In this article Patrick Bond assesses the aftermath of the World Social Forum (WSF), held from January 20-25 in Nairobi. It documents that there were some triumphs for social justice, but also some worrying trends that emerged from the forum. Bond examines what it means for the future of the WSF concept. It describes how a mixed message - combining celebration and autocritique - is in order, in the wake of the Nairobi World Social Forum. From January 20-25, the 60,000 registered participants heard the triumph of radical rhetoric and yet, too, witnessed persistent defeats for social justice causes - especially within the WSF's own processes.
Equity in Health
World Social Forum: Trade fair to Left politics?
Bond P: Pambazuka News 289, February 2007
World TB Day 2005: Development of diagnostic tools key for fighting TB
Without a simple, rapid test for detecting tuberculosis, care providers in developing countries will continue to miss about half of all the people who need TB treatment. Efforts to control TB globally will be undermined, said the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières. "I am sick and tired of watching TB kill my patients," said Dr Martha Bedelu, an MSF physician working in South Africa. It often feels as though I practice medicine with my hands tied behind my back. Since I have to use a 19th-century diagnostic tool that is wrong more times than not, it is like being blindfolded as well."
World Urbanization Prospects: The 2001 Revision
Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, March 2002. Available online. The "2001 Revision" presents estimates and projections of urban and rural populations for major areas, regions and countries of the world for the period 1950-2030. It also provides population estimates and projections of urban agglomerations with 750,000 or more inhabitants in 2000 for the period 1950-2015, and the population of all capitals in 2001. Virtually all the population growth expected at the world level during the next 30 years will be concentrated in urban areas. Also, for the first time in the world?s history, the number of urban dwellers will equal the number of rural dwellers in 2007. These findings are from just-released United Nations official estimates and projections of urban, rural and city populations, prepared by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29132
World's ageing population could lead to permanent recession
Over the next few decades, one of the most pressing issues, at both the national and international levels, will be the undeniable ageing of the world's richest peoples. Last month, at a Tokyo conference entitled Aging and the Global Economy, the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies warned us that the world's wealthiest countries are ageing too quickly.
Worrying rise in STIs among young Zimbabweans
Plus News: 14 April 2010
A new report by Zimbabwe's National AIDS Council (NAC), showing a dramatic rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among people aged 15 to 24 in the capital, Harare, has health experts worried that the country's success so far in reducing HIV could be reversed. STIs heighten vulnerability to HIV infection, and this age group is one of the most affected. According to the NAC report, more than 24,000 people were treated for STIs in 2009, compared to 8,500 cases recorded in 2008. During this time almost 900,000 male condoms and over 155,000 female condoms were distributed in Harare. Itai Rusike, executive director of the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH), a network of civic groups that promote health awareness, blamed the rise in STIs on a too-narrow focus on HIV and AIDS treatment, at the cost of prevention interventions, especially for young people.
WSF007? Loved it!!!
Kachingwe N: AGP Global Action News, February 2007
This author introduces themselves as an overtly vocal critic. She reports being most disheartened about the avalanche of negative writing that has thundered from on high on the WSF and discusses ways in which the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF-Africa)produced failures and achievements. She ends on a high note "From the bottom of my heart to all those people who came to WSF, who organised their workshops, seminars, tribunals and marches, who set up their tents and sat through hours of discussion, who travelled for 3 days on the bus, who got grey hairs being in the organising committees or dealing with the organising committees, whose possessions were stolen or burnt, who lost luggage, who were denied visas, who monopolised communication services, who catered, who invaded the caterers, who brought partners, ex-presidents and Nobel prize winners, who played drums and rapped and sang and danced, who spoke for an hour rather than 10 minutes, who shared their personal experiences, who wrote all manner of nasty articles, who ripped us off in taxis, who cleaned the portable toilets for little thanks, who printed not so practical programmes .... everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone ... till we meet again ... ASANTE SANA! VIVA!"
WSSD: Briefing paper on HIV/AIDS
In a briefing paper for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the devastating toll of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is examined. Its present and future impact on global sustainable development, especially for the poorest members of society and least developed countries, is discussed. Some of the suggested strategies for dealing with the most critical aspects of the disease are also reviewed.
WSSD: Summit Axes Renewable Energy Goals
In a deep disappointment to many developing countries and the European Union (EU), targets and time frames for the adoption of renewable energy have been scrapped from the final text of the world summit implementation plan. The US and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), with Venezuela and Saudi Arabia at the fore, joined forces with Japan and Canada to sink an attempt, led by the EU, for a global renewable energy target. With the energy issue out of the way, ministers were finalising the clause on health care the sole outstanding issue. The US and the Vatican were still voicing adamantly their opposition to text that could in any way be interpreted to include abortion.
WSSD: Summit deal on drinking water
African ministers at the world summit in Johannesburg have agreed on action aimed at halving the number of people on the continent without water and sanitation by 2015. Richard Jolly, a UN adviser on water, said a permanent African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) would meet regularly "to find ways of providing water to all Africans".
Years lived with disability (YLDs) for 1160 sequelae of 289 diseases and injuries 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010
Vos T, Flaxman AD, Naghavi M, Lozano R, Michaud C, Ezzati M et al: The Lancet 380 (9859): 2163-2196, 15 December 2012
In the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies done in 1990 and 2000, 289 diseases and injuries were identified as causing disability. The authors of this study undertook a systematic global analysis of these diseases and injuries to calculate and interpret years lived with disability (YLDs). They found that, in 2010, there were 777 million years lived with disability (YLDs) from all causes, up from 583 million in 1990. The main contributors to global YLDs were mental and behavioural disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, and diabetes or endocrine diseases. Neglected tropical diseases, HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and anaemia were important causes of YLDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, rates of YLDs per 100,000 people have remained largely constant over time but rise steadily with age. Population growth and ageing have increased YLD numbers and crude rates over the past two decades. Health systems urgently need to address the needs of the rising numbers of individuals with a range of disorders that largely cause disability but not mortality, the authors argue. Quantification of the burden of non-fatal health outcomes will be crucial to understand how well health systems are responding to these challenges.