Read this article in:
3 October, 2008No. 37, October 2008
ICEM Agreement on HIV/AIDS Cooperation in India with German Pharmaceutical Company Boehringer Ingelheim
The ICEM entered an agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for the company to financially sponsor an HIV/AIDS project in India. Based on the initiation work by ICEM and its affiliates in India, and following an analysis of the prevailing problems and needs during a workshop in November 2006, negotiations for this partnership were facilitated by the German ICEM affiliate, IGBCE. The project runs from July 2008 to December 2009.
The project’s main objectives include closing the gap of qualified peer educators/lay counsellors in the industrial sectors covered by ICEM affiliates in India, and the up-scaling of awareness campaigns, education, and advocacy for VCT and ART.
With the training of peer educators/lay counsellors and the orientation of medical and para-medical staff in company health facilities, as well as teachers and staff at company schools, it is expected that greater awareness will lead to behaviour change and that Know-your-Status-Campaigns will increase the uptake of VCT.
Master Trainers Programme Implemented in Kolkata
As the initial step for the implementation of the project in India, a training programme for master trainers was held in Kolkata, from 25-27 August 2008. Twenty-eight participants attended the course.
Technical assistance was provided by the ILO New Delhi Office and its HIV/AIDS programme coordinator, SM Afsar, and programme officer, Divya Verma. General Secretary BK Das of ICEM affiliate Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation coordinated the programme. Participants also benefited from the technical support of the West Bengal State AIDS Prevention and Control Society and Coal India Ltd.
During the course, the master trainers acquired key training skills on the basics of HIV/AIDS, the role of trade unions and HIV/AIDS in the world of work, behaviour change communication, and integrated counselling and testing.
Master trainers will train some 700 peer educators in the coal mining, cement, chemical, and diamond sectors.
International AIDS Conference in Mexico City
Labour’s voice was heard loud and clear in the Global Village as well as in many of the sessions of the main Conference programme, according to the Chair of the Global Union AIDS Programme (GUAP), Alan Leather.
A delegation of over 40 trade unionists from 25 countries organised a two-day Labour Forum prior to the International AIDS Conference and participated in events of the conference, which was held in Mexico City from 3 to 8 August.
Thousands of AIDS organisations and representatives attending the conference received succinct trade union messages. Written and visual materials were distributed, along with thousands of free condoms at a highly successful trade union display booth, which became the centre for the GUAP coordination of activists. This centre served as an invaluable tool in explaining why workers and trade unions have a unique role in tackling HIV/AIDS in the workplace.
The conference provided many opportunities for presentations and dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS. Formal sessions, satellite meetings, exhibitions, events at the Global Village, and a well-developed Cultural Programme served to focus on efforts to expand the delivery of HIV prevention and treatment to communities world-wide through knowledge transfer and sharing of best practice.
At the conference, the ILO organized its own well-attended satellite meeting to discuss the development of a new international labour standard on HIV/AIDS. It was moderated by Mexico’s Minister of Labour and representatives from trade unions, employers, governments, the ILO, and other agencies actively participated.
(Source: GUAP Press Release, 10 August)
Assessment Missions to Zambia and Uganda
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the programme at national level. In July, the programme in Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone was critically reviewed (see e-bulletin: August/September 2008).
In August, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Zambia and Uganda to meet with leadership of ICEM affiliates, peer educators trained by the programme, and national HIV/AIDS organisations, as well as health authorities. Visits of factory sites completed the mission.
Overall, the programme has had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. Peer educators were trained, but some companies are still reluctant to give them time off to discuss HIV/AIDS issues at the workplace. In Zambia, Konkola Copper Mines, with more than 11,000 permanent workers and 4,000 contractors, has a comprehensive programme, including VCT campaigns and the provision of ARVs. Other companies in Zambia and Uganda have made efforts but too many still lag behind in their interventions.
ICEM Affiliates in Colombia Organise HIV/AIDS Seminar
On 12 August, the ICEM Colombia coordinator, Carlos Bustos, organised a seminar on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Thirty-five participants attended the seminar, which reviewed the progress made since the first HIV/AIDS activities in 2006.
Regrettably, only at Carbones de Cerrejón, the large coal-mining operation owned by three MNCs in the north of the country, does an adequate HIV/AIDS policy and intervention programme exist. Participants resolved to form an HIV/AIDS team and to negotiate clauses in collective agreements and HIV/AIDS policies with companies in the framework of the ICEM’s Social Dialogue Project. Basis for the dialogue with companies will be the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work.
Global Fund: Dramatic Increase in Round 8 Proposals
Proposals that were submitted to the Global Fund in Round 8 are more than twice as large, in average dollar value, as in any previous round. Highlights regarding the Round 8 proposals include: 102 countries submitted 185 proposals in Round 8, which is 35 proposals more than were submitted in Round 7, but about the same as the average over Rounds 1-7.
The average two-year cost of the proposals submitted in Round was US$35 million, dramatically up from $16 million in Round 7 and US$12 million on average over Rounds 1-7. The total cost of the proposals submitted in Round 8 was US$6.4 billion, up from US$2.4 billion in Round 7 and US$2.3 billion on average over Rounds 1-7.
The number of HIV proposals submitted in Round 8 was up by 30% from Round 7. The cost split between the HIV/malaria/TB proposals submitted in Round 8 was 50% for HIV, 33% for malaria, and17% for TB proposals.
Only 40% (75 of 185) of the Round 8 proposals opted to follow the Fund’s recommendation (but not requirement) that the proposal be “dual-track”, i.e. have one Principal Recipient from the government sector and one from another sector.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 93, 18 August 2008. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org, a Kenya-based NGO that serves as an independent watchdog of the Global Fund. To receive GFO send an email to [email protected])
Technical Review Panel Recommends Approval of US$3 Billion
After conducting its detailed review of Round 8 proposals, the Global Fund’s Technical Review Panel (TRP) has recommended that the Global Fund Board approve grants that will cost in excess of US$3 billion. This is roughly half of the proposal amount (see article above), and makes Round 8 nearly three times the size, in dollar terms, of any previous round of Global Fund grants.
Malaria proposals were particularly successful and represent more than half of the recommended amount. The recommendations of the TRP for individual grants are not known until the Global Fund Board gives its final approval in November.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 95, 26 September 2008)
Australia Mining Boom Linked to HIV Spike
Australia’s mining boom may be fuelling an alarming rise in HIV infections among cash-rich outback miners and businessmen who holiday in Asia.
Rates of HIV infections in Australia have increased by almost 50% in the past eight years, according to a new national HIV/AIDS report by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research. Homosexual men still account for most new infections, but a large number of new infections are among heterosexual men in the country’s mining states of Western Australia and Queensland.
Many miners work fly-in, fly-out shifts consisting of several weeks straight of employment, followed by a few weeks off. Researchers say some are visiting Southeast Asian countries during their holidays and having unprotected sex.
(Source: Reuters, 17 September)
ICMM Publishes Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) published its new guide, “Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,” at the end of August.
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on disease management that will enable mining and metal operations worldwide to address key challenges, both among workers and neighbouring communities.
The guide can be accessed at the ICMM website www.icmm.com.
News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions
In its most recent HIV/AIDS Updates, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) (www.itfglobal.org) reports, among other noteworthy items, on the increased risk for HIV of Mexican migrant workers when they arrive in the US. The newsletter also covers changes in sexual behaviour; the high likelihood of married of Indian women, who experience physical and sexual abuse by husbands, are to contract HIV; and the introduction of a text messaging programme in Uganda to increase awareness of and knowledge about HIV/AIDS, including advocacy for HIV testing.