This conference will consider the link between and contributions of the social sciences and humanities to HIV research and action. The International Association of HIV Social Scientists, which is organising the event, argues that social science emphasises a critical, reflexive stance and willingness to confront the social, ethical, and political dimensions of scientific investigations of the HIV epidemic, which has made it instrumental in successful HIV prevention efforts such as the normalisation of condom use against sexual transmission and the introduction of safe injecting equipment for injecting drug use. Social scientific research has also provided insights into issues related to the treatment and care of people living with HIV and AIDS, and has addressed the broader social and political barriers to effective responses to HIV. Yet there have been few forums in which scholars from different social science and humanities disciplines can come together to develop connections among the various phenomena we study, and between ourselves and our biomedical, policy and community based colleagues. This conference is a forum for those keen to extend the scope of the social sciences and its capacity to trace connections between all kinds of phenomenon, notably those that contribute to the complexity and changing nature of the epidemic. Themes include: treatment as prevention, HIV and the body, social epidemiology and social networks, global politics, and responsibility and risk governance, as well as new directions for HIV and AIDS treatment.
Jobs and Announcements
This symposium will consider infectious diseases in Africa, including bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic diseases, which comprise a major cause of death, disability, and social and economic disruption for millions of people in Africa’s developing countries. This conference will aim to look at the borderless effect of infection, its impact on children and the importance of intervention. International speakers will talk about how to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases and discuss new diagnostics vaccines and drug treatments.
The Geneva Health Forum is calling for public participation to help refine the agenda for the next Geneva Health Forum in 2012. All interested parties are invited to complete their questionnaire to help determine what will be the focus of the next Forum. Participants will be asked to rank four themes and give suggestions on what must be addressed at the GHF 2012. The four themes are: urbanisation and access to health; gender and global access to health ; chronic diseases and access to services ; and empowerment and self-reliance for individuals and communities. The questionnaire should take only a minute to complete.
The Second Conference of the African Health Economics and Policy Association (AfHEA) will be held in Saly Portudal (Palm Beach), Senegal from 15-17 March 2011. The overall theme of this conference is ‘Toward universal health coverage in Africa’. Universal coverage is understood to mean providing financial protection against health care costs for all, as well as ensuring access to quality health care for all when needed.
The International Society for Equity in Health- ISEqH - will hold its 6th International Conference: Making Policy a Health Equity Building Process in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia - September 26-28, 2011. Equity is an important issue to champion for, however nobody disagrees with it because is too broad. The conferebce aims to provide more detail, to be more specific and, at the same time, offer a multi-disciplinary look. The organisers call for submissions for organised sessions by 4 March and individual abstracts by 15 April 2011. All participants are invited to submit an abstract for symposia and/or oral and/or poster presentations to abstracts@iseqh.org. It is not necessary to be a member of the International Society for Equity in Health to submit an abstract.
At the third annual HIV in Context Research Symposium, researchers, policy makers, activists and practitioners will share emerging and ongoing research at the intersections of gender, violence and HIV. Roundtables, panels and debates will address the following thematic areas: gender-based and sexual violence; gendered experiences of interpersonal, criminal, political and structural violence; gender(ed) inequalities in vulnerability; violence and HIV and barriers to effective access health, education, legal, economic interventions against gendered violence and HIV; intervention research, longitudinal research and capacity strengthening; primary health care and gender, violence and HIV; and theoretical and methodological developments in research against gendered and gender violence and HIV. The two-day Symposium will review and debate the state of the art in research, policy and practice to support ongoing and emerging research.
Is aid for trade working? This is the question that the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade will seek to address when it convenes in July 2011. The Review will evaluate progress in terms of the Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2010-2011, which was issued on 27 November 2009. The work Programme’s aim is to keep an on-going focus on aid for trade, which will generate continued impetus to resource mobilisation, mainstreaming, operationalisation and implementation of aid for trade projects. The Work Programme is complemented by Aid-for-Trade meetings, culminating in the Third Global Review of Aid for Trade. The World Trade Organisation is hosting the event.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is inviting submissions of papers describing research that addresses violence against women. WHO is particularly interested in research with a strong intervention focus, including ways to get violence against women onto different policy agendas, lessons about how to address some of the challenges policy-makers face, and innovative approaches to prevention or service provision, including community-based programmes in both conflict- and crises-affected and more stable settings. Papers may address more neglected forms of violence against women or provide evidence on the costs and cost-effectiveness of intervention responses. Descriptive research that contributes to a better understanding of the global prevalence and costs of violence, or that provides evidence about the root causes of such violence, will also be considered.
The 21st African Union Summit will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the African Union Headquarters and the Conference Centre of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNCC-ECA) from 24-31 January 2011. The theme of the Summit is ‘Towards Greater Unity and Integration through Shared Values.’ The main events are : 24-25 January 2011: 21st Session of the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC); 27-28 January 2011: 18th Session of the Executive Council; and 30-31 January 2011: 16th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.
The International Association of HIV Social Scientists is calling for abstracts for the First International HIV Social Science and Humanities Conference. Abstracts should cover any of the following themes: treatment as prevention, HIV and the body, social epidemiology and social networks, global politics, responsibility and risk governance, and new directions for HIV and AIDS treatment. The abstracts should be original contributions to any of the themes listed above and demonstrate the contribution of the social sciences or humanities to any aspect of the HIV epidemic. The conference welcomes papers, session proposals and events that are innovative in their delivery, organization, range of topics and type of public or audience. As well as traditional research papers, proposals are open for sessions and papers using ‘new media’ or other new forms of presentation.