5 November, 2008
In this issue, we call on ICEM affiliates to get involved in activities on World AIDS Day which occurs on 1 December. We report on the engagement of women of ICEM German affiliate of the German IGBCE in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the situation of women in Asia, and the fight of women in Nepal for better HIV/AIDS services.
The ICEM Calls on its Affiliates to Contribute to this e-bulletin
ICEM affiliates are already engaged in a wide range of HIV/AIDS activities. To spread the information on new agreements, awareness, and prevention campaigns, and educational activities, affiliates and project coordinators are invited to send news and information to [email protected]. Any feedback on the format and contents of the e-bulletin is also welcome.
Editor: Hans J Schwass, ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator
World AIDS Day 2008, 1 December – Get Ready!
The ICEM calls on its affiliates to take the lead in campaigning on World AIDS Day, 1 December
The first of December marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. There is no time to celebrate. Since 1988, efforts made to respond to the epidemic have produced positive results, however the latest UNAIDS report on the global AIDS epidemic (see e-bulletin 35/36, August/September here) indicates that the epidemic is not yet over in any part of the world.
Together with its partners, the World AIDS Campaign set this year’s theme for World AIDS Day as “Lead – Empower – Deliver,” building on last year’s theme of “Take the Lead.” Designating leadership as the overall theme for 2007 – 2008 provides an opportunity to highlight the political leadership needed to fulfil commitments – particularly the promise of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support by 2010.
Unions can demonstrate leadership at every level – in the workplace, in their own governing bodies, in women’s committees, in health and safety committees, in negotiations with companies, in the community and at the national policy level.
Any union member, shop steward, union official, committee member, gender representative who takes action on HIV/AIDS is a leader in the fight against the deadly disease.
(Source: UNAIDS press release, 27 October)
IGBCE Women’s Conference
The Women’s Conference of the ICEM affiliate IGBCE (mining, chemicals, and energy) in Germany made a strong commitment to help in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Meeting in Hanover in early October, funds were collected at the conference for an HIV/AIDS project in Tanzania in partnership with ICEM affiliates TUICO and TAMICO, and the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. In numerous discussions with delegates, ICEM Women’s Officer Carol Bruce and HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass explained the project in Tanzania which focuses on women and their stronger involvement in HIV/AIDS work, training as counsellors and advocacy for voluntary counselling and testing.
Delegates will continue the appeal in their regional and local structures to raise the funds necessary to sustain the project in 2009 and 2010.
Global Fund Launches Round 9
(For more details, see the ICEM HIV/AIDS special e-bulletin in October here)
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria launched Round 9 on 1 October, just seven months after the launch of Round 8. The proposal form and guidelines for Round 9 are substantially unchanged from Round 8. They are available in six languages at www.theglobalfund.org.
Applicants must submit their Round 9 proposals by 21 January 2009. All proposals submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the Global Fund Secretariat to ensure that they meet the Fund’s eligibility criteria. Those that do meet the criteria will then be sent to the Technical Review Panel. The Global Fund Board will decide which proposals to approve at its meeting on 7-8 May 2009.
In light of the fact that the Round 9 application form and procedures have hardly changed since Round 8, Aidspan has not updated its guides for applications which are accessible at http://www.aidspan.org/guides in English, French and Spanish.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, GFO, Issue 96, 24 October 2008. The 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 the GFO send an email to [email protected])
Caribbean Needs to Increase Efforts against HIV/AIDS
Increased efforts are needed to bolster HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and education in the Caribbean, Karen Sealy, head of the UNAIDS Caribbean office, said recently. “High-risk groups include commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. An increase in HIV/AIDS cases is also being recorded among drug users,” said Sealy, adding, "We know that the spread of HIV in the Caribbean is in fact being fuelled by serious gaps in gender equality."
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that "one of the true successes" of the country's efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS is the decrease in mother-to-child transmissions because of the no-cost antiretroviral drugs provided to all pregnant women who receive treatment at government clinics. Manning said that many of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago are able to live "a high quality of life" because of the country's health care program but added that more work needs to be done to address the spread of HIV.
The Caribbean has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate worldwide, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS figures show that an estimated 230,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the region and that 14,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded last year.
(Source: Medical News Today, 27 October, reprinted with kind permission from www.kaisernetwork.org)
Assessment Missions to Botswana and Namibia
In the last year of the project cycle, the ICEM conducts an internal assessment of the impact of the HIV/AIDS project at national level. In September, Project Management Assistant Paule Ndessomin went to Botswana and Namibia and met with national coordinators, peer educators trained by the programme and national NGOs. Visits of mining sites completed the mission.
Overall the project had a very positive impact in both countries. Awareness has increased considerably. In Botswana, most large companies organised by ICEM affiliates such as Botswana Power Corporation, Botswana Copper and Nickel (BCL), and diamond miner Debswana have HIV/AIDS workplace policies. Affiliates have cooperated with BONELA, an NGO that deals with issues of ethics, legislation, and advocacy in the field of HIV/AIDS.
Employment legislation stipulates that every employee who enters into a contract of employment shall be examined by a medical officer. As this section in the Employment Act stands, it may include pre-employment HIV testing. The Public Service Code, however, prohibits such testing. Another inhibiting factor is the fact that living on the proceeds of commercial sex is illegal thus making it difficult for sex workers to have access to medical care.
In Namibia, ICEM’s only affiliate, the Mineworkers’ Union of Namibia (MUN), has been engaged in HIV/AIDS activities for some time. Large mines such as Rössing Uranium, which is two-thirds owned by mining giant Rio Tinto, have workplace policies in place and provide treatment and care. More recently, MUN has also been involved with the country’s employer group, the Chamber of Mines. The Chamber’s Occupational Health Education and Awareness Programme (OHEAP) is currently being evaluated in cooperation with the Labour Resource and Research Institute.
Women need empowerment in fight against AIDS
Women must be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS and men must also be encouraged to respect women more. Nafis Sadik, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region, told a poverty alleviation conference in Beijing that lack of respect for women was helping drive the spread of the virus.
"Gender-based violence and discrimination on grounds of gender drive the HIV and AIDS epidemic among women. Empowerment of women - equipping them with self-esteem, the knowledge, and the ability to protect themselves … will be of critical importance in winning the battle," Sadik said.
"Women suffer doubly. First, from HIV and AIDS itself, and secondly from the stigma associated with the disease. Women are routinely blamed for infecting their husbands, though it is almost always the men who infect their wives," she said.
In Asia, at least 75 million men regularly buy sex from about ten million female sex workers, she added. "The results of male behaviour can be seen in changing patterns of infection. Today, about one-third of all people living with HIV in China are women, compared with one in ten in 1995," Sadik said.
(Source: Reuters, 17 October)
HIV-positive Women in Nepal Call for Greater Assistance
Nepal's HIV/AIDS policies and programs have failed to address the problems of women living with HIV/AIDS in the country, stated HIV-positive women of Shakti Milan Samaj, a social organisation working on behalf of women living with HIV/AIDS.
The women also called on the government to guarantee access to no-cost treatment, care, resettlement, social security and jobs, as well as a special programme to help them maintain a living. They added that the government "should make arrangements for free education to our children and announce legal action against all violence against us regarding it as a crime against the state."
The women said that although the country has received significant funding for efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, the government still does not address the issues they face. Women in the country are vulnerable to HIV because of cultural and economic factors, as well as domestic violence.
(Source: News Medical Net, 5 October with permission from kaisernetwork.org)
How Obama and McCain Differed on HIV/AIDS
With Barack Obama winning the US presidential election, it might be useful to look back to see how he and opponent John McCain compared on HIV/AIDS policy. For starters, they both fully support President Bush’s PEPFAR programme, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was re-authorised with increased funding.
While this is focused on the epidemic overseas, activists have criticised neglect of the US domestic epidemic. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 5% of the people living in Washington, DC, have the infection. That is a rate two-and-a-half times higher than in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world.
Barack Obama calls for a more effective AIDS policy and says that studies have shown that the incidence of HIV and AIDS may have been undercounted. Obama’s plan begins with his promise to sign universal health care legislation by the end of his first term as president. He wants to prevent HIV through sex education and by promoting HIV testing. The cornerstone of Obama’s plan calls for a national HIV/AIDS strategy involving all federal agencies.
While John McCain also called for a domestic plan, his main prescription to prevent HIV is abstinence programmes. For those with pre-existing conditions such as AIDS, he campaigned on a plan to establish “guaranteed access plans” for affordable insurance. His prescription for rising drug costs was to create greater competition among drug companies. The centrepiece of a McCain campaign blueprint is a US$2,500 tax credit for individuals to purchase health coverage of their choice.
(Source: CBS News, from 14 October)
New Vigour in Fighting the Epidemic in South Africa
AIDS organisations and activists welcomed the nomination of Barbara Hogan as new health minister of South Africa. Unlike her predecessor, Hogan has made it clear that the HI-Virus causes AIDS and that the only way to treat it is with anti-retroviral drugs. Hogan announced better access to such drugs and an expansion of the programme to fight mother to child transmission.
ICMM Launches Guide on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria
The International Council on Mining and Metal (ICMM) launched its new guide, “Good Practice Guidance on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria,” in London on 15 October. Among the panellists was ICEM HIV/AIDS Coordinator Hans J Schwass who welcomed the initiative of the ICMM to publish this guide but criticised that very little reference is made to organised labour or workers’ organisations or unions as potential partners in the fight against the diseases. Schwass said, “There is no reason not to collaborate on life and death issues with organisations with which companies are at times in dispute over pay and working conditions, especially when these organisations can add value to HIV/AIDS interventions. Of course, to cooperate with trade unions, means recognising them in the first place.”
The guide provides a systematic framework and practical advice on the management of the three diseases 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
The Global Union AIDS Programme is planning a series of coordinating and capacity building workshops in sub-Saharan Africa, and is coordinating the union input in the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), as well as the Global Fund Partnership Forum, both in Dakar, Senegal, in December.
In its latest Newsletter on Education for All and HIV & AIDS Prevention at Schools (EFAIDS) of 2 October, Education International reports on the launch of its programme in Nepal. It also addresses World AIDS Day. The EI EFAIDS programme has prepared an activity kit which teachers around the world can use to share knowledge and encourage discussion on HIV/AIDS issues in the campaign for World AIDS Day “One Hour on AIDS” – www.ei-ie.org/efaids.