Attention to women’s and children’s health is increasing in AU policy making, according to this report. The AU has provided a platform for leaders to debate issues of women’s and children’s health and to make commitments to their improvement. In an environment where different priorities compete for funding, women and children's health could be given greater profile by providing evidence of their contribution to overall development. Improving the health of women and children requires a cross sectoral approach and evidence on collective impact.
Values, Policies and Rights
Fifty years of Organisation of African Unity /African Union Policy-making: Opportunities to improve women’s and children’s health
Africa Coalition on Maternity, Newborn and Child Health: 2013
Inclusion of vulnerable groups in health policies: Regional policies on health priorities in Africa
Schneider M, Eide AH, Amin M, MacLachlan M and Mannan H: African Journal of Disability 2(1), 22 January 2013
Delivering health services to vulnerable populations is a significant challenge in many countries. Groups vulnerable to social, economic, and environmental challenges may not be considered or may be impacted adversely by the health policies that guide such services. In this study, the authors report on the application of EquiFrame, a policy analysis framework, to ten Namibian health policies, representing the top ten health conditions in Namibia identified by the World Health Organisation. Health policies were assessed with respect to their commitment to 21 Core Concepts of human rights and their inclusion of 12 Vulnerable Groups. Substantial variation was identified in the extent to which Core Concepts of human rights and Vulnerable Groups are explicitly mentioned and addressed in these health policies. Four health policies received an Overall Summary Ranking of High quality; three policies were scored as having Moderate quality; while three were assessed to be of Low quality. Health service provision that is equitable, universal, and accessible is instigated by policy content of the same. EquiFrame may provide a tool for health policy appraisal, revision, and development.
The plight of LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees
IRIN News: 7 May 2013
Refugees and asylum seekers face a host of challenges when crossing borders, but the obstacles are particularly pronounced for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTI) persons, according to this article. LGBTI asylum seekers and refugees face a range of threats, risks and vulnerabilities throughout the displacement cycle, said the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). In situations of upheaval or conflict, sexual and gender minorities have become targets for scapegoating or “moral cleansing” campaigns, compounding the inherent vulnerability created by unrest. Activists say that security in refugee camps is complicated and contingent on numerous, unpredictable factors, which are exacerbated for LGBTI persons. Sexual abuse is common, but often goes unreported because the right questions are not being asked, and because survivors of sexual violence are reluctant to report events that will “out” them to legal authorities. This discrimination impacts negatively on LGBTI’s ability to access basic health services for fear of exposure and discrimination.
Trouble Brewing: Africa and Alcohol Problems
Lythgoe L: ThinkAfricaPress, 14 January 2013
With over-consumption of alcohol on the rise, governments are struggling to find suitable legislation to control the marketing of alcohol. The increase in the market for branded alcohol in Africa has been attributed to demographic shifts, including the growth of the middle-class and an increase in self-dependent women. Both law and education are needed to avert the risk of alcohol related disease, injury and death, for both illegally produced local liquor and the big brands of beverage giants. Among the major concerns are the impact of prolific advertising campaigns on young people, particularly in new markets where attitudes. Unethical advertising is also a major concern, with companies suggesting alcohol consumption is a timeless part of African culture, or could lead to a better life and or even sporting achievements.
Women’s Empowerment Principles
GROW: Oxfam, 17 May 2013
While gender equality is enshrined in the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights, in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and in legislation in most countries, women’s conditions of participation in markets and their rewards from that participation, still remain woefully unequal to men’s. Many women work in temporary or informal positions and are therefore “invisible” to laws and regulations. Women also currently bear a disproportionate share of household and domestic labour performing 80% of unpaid care work. Business can’t solve all these problems alone, but corporate practice can either, aggravate and perpetuate gender inequality, or it can help lead the way to for equality among men and women. This article discusses the Women’s Empowerment Principles, which are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. The seven principles are: 1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. 2. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination. 3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers. 4. Promote education, training and professional development for women. 5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women. 6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy. 7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.
Ensuring access to essential medicines through the inclusion of the right to health in the Mauritian Constitution
Budoo A: AfricLaw, 5 March 2013
Mauritius is signatory to the 2001 Doha Declaration, which ensures that government can access generic medicines for use in the public sector and without the patent holder’s approval and is an important tool to ensure universal access to medicines. Although the state has been compliant with the Doha Declaration, the Constitution of Mauritius has no provisions for the protection of the right to health. Furthermore, the National Human Rights Commission has no specific mandate to deal with economic, social and cultural rights and there is no National Medicines Policy document. The author calls on government to give effect to the recommendation of the CESCR and bring about a constitutional amendment that will include economic, social and cultural rights in the Constitution thus making the right to health justiciable. After including the right to health in the Constitution, the government should adopt a new legislation to protect the right to health of all the citizens and enshrine access to medicines as a component of the right to health. To avoid any foreseeable problem, the use of generic medicines should be included in the act and there should be a clear demarcation between generic drugs and counterfeiting so that it does not limit the access to medicines of Mauritians.
Prevalence and correlates of being bullied among in-school adolescents in Malawi: results from the 2009 Global School-Based Health Survey
Kubwalo HW, Muula AS, Siziya S, Pasupulati S and Rudatsikira E: Malawi Medical Journal 25(1): 12-14, 2013
This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of self-reported bullying and its personal and social correlates through a secondary analysis of the 2009 Malawi School-Based Student Health Survey. A total of 2,264 in-school adolescents participated. Just under half (44.5%) reported having been bullied in the previous month to the survey (44.1% among boys versus 44.9% among girls). Compared to adolescents of age 16 years or older, those who were 12 years old or younger and those who were 14 years of age were more likely to be bullied. The other risk factors that were identified in the analysis were loneliness and being worried. Adolescents who had no close friends were 14% more likely to be reporting bullied compared to adolescents who reported having close friends. Adolescents who smoked cigarettes were more than three times more likely to reporting be bullied compared to non-smokers, while those who drank alcohol were more than twice as likely to be bullied as adolescents who did not take alcohol. Health workers caring for adolescents should be sensitised to the frequent occurrence of bullying and to its correlates and consequences.
Health and the post-2015 development agenda
Editorial: The Lancet, February 2013
What can we take forward, post-2015, from the successes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and what have we learnt from their shortcomings? In this editorial, the Lancet’s editors argue that the MDGs have led to inequities by narrowing down the goals to a limited number, notably excluding non-communicable diseases. Future directions call for building on the conceptual simplicity of the MDGs, taking a people-centred approach that captures the determinants of health and returning to the notion of health as a human right, with equity at its heart. The editors briefly analyse the United Nations Report of the Global Thematic Consultation on Health. They agree with the decision to measure health status through a hierarchy of goals, with maximisation of healthy life expectancy at the top, instead of using universal health coverage, which they argue does not address the determinants of health, is difficult to measure and compare across countries, and is only an indirect indicator of health status. Three indicators are proposed to measure progress: improved survival (including maternal and child survival), reduced burden of disease (including diseases covered by the MDGs plus non-communicable diseases), and lower levels of risk factors (eg, smoking and lack of access to sanitation).
Health in the Post‐2015 Development Agenda
People’s Health Movement (PHM): 2013
As the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals approaches, the People’s Health Movement (PHM) has produced this statement in which they set out an agenda for the political leaders who will formulate the next set of post-2015 ‘development goals’. First, development must not be construed solely as economic growth and industrialisation; it must include cultural and institutional development and include the rich world as well as low- and middle-income countries. Second, addressing the global health crisis requires that we confront the social, economic, political and environmental determination of health, recognising the negative consequences of neoliberalism. Third, reform of the global economic and political architecture must be an inclusive process. Nation states must achieve sustainable development and universal social protection before the interests of multinationals are even considered. Fourth, the post 2015 development agenda must work towards new approaches to national and global decision making, based on popular participation, direct democracy, solidarity, equity and security. Finally, sustainable and equitable development will be achieved only if people’s movements unite across sectors, cultures and national boundaries and articulate a coherent set of goals and strategies for change.
High-Level Dialogue on Health in the Post-2015 Development Agenda concludes in Botswana
UNAIDS: 6 March 2013
The High-level Global Thematic Consultation on Health brought together representatives from governments, non-governmental organisations, academic and research institutions and the private sector to debate how to advance health priorities in the post-2015 development agenda. The consultation took place in Gaborone, Botswana from 5-6 March 2013. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé encouraged participants to seize the opportunity to adopt a bold, transformative vision and goals to guide global health in the post-2015 agenda. He argued that the global community needs to completely rethink how global health will engage on issues from intellectual property to the production of essential medicines and the central role of countries and communities. He also called for stronger attention to critical social enablers such as gender equality, human rights and equity. Health goals and indicators can be used to help track progress in these cross-cutting issues, he added.