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24 May, 2009
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report, among other items, on the HIV/AIDS activities planned by ICEM affiliates in sub-Saharan African countries and on HIV/AIDS projects sponsored by the British Trades Union Congress.
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 HIV/AIDS Consultant
News from Affiliates
National HIV/AIDS activities by ICEM affiliates in sub-Saharan Africa in 2009 are off to a good start. During the first quarter of the year, national coordinators in participating countries submitted proposals for national activities that are supported with small subsidies from the HIV/AIDS project sponsored by the Swedish LO/TCO Secretariat and the Dutch FNV Mondiaal. Below is a description of national HIV/AIDS activities planned in 2009.
In Nigeria, ICEM affiliates NUPENG and PENGASSAN will continue their successful campaign, which was started more than two years ago, to boost the uptake of voluntary and confidential counselling and testing in major worksites. The project is co-sponsored by the Humanity Fund of the ICEM’s Canadian affiliate, Communications, Energy, Paperworkers (CEP) Union. Increased attention will also be paid to women to know their status and to access information.
The 18 ICEM affiliates in the Democratic Republic of Congo cooperate on an HIV/AIDS Committee. Focus this year is on the elaboration of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS proposal for third-party funding. VCT campaigns in specific companies are also planned and as a pilot project, a first campaign will be implemented in a large cement factory.
ICEM affiliate Mineworkers’ Union of Zambia (MUZ) and the NUCIW in Zambia are building on their earlier training activities to organise workshops and meeting for rank-and-file members, and communities, to encourage access to VCT. A gender training workshop and the development of an HIV/AIDS manual are also on their programme.
In Tanzania, TUICO and TAMICO have started preparations for a major VCT campaign sponsored by funds collected by the Women’s Department of the ICEM’s German affiliate, IGBCE. Two workshops have already been organised for the unions’ women committees and shop stewards to prepare for the campaign. In an encouraging development, some of the facilitators were unionists who had been trained as peer educators and VCT counsellors earlier.
UMU of Sierra Leone has made good use of the seed money provided by the ICEM HIV/AIDS project. A large number of shop stewards and local union officials have been trained since UMU was included in the HIV/AIDS project in 2007. As HIV/AIDS does not discriminate between formal and informal workers, the informal workers, so-called grass-diggers, have also been included in the activities.
In Ghana, the Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) is focussing on new mines and mines not previously covered, and where awareness and uptake of VCT is low. It is therefore targeting the sites of Newmont and the Ghana Bauxite Company. A training course for women on the issues and challenges they face with respect to HIV/AIDS is also planned.
Women are the target group for an extensive company-based programme in Côte d’Ivoire. The national coordinator who also organises HIV/AIDS activities in a number of Francophone West African countries, plans to work with women in nine companies organised by the three ICEM affiliates in the country.
Affiliates in Botswana and Uganda are also planning training workshops and campaigns with emphasis on awareness about VCT and counselling.
In 2009, Guinea is a new target country for the HIV/AIDS project (see HIV/AIDS e-bulletin 41, February 2009). During a visit earlier this year, the Coordinator for Francophone West Africa, Charlotte Nguessan, met with ICEM affiliates to assess the needs and help affiliates to set up an HIV/AIDS committee to coordinate the work. She also met with the National AIDS Commission, UNAIDS, and the ILO.
British TUC Launching HIV/AIDS Projects
The UK’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) is launching a project designed to build workplace capacity to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in partnership with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The project, which is funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) at a cost of £500,000 over three years, will contribute to a drop in the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, better protection of employment and human rights of workers infected with and affected by HIV and AIDS, and the elimination of discrimination against them in the education and health sectors.
Collective bargaining with employers on effective enforcement of the National Workplace Policy on HIV/AIDS will be an integral part of the project. Emphasis will be on prevention and advocacy for voluntary and confidential counselling and testing by unionists trained by project activities.
In Ghana, the TUC cooperates with the Timber and Woodworkers’ Union in a one-year project funded by the Bill Morris Testimonial Fund for HIV/AIDS in Africa. The project is aimed at the prevention of HIV infections through behaviour change, the improvement of the quality of life of workers affected by, or infected with, HIV and the facilitation of access to testing and counselling to ensure early diagnosis.
(Source: TUC Briefing documents of 28 and 29 April on website www.tuc.org.uk)
Global Fund Approves RCC Proposals
The Global Fund Board has approved six proposals in Wave 5 of the Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC), representing costs of up to US$322 million over three years. Of the six proposals, two were for HIV.
The RCC is a separate channel of funding set up to allow applicants with strong performing grants to apply for continuing funding for up to an additional six years beyond the original proposal term. Applications are by invitation only. The two HIV proposals which were approved were from Armenia and China.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 103, 17 April. GFO is a free service of Aidspan – www.aidspan.org. To receive GFO send an email to [email protected].)
AIDS: Lessons Learned and Myths Dispelled
In an article in the online edition of Lancet (www.thelancet.com), the authors, among them the head of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine, and former head of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, deal with several myths which have emerged recently with respect to HIV and AIDS.
The call alarming the notion, especially worrying during the time of financial crisis, that too much money is spent on AIDS. The fact is that AIDS remains the leading cause of death in Africa and the sixth highest cause of mortality worldwide. The authors also dispel the myth that HIV prevention is not working and point out that in several countries prevention programmes are effective and that global prevention of mother to child transmission has led to a substantial decrease in the number of children born with HIV.
They also dismiss the myth that one solution, or a so-called silver bullet, will comprehensively prevent HIV transmission and the misconception that heterosexual transmission of HIV is uncommon outside Africa. The authors further argue that investments in AIDS are not being made at the expense of health systems which are chronically under funded. The Global Fund and PEPFAR are now among the biggest investors in health system strengthening.
(Source: www.thelancet.com and Global Fund Observer, Issue 102, 25 March)
World Bank’s HIV/AIDS Efforts Failing
World Bank programmes aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, are less effective overall than programmes aimed at addressing other health and development issues, according to a report released by the organisation’s Independent Evaluation Group on 30 April.
HIV/AIDS programmes in Africa had a 25% success rate, compared with 80% for all World Bank programmes, the report found. The report cited weak monitoring and infrastructure, poor implementation and overly complex programmes as reasons for the unsatisfactory results. Difficulties in coordinating collaboration with donors, NGOs, and government agencies contributed further to the poor results.
(Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com of 4 May)
HIV/AIDS Funding in Times of Economic Crisis
Life-saving drug treatment for up to 1.7 million people is under threat because of funding pressures triggered by the global financial crisis, according to an analysis released by the World Bank on 24 April.
The report examined the effect of the economic crisis on 69 of the most impoverished countries worldwide and found that 15 are highly exposed to interruption of antiretroviral treatment because of decreases in domestic and foreign funding. As stopping treatment is a death sentence for HIV-positive people, cuts could be made in prevention programmes to be able to continue treatment. This will, however, lead to new surge in infections requiring an ever higher proportion for funding for treatment.
(Source: Financial Times, 25 April)
News from the Global Union Federations
The fortnightly HIV/AIDS update of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) of 1 April reports, among other items, on an HIV/AIDS comic book called “Shore Leave,” which was developed for seafarers and on plans by the Cambodian authorities to add questions about HIV/AIDS to the drivers’ licence exams (www.itfglobal.org).
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