From its base in the University of the Western Cape’s School of Public Health, this year’s HIV in Context Research Symposium looks beyond biomedicine at some of the social determinants of HIV, and of responses to HIV, within and outside the health sector. The Symposium will examine the links between HIV, inequality and the dynamics and impacts of urbanisation – dynamics that play out between settings as people move permanently or temporarily to urban centres, and within the highly unequal spaces constituting South African cities. The particular experience of Cape Town as a destination and transit point on migration trajectories will be examined in relation to other cities in South Africa and beyond. Through diverse disciplinary and sectoral lenses,practitioners, researchers, policy makers and civil society activists will examine the many ways in which urbanisation, inequality and HIV interact and affect people’s lives.
Jobs and Announcements
The short course "Health for All through Primary Health Care" by Henry Perry of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health begins on 23 January 2013 and runs for five weeks. It will involve four hours of student work per week – one hour of lecture, one hour of course readings, and two additional hours of work. A statement of completion will be provided for those who successfully complete the assignments. This course is time-limited in the sense that the work must be completed weekly according to the time schedule for the course, and it will not be available to take except for the period between January 23rd and February 26th. However, it is free and open to anyone with internet access. Almost 14,000 people are currently enrolled.
Are you a clinician, researcher or other professional in the field of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) or HIV looking to improve your research skills? Are you currently conducting or planning to conduct SRH or HIV research in the near future and wanting to learn more about research methodology? The Research Methods Course in Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV and Gender-Based Violence offers an opportunity to strengthen your research skills and your contribution to increased capacity for SRH and HIV research on the African continent. At the end of this intensive three-week course will you should be able to: initiate and participate in qualitative and quantitative research; critically appraise research findings; understand the major SRH/HIV issues affecting the African region; and access a network of other professionals in your field for information exchange and research collaboration. For more information on eligibility and course fees or to request an application form please contact Janine White-Jacobs at the email address given.
The Sixth South African AIDS Conference will be held in Durban from 18-21 June 2013. The conference theme is "Building on our successes: Integrating responses". As South Africa enters the fourth decade of HIV and AIDS, the conference aims to look back at lessons learnt and reflect, celebrate the gains made, and find ways to build on past successes by integrating HIV with other health responses. The conference will bring together various members of the HIV research community, including clinicians, academics, civil society and government.
The World Health Organisation’s Workforce Alliance convened the First and the Second Global Forums on Human Resources for Health, in 2008 in Uganda, and 2011 in Thailand respectively. The Global Forums brought together key experts, fellow champions as well as frontline health workers around the common goal of improving the human resources for health to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals. Both Forums concluded with the adoption from committed participants of ambitious agendas suitable to translate political will, leadership and partnership into sustainable and effective actions. The Third Global Forum will be held in Recife, Brazil, from 10–13 November 2013.
All interested parties are invited to submit abstracts for the Ninth World Congress on Health Economics: "Celebrating Health Economics". Individual abstracts should not exceed 500 words. All accepted presenters are expected to register and pay by the deadlines listed on the Congress website.
At a time in which the provision and regulation of health care within national boundaries is profoundly shifting, the growing numbers of people going abroad in pursuit of health care mean that the social, political and economic significance and impacts of these flows at a range of levels cannot be ignored. This symposium provides those involved in cutting-edge empirical and conceptual studies on this issue to share their work, explore emerging research agendas and foster research collaborations. Abstracts of no more than 250 words are welcomed on topics that include but are not limited to: empirical and conceptual studies of specific medical tourisms or locations; innovative methodologies and methods for researching medical travel; national and transnational medical cultures and their impacts on medical mobilities and ‘translations’; and new and emerging agendas for transnational healthcare research. Please submit abstracts to the symposium organisers as on the website.
Are you a clinician, researcher or other professional in the field of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) or HIV looking to improve your research skills? Are you currently conducting or planning to conduct SRH or HIV research in the near future and wanting to learn more about research methodology? The Research Methods Course in Sexual and Reproductive Health, HIV and Gender-Based Violence offers an opportunity to strengthen your research skills and your contribution to increased capacity for SRH and HIV research on the African continent. At the end of this intensive three-week course will you should be able to: initiate and participate in qualitative and quantitative research; critically appraise research findings; understand the major SRH/HIV issues affecting the African region; and access a network of other professionals in your field for information exchange and research collaboration. For more information on eligibility and course fees or to request an application form please contact Janine White-Jacobs at the email address given.
The Commonwealth Foundation has announced a new grant opportunity for civil society organisations (CSOs) for projects to be implemented in Commonwealth developing countries. The Foundation’s grants programme contributes to sustainable development in the context of effective, responsive and accountable governance with civil society participation. There are two types of grants: Commonwealth Theme Grants and Participatory Governance Grants. Commonwealth Themes grants will open for applications in 2013 while the Participatory Governance Grants can now be applied for. Grants will be given to selected organisations for a period of three years amounting up to £30,000 per year. The objectives of the grant programme are to: deliver an efficient and effective programme which is responsive to the development needs of CSOs across the Commonwealth; complement the effectiveness of the Foundation’s projects by providing grants to CSOs beyond those supported through the projects; and generate knowledge and understanding of participatory governance and its benefits in promoting effective, responsive and accountable governance within the Commonwealth by supporting models of good practice.
The Malawi Country Training on Resource Mobilisation, Project Planning and Proposal Writing is part of a series of workshops designed to help strengthen the resource base of non-profit organisations in the region. The training is intended to equip participants with skills in resource mobilisation, business planning and proposal writing in order to promote their activities, services and benefits. The training seeks to build and enhance the capacity of participants to actively mobilise resources in order to meet the increasing challenges facing them and their institutions. It will help participants to gain an understanding of resource mobilisation principles and practices. Participants will learn the time-tested principles that govern the resource mobilisation process and fundamentals that lead to resource mobilisation success. For more information, contact Dr John Chikati at the email address given.