NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS PCB » Search Results » 10

KENYA: Kicking HIV out of Nairobi’s slums

IRIN Plusnews Service — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:44:18 +0000

NAIROBI, 8 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – On a dusty football field in Mathare, one of the largest slums in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, young boys chase a rough, home-made ball. Their coach, Elias Mwangi, 21, a former drug addict, hopes football will not only keep the boys away from crime but motivate them to avoid behaviours that put them at risk of HIV.

KENYA: Nomadic communities struggle to access PMTCT

IRIN Plusnews Service — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:47:42 +0000

SAMBURU, 7 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Nomadic Kenyan women who test positive for HIV but live in remote areas far from the nearest health facility are missing out on the opportunity to prevent their children from becoming infected with the virus.

Contribute to the roll out of the Agenda for Accelerated Country Action on Women, Girls

N. Siniora — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:01:12 +0000

The UNAIDS Agenda for Accelerated Country Action for Women, Girls, Gender Equality and HIV contains 26 strategic actions, to be adapted and implemented at the country level and driven mainly through the United Nations Joint Teams on AIDS, in close collaboration with civil society and government partners.UNAIDS and UNIFEM has now developed a draft strategy and a roadmap for the implementation and is available for YOUR input.

Please send comments to Juliana Davids at davidsj@worldaidscampaign.org. Click here to download the draft document for your input.

SOUTH AFRICA: Survivor’s guide for non-striking health workers

IRIN Plusnews Service — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:04:14 +0000

JOHANNESBURG, 2 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Public sector strikes in South Africa have become so common in recent years that people are asking if plans should not be put in place to prevent the disruption of HIV and tuberculosis [TB] treatment, and prepare health workers.

GLOBAL: New two-hour TB test

IRIN Plusnews Service — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:14:39 +0000

JOHANNESBURG, 3 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – A new, accurate, easy-to-use test can diagnose tuberculosis (TB) – including drug-resistant strains of the disease – in less than two hours. It has the potential to save thousands of lives in developing countries, where current tests are often unreliable, take weeks to process, or are simply unavailable.

SOUTH AFRICA: Strike sends XDR-TB patients home

IRIN Plusnews Service — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 00:57:37 +0000

DURBAN, 3 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Striking public health workers in South Africa have virtually shut down King George V Hospital, a referral facility in the port city of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province, which specializes in caring for and isolating patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extremely drug-resistant (XDR)-TB.

SWAZILAND: Task-shifting could improve HIV treatment and prevention

IRIN Plusnews Service — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 00:12:46 +0000

MANZINI, 3 September 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Swaziland has yet to act on a 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to alleviate health worker shortages through task-shifting and according to the Ministry of Health, the failure to do so is compromising scale-up of the antiretroviral (ARV) programme.

UGANDA: New strains of HIV spreading in fishing communities*

IRIN Plusnews Service — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:34:11 +0000

ENTEBBE, 31 August 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – A study of HIV-positive people in fishing communities on the shores of Lake Victoria in central Uganda has found that more than a quarter have “recombinant” viruses that might threaten both treatment and prevention efforts.

KENYA: Camel clinics bring condoms to nomads

IRIN Plusnews Service — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:15:53 +0000

SAMBURU, 31 August 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – In the remote and rural district of Samburu, northern Kenya, where paved roads are scarce and motorised transport hard to come by, reaching the mostly pastoralist and nomadic inhabitants with HIV/AIDS services requires an unusual approach.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: More sterilizations of HIV-positive women uncovered

IRIN Plusnews Service — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:16:24 +0000

JOHANNESBURG, 30 August 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Veronica* did not realize she had been sterilized while giving birth to her daughter until four years later when, after failing to conceive, she and her boyfriend consulted a doctor.

ICASO seeking UNAIDS Communications Facility Program Assistant

N. Siniora — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:55:50 +0000

BUILD YOUR EXPERIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE AND DEVELOPMENT

The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) is a global network of networks of non-governmental and community-based organizations, with regional secretariats in five geographic regions and an international secretariat based in Toronto, Canada. ICASO plays a leading role in convening, consulting and communicating the issues of community-based organizations for HIV and AIDS advocacy, especially with communities most affected by the epidemic. The ICASO International Secretariat supports community members to provide their own voice in such global policy forums within the UN, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and other initiatives.

The Communications and Consultation Facility is an independent administrative secretariat for the NGO delegation to the Board of UNAIDS and works under their guidance. It will be housed at ICASO for two years beginning October 1, 2010. Its primary function is to strengthen NGO participation and support effectiveness of NGO country-level voices in the UNAIDS Board (PCB) policy dialogue. It provides the PCB NGO delegation with a base for independent support and strongly contributes to the strengthening of the communication and consultation with wider civil society, ensuring that the NGO delegation is equipped to represent civil society issues to the PCB.

The International Secretariat is currently seeking a Program Assistant for a two-year contract, based in Toronto, for the Communications and Consultation Facility of the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS Board. This position works closely with the Focal Point of the Communications Facility of the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation, who is based in Brussels, Belgium.

Read the full job description for more details including application submission.

27th PCB thematic session WG being formed

N. Siniora — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:34:13 +0000

The working group responsible for the preparation of the thematic session “Food and nutrition security and HIV: how to ensure food and nutrition security are integral parts of HIV programming” is currently being formed. The group will include representatives from the UNAIDS Secretariat, NGO Delegates, Member States and Cosponsors. More information regarding the group composition and ways in which you can feed into the development of the session will be posted to the Upcoming PCB Meeting section of the NGO Delegation website as soon as it is made available.

Read the draft background paper for more information on the content of the thematic session.

Bureau discusses the 27th PCB and the UBW Subcommittee

N. Siniora — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:31:25 +0000

On July 8, 2010 the UNAIDS Bureau met to discuss the outcomes of the 26^th PCB including the continuation of the PCB Task Force on SIE follow-up related to all aspects of Governance and the draft agenda of the 27^th PCB Meeting including the overview of the thematic segment. Evan Collins, North America NGO Delegate attended the meeting by teleconference on behalf of the NGO Delegates.

Outcomes of the 26^th PCB

The Bureau reviewed the 26^th PCB Meeting decisions related to governance, discussed the continuation of the PCB Task Force on SIE follow up and the need to be less wasteful of time during the board meetings. The PCB Subcommittee continuation was discussed and is currently being formed. The Subcommittee will meet once in November and twice in the 2011 before the June PCB. Rathi Ramanathan, Asia Pacific NGO Delegate and Rhon Reynolds, Europe NGO Delegate will be representing the NGO Delegation on the Subcommittee. The Task Force on SIE follow up will hold their first meeting in Geneva on 6-7 October, 2010.

27^th PCB Meeting

The Bureau agreed that a strong effort was needed to limit the number of items on the agenda by consolidating them. The draft agenda based on the Bureau discussions has been crafted below.

27^th PCB Meeting Draft Agenda

Follow up on the Second Independent Evaluation (SIE) of UNAIDS

- Strategic plan (including partnerships strategy and technical support strategy)
-Governance
-Report of the PCB Task Force on Governance
-Progress report on SIE implementation

Gender Sensitivity of the AIDS responses

-Progress report on UNAIDS activities (including review of Action Framework)
-Report on the implementation of the Operational Plan
-Linking Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV interventions in practice

Universal Access
Security and Humanitarian Responses (follow-up from 19th PCB)
Election of Officers
AOB

Civil society participation in the PCB will be discussed under the partnerships strategy of the strategic plan under Follow up on the SIE of UNAIDS. The report on prevention commodities will be taking place during lunch on the first day of the PCB Meeting (December 6).

The Bureau did not cover the outline of the universal access agenda item (what to include in the background document and within the agenda item) and follow up to the decisions of the 19^th PCB in reference to security and humanitarian responses. The UNAIDS Secretariat will report on both items at the next Bureau meeting.

The Bureau briefly discussed the thematic segment of the 27^th PCB Meeting, which based on a PCB decision from the 26^th PCB Meeting, will be taking place on the last day of the PCB Meeting.

The next Bureau meeting will take place on the 8^th of October. Read the Bureau Meeting report for a complete account of the meeting.

KENYA: Government changes tack on HIV prevention, treatment for drug users

IRIN Plusnews Service — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:59:27 +0000

NAIROBI, 24 August 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Intravenous drug users have been largely ignored by the government’s HIV programmes on the basis that drug-taking is illegal, but a new policy is being drafted with the aim of reducing HIV transmission among this high-risk group.

KENYA: TB patients held in police cells for defaulting on treatment

IRIN Plusnews Service — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 01:16:38 +0000

NAIROBI, 24 August 2010 (PLUSNEWS) – Kenyan government officials have defended the arrest and incarceration of two men infected with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, who failed to adhere to their treatment.