Category Archives: Women and girls

In Sierra Leone, “HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria Pose Serious Threats to Development in Africa”…President Koroma tells Counterparts

 

President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma has said that HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria pose serious threats to the socio-economic development of Africa.He made this statement on the occasion of the Special Summit of the African Union on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria in the Nigerian capital, Abuja on Monday 15th July, 2013.

The theme of the two-day summit is ‘Ownership, Accountability and Sustainability of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Response in Africa: Past, Present and the Future’.


President Koroma informed his colleague Heads of State and Government that Sierra Leone has drastically reduced HIV infections and was now aiming towards a zero tolerance plan against the malaise. Whilst acknowledging the challenges facing the fight, he however maintained, “We have shown leadership as a nation”.


The president also informed the Summit that in the fight against malaria & TB, the Government of Sierra Leone has made tremendous progress and was still making the necessary efforts to minimize the presence of these syndromes in the country.

President Koroma further used the platform to continue to appeal to donors to increase funding to enable performing governments accomplish their struggle against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in Africa.He also called on all to renew their vow and fight against these diseases so that the continent will realize sustainable socio-economic development.

He commended his Nigerian counterpart His Excellency Goodluck Jonathan and the African Union for the initiative to organize a Special Summit to implement the Abuja Call for Accelerated Action towards Universal Access to HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria treatment services in Africa.


In his opening remarks, the Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said the presence of his colleagues at the Summit signifies the importance they attach to the development of Africa. He pointed out that these diseases were crucial to the socio-economic development of the continent and still remain major causes of morbidity and mortality. President Jonathan therefore urged his colleagues to give the relevant attention needed to address these syndromes.


Commending Global Fund for being the major funding agency that continues to sustain the fight against malaria, TB and AIDS, which he dubbed a “noble mission”, President Goodluck Jonathan called on his colleagues Heads of States and Government to take ownership of the process. He also implored them to sustain their commitment, noting that the Summit was also to review their total achievements so far and make a renewed commitment towards the challenge.


The President also acknowledged other development partners for their immense support and efforts towards the fight against malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), of the World’s thirty four million people living with HIV, 23.5 million are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 21 of the Global Plan’s 22 focus countries are in Africa. Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there were about 219 million cases in 2010 and about 90% of the estimated 660,000 deaths from malaria in that year occurred in Africa. Africa also carries a large burden of the TB disease with 30% percent of the approximately 9 million new TB cases each year and 9 of the 22 most affected countries coming from Africa.


Recognizing the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria and other related infectious diseases on the socio-economic development of Africa, the Heads of State and Government of Africa adopted the 2000 and 2001 Abuja Declarations and Action Frameworks committing Africa Union Member States to take measures to halt the progression of these diseases in Africa. This high level commitment, reinforced on multiple occasions at the continental level over the past five years, marked a turning point in the continental response to the three diseases stimulating a sharp increase in resources and the scaling-up of programs to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.


Although countries have strengthened their interventions in many of the priority targets set by the Abuja Call, they still continue to face constraints due to the lack of financial, material, technical and human resources for addressing health needs. Increase access to Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) is imperative. It is against this background that the Heads of State and Government during their Twentieth Ordinary Session of the January 2013 Summit held in Addis Ababa, endorsed the offer made by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to host the Special Follow-up Summit on the Abuja 2001 Africa Union Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and other related communicable diseases in the third quarter of 2013 to address the numerous challenges that will enable Africa realize the Abuja Call objectives and the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on health.

On arrival in Abuja, Nigeria, President Koroma was received by the Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, Professor Sylvester Monye, where he was taken to CGOCC Company Limited for a brief presentation on projects undertaken by the company on hydro electricity and water supply.

 

By State House  Communications

17 July 2013

http://news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_200523238.shtml

UNAIDS lauds U.N. Women executive director Mlambo-Ngcuka appointment

The Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS welcomed the appointment on Thursday of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as executive director of the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Mlambo-Ngcuka was the first woman to hold the position of deputy president of South Africa, where she played a significant role in the country’s HIV program. Mlambo-Ngcuka was a chair of the South African National AIDS Council and took a lead in developing broader and more cohesive collaboration with civil society and international partners.

“Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka is a respected leader and brings with her a wealth of experience in promoting the human rights of women and girls,” Michel Sidibé, the executive director of UNAIDS, said. “She will be an important partner in the AIDS response as women continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. We look forward to working closely with her to improve the lives of women and girls everywhere.”

UNAIDS said that respect for women’s reproductive and sexual health and gender equality are a necessity for effectively responding to HIV. Gender inequalities make girls and women more vulnerable to HIV and keep them from accessing HIV services.

U.N. Women was created in 2011 to provide a voice at national, regional and global levels for women’s equality and rights. The entity highlights the contributions and priorities of women living with or affected by HIV, contributing to the integration of gender aspects into policies developed by AIDS councils in more than 35 countries and regional programs.

Starting in June 2012, U.N. Women became the newest of UNAIDS’ 11 co-sponsoring organizations.

By Bryan Cohen

15 July 2013

http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/medical_countermeasures/326063-unaids-lauds-u-n-women-executive-director-mlambo-ngcuka-appointment/

Women’s Rights in Africa: 18 countries are yet to ratify the Maputo Protocol!

On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), the Coalition of the campaign, Africa for Womens’ Rights : Ratify and Respect reiterates its call for the continental ratification of this progressive instrument within the African human rights system and for its effective implementation.

Adopted on July 11, 2013, to complement and strengthen the articles of the African Charter related to the protection and promotion of women’s rights, the Maputo Protocol is an important instrument of reference. Its provisions, with regard to civil and political rights, physical and psychological integrity, sexual and reproductive health, non-discrimination, economic emancipation, among others, symbolise African States’ commitments to put an end to discrimination, violence and gender stereotypes against women.

« The adoption of the Maputo Protocol was an exceptional moment, historical for the realisation of the rights of women in Africa. Today, this instrument constitutes a model, a endless source of inspiration. Provided its ratification and full implementation, it can represent a real tool of action for the lasting transformation of our societies » declared Soyata Maiga, Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on the rights of women in Africa.

36 out of 54 member States of the African Union (AU) have so far ratified the Protocol, a clear victory for those who over the years have tirelessly mobilised and worked to achieve this goal. Moreover, in many countries, legal and institutional measures, such as laws prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence (Kenya, Liberia), criminalising domestic violence (Ghana, Mozambique), prohibiting female genital mutilation (Uganda, Zimbabwe) or establishing mechanisms mandated to promote women’s rights (Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal), have accompanied these ratifications.

 

 

See the interview of Soyata Maiga, Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) on the rights of women in Africa, on the progress made and challenges remaining since the adoption of the Protocol (interview conducted on 10 July 2013)

 

Despite these notable achievements, there are still some obstacles to the full realisation of women’s rights on the continent. Eighteen (18) states [1], have still not ratified the Protocol, and in several of these countries – including Sudan, Central African Republic or Egypt, which still facing serious political crisis or situations of armed conflicts – women continue to be the main targets of violence, discrimination and stigmatisation.

For Sheila Nabachwa, FIDH Vice President and Ag. Deputy Executive Director (Programs) at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI – Uganda), «Non-State Parties should understand that, today, the trend goes on the other side. 10 years after its adoption, it is time for these States to ratify the Protocol and accept that the guarantee and protection of women’s fundamental rights can no longer suffer from political, cultural or religious considerations or pretexts ».

In State Parties, several of the rights enshrined in the Protocol, or provided within national laws, are yet to be fully implemented. In DRC, Guinea-Conakry, Mali, thousands of women victims of sexual violence continue to demand justice and compensation; in Uganda, they are still waiting for equality within the family to be recognised ; in Nigeria, they continue to fight for their right to property to become a reality. Unfortunately, most of the State Parties do not respect their obligation, under article 26 of the Protocol, to indicate, in their periodic reports submitted to the ACHPR, the measures undertaken for the full realisation of women’s rights as provided within the Maputo Protocol.

«The adoption of the Maputo Protocol by African States represented a formidable progress from a legal point of view ; its effective implementation should now symbolise the respect of the obligations they have freely consented to abide by » declared Mabassa Fall, FIDH Representative to the African Union.

On this tenth anniversary of the Maputo Protocol, the Coalition of the Campaign Africa for Women’s Rights: Ratify and Respect pays tribute to the determination and courage of the women and men who advocate tirelessly to ensure that the rights guaranteed in the Maputo Protocol are not lost. In this regard, our Coalition notes with concerns the repeated attacks in several countries against women activists, a phenomenon that must be taken seriously and to which States must respond without delay. The Coalition of the Campaign calls on all national, regional and international actors to join the considerable efforts that are made on a daily basis for the ratification and enforcement of the Maputo Protocol.
SOURCE : International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)10 July 2013

http://world.einnews.com/pr_news/158178028/women-s-rights-in-africa-18-countries-are-yet-to-ratify-the-maputo-protocol

World Population Day 2013 Raises Teen Pregnancy Awareness.

Indian mother Sonia (R) looks on as her newborn baby girl sleeps at a government hospital in Amritsar on July 11, 2013, on the occasion of World Population Day. Africa and Asia are the continents that will see the fastest urban population growth in the next 40 years, a UN report said earlier in the year noting that India and China are leading the surge. The Earth's population is expected to roughly triple by 2050 compared to a century earlier. It stood at three billion in 1950, reached seven billion.

The United Nations designates every July 11 to highlight issues related to population growth, including environmental sustainability, global development, health care and youth empowerment.

With 16 million girls under 18 giving birth and 3.2 million of these teens experiencing unsafe abortions each year, the U.N. has focused the theme of 2013’s World Population Day on teenage pregnancy, highlighting the important role that teen girls play in positively impacting future generations and underscoring the importance of providing them with adequate health care and educational resources.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon released a statement today raising awareness about the dangers and complications of unplanned teenage pregnancies.

“Complications from pregnancy and childbirth can cause grave disabilities, such as obstetric fistula, and are the leading cause of death for these vulnerable young women,” he wrote. “Adolescent girls also face high levels of illness, injury and death due to unsafe abortion.”

The Secretary-General also proposed various solutions to address core issues of the teen pregnancy epidemic.

“To address these problems, we must get girls into primary school and enable them to receive a good education through their adolescence. When a young girl is educated, she is more likely to marry later, delay childbearing until she is ready, have healthier children, and earn a higher income,” he stated.

Several nonprofits worldwide have taken to Twitter to highlight the issue of population growth and this year’s theme of teen pregnancy.

By Nader Salass

11 July 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/world-population-day-2013_n_3580276.html

ARVs for the almost healthy.

Bottles of antiretroviral drug Truvada. File photo. Image by: AFP / AFP

The Health Department wants to use antiretrovirals to treat patients with a CD4 count of 500 or more next year, as recommended by the World Health Organisation’s new guidelines.

Currently pregnant women and patients with a CD4 count (a measure of immunity) of 350 or less qualify for treatment.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told The Times: “The guidelines we are currently following are from WHO, so I see no reason why we should not adopt the new guidelines. If they come with new guidelines, ours is to follow.”

But activists and doctors say the department needs to sort out its drugs stocks first.

On Sunday, the UN organisation announced the new guidelines. It said because treatment makes HIV-positive people less infectious, giving it to more people would save millions of lives by 2020.

South Africa has 2million people on ARVs, a regime that resulted in life expectancy jumping by six years last year.

Professor Francois Venter, of the HIV Clinicians’ Society, said doctors debated giving ARVs to healthier people extensively last year.

He said that giving ARVs to a million more people would create jobs and keep people in the health system.

“Patients hate being told to come back later [to get treatment].”

But, he said, “It would have been good to sort out supply issues first.”

However, with more people on treatment for longer, there is a greater chance of people developing resistance to the drugs, as happened with TB medications.

This can result in premature deaths.

Venter said the research on starting treatment earlier has not factored in “drug interruptions that we are seeing throughout our region”.

Mluleki Zazini, general secretary of the National Association for People Living with HIV and Aids, said his organisation had raised concerns about ARV stocks.

Zazini said Motsoaledi had promised to implement a centralised hi-tech stock-monitoring system for drugs.

By SIPHO MASOMBUKA and KATHARINE CHILD

5 July 2013

http://www.timeslive.co.za/thetimes/2013/07/05/arvs-for-the-almost-healthy

Nigeria: Rising Concerns On Maternal and Child Mortality in Nigeria

Of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out in the year 2000 by the United Nations during its Millennium Sumit held at its headquarters in New York, which are to be achieved by 2015, goals 4, 5 and 6 have direct bearing on maternal and infant mortality. They are reducing child mortality rates, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

While most countries around the world are working round the clock to achieve the goals, less than two years to the target date, most Nigerians are skeptical that the country will achieve such a target by the year 2015 when more than half of the issues related with the identified goals are still being handled with laxity.

Maternal mortality, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Child mortality, on the other hand, refers to the death of infants and children under the age of five. In 2011, 6.9 million children under five reportedly died down from 7.6 million in 2010, 8.1 million in 2009 and 12.4 million in 1990. Child mortality is more prevalent in the Sub-Saharan Africa with about half of child deaths being recorded there.

In Nigeria, experts said pregnancy, labour and early childhood are well recognized as being hazardous in most communities. Every now and then, women get pregnant and are delivered of their children some of whom often die from preventable diseases.

There are growing concerns about the way women and children die daily as a result of health complications in the country. According to experts, statistics on maternal deaths in the country are so shocking and unacceptable. It is said that a nation which allows her women to die in the process of bringing forth live only exists on borrowed time.

Official figures from the National Population Commission (NPC) few years ago claimed that there were 52,000 cases of maternal deaths in Nigeria annually; that is about 142 deaths daily. It also said that for every dead woman, there are 20 cases of morbidities such as obstetric fistula, infections and disabilities.

However, a recent report by the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria claimed that 11,600 maternal deaths were recorded in three months – between January and March this year – an average of 45 women died from pregnancy complications every day within the period.

According to the society, Nigeria accounts for 10% of maternal deaths in the world, ranking the second highest after India. This was made known by the Lagos State chairman of the society, Dr Oulwarotimi Akinola.

Akinola said the major causes of high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria are haemorrhage infection, hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, obstructed labour and anaemia, saying that any efforts by the government to reduce maternal mortality rates in the country must address the root cause of delays in seeking healthcare, accessing it and receiving help at any centre.

There are however other challenges that were identified by stakeholders, which are specific to rural areas. Delivering a paper recently at an event organized by the National Council of Women Societies of Nigeria (NCWS) recently, Hajiya Khadijat Mustapha Giwa of the FCT Health Department said the problems range from lack of proximity of healthcare posts to the target people at the grassroots, non-functional health centres, unqualified healthcare personnel and illiteracy among the target groups which make them to resort to traditional birth attendants (TBAs).

President of the council, Nkechi Okemini Mba, while expressing her concern on the issue stated that, “an important yardstick for measuring the development in the health sector as a nation is the level of transformation we are able to record in the grassroots.”

Worried by the development, the NCWS President said the council was partnering Faxmail Research Unit to bring up a programme called Natal Care Partnership Initiative in order to take the campaign on maternal health to all the 774 local governments in Nigeria with a view to sensitizing the rural women on their health.

She said, “Unfortunately over the years, the safety of mother and child in the local councils has been ill-attended to, especially goals 4, 5 and 6. Nigerian mothers and children residing in the villages have been most vulnerable. This is because they were largely exposed to difficult circumstances ranking first in malaria and infant mortality rates in the world.”

She added that it was the gaps and setbacks witnessed in the past that gave birth to such partnership. “To deliver on this requires the capacity to transform the way we do things to ensure plans translate into action and action into results. This programme will set up a common platform among LGAs for uniform action in reducing and enhancing delivery of Maternal and Child Healcare (MCH) and review in line of responsibility that are often blurred.”

On his part, Ambassador Boniface Anidobu, who is the managing consultant, Faxmail Research Unit, said Natal Care is based on four components which are physical care, emotional care, healthcare and spiritual care, out of which only healthcare is provided by government, while the rest are influenced either by the environment or cultural background of the people.

The programme, he said, would target reducing maternal and child deaths scourge in Nigeria, achieving MDGs 4, 5 and 6, eradicating polio and providing a reliable database necessary for evaluating healthcare service provision, planning and research duties.

As the nation marches towards 2015, experts believe that government must take the issue of maternal and child mortality seriously by matching words with actions for it to achieve the set target.

By Musa Abdullahi Krishi

28 June 2013

http://allafrica.com/stories/201307011298.html?viewall=1

Kenya signals partnership with UNAIDS, Global Fund

The leaders of the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Kenya’s government recently met in Nairobi to discuss the fight against deadly diseases.

Mark Dybul, the executive director of the Global Fund, and Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAIDS, met with the leaders of Kenya’s new government, the Global Fund said on Monday. The leaders, other civil society organizations and their partners signed two grant agreements worth $27 million to support new programs to fight diseases like HIV and TB.

“In Kenya, and in other countries, the most effective prevention often comes by reaching those most vulnerable to infection,” Dybul said. “We can be most effective when all partners are moving in the same direction.”

The grants will be jointly implemented by Kenya’s Ministry of Finance and by the African Medical and Research Foundation. The grants will support programs to improve the treatment and diagnosis of TB, reduce diagnostic delays in vulnerable communities, provide nutritional support to TB patients and protect TB/HIV co-infected patients.

“Kenya can have a profound effect on the AIDS response if it continues to lead in a people-centered approach to health,” Sidibe said. “If all people in Kenya can access essential health services with dignity and without fear – then surely this country can tip the balance of the epidemic in Africa.”

Kenya is ranked 13th among the 22 highest burden TB countries in the world. The absolute number of notified TB cases grew 10-fold in Kenya since 1990.

The HIV epidemic is the most significant driver of the TB burden increase in Kenya.

By Paul Tinder

2 June 2013

http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/medical_countermeasures/325851-kenya-signals-partnership-with-unaids-global-fund/

 

US Supreme Court strikes down policy requiring AIDS groups to oppose prostitution in order to receive US Government funds.

Clinical Director Chuck Cloniger (R) seeing his patient, Tanesh Watson for medical counseling at St. James Infirmary in San Francisco, a medical and social service organization for current and former sex workers of all genders, on 14 June 2012 in California. Credit: UNAIDS/K.Hoshino

On 20 June 2013, the United States (US) Supreme Court struck down section 7631(f) of the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 (The Leadership Act). This provision which the Court called the “policy requirement” mandates that no funds made available under the Leadership Act may “provide assistance to any group or organization that does not have a policy explicitly opposing prostitution and sex trafficking.”

The US Supreme Court ruled in response to a challenge filed on 23 September 2005 by 5 civil society organizations against the provision and its negative impact on their efforts to address HIV.  The organizations include: Alliance for Open Society International; the Open Society Institute; Pathfinder International; the Global Health Council; and InterAction.

The US Supreme Court held that the policy requirement violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution which protects free speech. In particular, the Court held that the “policy requirement compels as a condition of federal funding the affirmation of a belief that by its nature cannot be confined with the scope of the Government program.”  The Court noted that “the First Amendment prohibits the government from telling people what they must say.”

Commenting on the decision of the Court, Purnima Mane of Pathfinder International said, “It has been a long and uphill battle, but we are very happy that the Court has spoken out in defense of our ability to engage with sex workers so we can better put in place programs that protect them and their clients from HIV.”

Respondents had claimed, among other things, that adopting a policy explicitly opposing prostitution may diminish the effectiveness of some of their HIV programs by making it more difficult to work with sex workers—a population at higher risk of HIV infection.

In its 2012 report, the Global Commission on HIV and the Law already noted that, “The pledge puts grantees in an impossible bind. If they don’t sign, they are denied the funds they need to control and combat HIV. If they sign, recipient organisations are barred from supporting sex workers in taking control of their own lives.”

Female sex workers are 13.5 times more likely to be living with HIV than other women of reproductive age in low-income and middle-income countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the highest HIV prevalence, the pooled HIV prevalence among sex workers is 36.9%.

The involvement and empowerment of sex workers with regard to HIV prevention, treatment and care services has shown to have great impact in reducing HIV infections among both female sex workers and the overall adult population. “The end of this requirement is a significant victory for sex workers and their advocates globally. Our contributions to effective HIV responses have now been recognised,” said Ruth Morgan-Thomas of the Global Network of Sex Work Project.

Given the importance of the case for the global AIDS response, the UNAIDS Secretariat participated as an amicus curiae (friend of the court). In that role, UNAIDS provided public health evidence and human rights arguments to support greater access to funding and resources for organisations engaged in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services with and for sex workers. UNAIDS main points to the Supreme Court included:  1) Sex workers are among the populations most affected by HIV; 2) engagement with sex workers is essential to an effective response to HIV; and 3) any effective response requires adequate funding for programmes designed to ensure HIV prevention, treatment, care and support for sex workers.

UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé praised the groups that were courageous enough to challenge the provision. “This shows civil society at its best – advocating for global health for all.  No group, including sex workers, should be left behind in our efforts to bring the AIDS epidemic to an end.”

US funding critical to HIV response

US leadership and generosity has been instrumental in the progress made in the global AIDS response over the last decade. Since the adoption of the Leadership Act, some 45.7 billion dollars have been made available to address HIV worldwide. The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), authorized by the Leadership Act, has been the largest health initiative ever undertaken by one country to address a global health epidemic. Thanks to US funding, access to HIV treatment has been expanded in low- and middle-income countries, and millions of lives are being saved. The decision of the US Supreme Court to strike down the policy requirement will greatly contribute to expand and improve the global AIDS response even further.

By UNAIDS

21 June 2013

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2013/june/20130621ussupremecourtdecision/

 

More people living longer with HIV in SA.

South Africa has more people living longer with HIV, which is attributed to the country’s anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programme. The National HIV Household Survey for 2012 shows about 6.4 million people in South Africa are living with HIV, or about 12.3% of the population.

These figures are up from 5.6 million or 10.3% of the population, in 2008. Over 2 million people are on ARV treatment.

Dr Khangelani Zuma of the Human Sciences Research Council presented some of the survey’s findings at the 6th South African Aids Conference in Durban.

“When we looked deeper into the results is that the prevalence of HIV has increased among people who are 25 years and above, but among those that are 15 years to 24 years HIV prevalence has gone down, which means actually fewer youth is HIV positive. But more people who are 25 and above are HIV positive which has a steady increase that could be attributed to the success of ARV therapy,” says Zuma.

A more worrying finding is that condom use among the youth between 15 to 24 years, and among adults aged 25 to 49 has significantly declined.

The Health Department’s Dr Yogan Pillay says they’re extending condom distribution.

“The department is currently working on condom distribution plans at district level which is far more targeted for both male and female condoms because we recognise that while we need combination prevention, condoms work,” says Pillay.

Pillay adds: ” We buy a lot of condoms, 500 male condoms are not enough but 12 million female condoms. The question is who is using it and for those that are not using it why aren’t they using it and what can we do about it. Those are critical questions that we need to answer.”

20 June 2013

By The SABC

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/fe35ca80400ec8cbb054f20b5d39e4bb/More-people-living-longer-with-HIV-in-SA-20132006

 

Uganda’s maternal death reduces – WHO report

By Cathy Mwesigwa and Anne Mugisa

Uganda’s maternal deaths have been reducing at an annual rate of 5.1% in the past 10 years, a just released World Health Organisation (WHO) report has said.

It however, pointed out that the country is still lagging behind in the reduction of maternal deaths which by 2010, stood at 310, over twice the 150 target set by the UN to be realized by 2015.

It is eighth among the African countries that are making progress in reducing maternal mortality with Rwanda leading the pack with an annual reduction of 8.7% between 2000 and 2010.

The report titled ‘Count down to 2015: maternal, newborn and child survival’ was released at the ongoing Women Deliver global conference that has attracted 5000 participants from 145 countries to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.

The participants include representatives of international Development Agencies, funding organisations, philanthropists, government representations, NGOs and Media. They are meeting to share best practices, identify opportunities and challenges to improving maternal health and universal access to reproductive health and rights.

The report is an update on the situation in by 2013 features country profiles featuring core indicators selected by the Commission on information and accountability for women and children’s health.

The count down to 2015 is a global movement of academics, governments, international agencies, professional organizations, donors and NGOs. It uses country specific data to track stimulate and support country progress towards achieving the child related development goals especially MDG 4 on reduced child mortality and 5 on improving maternal health.

It pointed out that maternal and child mortality has been dropping over the past two decades globally, but in some countries particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where fertility remains high, progress has been slower. It said that child deaths are increasingly concentrated in the first month of life. New born deaths now account for 40% or more of all child deaths in 35 of the countdown countries.

“These countries must be prioritized for collective global, regional and national action,” the report said…,” it said of maternal health. “Improving newborn survival, including reducing still births, must be a major focus of policies and programmes,” it added for the child deaths.

It said that under-nutrition coupled with infectious diseases contributed to almost half of all child deaths. Levels of stunting which is a form of growth failure resulting from chronic under-nutrition remain unacceptably high in virtually all the 75 countries.

The report also asked that nutrition must continue to be emphasized as an essential ingredient of maternal, new born and child programmes,” it said. It also called for more efforts to deal with the high fertility levels and the unmet need for family planning.

“Significant challenges remain before us. High population growth remains a looming obstacle to progress in countries where health systems are least equipped to respond to escalations in demand, and pervasive inequities must be addressed if we are to fulfill the promise of MDG 4 and 5 for millions of women and children…,” it stated.

But it said that it is a report of hope showing some successes which show that commitment, investment and coordinated action can yield concrete results. It asked others to learn from the success stories.

Uganda’s maternal mortality ratio has been reducing from 600 in 1990 to 530 in 2000 and by 2010 was at 310. In East Africa its rate of reduction is behind Rwanda’s which reduced at a rate of 8.7% between 2000 and 2010.

It was followed by Tanzania with a 4.6 decline rate, Kenya with a 2.9% decline rate and Burundi whose maternal mortality reduced at a 2.6% rate in the past decade.

3 June 2013

http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/643503-uganda-s-maternal-death-reduces-who-report.html