The Lancet has issued a call for papers on sexual and reproductive health. "The last International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994 marked the beginning of a new era for sexual and reproductive health. There was widespread acceptance of a broad definition of sexual and reproductive health that extended beyond the absence of disease and recognised the rights of women and men of all ages to enjoy a healthy sex life and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to reproduce. Although there has been some progress since 1994 - a gradual integration of services for family planning and those for the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and the recognition of the need for information and services for adolescents, for example - sexual and reproductive ill-health still accounts for almost 20% of the burden of ill-health for women and 14% for men."
Jobs and Announcements
The International Society for Equity in Health, ISEqH, welcomes those interested in promoting equity in health to share experience and expertise at its Fourth International Conference in Adelaide, Australia. The overarching theme for the ISEQH's Fourth International Conference, Creating Healthy Societies through Inclusion and Equity, reflects the central role of social, political, and economic determinants in creating health.
The Centre for Human Rights Studies in the Faculty of Law, University of the Free State, South Africa, invites applications for admission to study for a Masters Degree (LLM) in Human Rights specialising in Reproductive and Sexual Rights. The LLM in Human Rights specialising in Reproductive and Sexual Rights is the first of its kind on the African continent. The LLM was launched in 2005. It is an international programme that is aimed at equipping committed lawyers from the African continent with academic and practical skills for securing the realisation of reproductive and sexual rights at a domestic as well as an international level. The LLM programme is financially supported by the Ford Foundation.
CHP is a publication of the People's Health Movement, South Africa (South Africa). It is produced with the aim of offering an alternative, "peoples health" perspective and stimulating debate on critical issues related to health and health care in South Africa and elsewhere. CHP is produced once a month and distributed electronically with a distribution list of around 500 people. It is also distributed to a number of email lists. The distribution list consist of professionals interested in health care issues, staff in NGO's, trade union membership, media, government officials, activists.
The Collaborative Fund for HIV/AIDS Treatment Preparedness in Southern Africa calls for submissions from organisations seeking funding for community-based HIV treatments advocacy and education programs. Grants will be allocated to successful applications for a period of up to one year to a maximum amount of 10,000 US dollars per application.
Please join the People's Health Movement and other organizations in working toward a water-secure future by signing the People's Statement on the Right to Water. Your organization's endorsement will help demonstrate support to establish access to safe, sufficient and affordable water as an international human right. It will also show the breadth of opposition to the commodification of water.
The Southern African Research Centre (SARC) at Queen's University and the Department of History and the Library at the University of South Africa (UNISA) are planning two conferences on this subject during 2006. The first will take place at SARC in Kingston, Canada on May 7-10, with a focus on 'Public Health and the Representation of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic'. The UNISA gathering at the University's Sunnyside campus in Pretoria on August 14-16 will address a related but distinct set of issues: 'HIV/AIDS in Social Context: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives'.
Together, let us build a healthy world! The Second Peoples Health Assembly will be the culmination of a process of local and national reflections, discussions and debates, and of the exchange of experiences of communities and networks the world over. National and regional conferences and workshops centered around all aspects that influence the health and well being of the marginalized will be held in preparation of PHA 2. At the same time, there will be a mobilization of campaigns to help join together organizations and groups of people around the call for Health for All Now, No to War and no to the WTO.
The World Health Organization in December 2004 urged all member countries to consider mechanisms for pooling financing for healthcare, including Social Health Insurance, in order to achieve universal coverage. The Health Economics Unit at the University of Cape Town offers a 5-day short course addressing the changing role of health insurance in low and middle income countries. The course focuses on the financial management of risk pools in diverse settings covering a broad spectrum of insurance arrangements including community-based health insurance, private voluntary insurance for the formal sector and social or national health insurance.
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research is collaborating with the Systemwide Effects of the Fund (SWEF) Research Network in a process based on a competitive Call for Proposals to support research to assess the effects of global health initiatives on the health systems in recipient countries. This collaboration aims to support research to measure the systemwide effects of global health initiatives - such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF), the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the World Bank Multi-Country AIDS Program (MAP), and others - on broader health systems in low-income countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia, and Eastern Europe.