2 April, 2007
NUPENG in the Forefront for VCT.
ICEM’s blue-collar oilworkers’ affiliate in Nigeria, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), has made good use of the ICEM grant for national activities under the LO/TCO-FNV Mondiaal project.
At the end of last year, NUPENG organised, in cooperation with the senior staff oilworkers’ union PENGASSAN (also an affiliate to the ICEM), a massive “Know your Status” campaign in petroleum refineries in the Port Harcourt area. In a three-day period, about 4,500 people were counselled, and 2,785 agreed to be tested at a mobile VCT facility. This followed a campaign among petrol tanker drivers, also NUPENG members, earlier in 2006.
NUPENG sourced additional funding at national level from AED/SMARTwork for a follow-up round of voluntary counselling and testing in February 2007. A total of 3,200 people were counselled and 885 agreed to be tested. The average rate of people who tested positive was between 5-6%. That is above the national prevalence rate of 3.9%, among adults aged 15 to 49.
Speaking to the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator in Abuja, NUPENG’s HIV/AIDS Coordinator Olawale Afolabi expressed great concern that post test programmes are almost unavailable. Those tested positive are sent to referral hospitals. One of these hospitals, in Port Harcourt, the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, is open only one day a week for PLWHA. They are left to wait from dawn to dust in an open space, clearly marked as HIV/AIDS patients section.
There is a complete absence of confidentiality, and a lack of care as medical staff often does not turn up. If they are attended to, they are made to pay exorbitant fees for services which should be free, or only have a nominal fee.
In Afolabi’s words, “Patients are left to die in instalments. The only way out is suicide or further spread of the disease.”
Global Union G8 Campaign
As a follow-up to the article in the March issue of ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin, we give you the links to model letters to be delivered to German embassies before or on 28 April, International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers, or Workers Memorial Day. These letters exist in English, French, German, and Spanish.
Deutsch http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_9Ba.GE.pdf
English: http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_9Ba.EN.pdf
Français: http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_9Ba.FR.pdf
Español: http://www.global-unions.org/pdf/ohsewpT_9Ba.SP.pdf
Côte d’Ivoire on the Right Track
Following the 4th Regional Workshop in Johannesburg in December 2006, affiliates in Côte d’Ivoire have lost no time to put the conclusions of the workshop into practical work on the ground.
Under the able guidance of the National Coordinator, Charlotte Nguessan, numerous meetings have been held with potential partners at national level and from international organisations during the first quarter of 2007.
An analysis of the HIV/AIDS situation, based on a questionnaire to companies, is being completed. In cooperation with the newly-formed Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, which is supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), a sustainable development organisation that does work with the German federal government, and the respective ministries, as well as the national Country Coordinating Mechanism, a project is being elaborated.
The project will focus on workplace interventions with emphasis on awareness, education, voluntary counselling, and testing and treatment.
The progress so far underlines the importance of having a full-time coordinator in focus countries. This was part of the conclusions of the 4th Regional Workshop and is supported by the LO/TCO-FNV Mondiaal project in 2007-2008.
EU Presidency Conference on HIV/AIDS
Responsibility and Partnership – Together Against HIV/AIDS was the theme of the EU Presidency Conference on HIV/AIDS in Bremen, 12-13 March 2007.
The German Government has chosen HIV/AIDS as the main health policy topic for the German EC Presidency. Angela Merkel gave the keynote speech. HIV/AIDS is “Chefsache,” meaning a topic at the highest level.
The Conference brought together health ministers and health ministry officials from EU countries as well as NGOs and the private sector – notably Daimler Chrysler South Africa – and major pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck and Gilead) as well as the ILO, the Global Fund, and other international organisations. As happens so often, trade unionists were not invited. The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator was the only active trade unionist among more than 600 participants.
Important (and understandable because of the German double presidency) was the repeated reference to the G8 Summit. The Chancellor has put HIV/AIDS on the agenda of the Summit. “We will make headway in Heiligendamm,” Merkel promised. A press release from the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) stated that, under the German G8 Presidency, the first ever report on the efforts of the G8 countries in connection with the global fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria will be elaborated.
The Bremen Declaration is available at www.bmg.bund.de/EN/. It does make reference to trade unions in the last article: “We invite the employers and trade unions to ensure non-discriminatory policies for people living with HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups in the workplace and to reduce fears of infection, stigma and discrimination among staff by providing objective, evidence-based information, and access to prevention, testing, treatment and care according to the ILO Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work”.
Global Union Programme in Abuja
Some 20 unionists from Ghana and Nigeria took part in a sub-regional Workshop in Abuja, capital of Nigeria, from 19-21 March. The workshop was organised by the Global Union Coordinator, Clementine Dehwe and the HIV/AIDS Coordinator of the national centre NLC, Maureen Onyia. The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator participated on behalf of the GU Steering Committee.
Emphasis in the programme was on group work. Mixed groups discussed activities presented in country reports and the impact of elements of global programme at national level.
Following a presentation by the ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator on resources and funding, country groups debated country initiatives in place (Global Fund, UNAIDS, WHO, ILO, etc.) and key country programmes by National AIDS Commissions, NGOs, faith-based organisations, and others. These working groups also assessed the role of potential partners and obstacles to work with them.
On the third day, country working groups discussed establishing national coordinating committees and their terms of reference and programmes and initiatives with a plan of action.
Together with the outcome of previous sub-regional workshops organised by the Global Union programme, and the African Consultative and Planning Workshop in Johannesburg, the results and conclusions of the working groups in Abuja have to be analysed, and key elements pulled together and shaped into country programmes for future funding.
South Africa Unveils New 5-Year Plan to Fight HIV/AIDS
South Africa unveiled a new five-year plan on 14 March to fight HIV/AIDS, hoping to turn the tide against the disease that affects some 5.5 million of the country’s 47 million people.
The plan will be implemented by the South African National AIDS Council under the leadership of Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The plan aims, among others, at reducing new infections by 50% and bringing treatment, care and support to 80% of all HIV-positive people and their families. Availability and uptake of voluntary testing and counselling services is to be increased massively and anti-discrimination and stigma-reduction efforts are to be strengthened.
A report, published in February by the University of South Africa and the market research institute Markinor, showed some unexpected results. The epidemic is not spreading fastest among the poor and the youth, but among the 30- to 34- year-olds of the well-educated middle and upper classes. New wealth, carelessness to practice safe sex, and misguided statements by the government have contributed to this development.
(Source: Reuters World Report, 14 March 2007 and NZZ Switzerland, 1 February 2007)
India: Government proposes five fold Increase in HIV/AIDS Funding
According to a recent report in the Hindustan Times, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has proposed a more than fivefold increase in funding for HIV/AIDS programmes in the country. The proposed $2.6 billion in funding will be administered by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) under the third phase of the country's National AIDS Control Programme. The money will be allocated over the next five years for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support, and treatment.
The large increase is made possible by massive funding from the World Bank, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
About one-third of the $2.6 billion in proposed funding will be allocated for HIV/AIDS care, treatment, and support, while the remaining funds will be allocated for awareness about the disease. Some HIV/AIDS advocates said that although they welcome the increase in funding for HIV/AIDS awareness, the funding allocated for HIV/AIDS treatment is inadequate. The HIV/AIDS control programme's third phase will focus on six states with high HIV prevalence: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Manipur, and Nagaland, although district level allocations will be modified to ensure that other states receive adequate funding as well.
(Source: Article adapted from the ITF HIV/AIDS Update 17, 15 March 2007)
News from Global Union Federations
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has published the first edition of Agenda, an annual publication on HIV/AIDS and transport workers entitled, “How unions can help close the door on HIV.” The objective of the publication is to help affiliates and other relevant stakeholders to develop a trade union perspective of the epidemic.
The publication can be accessed at www.itfglobal.org.
Since 1994, the Education International (EI) has recognised the urgency for a broad and strong response to HIV/AIDS through schools. It has worked with its affiliates and international organisations to prevent the further spread of the disease. For information on EI’s activities, including its regular bulletin, please visit the website www.ei-ie.org/efaids.
Two other Global Union Federations with websites and regular newsletters on HIV/AIDS include the ITF’s (see above) and the ICEM’s at www.icem.org.