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."
Jobs and Announcements
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.
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.
Applications are invited for an appointment as a Social Scientist to manage the evaluation of the Stepping Stones programme. This is the UNAIDS recommended best practice for community mobilisation in HIV prevention and has the long-term goal of reducing or restricting the growth of HIV prevalence in The Gambia. You will be responsible for the smooth running of the study, which includes closely supervising the Field Assistants in data collection.
The incumbent will be expected to advise the Development Attache on technical aspects of the Health and HIV/AIDS programme. The advice will involve analysis of current sector policy debates and developments, both within South Africa and beyond.
FAHAMU, in association with the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, England, is offering courses specifically designed to meet the needs of non-profit human rights and advocacy organisations in the SADC region. Developed together with international and regional experts the last two of the six available courses will begin during April 2003. Applications are now open for Action for change: advocacy and citizen participation. The course's approach to advocacy is geared to improving the lives and participation of marginalized people and forging broad alliances for reform across society.
FAHAMU, in association with the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, England, is offering courses specifically designed to meet the needs of non-profit human rights and advocacy organisations in the SADC region. Developed together with international and regional experts, the last two of the six available courses will begin during April 2003. Applications are now open for ‘Using the Internet for Research and Advocacy’. This course is designed for people and organisations grappling with how to harness the power of the internet for research and advocacy.
You wouldn’t have thought that Equinet’s last newsletter, containing the final statement of the World Social Forum held recently in Porto Allegre, Brazil, could be considered pornographic or indecent. But that’s exactly what one Internet Service Provider decided when their email blocking software prevented the newsletter from being delivered to one of our subscribers because it contained the word “sex”. Find out more about this issue and how it could impact on your access to information by clicking on the link provided.
IDRC is recruiting a Senior Program Specialist for our Social and Economic Equity Program Area, to work with IDRC's new Governance, Equity and Health program initiative (GEH - 70%) and with the Micro Impacts of Macro and Adjustment Policies program initiative (MIMAP - 30%). We are looking for a public health specialist with experience in health administration and/or health economics and/or health policy and systems research.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is recruiting experts to serve on the Technical Review Panel (TRP) to review the Third Round Proposals. The TRP plays a crucial role in reviewing proposals for funding submitted to the Global Fund. Individuals with expert technical knowledge and extensive experience in one of the following areas are sought: HIV/AIDS; Tuberculosis; Malaria; Cross cutting issues (such as institutional and governance issues, macro-economics in a health sector context, absorptive capacity).