ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin

In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we report on the sub-regional workshop in Lagos and the West African assessment mission. Information is also included on the renewal of PEPFAR, the results of the G8 Summit and on latest developments at the Global Fund.

Sub-regional HIV/AIDS Review Workshop in Lagos

Fourteen unionists, half of them women, from Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone came together in Lagos, 21–23 July, for a sub-regional workshop to review progress in their HIV/AIDS work. Working groups dealt with constraints in their HIV/AIDS work and possible solutions; considered new proposals; discussed the role of women and young workers and argued in favour of mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in all union activities; and explored the idea of making HIV/AIDS an organising tool for unions.

Above all, participants discussed future sustainability in view of the expiry of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. While funding from employers and national and international organisations, and cooperation with NGOs and faith-based organisations are all important, commitment by union leadership is crucial in the fight against the pandemic. Unions should also develop technical competence in proposal writing and project management.

Presentations on HIV/AIDS workplace policies, the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and peer education were made by SMARTWork, a US-funded organisation which supports workplace programmes in Nigeria and other countries, in cooperation with employers and unions. (SMARTWork stands for Strategically Managing AIDS Responses Together in the Workplace).

A representative of the Nigeria Business Coalition against AIDS (NIBUCAA) presented good practices by employers in case studies from Nigeria.

 

West African Assessment Mission

Prior to the late July workshop in Lagos, the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator visited Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria to assess the HIV/AIDS work by ICEM affiliates during the past three years.

A full programme in Freetown included meetings with the National HIV/AIDS Secretariat, mine companies, and the Network of HIV Positives in Sierra Leone. These meetings demonstrated the extended contacts the United Mineworkers’ Union uses for its very successful HIV/AIDS programme and the commitment of leadership.

The national HIV/AIDS coordinator in Nigeria has run innovative activities for NUPENG and PENGASSAN, with the help of SMARWork, and received technical assistance from GHAIN, the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative Nigeria. A new project sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the Canadian ICEM affiliate Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) will take off soon.

 

News from Affiliates

In the last issue of this e-bulletin, we reported on the national activities supported by the ICEM HIV/AIDS project in Nigeria, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, and Sierra Leone.

ICEM affiliates continue their HIV/AIDS work and reports were received from a number of countries. The Uganda Mines and Allied Workers’ Union conducted two training courses for HIV/AIDS counsellors in May and June for a total of 50 participants with the objective to developing skills to conduct counselling at the workplace. Unionists as representatives of workers have a special position of trust to overcome stigma and the low uptake of VCT.

The Mine Workers’ Union of Namibia (MUN), in cooperation with the Occupational Health, Education, and Awareness Programme (OHEAP) of the Chamber of Mines, organised a group education workshop in Walvis Bay in May. Twnety-six participants from Rössing Uranium Mine, from salt and chemical manufacturers, and from the surrounding communities attended the workshop.

ICEM and MUN are also sponsoring an evaluation of the OHEAP Programme to be terminated by December. Over the past two years, cooperation between MUN and the Chamber of Mines has increased, recognising a greater role of the union in HIV/AIDS interventions.

In Mauritius, the Chemical, Manufacturing and Connected Trade Employees’ Union organised an awareness campaign. A total of 192 participants, including migrant workers, attended the main event. With the support of the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project, 7,000 leaflets were printed. The target of the campaign includes female foreign workers who, because of their meagre salaries, often become part-time commercial sex workers in their spare time.

 

G8 Creates Monitoring Mechanism for AIDS

A three-year lobbying by trade unions and civil society yielded a renewed G8 commitment to universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, health system strengthening, and the creation of a follow up mechanism to monitor G8 progress on HIV/AIDS.

Such greater accountability was achieved in a three-year campaign lobbying G8 embassies and ministers at UN, OECD, and other inter-governmental meetings. In the short period of seven working days, over 250 organisations, mostly trade unions, signed up in support of the declaration circulated by the World AIDS campaign (see e-bulletin 32, May 2008).

 

US Triples Funding for AIDS, TB, and Malaria

The US House of Representatives, on 24 July, voted 303 to115 and the US Senate followed with a 60-13 vote to approve a bill that reauthorizes the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The bill allocates US$48 billion for PEPFAR over the next five years. It was signed by President Bush on 30 July.

The bill approved includes a provision that more than half of the program's aid go toward HIV/AIDS treatment and care. It allocates US$2 billion for the Global Fund in fiscal year 2009. The legislation contains an existing requirement that organisations receiving PEPFAR aid have a policy that opposes commercial sex work. The measure also includes a provision that would ease U.S. HIV/AIDS travel restrictions.

(Various sources, as reported in www.kaisernetwork.org)

UNAIDS Publishes New Report on Global AIDS Epidemic

Significant gains in preventing new HIV infections are being seen in a number of countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic. This is according to the 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. The Report, published every two years, highlights specific examples of countries which are seeing changes in sexual behaviour followed by declines in the number of new HIV infections.

However, the Report also shows that despite the declines in new HIV infections, the AIDS epidemic is far from over, and that rates of new infections are rising in many countries.

The 2008 Report is the most comprehensive report on the response to AIDS. It includes data from 147 countries and enables readers to assess progress made since 2001.

(Source: UNAIDS Press Release, 29 July. The report is available on the website www.unaids.org).

 

Record Gains in South-East Asia

According to the above report, Cambodia and Laos are among the best reformers in the region when it comes to ARV coverage. By 2007, there were 26,000 Cambodians on ARV treatment of the 29,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who needed it. Similarly, Laos is in the small group of developing countries where the coverage is more than 75%.

With much higher absolute numbers, Thailand’s achievements are also impressive. They are largely due to cheaper generic drugs. In November 2006, Thailand applied the compulsory licensing option, which allows developing countries to break patents of expensive drugs for public health emergencies under WTO rules.

Papua New Guinea has made significant progress in scaling up VCT services, as well as expanding ARV access during the past few years. In Indonesia, however, the epidemic is among the fastest growing in Asia. The epidemic, which initially centred largely on injecting drug users in Bali and Jakarta, has now spread to 32 provinces.

 

Global Fund Board Confirms Round 9

The Board of the Global Fund has confirmed that the Round 9 Call for Proposals will be on 1 October 2008, nearly six months earlier than had originally been anticipated. Round 10 is then expected to begin in April 2009.

In the run-up to the decision on R8 proposals, for which the deadline was 1 July, the Technical Review Panel will give more complete information on rejected proposals, including suggested changes that need to be made to submit a proposal for re-submission. In Round 9, CCMs will be permitted to re-submit a proposal that had been assigned to Category 3 in Round 8 and to submit a separate new proposal. As anticipated, there will be a number of changes from the procedures followed in earlier rounds.

(Source: Global Fund Observer, issue 90 of 26 June 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])

 

Do Global Fund Grants Work for Women?

An Aidspan report entitled, "Do Global Fund Grants Work for Women? An Assessment of the Gender Responsiveness of Global Fund-Financed Programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa,” has just been published. It is available at no charge, in English only, at www.aidspan.org/aidspanpublications.

The report, by Angela Kageni and David Garmaise, provides findings from an analysis by Aidspan of all 211 approved proposals to the Global Fund that were submitted by countries in sub-Saharan Africa in Rounds 1-7. The study examines the extent to which these proposals, including services and activities, were “gender responsive.” Programmes are said to be gender-responsive when they provide services specifically for women or promote equal access for women to services provided to both men and women.

For five focus countries – Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia – Aidspan analysed not just the proposals, but also the grants as implemented, to determine what results have been achieved for gender-related services and activities.

(Source: Global Fund Observer, issue 92 of 31 July 2008)

 

Kenya in Landmark HIV Ruling

Kenya’s High Court has ruled for the first time that it is unlawful to fire someone on the grounds of their HIV status. It awarded a woman compensation of 2.2 million Kenyan shillings (US$35,000) for unfair dismissal. Homepark Caterers terminated the waitress’s contract five years ago after she tested HIV-positive.

The landmark ruling could have positive consequences for many of the 2.5 million Kenyans living with HIV, many of whom hide their status for fear of discrimination.

(Source: SAPA, 11 July)

 

New AIDS Threat Emerging in India’s Call Centres

A new AIDS threat is rising in India's numerous call centres, where young staff is increasingly having unprotected sex with multiple partners in affairs developed during night shifts, a top AIDS expert has warned.

While India has made great strides in bringing down its HIV infection rate, the promiscuity among "call centre Romeos" is a great concern, Dr. Suniti Solomon, who detected the first HIV case in India in 1986, told an international medical conference.

According to her, India has reached a plateau of the infections. Her concern now is the call centres, where many of the young staff works at night to correspond with the daytime working hours of their American and European clients.

It is estimated that India’s call centres employ some 1.3 million people, mostly youths fresh out of school and colleges, earning a starting salary of 25,000 rupees (US$600) a month, more than a government doctor's pay check. There are no figures for how many call centre workers are infected with HIV.

(Source: Associated Press Worldstream, 22 June)

 

News from the Global Union Programme and Global Unions

In its latest Newsletter on EFA and HIV/AIDS Prevention at Schools of 1 August, Education International reports on the controversy in South Africa in making condoms available in schools; and on HIV/AIDS workshops in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Mali. Articles also deal with preparations for the International AIDS Conference in Mexico and consultations on drafting the ILO Recommendation on HIV/AIDS in the world of work.

The Global Union AIDS Programme is organising a two-day Labour AIDS Forum to facilitate trade union cooperation ahead of the biennial International AIDS Conference in Mexico City from 3-8 August.