IPPF Africa Regional Council declared a total commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa at a one day Special Session on HIV/AIDS during its meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya, between 2-4 July 2001. Opening the session, Hon, Major Marsden Madoka, the Minister of State, Office of the President, Government of Kenya, congratulated IPPFAR for taking a bold step in addressing HIV/AIDS and underscored the importance of NGOs like IPPF in providing leadership in some of the strategies for combating HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Equity in Health
IPPF AFRICA REGION INTENSIFIES HIV/AIDS EFFORTS
Further details: /newsletter/id/28734
Contact: info@ippfaro.org
IRIN Interview With Peter Piot, Unaids Executive Director
Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director, Peter Piot, attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg to deliver a simple message: until HIV/AIDS is brought under control, initiatives to promote sustainable development will be a waste of time. He spoke to IRIN about the need for political leadership, and the progress being made by African countries in dealing with the epidemic.
IRIN WEBSPECIAL ON WORLD AIDS DAY
AIDS threatens our very raison d'etre; our ability to live and our instinct to create life. Little wonder, therefore, that HIV and AIDS are so feared. As the articles in this IRIN World AIDS Day web special(http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/aids/) illustrates, fear is at the heart of much of the stigma and discrimination that surrounds HIV and AIDS: fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of rejection, and, as Eric Nachibanga, an HIV-positive Zambian points out, "fear of helplessness".
Is the Urban Child Health Advantage Declining in Malawi? Evidence from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys
Lungu E; Biesma R; Chirwa M; Darker C: Journal of Urban Health 96(1) 131–143, 2019
Considerable evidence has emerged that some population groups in urban areas may be facing worse health than rural areas and that the urban advantage may be waning in some contexts. The authors used a descriptive study undertaking a comparative analysis of 13 child health indicators between urban and rural areas using seven data points provided by nationally representative population based surveys—the Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Rate differences between urban and rural values for selected child health indicators were calculated to denote whether urban-rural differentials showed a trend of declining urban advantage in Malawi. The results show that all forms of child mortality have significantly declined between 1992 and 2015/2016 reflecting successes in child health interventions. Rural-urban comparisons, using rate differences, largely indicate a picture of the narrowing gap between urban and rural areas albeit the extent and pattern vary among child health indicators. Of the 13 child health indicators, eight show clear patterns of a declining urban advantage particularly up to 2014. However, U-5MR shows reversal to a significant urban advantage in 2015/2016, and slight increases in urban advantage are noted for infant mortality rate, underweight, full childhood immunization, and stunting rate in 2015/2016. The findings suggest the need to rethink the policy viewpoint of a disadvantaged rural and much better-off urban in child health programming. Efforts should be dedicated towards addressing determinants of child health in both urban and rural areas.
Istanbul Declaration: Towards an equitable and sustainable future for all
Declaration of the Global Human Development Forum, Istanbul, March 23 2012
The Istanbul Declaration was adopted by consensus at the conclusion of the two-day Global Human Development Forum, a gathering of more than 200 leading development experts, civil society activists, government ministers, private sector representatives and UN officials from all regions of the world. The Declaration stresses the need for global and national development strategies to put “strong emphasis on social inclusion, social protection, and equity, in recognition of the fact that economic development has too often gone hand in hand with environmental degradation and increased inequality.” Achieving those goals will require better-coordinated “mobilization of global capital and local resources,” good governance on the local and global level, and full empowerment of women “through access to education, health care, basic services and their participation in the labour force.” The declaration calls for a post 2015 MDG framework that addresses all three dimensions of sustainable development (social, economic and environmental), and their interconnections.
It is time to focus on the real drivers of malaria
Tarlton D: UNDP Blog, April 2015
The author argues that eliminating malaria seems like a straightforward issue. Decades of malaria control efforts show there is more to the story. Much of the vulnerability to malaria, it turns out, is determined by human actions. The conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age define to a great extent who is vulnerable to malaria and who is not. Malaria is both a result and a cause of a lack of development. The author asserts that we know that it is those countries with the lowest levels of human development that are most affected by malaria. And within populations, those living in the poorest circumstances also suffer disproportionately. This year 2015 is argued to mark a turning point in the world’s response to malaria with adoption of the new global framework Action and Investment to defeat Malaria (2016-2030) that places the management of the disease as a development issue. Under this plan, countries will for the first time report their progress on incorporating non-health sector interventions into their malaria control efforts.
Joint effort can turn pandemic around - Lewis
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa could be turned around, despite the devastating toll on human lives, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, says. Lewis noted that defeating the disease would require a combination of political will and resources. "The political will is increasingly there; the money is not," he said. A key element that had emerged from his visit to Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia was the important role of the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Global Fund was seen as the best way of financing the struggle against the pandemic, but it would soon face its "moment of truth", as a result of inadequate funding, Lewis warned.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29508
JOINT EFFORT CAN TURN PANDEMIC AROUND - LEWIS
The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa could be turned around, despite the devastating toll on human lives, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, says. Lewis noted that defeating the disease would require a combination of political will and resources.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29540
Keeping the promise: A forward-looking review to promote an agreed action agenda to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015
Ki-Moon B, United Nations Secretary-General: 12 February 2010
This report, which is issued pursuant to General Assembly resolution 64/184, presents information on progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals through a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, and challenges and opportunities, leading to concrete strategies for action. It consists of four main sections. The introduction examines the importance of the Millennium Declaration and how it drives the United Nations development agenda. The second section reviews progress on achieving the Millennium Development Goals, presenting both shortfalls and successes in the global effort and outlines emerging issues. The third section sums up lessons learned to shape new efforts for accelerating progress to meet the Goals and identifies key success factors. The fourth and final section lists specific recommendations for action. The report calls for a new pact to accelerate progress in achieving the Goals in the coming years among all stakeholders, in a commitment towards equitable and sustainable development for all.
Keeping the promise: United to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
United Nations General Assembly: 17 September 2010
The General Assembly adopted this outcome document at the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals, held in September 2010. It reaffirms the United Nations’ commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and calls on all stakeholders, including civil society, to enhance their role in national development efforts as well as their contribution to achieving the MDGs. The resolution indicates that there has been a mix of successes and failures in achieving the MDGs, with uneven progress and many remaining challenges and opportunities. It recognises that developing countries have made significant efforts towards achieving the MDGs and have had major successes in realising some of the targets of the MDGs, such as combating extreme poverty, improving school enrolment and child health, reducing child deaths, expanding access to clean water, improving prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, expanding access to HIV prevention, treatment and care, and controlling malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases. However, much more needs to be done to reach the MDGs, as progress has been uneven among regions and between and within countries. Hunger and malnutrition rose again from 2007 through 2009, partially reversing prior gains. There has been slow progress in reaching full and productive employment and decent work for all, advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women, achieving environmental sustainability and providing basic sanitation. New HIV infections still outpace the number of people starting treatment. In particular, the Assembly criticised the slow progress that has been made in improving maternal and reproductive health.