Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
17 June 2008
Politics and Policy
Bush During Meeting With British Prime Minister Brown Calls on G8 To Fulfill Aid Commitments to Africa
[Jun 17, 2008]
President Bush on Monday during a press conference in London with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations should match aid commitments to Africa made by the U.S., the Kyodo/AOL News reports. Bush said that G8 leaders met last year and "discussed HIV and malaria in Africa, and they all came forth and said they would match the United States -- except most nations haven't matched the United States except for Great Britain." He added that his "message to the G8" during its summit in Japan next month is, "Looking forward to working with you, thanks for coming to the meeting, just remember that there are people needlessly dying on the continent of Africa today, and we expect you to be more than pledgemakers; we expect you to be check writers for humanitarian reasons."
Brown at the press conference said that during the Japan summit, he will propose a plan, with the support of Bush, to recruit and train health workers for impoverished nations to prevent maternal deaths. Bush and Brown also said that they plan to call on G8 leaders to increase school enrollment in Africa (Kyodo/AOL News, 6/16).
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Across The Nation
New York City Health Department To Buy 2M Female Condoms To Help Curb HIV/AIDS
[Jun 17, 2008]
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recently approved a $2 million contract to make more than two million female condoms available in health clinics and organizations citywide to help curb the spread of HIV, the New York Daily News reports.
The city began offering no-cost female condoms -- which are inserted like diaphragms -- about 10 years ago, but health officials said they need to increase the supply because the condoms have become so popular. According to the health department, the city in 2007 distributed 659,000 female condoms, 200,000 more than in 2006. Monica Sweeney, assistant commissioner of the health department's HIV Prevention and Control Bureau, said that the health department wanted to make female condoms available because many women cannot afford them or do not know they are an option. Female condoms cost about $3 each, compared with $1 for male condoms, according to Sweeney.
The agency also is providing more education about female condoms to community-based groups and to clinics in neighborhoods with high rates of HIV, Sweeney said. She added that many groups already provide the condoms alongside male condoms during HIV awareness fairs. "I want to make sure there is a female condom in the hands of anyone who wants to use it," Sweeney said, adding, "We want females to have this as an alternative if they can't negotiate with their male partner to use a male condom."
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of New York City praised the health department for purchasing the female condoms, adding, "The more it becomes available and the more it becomes mainstream, I suspect more women will use it. It gives them a choice" (Lucadamo, New York Daily News, 6/15).
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Global Challenges
Olympic Games Volunteers Receive HIV/AIDS Training
[Jun 17, 2008]
UNAIDS and United Nations Volunteers recently held a training session for volunteers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games in an effort to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and prevent discrimination related to the disease, Xinhuanet reports. About 5,500 volunteers received training about awareness and discrimination, and approximately 100,000 volunteers have received an awareness package that includes information about HIV prevention and discrimination. "Many young people do not have the right information on AIDS, fueling false fears, stigma and discrimination," Bernhard Schwartlander, UNAIDS country coordinator in China, said, adding, "This is bad in itself and also hampers HIV prevention work." He said that "[e]ngaging some of China's most capable young people and making them the messengers of positive and correct knowledge on HIV can help dispel inaccurate myths and break down the stigma and discrimination against people affected by HIV."
The training session was held from June 14 to June 15 and was convened by UNAIDS and U.N. Volunteers. It was conducted in collaboration with the Beijing Communist Youth League, Marie Stopes International China and the Red Cross Society of China. People living with HIV/AIDS also attended the session as trainers, according to Xinhuanet. U.N. Development Programme China Country Director Subinay Nandy said that volunteers who participated in the training are better prepared to welcome all Olympic attendants, including HIV-positive people. Nandy added that he hopes the volunteers will continue to address development issues, including raising awareness about HIV/AIDS (Xinhuanet, 6/16).
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Religious, Cultural Issues Affecting Efforts To Fight HIV/AIDS, U.N. Report Says
[Jun 17, 2008]
Inter Press Service recently examined a report released by the United Nations Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa last week at the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS. According to the report, religious and cultural issues continue to have both negative and positive effects on efforts aimed at preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS worldwide. U.N. General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim at the close of the meeting said an effective response to HIV/AIDS should be centered on human rights and gender equality.
According to the 248-page report, religion can have a positive impact on the fight against HIV/AIDS. The United Nations is enlisting the help of religious leaders and faith-based groups to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS, according to Inter Press Service. However, separate cultural expectations regarding sexual behavior for men and women are contributing to the spread of the virus, the report said. U.N. Development Fund for Women Executive Director Ines Alberdi said that unequal sexual relationships among men and women, combined with gender stereotypes, are fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS. Alberdi said development workers "need to find ways to engage men and boys in combating gender-based stereotypes," adding, "Action is needed to promote male behavior that is based on respect for women's rights, responsibility and that is non-violen[t] and non-abusive."
The report noted that male circumcision can decrease the risk of HIV transmission among men, although sexual promiscuity among men in some cultures has placed women at an increased risk of HIV transmission. However, the report said that evidence on whether polygamous marriages contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS is inconsistent. According to the report, "Higher rates of HIV infection often are found in areas with high rates of polygamy." However, in northern Ghana, where 44% of marriages are polygamous, HIV prevalence is low, Inter Press Service reports.
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the U.N. Population Fund, said the development community should "pay more attention to women and young people" living with HIV/AIDS and "engage them as experts in the response." Young people "have called for greater engagement in plans, policies and programs and a dramatic expansion of AIDS education and youth-friendly services," Obaid said, adding, "Let us work with them to scale up the services they need" to fight HIV/AIDS.
Obaid added that U.N. agencies should link HIV/AIDS services with sexual and reproductive health services so they are "mutually reinforcing." She added that integrated services are essential because the majority of HIV cases are transmitted sexually or are associated with pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.
About 60 nongovernmental organizations at the meeting signed a statement urging governments and the United Nations to deliver on promises to address HIV/AIDS among women and girls. According to the statement, shortfalls in providing HIV treatment, care and support are the result of social, cultural and economic subordination among women, structural inequalities and pervasive gender-based violence in all sectors of society (Deen, Inter Press Service, 6/13).
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