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13 October, 2011
In this issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS newsletter, we report on the ICEM Women’s Workshop in West Africa, the selection of the abstract written for ICASA, and the report of the High Level Panel on Global Fund reforms.
Women and HIV and AIDS, Sub-regional Workshop in Accra
The West African Sub-regional Women’s Workshop, which was held in Accra, Ghana, brought together 17 women from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Guinea.
The workshop identified specific challenges facing women at the workplace and in communities with respect to HIV and AIDS. It addressed violence arising from HIV status and women’s health and HIV and AIDS and dealt with the issue of the use of female condoms.
The workshop started with a presentation by Akua Asumadu, the ILO HIV/AIDS Focal Point in Accra on “Gender in the World of Work and mainstreaming gender in workplace response to HIV and AIDS.”
The workshop dealt with the issue of the importance of women structures especially in a male dominated industry such as the mining sector. Participants felt strongly that despite existing challenges, women structures play an important role in uplifting women and suggested that women structures should begin to be relevant to women by addressing specific women health and societal issues in order to improve active participation of women.
Dr. Fred Nana Poku from the Ghana AIDS Commission made a presentation on “The existing progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS, gender related issues that hinder access to care and the strategies in place to encourage the use of the female condoms.”
His presentation was followed by a presentation on the female condoms as a well as a demonstration on its proper use by Paule France Ndessomin, the ICEM HIV and AIDS coordinator. It became clear that the majority of women had never come across a female condom and were ignorant of its existence. The efforts through the ICEM HIV/AIDS project not only familiarise women with female condoms but also demonstrate the potential of their empowerment.
International AIDS Conference in Addis Ababa
The 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA 2011) will be held in Addis Ababa 4-8 December. The theme of the Conference is “Own, Scale-up and Sustain.”
In the context of the project, sponsored by the Danish LO/FTF and in cooperation with the ICEM affiliate NIFECM, an abstract was written for the Conference proceedings. The abstract, entitled “HIV and the Workplace, Awareness and Prevention in the Mining Sector in Ethiopia, Trade Unions Take their Responsibility,” was selected for presentation at an oral abstract session at the Conference.
High Level Panel Recommends Major Changes to the Global Fund
A High Level Panel led by former President Mogae of Botswana and former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt has recommended in its report, released on 19 September, that the Global Fund make some major changes in its structure and working methods. The Panel was established six months ago by the Board of the Global Fund after widespread media publicity about corruption among some grant implementers.
The Panel was given a broad remit to look into the Global Fund's problems and what should be done about them. Much is riding on the report; several donors have delayed making, or implementing, their funding commitments for 2011 and later until they see how the Panel reports and how the Fund responds.
It would go beyond the scope of this e-bulletin to summarise the 149-page report (which is done in the GFO Issue 158 quoted below). However, some of the major recommendations stand out.
Firstly, the GF Board should specify the maximum available funding for each type of country. It is further recommended that the GF introduces a two-stage grant application process with a relatively brief concept paper first and a full proposal after “approval in principle.” With respect to staffing, it is recommended that the overall ratio of Country Program Staff (mainly Fund Portfolio Managers) within the Secretariat should increase.
The report was subsequently adopted by the Global Fund Board.
(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 158 of 20 September. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org; to receive GFO send an email to [email protected])
HIV and the Neglect of Older African Adults
While the focus of HIV and AIDS interventions has always been on the 20-40-year-olds most likely to be infected, African democracy institute Idasa warns that health workers and social planners have neglected to take into account the elderly who have contracted the virus – and their numbers are growing.
Successful ARV treatment is just one factor that has created a new group of HIV and AIDS patients – the over 50s who face their own distinctive needs and challenges. A IDASA study, HIV and AIDS and the Older Adult, points out that old age could disguise the symptoms of HIV and AIDS, leaving it undetected and untreated as health workers and social services focus their attention on the younger population. This could have serious consequences as older adults may fall through the treatment net.
Greater awareness of the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the older cohort is urgent. The study suggests that older people may be more sensitive to antiretroviral drug toxicity and therefore the body’s reaction to antiretroviral agents may be different in the older person. The authors also warn that older people may be suffering from age-related conditions and using other non-HIV medications, which could introduce complications in the use of antiretrovirals.
The stigma and discrimination experienced by older people suffering from HIV and AIDS is also greater. Furthermore, many of South Africa’s older generation have been left to care for AIDS orphans. They have become the sole breadwinners and sources of income in many households. but a growing numbers of these senior citizens are HIV-positive or suffering from AIDS themselves.
(Source: IDASA press release, 25 August)
Swaziland: HIV Prevalence among Factory Workers 50%
A new study has found that more than half of workers in Swaziland’s garment industry are living with HIV, and officials are realizing that the once-hailed promise of manufacturing employment has become a financial and medical nightmare for tens of thousands of Swazi women.
About 30,000 Swazis, mostly women, are employed in garment factories financed by Taiwanese investors and operated by managers from mainland China. The survey also found that most factory workers were well informed about HIV/AIDS, and 90 percent of workers interviewed were aware of the female condom and other methods of preventing HIV.
The prevalence rate for textile industry employees is significantly higher than the 26% rate among sexually active adult Swazis, which is already the highest in the world. Although most of the workers knew how to prevent HIV, their circumstances did not allow them to practice this. Wages for part-time workers can be as low as US$56 a month, and rarely top US$223 a month for factory-floor workers. This forces a lot of factory workers into prostitution where unprotected sex is often demanded.
(Source: IRIN/PlusNews, Matsapha, 11 August)
Nigeria: Changing Attitudes to Contraception
Traditional leaders’ support has been vital to reproductive health education efforts. Health workers say an apparent rise in contraceptive use in Nigeria stems largely from a willingness by traditional and religious leaders in some regions to use their influence in promoting reproductive health.
In the predominantly Muslim north, where contraceptive use has historically been far lower than the national average, the support of traditional leaders has helped change attitudes in communities where contraception was long regarded as taboo.
Even in rural areas condoms are being used. People now know the negative consequences of not using condoms - HIV and pregnancy. Culturally relevant performances in villages are used to promote messages about family planning, reproductive health and safe sex.
(Source: IRIN News, 27 July)
News from Global Unions
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – www.itfglobal.org) in its latest HIV/AIDS update 113 of 1 October, reports on its participation in the Inter-Agency Task Team to scale up HIV workplace policies and programmes and to mobilise the private sector.
The September Newsletter of PSUFASA (Public Sector Unions Fighting AIDS in Southern Africa – www.psufasa.org) gives guidelines for trade union participation in the proposal process for the Global Fund and reports on meetings of PSI affiliates in Zimbabwe to explore the possibilities to include a workplace component in the country proposal. The newsletter also describes the anti-stigma and discrimination programmes which were launched in several southern African countries.
Five Years Ago: From the October 2006 (Issue No. 13)
The first issue of the ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin was published in October 2005. In current issues, we refer to an article from the same month five years ago and reflect on developments.
In the HIV/AIDS e-bulletin of October 2006, we reported on the 3rd Regional Workshop for national coordinators. It will be recalled that the first cycle of the ICEM HIV/AIDS project, which ran from 2005 to 2006, included a series of regional training workshops for national coordinators. This third workshop focussed on peer education and laid the foundation for successful national activities in the coming years. The fourth and final workshop in that cycle dealt with accessing resources at national level and the writing of project proposals. Without knowledge of funds which may be available at national level and skills to access them, long-term sustainability cannot be achieved. Only a limited number of affiliates, however, succeeded in mobilising additional resources.
In that issue, we also reported on the difficulties the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria had in financing grants for approved Round 6 proposals. Although only 43% of eligible proposals were approved, a funding gap of US$300 million emerged and project funding had to be postponed until additional pledges were received.
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