A new book entitled “Letting them die – why HIV/AIDS intervention programmes fail”, written by social psychologist Dr Catherine Campbell, addresses the questions of why people knowingly engage in sexual behaviour that could lead to a slow and painful premature death?; and why the best-intentioned HIV-prevention programmes often have little impact? Dr Campbell is a Reader at the London School of Economics and a Research Fellow at HIVAN, (the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking, based at the University of Natal in Durban). The book's title is derived from South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys's comment that: "In the old South Africa we killed people. Now we're just letting them die."
Jobs and Announcements
Strategic Research on Governance, Equity and Health for Eastern and Southern Africa
Call for Letters of Intent: 8 July deadline
The Alliance and the Governance, Equity and Health Program Initiative of the International Development Research Centre, Canada (GEH) invite letters of intent for strategic research in governance, equity and health for Eastern and Southern Africa. Health systems in Africa face special challenges given their development situation, their epidemiological profile and the opportunities to scale up disease control programmes. It is important that the new and larger policy and programme efforts currently being implemented improve the equity and responsiveness of health systems through approaches that strengthen and integrate actions at national and local levels.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29773
ZARAN Online
ZARAN is a non-governmental organisation that was established in December 2001. ZARAN believes that successful HIV/AIDS interventions are those that protect and promote the rights of People Living With Aids (PLWA). It is therefore committed to the implementation of the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29807
11th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS
October 26-30, 2003, Kampala, Uganda
The Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the National Guidance and Empowerment Network of Uganda (NGEN+) invite HIV+ people worldwide and their allies to the 11th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS, to be held October 26-30 at the Speke Resort and Country Lodge Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda. The theme of this conference is "The Dawn of New Positive Leadership".
Further details: /newsletter/id/29760
24th African Health Sciences Congress
28 September - 2 October, 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The African Health Sciences Congress (AHSC) is a premier scientific meeting that has found a permanent place in Africa. Each year, the congress is hosted in different countries in Africa, by a National Health Research Institute in collaboration with other institutions interested in undertaking health related activities. Professional heath related bodies have also been instrumental in participation of hosting and managing the Congress. AHSC is one of the major forums on which Africans from all around the continent meet and share recent developments on health issues, disseminate and present their scientific findings, promote, encourage and coordinate research capabilities, exchange ideas, and network among members and institutions involved in heath research directly or otherwise. We are pleased to inform you that the Ethiopian Health & Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) in collaboration with national sister institutions, nationwide professional associations, governmental organisations, non-governmental organizations, UN related agencies and many significant stakeholders, established a National Organising Committee (NOC) that will take up the challenges and responsibilities of organising the 24th African Health Sciences Congress (AHSC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29740
Chilean Initiative for Equity in Health
The Chilean Initiative for Equity in Health cordially invites you to visit their renovated website, with exhaustive and diverse information on the theme of health equity not only relevant to Chile but also of general interest for those around the world.
Communicating Population and Health Research to Policymakers
17 August – 29 August, 2003, Kampala, Uganda
Population and health studies, demographic surveys, censuses, and other research findings can play a key role in guiding policy and resource-allocation decisions. Yet every year, millions of dollars are spent to produce research results that fail to reach policymakers and, consequently, are not used to shape policies and programs. To help bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers, Makerere University and the Population Reference Bureau are cosponsoring a communication workshop. Sessions will help participants identify the policy implications of survey data and research findings, understand how research can influence the policy process, and communicate findings.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29743
Email Course on Family Planning needs of HIV Clients
As of December 2002, an estimated 42 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS. Seventy percent of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death. These devastating figures, and the fact that many of these people are of childbearing age, make it clear that this epidemic requires creative interventions that help prevent the spread of HIV and programs that address both the fragile healthcare workforce and the patients who need basic reproductive healthcare services. The JHPIEGO Corporation has begun developing education and training programs in response to this epidemic and the resulting need for a healthcare workforce educated about the family planning and reproductive health needs of clients with HIV/AIDS. JHPIEGO offered a 14-week e-mail course, "Meeting the Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP/RH) Needs of Clients with HIV/AIDS in Low-Resource Settings."
Further details: /newsletter/id/29730
International Society for Equity in Health (ISEqH) 3rd International Conference
June 10, 11 and 12, 2004, Durban, South Africa
The 3rd International Conference of the International Society for Equity in Health will be hosted by the Health Systems Trust (HST), a South African-based NGO, the Southern African Regional Network on Equity in Health (EQUINET) and the Global Equity Gauge Alliance (GEGA), an international consortium of initiatives to support health equity. The meeting will bring together researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and others concerned with equity in health to develop an international health agenda for governments, universities and organisations all over the world. The 3rd International Conference theme is “Pathways to equity in health: Using research for policy and advocacy”. The Conference will explore this theme through a varied program of plenary sessions, forums, poster sessions and scientific sessions. We invite and welcome your participation in the effort towards advancement of knowledge, fostering of the exchange of experiences and promotion of equity in health.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29761
Small Grants Programme to Develop Health Policy and Systems Research
The Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research announces its 3rd call for Research for Policy Grants. The topic for this round is Health System Development and Scaling-Up Priority Services. Research proposals should aim to improve health in low and middle in-
come countries through applying quantitative and/or qualitative methods to the understanding and explanation of critical issues in the scaling-up and integration within national health systems of priority health services and disease control programmes.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29737