Two years ago, African leaders pledged to drop import taxes on treated mosquito nets in an attempt to reduce the continents' enormous malaria epidemic. On the second anniversary of their meeting, fewer than half have kept that promise. In a declaration made in Abuja, Nigeria on 25 April 2000, Africa's leaders pledged to reduce the cost of protecting mothers and their children from mosquitoes. Of the one million people who die from malaria in Africa each year; the majority are children and pregnant women. According to the Massive Effort, a global initiative that is mobilizing society to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, 26 countries still have not removed taxes and tariffs on treated mosquito nets. Responding to this lack of political commitment, the Massive Effort is waging a "Drop the Malaria Tax" campaign.
Jobs and Announcements
Are you an artist? Do you want your artwork to be seen in 1500 communities around the world? Do you have an image that the HIV/AIDS community can benefit from? If the answer is YES, then participate in the Candlelight Memorial Poster Contest. The Global Health Council is inviting anyone interested to participate in the Candlelight Memorial 2003 Poster Contest. We are asking individuals to submit artwork that addresses this year's theme of remembrance and renewal. The 2003 theme is "Remembering the Cause, Renewing our Commitment,Mobilizing a Global Community". We encourage you to take this contest to your communities and invite everyone to participate. It is a great way to get your community to express their ideas and thoughts about HIV/AIDS through art. All entries will be accepted until November 8, 2002 and we will announce the winner during our annual World AIDS Day event on December 1, 2002.
International organizations, like the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in association with the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the Medical Research Council UK and other parties have initiated a worldwide effort to impulse moral debate around pressing and current issues in the bioethics of biological and biomedical research. This has taken the form, among other expressions, of a series of conferences termed Global Forum on Research Bioethics. The first conference was held in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1999. The second in Bangkok, Thailand, during the year 2000 and the third in The Gambia during November 2001. PAHO will host the Fourth Global Forum in Brasilia, October 2002.
The Global Equity Gauge Alliance is looking for an Assistant Co-ordinator. The Global Equity Gauge Alliance (GEGA) focuses on fairness in health and access to health care. GEGA's 12 country-based Equity Gauge projects, located in South America, Africa, and Asia, monitor inequalities and injustices in the distribution of health and health care resources, and aim to ensure that countries and communities can use this information to make a difference to those with the poorest health and the greatest need. More information on GEGA can be found at www.gega.org.za. The GEGA Secretariat is housed within The Health Systems Trust, a Non-Government Organisation, which is a key role player in facilitating health systems research and development in South Africa.
The International Conference Poverty, Food and Health in Welfare: current issues, future perspectives, which will be held in Lisbon, July 1-4, 2003. The PFH2003 Conference will be the forum to emphasise the role of poverty on food security and health in welfare. The Scientific Programme has to face the challenge of dramatic socio-economic transformations while leading experts will analyse the burden of poverty, hunger and disease and the challenges to social policy in welfare. This Conference offers an outstanding opportunity for the discussion and dissemination of research findings, reviews and theory in all areas of common interest to researchers, health professionals, social scientist, policymakers, educators and students through plenary sessions, workshops, poster sessions and social gatherings. submission of abstracts are welcomed.
For more information about the organisation, its objectives as well as its Zimbabwe AIDS Network is pleased to announce that it is now electronically linked to the world through its new website! For members, upcoming events and publications, please go to http://www.zan.co.zw.
Request for Proposals August 2002
The Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) is a recently formed network of interested partners supported by the Global Forum for Health Research. CHNRI is actively working on methodological issues of priority setting on child health, nutrition and development research, and on a life-cycle approach to child health and nutrition research. It aims at increasing the level of communication and discussion among players working on research on child health and nutrition, such as nutritionists, child health specialists and child development specialists. It further stimulates research and supports the expansion of research into priority child health and nutrition problems on a global basis, especially in low and middle income countries. This request for proposals invites institutions, particularly in low or middle income countries, to express their interest in hosting the Secretariat for the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative for an initial period of two years, renewable by the CHNRI Board. The deadline for receipt of proposals is 30 September 2002.
Please find below a survey that has been developed to support the southern NGO representatives to the Board of the Global Fund to understand better the involvement of the civil society community in the process of accessing resources. Since its inception, the Global Fund has recognized civil society as a key partner in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Along with governments and the private sector,civil society representatives were involved in the Transitional Working Group (TWG),are on the Board, and are now integral to the Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs). As countries prepare proposals for the Second Round, we would like to learn more about civil society experiences with CCMs in the First Round and in the current Round.
The world's first non-profit pharmaceutical firm has been launched. The Institute for OneWorld Health has been set-up to develop drugs for a range of parasitic diseases, including malaria, hookworm and African sleeping sickness. It is collaborating with the WHO and other non-profit organisations, and has received nearly $4.7 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nairobi will be the venue of the Second International Youth and Students Conference on HIV/AIDS (IYSCA 2003). The Conference will bring together youth, students, researchers, and NGOs from different parts of the world to reflect on the pandemic and expand the quality and scope of youth and student-based HIV/AIDS strategies through sharing, identifying; promoting and applying best practices in short -term and long-term risk-reduction strategies and actions.