Mayors from eastern and southern Africa who met in Harare recently have recommended that municipalities should work with ratepayers to develop participatory budgets. The concept of participatory budgeting is an annual process of democratic decision-making in which ordinary city residents and other stakeholders decide how to allocate part of a municipal budget.
Governance and participation in health
East Africa: Participatory budgeting: Way to go
The Herald (Harare), 15 March 2007
Zimbabwe CSOs against Europe's unfair trade deals
Eppmwengo, 19 April 2007
Members of civil society organizations in Zimbabwe have expressed concern that the on going negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) are complex without clear outcomes and are between two unequal parties. they have outlined in a position paper areas of concern relating to trade imbalances, agriculture, health service liberalisation and intellectual property rights. the organisations thus call for EU member states to listen to and act upon the concerns of ACP countries, and for African governments to put the needs of the people above those of the markets.
Further details: /newsletter/id/32225
Day of Action to reclaim rights, including to health care and AIDS treatment
Social Movements Indaba, 20 March 2007
Social Movements and Human Rights Organisations marched from the Library Gardens to the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein. Formed in 2002, the Social Movements Indaba (SMI) and its affiliates have been at the center of struggle for reclaiming human rights as entrenched in the constitution of the country. The SMI and other organisations affiliated took part in a nation-wide protest in support of the demands for housing, land, water, electricity, HIV treatment and health care, jobs and a positive contribution to the human rights of people suffering in neighbouring countries and around the world.
Further details: /newsletter/id/32187
Social determinants, political contexts and civil society action: a historical perspective on the Commission on Social Determinants of Health
Solar O, Irwin A: Health Promotion Journal of Australia 17: 180-15, 2006
This article evaluats opportunities for action on social determinants of health (SDH) requires a historical perspective. Plans for addressing SDH should be developed with an awareness of past similar efforts and factors that contributed to their success or failure. The study was a review of published historical literature on analysis and action on SDH, in particular from the Latin American social medicine movement. Concluding comments state that opportunities exist today for significant progress in addressing SDH through national action and global mechanisms such as the Commission on Social Determinants of Health. Historical analysis suggests that civil society participation will be crucial for the success of these efforts.
The role of the People's Health Movement in putting the social determinants of health on the global agenda
Narayan R: Health Promotion Journal of Australia 17 (3), 186-8, 2006
The People's Health Movement (PHM) is a global network of people oriented health professionals and activists, academcis and researchers, campaigners and people organizations that have actively promoted the re endorsement of the 'Health for All' principles of the Alma Ata Declaration and the importance of social determinants of health and health care. The paper outlines a series of ongoing advocacy initiatives through a PHM - WHO advocacy circle that has consistently since 2001 nudged WHO to reaffirm the Alma Ata principles and focus on the social determinants of health. This has led to an evolving dialogue with PHM and the setting up of the WHO commission on social determiants of health, in which the PHM, is actively engaged.
Unconventional gathering: The Nyeleni 2007 Forum for Food Sovereignty in Mali
Bangkokpost, 18 March 2007
The Nyeleni 2007 Forum for Food Sovereignty in Mali was not your usual global conference of diplomats and policy makers; the six-day programme initiated by and for the underprivileged worldwide was marked by a spirit of international solidarity. The shabby conditions, however, seemed a perfect fit for the theme of the Nyeleni 2007 Forum for Food Sovereignty. The six-day programme was initiated by and for the underprivileged worldwide, whose major concern may be their next meal. Among the five hundred-plus in attendance were small-scale farmers and fishermen, indigenous peoples, landless migrant workers, pastoralists, and NGOs who have been working with the rural and urban poor.
Aids, TB and malaria: Africa declares commitment
Ogbonnaya R: This Day (Lagos), 18 February 2007
Friends of the Global Fund Africa popularly referred to as Friends Africa, a new pan-African advocacy organisation, chose Kigali as the venue for the inauguration of its board and first board meeting to chart the way forward in the fight against HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria, the three diseases it claimed have been dealing a great blow to African continent. In Kigali , Friends Africa brought together some of the most committed, credible and influential voices of Africa as an indication of African leaderships' determination to lead the fight against the three diseases.
Home-based management of fever in rural Uganda: community perceptions and provider opinions
Nsabagasani X, Sabiiti JN, Källander K, Peterson S, Pariyo G, Tomson G: Malaria Journal 6:11, 26 January 2007
Uganda was the first country to scale up Home Based Management of Fever/ Malaria (HBM) in 2002. Under HBM pre-packaged unit doses with a combination Sulphadoxine/Pyrimethamin (SP) and Chloroquine (CQ) called "HOMAPAK" are administered to all febrile children by community selected voluntary drug distributors (DDs). In this study, community perceptions, health worker and drug provider opinions about the community based distribution of HOMAPAK and its effect on the use of other antimalarials were assessed.
Local Primary Health Care Committees and community-based health care workers in Mkuranga District, Tanzania: Does the public recognise and appreciate them?
Mubyazi GM, Mushi AK, Shayo E, et al: Ethno Medicine 8
A study was conducted to explore the views of villagers on the existence and functioning of local primary health-care (PHC) committees, village health workers (VHWs), skilled staff at government health facilities and their responsiveness to community health needs in Mkuranga district, Tanzania. Information was collected through separate group discussions with some members of households, local PHC committees and district health managers and semistructured interviews with individual household members, clinical and nursing staff at peripheral government facilities, and indepth interviews with officers in central and local government departments at district level. See the full report.
Hitting malaria where it hurts: Household and community responses in Africa
id21 9, August 2006
Preventing and treating malaria are now firmly on the international public health and global poverty agendas. However, despite a considerable increase in funds over recent years the malaria burden in much of sub-Saharan Africa shows little sign of decreasing. This report outlines issues on managing malaria in communities, and explores social roles. It notes that research has been largely concerned either with individual perceptions about the causes and symptoms of the disease or with the implementation of specific interventions. It fails to provide essential information on the context in which communities and households cope with their day-to-day problems, including malaria.