to make an impact. The way forward is argued to need more comprehensive government leadership, acting beyond the health sector, through comprehensive approaches and processes that deal with diseases in an equitable and effective way.
Consensus Statement of National HIV/AIDS Treatment Congress
June 29th 2002
Between June 27th and 29th 2002, 750 delegates from all over South Africa attended the TAC/COSATU National Treatment Congress. Delegates heard presentations from many of South Africa's leading HIV scientists but also the day-to-day experiences of the epidemic of nurses, doctors and people living with HIV/AIDS. Delegates heard of many of the best practices South Africans are using to combat the epidemic, but there was also a belief that most people with HIV are not receiving adequate treatment, care and support. Furthermore HIV is already having a dramatic and negative impact on the health service.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29214
CONTENT OF 2002 'SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE' INFLUENZA VACCINE DECIDED
The recommendation for the composition of the vaccine for the 2002 Southern Hemisphere influenza season has been decided and communicated to vaccine manufacturers by the World Health Organization (WHO), following agreement by international experts at a WHO meeting held in Cannes, France.
Contribution of ecosystems services to human health and wellbeing
World Health Organization, United Nations Environment Programme and Republique Gabonaise: 19 June 2008
By framing human health and wellbeing in the context of an ecosystems approach, this paper recognises that healthy people and healthy environments are inextricably linked. However, in most African countries, there is still inadequate assessment and monitoring of the dynamics of human activities and their impact on local ecosystems and this paper notes that the degradation of ecosystem services constitutes an important barrier to achieving Millennium Development Goals. It urges governments to recognise the links between environment and health, from the perspective of the vital services that ecosystems provide to human health and wellbeing, and to promote integrated policies that value these services. Solutions require political commitment, concerted action and shared responsibility between different government sectors and the civil society. Countries should take steps to mitigate the underlying causes of ecosystem damage, while simultaneously improving human health. Intersectoral collaboration among government departments and the civil society, capacity-building, dissemination of knowledge and good practices, and integrated action for health and the environment are also critical.
CONTROVERSY OVER NEW AIDS PROJECTIONS in South Africa
AIDS experts have raised doubts about a new study suggesting South Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic peaked in 2002 and was expected to level off as fewer new infections were reported. The study, published in the recent issue of the African Journal of AIDS Research, said that the epidemic in South Africa peaked last year with about 4.69 million people living with HIV/AIDS and had started to level off.
COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health: The Health Argument for Climate Action
World Health Organisation: WHO, Geneva, 2021
The 10 recommendations in the COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health propose a set of priority actions from the global health community to governments and policy makers, calling on them to act with urgency on the current climate and health crises. The recommendations were developed in consultation with over 150 organizations and 400 experts and health professionals. They were intended to inform governments and other stakeholders ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to highlight various opportunities for governments to prioritize health and equity in the international climate movement and sustainable development agenda. Each recommendation comes with a selection of resources and case studies to help inspire and guide policymakers and practitioners in implementing the suggested solutions.
Copenhagen and after
Khor M: South Centre Climate Policy Brief 2, 27 December 2009
The Copenhagen Accord presented after the climate summit is only three pages in length. According to the author of this article, what is left out is probably more important than what it contains. The Accord does not mention any figures of the emission reduction that the developed countries are to undertake after 2012, either as an aggregate target or as individual country targets. The author believes this failure at attaining reduction commitments is the biggest failure of the document and of the whole Conference. It marks the failure of leadership of the developed countries, which are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases retained in the atmosphere, to commit to an ambitious emissions target. While developing countries have demanded that the aggregate target should be over 40% reduction by 2020 compared to 1990 levels, the national pledges to date by developed countries amount to only 13–19% in aggregate. Perhaps this very low ambition level is the reason that the Accord remains silent on this issue, except to state a deadline of 31 January 2010 for countries to provide their targets. The author doubts this deadline will be met given the reluctance to be explicit on this in the last four years.
Could chloroquine have the answer? Malaria drug combats HIV
Researchers at the University of Turin have found that chloroquine and the related compound hydroxychloroquine appear to curb the HI virus in laboratory settings. Dr Andrea Savarino and his team say that chloroquine affects the production of the envelope around the virus. This means that although the virus may be able to hijack human cells to produce fresh viral genetic material, without the envelope it cannot complete the reproduction cycle.
Countdown to 2015: Decade report (2000–2010): Taking stock of maternal, newborn and child survival
Countdown to 2015: 2010
This decade report collects and analyses data from the 68 countries that account for at least 95% of maternal and child deaths. It reviews progress made from 2000-2010 and provides a mix of good and bad news. Good news is that the under-5 child mortality rate has declined by 28% from 1990 2008, accounting for a reduction of nearly four million child deaths per year. Nineteen of the 68 Countdown countries are now on track to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4, which calls for reducing child deaths by two-thirds between the 1990 base line and 2015. However, many Countdown countries are still off track for achieving MDGs 4 and 5 and are not increasing coverage of key health interventions quickly enough, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The report further found that most of the 68 Countdown countries were experiencing poorly functioning health infrastructure, inadequate numbers of health workers, slow adoption of evidence-based health policies and insufficient focus on quality of care. The report argues that only a dramatic acceleration of political commitment and financial investment can make achieving MDGs 4 and 5 possible by 2015.