ICEM HIV/AIDS e-bulletin - No. 80, May 2012

 

Campaigning on HIV and AIDS in Mauritius

In April, the ICEM HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator went to Rodrigues, the second island of the Republic of Mauritius with about 37,000 inhabitants, to run a three-day HIV/AIDS campaign in cooperation with the ICEM affiliate there, CMCTEU.

The island has a higher rate of infection than the main island of Mauritius. Health authorities welcomed and encouraged the ICEM initiative as workers in the private sector are not well served as compared to workers in the public sector.

Over three days, starting on 7 April, CMCTEU officials, shop stewards and the project coordinator took to the streets to distribute brochures, HIV and AIDS materials and condoms to the inhabitants of Rodrigues. On 9 April, the day of the main activity at MCB square in Port Mathurin, the capital of Rodrigues, 65 shop stewards of the CMCTEU joined the group to continue with the distribution of materials. A press conference was organized during which the health ministry representative thanked the union for its initiative and advocated that such campaigns be held regularly to address the high HIV and AIDS prevalence on the island. 

In all, about 1,500 brochures were handed out and talks were held with workers and young people, mostly students. Scores of condoms were distributed.

The last activity was a workplace campaign at New Citizen Centre. Workers shared their fear and discussed issues they encounter at the workplace. They explained that the situation has improved at the workplace and that discrimination against infected workers has decreased but there is still fear to disclose their HIV status.

Overall, the campaign was a success. It changed the view previously held by the CTMCTEU leadership that Rodriguans would not take part in HIV and AIDS campaigns because of their strong religious beliefs (most of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic). It was also remarkable how people on the street, especially women, would stop the campaigners and tell them how they wish they could have more freedom as their spouses would not allow them to have their status checked.

      

Papua New Guinea: Violence against Women

High levels of sexual violence are putting an increasing number of women at risk of HIV infection in Papua New Guinea (PNG). According to the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), PNG accounts for most of the 30,000 reported cases of people living with HIV in the Pacific region, around 59% of whom are women. PNG’s HIV prevalence of 0.9% is the highest among Pacific region countries

Gender inequality is proving a major driver in the spread of HIV. The low status of women in the community makes them prone to violence - sexual and otherwise. Gender-based violence is widespread among the country’s 6.5 million ethnically divided inhabitants.

The PNG Law Reform Commission reported that 70% of women had been physically abused by their husbands, and in some parts of the country the number reaches 100%. Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimated that 50% of women in PNG have experienced forced sex in their lifetime.

A UNAIDS study found strong links between gender-based violence and HIV infection, and noted that the first sexual encounter of many girls was forced. Such circumstances make it extremely difficult to negotiate condom use. The report also found that women, who had been sexually abused as children, were twice as likely to test positive for HIV then those who had not.

(Source: IRIN Plus News, Port Moresby, 18 April))

              

Restructuring at the Global Fund

New General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo said that the Global Fund is moving from a complex organisation with bureaucratic processes that dissatisfy donors and implementers to an organisation that “proactively responds to the needs of both donors and implementers with simple and agile processes.”

Grant management processes, in particular, will be streamlined. According to Mr Jaramillo, the Global Fund is moving from having sub-optimal management practices to an organisation that will be renowned for “recognising, rewarding and developing talent.”

Mr Jaramillo said that when the restructuring is complete, the number of staff positions at the Secretariat will be reduced by 7% (by 49 positions from the present 667). Mr Jaramillo said that a large majority of the staff at the Secretariat will be focused on grant management. For what the Global Fund terms “high-impact countries,” the average number of grant management staff per country will grow from 3.1 to 4.8. The Global Fund defines “high-impact countries” as countries with large volumes of funding, a multiplicity of grants, complex operations or other challenges.

(Source: Global Fund Observer, Issue 180 of 5 April. GFO is a free service of Aidspan www.aidspan.org; to receive GFO send an email to [email protected])

                    

South Africa: Large Scale HIV Testing for ESKOM Workers

Ground breaking measures, launched in 2010 by South African President Jacob Zuma to fight HIV and AIDS through testing, treatment and support, have received a boost as more than 5000 workers of Eskom's newly built Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga took part in a week-long intensified HIV testing and counselling campaign.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi led the Health Counselling and Testing (HCT) campaign at the construction site of Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga. The five-day campaign was part of a partnership between the Department of Health and power utility Eskom. The department has partnerships with many other private sector institutions.

(Source: Targeted News Service, 27 March)

                        

Testing and Counselling in India

Despite several awareness campaigns and programmes, the message of HIV testing and counselling has failed to penetrate the masses, revealed a recent survey done by the Maharashtra District AIDS Control Society (MDACS). According to the results of the survey, while 82% of the surveyed persons were aware of HIV testing, 75% of these people were not aware of the Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres (ICTC) in the city of Mumbai.

The survey had a sample size of 450 individuals and was divided into four groups: general population, pregnant women, truckers and migrant workers, and the high risk groups of female sex workers and men having sex with men. In an attempt to draw more people for HIV counselling, MDACS will now revamp the 100 odd ICTCs in the city.

Integrated HIV counselling and testing is important in prevention and control of HIV as well as in the early diagnosis and subsequent care and support for the patient. Interestingly, the MDACS survey said that the high risk groups were the most informed with 57% of them having knowledge about ICTC as compared to the 24% of the general population. Also, 93% of the high risk group was found to be aware of HIV testing as compared to the 82% in the general population.

(Source: Indian Express, 6 March)

                              

MTV Ignites Change in Kenya, Zambia and Trinidad & Tobago

Can a TV show across boundaries stop the spread of AIDS? The impact of an MTV show in these three countries demonstrates that the answer is “yes.” In 2010, MTV created the Ignite Campaign in partnership with UNICEF as part of MTV’s larger HIV/AIDS campaign called Staying Alive.

MTV produced TV dramas that started a dialogue around HIV and AIDS in Kenya, Zambia and Trinidad and Tobago. All dramas were locally shot, featuring actors from the target countries.

The reach and impact of the dramas was overwhelming; in Kenya alone, the campaign reached 64% of youth. Young people in all three countries who had seen the show could identify with its main issues and lessons. They talked about show with friends and said that it had an impact on their thinking and behaviour. The dramas worked because they were not simply a show; they were a reflection of daily life of thousands of teenagers.

                                    

Mozambique: Music and Comics for HIV Prevention

Drawing on the power of creative and entertaining arts, the Creative Arts for Youth HIV/AIDS Prevention is a project designed to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, as well as to inspire youth to know their HIV status. The project, which is supported by PEPFAR, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, works with the residents of Chamanculo, a suburb of Maputo with an estimated population of 800,000.

Poverty, gender inequality, high crime and violence and alcohol abuse all combine to encourage risky behaviour among youth. Although most of the youth in this urban area are aware of HIV and protection methods, changing attitudes and behaviour is still a challenge. The project provides new ideas and behaviour modelling for young people through the interactive creation of wall comics and concerts with a local music group.

(Source: cmfd.org website)

                                        

News from Global Unions

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF – www.itfglobal.org). In its latest HIV/AIDS Update 121 of April, the ITF reports on the publication of an HIV/AIDS manual for Spanish-speaking affiliates; on awareness session for young workers by the Cochin Port Staff Association (CPSA), India and on a World Bank Report entitled The Fiscal Dimension of HIV/AIDS in Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Uganda.

                                            

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNAIDS, the joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS and the ITUC, in collaboration with the ILO, will unite efforts on a number of activities to increase HIV services to workers.

                                              

Five Years Ago: From the May 2007 Issue (No. 20)

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 May 2007 HIV/AIDS e-bulletin we reported, among others, on the Ghana Health Conference at which the mining sector in Ghana and West Africa was a focus. The ICEM Global HIV/AIDS Coordinator was invited to speak at the roundtable on “Mobilizing the Mining Industry in Ghana and West Africa.” He had several opportunities to intervene and emphasise the role of organised labour in HIV/AIDS workplace programmes and co-investments projects. He urged the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, a co-sponsor of the Conference, to set targets for the conclusion of workplace agreements with union participation in all mining companies in Ghana and West Africa by the end of 2007; to start massive VCT – Know Your Status Campaigns; to provide anti-retroviral treatment and to form public/private partnerships to bring HIV/AIDS services, including ART, to the wider community around mining sites.