An expert group has reaffirmed that unsafe sexual practices are responsible for the vast majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, and that safer sex promotion must remain the primary feature of prevention programmes in the region. Following a review of evidence, which included recent articles suggesting that a majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa are due to unsafe medical practices, particularly injections, the experts concluded that such suggestions are not supported by the vast majority of evidence and that unsafe sexual practices continue to be responsible for the overwhelming majority of infections. While a combination of prevention measures are required to tackle all modes of HIV transmission, safer sex promotion must remain the primary feature of prevention programmes in the region.
Equity in Health
Unsafe sex is the second-largest health risk worldwide, according to a World Health Organization report released recently. The report, titled "Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life," lists the top 10 major health risks worldwide that together account for approximately 40% of all deaths. The number one international health risk is being underweight, which results from a lack of food and can contribute to low birthweight infants and other health problems. According to the report, both underweight and unsafe sex are "far more prevalent" in developing nations than in developed nations.
New research findings suggesting that unsafe medical practices are the main cause of HIV transmission have been rejected by medical experts in South Africa. They insist that unsafe sex continues to be the main cause of infection. The controversy began when a team of eight researchers from three countries who reviewed data on HIV infection in Africa estimated only about a third of adult cases are sexually transmitted. They said healthcare practices, especially contaminated medical injections, could also be a major cause.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a campaign to highlight urban planning as a crucial link to building a healthy 21st century. In particular, WHO calls on municipal authorities, concerned residents, advocates for healthy living and others to take a close look at health inequities in cities and take action. Rapid urbanisation has resulted in significant changes in our living standards, lifestyles, social behaviour and health. This article notes that many cities face a triple threat: infectious diseases, which thrive when people are crowded together; chronic, non-communicable diseases including diabetes, cancers and heart disease, which are on the rise with unhealthy lifestyles; and urban health is often further burdened by road traffic accidents, injuries, violence and crime. WHO outlines five actions that could significantly increase the chance people will be able to enjoy better urban living conditions: promote urban planning for healthy behaviours and safety; improve urban living conditions; ensure participatory governance; build inclusive cities that are accessible and age-friendly; and make cities resilient to disasters and emergencies.
The United Nations predicts that the world's urban population will almost double from 3.3 billion in 2007 to 6.3 billion in 2050. Most of this increase will be in developing countries. Exponential urban growth is having a profound effect on global health. Because of international travel and migration, cities are becoming important hubs for the transmission of infectious diseases, as shown by recent pandemics. Physicians in urban environments in developing and developed countries need to be aware of the changes in infectious diseases associated with urbanization, the authors of this review argue. Furthermore, health should be a major consideration in town planning to ensure urbanisation works to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in the future.
Angola needs urgent funding for essential drugs if lives are to be saved, particularly among resettling populations, warned a mid-year review of the UN's Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP). The CAP review, prepared by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that at the end of April, funding for the essential drug component of the Minimum Health Care Package stood at approximately 50 percent.
Eighty-five countries last month signed a statement reaffirming commitment to reproductive health- and HIV/AIDS-related population and health goals agreed to 10 years ago at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, Egypt, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. More than 250 world leaders - including presidents, prime ministers and Nobel Prize winners - endorsed the goals of ensuring a woman's right to education, health care and reproductive choices. Despite endorsement by the entire European Union, China, Japan, Indonesia, Pakistan and more than 12 African nations, the Bush administration refused to support the statement because it mentioned upholding "sexual rights" - a term that the administration says has no "agreed definition" in the international community.
The US, under pressure from its giant pharmaceutical companies, is trying to undermine the use in poor countries of cheap, copycat Aids drugs, made by "pirate", generic companies but validated by the World Health Organisation, campaigners claim. US drug companies want the money promised for President George Bush's Aids plan to be spent on their products.
The US government admitted yesterday that it had held discussions with a German drugs company about overriding the patent on its anthrax drug, Cipro, in a move that could throw wide open the
debate about the cost of medicines in poor countries. The administration has also contacted an Indian generic drugs manufacturer to see if it can produce a large supply of the anthrax antibiotic in wake of the growing panic about bioterrorism in the US.
While the United States “dissociated” itself from the consensus, the World Health Organisation's first strategy on reproductive health was adopted by the 57th World Health Assembly (WHA). Reproductive and sexual ill-health accounts for 20% of the global burden of ill-health for women and 14% for men. "Once again, the Bush Administration has shown their true colours by calling for a reproductive health policy that is more about ideology than reality,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA). “We have a moral responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of women and men around the world."