The emerging crisis of health manpower in Africa could defeat the efforts of governments, private health care providers, NGOs, and donors in controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This was one of the principal findings of a consultative meeting on improving collaboration amongst health professionals, government and other stakeholders on health workers issues, recently held by WHO and the World Bank in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Human Resources
HIF-net at WHO: creation and adaptation of health information for healthcare workers in developing countries
@Half time\' summary of discussions
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Moderator, HIF-net at WHO
Many thanks to all contributors on this subject so far. 22 messages have been posted from 30/1/02 to 15/2/02. Further messages are encouraged through to Friday 8 March, in time for the 'eContent for eDevelopment' workshop in Dar es salaam (11-13 March). After that time, I shall post further summaries and a report of the workshop. Here is a list of contributors and a summary of the discussion so far. All contributors to this discussion (through to Friday 8 March) will be offered a complimentary printed copy of INASP Health Links, a gateway to information for health professionals in developing countries (INASP Health Links will be published in early March 2002).
Further details: /newsletter/id/29023
Mobilizing to protect worker’s health:
The WHO Global Strategy onOccupational Health and Safety
G. Goldstein, R. Helmer, M. Fingerhut
WHO, African Newsletter on Occupational Health and Safety, Volume 11, December 2001.
Conditions at work, and especially occupational health and safety have improved substantially during the past few decades in many parts of the world. But the overall global situation remains poor. Working conditions for the majority of workers do not meet the minimum standards and guidelines set by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the World Health Organization for occupational health, safety and social protection. As an example the majority of the world’s workforce is still not served by competent occupational health services. As a result the global burden of occupational disease and injury remains unacceptably high, on a par with the burden from malaria. Yet occupational health programmes receive only a tiny fraction of the resources devoted to combating malaria.
Zimbabwe: Unemployment Rate to Reach 70%
Zimbabwe's unemployment rate is set to reach an unprecedented 70% in 2002 due to company closures, labour economists said this week. The economic analysts said that it was imminent that failure by the economic stakeholders labour, business and government in creating opportunities to stimulate industrial expansion would lead to increases in unemployment.
No longer the poor relation
the orphanhood method for measuring AIDS-related mortality
What do we know about the impact of AIDS on mortality rates in developing countries? Do existing methods of data collection provide enough information? Researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the UK Medical Research Council look into these questions.
Wising Up to the Business Implications of HIV/Aids
South African companies are missing out on lucrative returns by failing to see that money spent on HIV/Aids is an investment, rather than a cost, according to a new study into major Southern African companies.
AIDS risk cover for South African companies
According to a report in the UN's IRIN (Integrated Regional Information Network) humanitarian information unit, Capital Alliance, an insurance company, has produced South Africa's first insurance product that allows employers to take out insurance against the risk of their employees contracting HIV/AIDS.
Driving home the message
HIV prevention among African truck drivers
African truck drivers have long been implicated in the spread of HIV. They stop at towns along major routes to eat, sleep, sell goods and have sex. Intermediaries are often involved in negotiations between drivers and commercial sex workers (CSWs). Could these middlemen contribute to HIV prevention efforts?
Social Sector Reform in Transition Countries
Peter S. Heller and Christian Keller, 2001 Washington: International Monetary Fund IMF Working Paper No. 01/35
The high unemployment rates seen in many of the transition economies make it difficult for households to improve their living standards and escape from poverty, while existing labor market regimes at times appear to be obstacles to job creation. Labor laws must be examined to see whether they strike the right balance between protecting workers' rights, on the one hand, and allowing for sufficient labor market flexibility, on the other. Overly restrictive employment protection legislation might have to be liberalized, minimum wage practices reevaluated, and flexible fixed-term contracts permitted in order to increase labor market flexibility and make labor codes more appropriate for prevailing labor market conditions. The transition countries' often extensive menus of active labor market policies must be continually reassessed with respect to their cost and effectiveness.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28885
Globalization and occupational health:
a perspective from southern Africa
Rene Loewenson. Bulletin of the World Health Organization Volume 79, Number 9, September 2001
Increased world trade has generally benefited industrialized or strong economies and marginalized those that are weak. This paper examines the impact of globalization on employment trends and occupational health, drawing on examples from southern Africa. While the share of world trade to the world’s poorest countries has decreased, workers in these countries increasingly find themselves in insecure, poor-quality jobs, sometimes involving technologies which are obsolete or banned in industrialized countries. The occupational illness which results is generally less visible and not adequately recognized as a problem in low income countries. Those outside the workplace can also be affected through, for example, work related environmental pollution and poor living conditions. In order to reduce the adverse effects of global trade reforms on occupational health, stronger social protection measures must be built into production and trade activities, including improved recognition, prevention, and management of work-related ill-health. Furthermore, the success of production and trade systems should be judged on how well they satisfy both economic growth and population health.