Senate Democrats have introduced the Africa Famine Relief Act, which would provide $900 million in emergency relief for Africa, including $600 million in food aid, $200 million in disaster assistance and $100 million in HIV/AIDS-related aid, the Associated Press reports.
Equity in Health
us senate Proposes $900M in Emergency Relief for Africa
US-Based Aids Group Plans to File Complaint Against Glaxo in SA
US-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation is planning to file a complaint with the SA Competition Commission against pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, in a bid to widen access to AIDS drugs. The attorney representing the foundation in SA, Musa Ntsibande of law firm Strauss Daly, said that the complaint would argue that Glaxo abused its dominant market position in contravention of the Competition Act, and was engaging in excessive pricing of its drugs to the detriment of the consumer.
Use of AUDIT, and measures of drinking frequency and patterns to detect associations between alcohol and sexual behaviour in male sex workers in Kenya
Luchters S, Geibel S, Syengo M, Lang'o D, King'ola N, Temmerman M and Chersich M: BMC Public Health 11(384), 25 May 2011
In this study, researchers investigated which alcohol indicator can most effectively detect associations between alcohol use and unsafe sexual behaviour among male sex workers - single-item measures of frequency and patterns of drinking (>=6 drinks on 1 occasion), or the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). A cross-sectional survey in 2008 recruited male sex workers who sell sex to men from 65 venues in Mombasa district, Kenya, similar to a 2006 survey. Information was collected on socio-demographics, substance use, sexual behaviour, violence and STI symptoms. The 442 participants reported a median 2 clients/week, with half using condoms consistently in the last 30 days. Of the approximately 70% of men who drink alcohol, half drink two or more times a week. Binge drinking was common (38.9%). In conclusion, male sex workers have high levels of hazardous and harmful drinking, and require alcohol-reduction interventions, the authors argue. Compared with indicators of drinking frequency or pattern, the AUDIT measure has stronger associations with inconsistent condom use, STI symptoms and sexual violence. Increased use of the AUDIT tool in future studies may assist in delineating with greater precision the explanatory mechanisms which link alcohol use, drinking contexts, sexual behaviours and HIV transmission.
Valuable resources 'not adequately harnessed'
Despite southern Africa being rich in resources, it had not adequately harnessed these for the people in the region, the Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (Equinet) said. Speaking at an international conference on Equity in Health, Rene Loewenson, Equinet's spokesperson, said with the common focus on poverty and ill health, it was often forgotten that southern Africa was one of the richest regions in Africa and - in resource terms - in the world. "Despite this wealth of potential, the value of these resources have not been adequately harnessed for the people of the region," she said.
Viewing the Kenyan health system through an equity lens: Implications for universal coverage
Chuma J, Okungu V: International Journal for Equity in Health: 26 May 2011
This paper assessed the extent to which the Kenyan health financing system meets the key requirements for universal coverage, including income and risk cross-subsidisation. Recommendations on how to address existing equity challenges and progress towards universal coverage are made. An extensive review of published and gray literature was conducted to identify the sources of health care funds in Kenya. In cases where data were not available at the country level, they were sought from the World Health Organisation website. Each financing mechanism was analysed in respect to key functions namely, revenue generation, pooling and purchasing. The Kenyan health sector relies heavily on out-of-pocket payments. Government funds are mainly allocated through historical incremental approach. The sector is largely underfunded and health care contributions are regressive (i.e. the poor contribute a larger proportion of their income to health care than the rich). Health financing in Kenya is fragmented and there is very limited risk and income cross-subsidisation. The country has made little progress towards achieving international benchmarks including the Abuja target of allocating 15% of government's budget to the health sector. The Kenyan health system is highly inequitable and policies aimed at promoting equity and addressing the needs of the poor and vulnerable have not been successful. Some progress has been made towards addressing equity challenges, but universal coverage will not be achieved unless the country adopts a systemic approach to health financing reforms. Such an approach should be informed by the wider health system goals of equity and efficiency.
VIOLENCE: AN ENORMOUS, BUT PREVENTABLE GLOBAL HEALTH PROBLEM
Violence - whether self-inflicted, interpersonal or collective - constitutes a global health problem of enormous dimensions, but much of it is preventable, an audience was told at a technical briefing followed by a discussion during the Fifty-fourth World Health Assembly.
WARM WELCOME FOR SOUTH AFRICAN PLAN TO PROVIDE AIDS DRUGS
After years of delays, the South African government gave its stamp of approval November to a plan for providing free anti-AIDS drugs. Over the next five years, the state hopes to extend the programme to over a million people living with AIDS. The price of a year's supply of the life-prolonging drugs, also known as anti-retrovirals (ARV's), is about 100 dollars - fifty times less than it was in November 2002.
Related Link:
* Link to full report
http://www.gov.za/reports/2003/aidsoperationalplan.pdf
Wars Deflect Resources from Public Health Crisis, WSF hears
War is devastating health standards around the world as resources are deflected from fighting disease, health activists said ahead of the World Social Forum. The People's Health Movement, an international pressure group, said that more than 30,000 children over the world died of preventable diseases every day. Nine billion dollars is needed to provide water and sanitation for poor nations, while the global military expenditure was 900 billion dollars a year, said K. Unnikrishnan, spokesman for the movement.
Wedging Equity and Environmental Justice into the Discourse on Sustainability
Gandy OH: tripleC 11(1): 221-236, 2013
In this paper, the author examines the problems and prospects for including meaningful indicators of equity into the city based regional planning efforts unfolding around the globe. The central focus of the paper is on the challenges that environmental justice (EJ) activists face as they attempt to frame the problem of equity in ways that the general public would see as not only informative, but compelling. After reviewing examples of successful efforts to reframe debates about equity, the author concludes with a discussion of a set of EJ concerns and indicators that have the greatest potential for capturing public attention and commitment despite mounting resistance to the use of redistributive policies in support of sustainability goals.
Week-Old Infant Raped in South Africa
Police are investigating the rape of a one-week-old South African baby girl, the youngest child ever to be raped in the country, Reuters/Toronto Star reports. The attack occurred on Sunday in the city of Kwaminya in KwaZulu-Natal province. The infant is seriously injured but is in stable condition, Police Superintendent Lawrence Zondi said. It is not known who committed the rape. The incident is the latest in a "spate of child rapes fueled by the myth that sex with a virgin" can cure HIV/AIDS.