WHO declares an end to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Brazzaville/Kinshasa, 2 July 2017 – Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of the most recent outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The announcement comes 42 days (two 21-day incubation cycles of the virus) after the last confirmed Ebola patient in the affected Bas-Uélé province tested negative for the disease for the second time. Enhanced surveillance in the country will continue, as well as strengthening of preparedness and readiness for Ebola outbreaks.

"With the end of this epidemic, DRC has once again proved to the world that we can control the very deadly Ebola virus if we respond early in a coordinated and efficient way,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Related to the outbreak, 4 people died, and 4 people survived the disease. Five of these cases were laboratory confirmed.  A total of 583 contacts were registered and closely monitored, but no known contacts developed signs or symptoms of EVD.
On 11 May 2017, WHO was notified by the Ministry of Public Health of the virus among a cluster of undiagnosed illnesses and deaths with haemorrhagic signs in Likati Health Zone. Likati is a remote, hard to reach area, which shares borders with the Central African Republic and two other provinces of DRC.  Cases of the disease were reported in four health districts.  This is DRC’s eighth outbreak of EVD since the discovery of the virus in the country in 1976. 
The effective response to this latest EVD outbreak in Africa was achieved through the timely alert by local authorities of suspect cases, immediate testing of blood samples due to strengthened national laboratory capacity, the early announcement of the outbreak by the government, rapid response activities by local and national health authorities with the robust support of international partners, and speedy access to flexible funding. Coordination support on the ground by the WHO Health Emergencies Programme was critical and an Incident Management System was set up within 24 hours of the outbreak being announced. WHO deployed more than 50 experts to work closely with government and partners.
Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, who visited DRC in May to discuss steps to control the outbreak, said the country had shown exemplary commitment in leading the response and strengthening local capacities. “Together with partners, we are committed to continuing support to the Government of DRC to strengthen the health system and improve healthcare delivery and preparedness at all levels,” she said.
Work with the government of DRC continues to ensure that survivors have access to medical care and screening for persistent virus, as well as psychosocial care, counselling and education to help them reintegrate into family and community life, reduce stigma and minimize the risk of EVD transmission.
Announcing that the outbreak of Ebola in DRC was over, Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga, the country’s Minister of Health said, “I urge that we now focus all our efforts on strengthening the health system in Bas- Uélé province, which has been stressed by the outbreak. Without strengthening the health system, effective surveillance is not possible."
WHO coordinated international technical support for the outbreak with Partners in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and the Dangerous Pathogens Laboratory Network. Other key Partners supporting the DRC government in their response included Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention;  Alliance for International Medical Action (ALIMA); European Union (EU); the government of the People’s Republic of China; the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); Médecins sans Frontières (MSF); Red Cross of the DRC; UNICEF; United States Agency for International Development (USAID); United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID); the University of Québec, Canada; and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The WFP/Logistics Cluster and UNICEF supported warehousing capacity in Buta and Likati and the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) set up a base for air operations from Buta, while the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO) helped transport response teams and urgently needed supplies to the affected zone.
FROM THE WHO WEBSITE

"Depression: let’s talk" says WHO, as depression tops list of causes of ill health

News release 

30 March 2017 | GENEVA - Depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide. According to the latest estimates from WHO, more than 300 million people are now living with depression, an increase of more than 18% between 2005 and 2015. Lack of support for people with mental disorders, coupled with a fear of stigma, prevent many from accessing the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives.
The new estimates have been released in the lead-up to World Health Day on 7 April, the high point in WHO’s year-long campaign “Depression: let’s talk”. The overall goal of the campaign is that more people with depression, everywhere in the world, both seek and get help.
Said WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan: “These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves.”
One of the first steps is to address issues around prejudice and discrimination. “The continuing stigma associated with mental illness was the reason why we decided to name our campaign Depression: let’s talk,” said Dr Shekhar Saxena, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at WHO. “For someone living with depression, talking to a person they trust is often the first step towards treatment and recovery.”

Urgent need for increased investment

Increased investment is also needed. In many countries, there is no, or very little, support available for people with mental health disorders. Even in high-income countries, nearly 50% of people with depression do not get treatment. On average, just 3% of government health budgets is invested in mental health, varying from less than 1% in low-income countries to 5% in high-income countries.
Investment in mental health makes economic sense. Every US$ 1 invested in scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety leads to a return of US$ 4 in better health and ability to work. Treatment usually involves either a talking therapy or antidepressant medication or a combination of the two. Both approaches can be provided by non-specialist health-workers, following a short course of training, and using WHO’s mhGAP Intervention Guide. More than 90 countries, of all income levels, have introduced or scaled-up programmes that provide treatment for depression and other mental disorders using this Intervention Guide.
Failure to act is costly. According to a WHO-led study, which calculated treatment costs and health outcomes in 36 low-, middle- and high-income countries for the 15 years from 2016-2030, low levels of recognition and access to care for depression and another common mental disorder, anxiety, result in a global economic loss of a trillion US dollars every year. The losses are incurred by households, employers and governments. Households lose out financially when people cannot work. Employers suffer when employees become less productive and are unable to work. Governments have to pay higher health and welfare expenditures.

Associated health risks

WHO has identified strong links between depression and other noncommunicable disorders and diseases. Depression increases the risk of substance use disorders and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease; the opposite is also true, meaning that people with these other conditions have a higher risk of depression.
Depression is also an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Said Dr Saxena: “A better understanding of depression and how it can be treated, while essential, is just the beginning. What needs to follow is sustained scale-up of mental health services accessible to everyone, even the most remote populations in the world.”
Depression is a common mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer.
In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness; and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

Cure&Cancer Forum Call for Abstracts

The International AIDS Society (IAS) invites you to submit your latest research for consideration as an oral or poster presentation at the IAS HIV Cure & Cancer Forum, to be held 22-23 July 2017 at the Institut Curie in Paris, France. The deadline for abstract submission is 2 May 2017.

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACTS The IAS HIV Cure & Cancer Forum will explore the interface and similarities between HIV cure and cancer research, and seek to benefit from the synergies between these two disciplines to accelerate the pace of discovery in HIV cure research. The meeting will be co-chaired by Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Steven Deeks and Sharon Lewin. Abstracts will be considered in the following areas: Burden of disease Epigenetics Immunology and immunotherapy Gene therapy Interferon in HIV and cancer Social and behavioural sciences Please note that abstracts for the IAS HIV Cure & Cancer Forum are submitted separately from the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2017). If you have an abstract related to HIV cure or remission research, we encourage you to submit to the main conference programme of IAS 2017. Late-breaker submissions for IAS 2017 will open from 24 April to 15 May 2017. Please click here for more information on the Towards an HIV Cure initiative and please contact the team at hivcure@iasociety.org for any additional information. We encourage you to share this message through your networks. Sincerely, The IAS Towards an HIV Cure Team Share Tweet Forward

DFC Competitive Grants Program: Improving Food and Nutrition Security in LMICs

Deadline: 1 April 2017

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UK aid from the UK government through the Department for International Development (DFID) are seeking proposals for its 2nd Drivers of Food Choice (DFC) Competitive Grants Program with an aim to improve food and nutrition security in LMIC.

The DFC competitive research grants aim to provide a deep understanding of the drivers of food choice among the poor in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Research Topics

• Development of an understanding of factors that influence food choice among consumers in lower wealth quintiles in LMIC to inform policy and practice
• Investigation of how changes to food environments and food systems influence food choice among consumers in LMIC settings.
• Evaluation of the impact of agricultural policies and interventions (e.g., home gardening, aquaculture, livestock production, cash cropping, bio-fortification, agricultural subsidies, land use policies) on food choice behaviors of different household members, especially women and children.

Grant Information

• The DFC Competitive Grants Program anticipates distributing a total of $2,152,500 in the second two-year funding round of the grants program.
• Grant requests may not exceed $300,000 for the total duration of the project.
• Grant requests should be for two-year projects.
• Two-year projects will be awarded but the second year of funding will be contingent upon satisfactory progress by the recipient during the first year.

Eligibility Criteria

• Grants can be awarded to any organization with a demonstrated interest and commitment to improving food and nutrition security in LMIC, including research organizations, non-government organizations, public (e.g., government) institutions, and private sector organizations.
• All recipients must have prior experience conducting relevant nutrition, food systems, or agricultural research, and must demonstrate prior experience in efficient and effective fiscal management. In the case of partnerships, a lead organization should be identified that meets these criteria and can submit the concept memo as the prime applicant.
• All applicants named in the proposal should be described by their roles and responsibilities, as well as the value added by their partnership.

How to Apply

Interested applicants must download the Concept memos template via given website.

Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Congo, Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic , Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro. Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

For more information, please visit DFC Competitive Grants Program.

From FundsforNGO

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM PASADA

MPH By DISTANCE LEARNING

Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) will work together with the Open University of Tanzania (OUT) in offering MPH by distance learning programme whereby OUT will provide teaching and learning facilities such as examination rooms and study centers, which are available in all regions of Tanzania. For more information about the course click here

Mwanza Research Methods Course

Highly experienced researchers from the Tanzania National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) Mwanza Centre, Mwanza Intervention Trials Unit (MITU) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) will conduct this course. For more information click here

LHL International Newsletter Christmas 2016

Hello everyone,
LHL international has just released its Newsletter Christmas 2016 Issue. You can read it here

PASADA receives support from Dar Active Cyclists (DAC)

Today (20/12/2016) PASADA has received support from Dar es Salaam Active Cyclists.
This was given by the cyclists as their contribution to neediest in our community.
The support received included 14 children bicycles which were repaired and 10 new bicycles.
The bicycles were received by PASADA's Executive Director Mr. Simon Yohana who was very grateful for the support.
The bicycles will be used by PASADA children as part of play therapy and recreation while at PASADA clinics.

Dr. Daniel Magesa giving introductory remarks before the handing over of the bicycles

 Mr. Mathias Manyanya (2nd from left) from the Dar es Salaam Active Cyclists explaining something to PASADA's Executive Director, Mr. Simon Yohana

 Some of the children bicycles which were repaired and new ones donated by the Dar es Salaam Active Cyclists

University of Oslo;The International Summer School (ISS)

For those interested click on this link

WHO issues new guidance on HIV self-testing ahead of World AIDS Day

From the WHO Website
News release
29 November 2016 | GENEVA - In advance of World AIDS Day, WHO has released new guidelines on HIV self-testing to improve access to and uptake of HIV diagnosis.
According to a new WHO progress report lack of an HIV diagnosis is a major obstacle to implementing the Organization’s recommendation that everyone with HIV should be offered antiretroviral therapy (ART).
The report reveals that more than 18 million people with HIV are currently taking ART, and a similar number is still unable to access treatment, the majority of which are unaware of their HIV positive status. Today, 40% of all people with HIV (over 14 million) remain unaware of their status. Many of these are people at higher risk of HIV infection who often find it difficult to access existing testing services.
"Millions of people with HIV are still missing out on life-saving treatment, which can also prevent HIV transmission to others," said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. "HIV self-testing should open the door for many more people to know their HIV status and find out how to get treatment and access prevention services."
HIV self-testing means people can use oral fluid or blood- finger-pricks to discover their status in a private and convenient setting. Results are ready within 20 minutes or less. Those with positive results are advised to seek confirmatory tests at health clinics. WHO recommends they receive information and links to counselling as well as rapid referral to prevention, treatment and care services.
HIV self-testing is a way to reach more people with undiagnosed HIV and represents a step forward to empower individuals, diagnose people earlier before they become sick, bring services closer to where people live, and create demand for HIV testing. This is particularly important for those people facing barriers to accessing existing services.
Between 2005 and 2015 the proportion of people with HIV learning of their status increased from 12% to 60% globally. This increase in HIV testing uptake worldwide has led to more than 80% of all people diagnosed with HIV receiving ART.

Who misses out on HIV testing?

HIV testing coverage remains low among various population groups. For example, global coverage rates for all HIV testing, prevention, and treatment are lower among men than women.
Men account for only 30% of people who have tested for HIV. As a result, men with HIV are less likely to be diagnosed and put on antiretroviral treatment and are more likely to die of HIV-related causes than women.
But some women miss out too. Adolescent girls and young women in East and Southern Africa experience infection rates up to eight times higher than among their male peers. Fewer than one in every five girls (15–19 years of age) are aware of their HIV status.
Testing also remains low among "key populations" and their partners - particularly men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people in prisons - who comprise approximately 44% of the 1.9 million new adult HIV infections that occur each year.
Up to 70 % of partners of people with HIV are also HIV positive. Many of those partners are not currently getting tested. The new WHO guidelines recommend ways to help HIV positive people notify their partners about their status, and also encourage them to get tested.
"By offering HIV self-testing, we can empower people to find out their own HIV status and also to notify their partners and encourage them to get tested as well," said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO’s Department of HIV. "This should lead to more people knowing their status and being able to act upon it. Self-testing will be particularly relevant for those people who may find it difficult to access testing in clinical settings and might prefer self-testing as their method of choice."
Self-testing has been shown to nearly double the frequency of HIV testing among men who have sex with men, and recent studies in Kenya found that male partners of pregnant women had twice the uptake of HIV testing when offered self-testing compared with standard testing.
Twenty three countries currently have national policies that support HIV self-testing. Many other countries are developing policies, but wide-scale implementation of HIV self-testing remains limited. WHO supports free distribution of HIV self-test kits and other approaches that allow self-test kits to be bought at affordable prices. WHO is also working to reduce costs further to increase access. The new guidance aims to help countries scale up implementation.
WHO is supporting three countries in southern Africa which have started large scale implementation of self-testing through the UNITAID-funded STAR project and many more countries are considering this innovative approach to reaching those who are being left behind.

For more information please contact:

Tunga Namjilsuren
WHO Department of HIV, Global Hepatitis Programme
Telephone: +41 22 791 1073
Mobile: +41 79 203 3176
Email: namjilsurent@who.int
Gregory Härtl
Coordinator, Department of Communications
Mobile: +41 79 500 6552
Telephone: +41 22 791 4458
Email: hartlg@who.int

Violence against women

From WHO Website

Intimate partner and sexual violence against women

Fact sheet
Updated November 2016

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Key facts:

• Violence against women - particularly intimate partner violence and sexual violence - are major public health problems and violations of women's human rights.
• Global estimates published by WHO indicate that about 1 in 3 (35%) women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
• Most of this violence is intimate partner violence. Worldwide, almost one third (30%) of women who have been in a relationship report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner in their lifetime.
• Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by a male intimate partner.
• Violence can negatively affect women’s physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health, and may increase vulnerability to HIV.
• Factors associated with increased risk of perpetration of violence include low education, child maltreatment or exposure to violence in the family, harmful use of alcohol, attitudes accepting of violence and gender inequality.
• Factors associated with increased risk of experiencing intimate partner and sexual violence include low education, exposure to violence between parents, abuse during childhood, attitudes accepting violence and gender inequality.
• There is evidence from high-income settings that school-based programmes may be effective in preventing relationship violence (or dating violence) among young people.
• In low-income settings, strategies to increase women’s economic and social empowerment, such as microfinance combined with gender equality training and community-based initiatives that address gender inequality and relationship skills, have shown some effectiveness in reducing intimate partner violence.
• Situations of conflict, post conflict and displacement may exacerbate existing violence, such as by intimate partners, and present additional forms of violence against women.

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Introduction

The United Nations defines violence against women as "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life."
Intimate partner violence refers to behaviour by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviours.
Sexual violence is "any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. It includes rape, defined as the physically forced or otherwise coerced penetration of the vulva or anus with a penis, other body part or object."

Scope of the problem

Population-level surveys based on reports from victims provide the most accurate estimates of the prevalence of intimate partner violence and sexual violence in non-conflict settings. The "WHO Multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence against women" (2005) in 10 mainly low- and middle-income countries found that, among women aged 15-49:

• between 15% of women in Japan and 71% of women in Ethiopia reported physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime;
• between 0.3–11.5% of women reported sexual violence by someone other than a partner since the age of 15 years;
• the first sexual experience for many women was reported as forced – 17% of women in rural Tanzania, 24% in rural Peru, and 30% in rural Bangladesh reported that their first sexual experience was forced.

A 2013 analysis conduct by WHO with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Medical Research Council, based on existing data from over 80 countries, found that worldwide, almost one third (30%) of all women who have been in a relationship have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner. The prevalence estimates range from 23.2% in high-income countries and 24.6% in the Western Pacific region to 37% in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean region, and 37.7% in the South-East Asia region. Furthermore, globally as many as 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimate partners. In addition to intimate partner violence, globally 7% of women report having been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner, although data for this is more limited.
Intimate partner and sexual violence are mostly perpetrated by men against women. Child sexual abuse affects both boys and girls. International studies reveal that approximately 20% of women and 5–10% of men report being victims of sexual violence as children. Violence among young people, including dating violence, is also a major problem.

Risk factors

Factors associated with intimate partner and sexual violence occur at individual, family, community and wider society levels. Some factors are associated with being a perpetrator of violence, some are associated with experiencing violence and some are associated with both.
Risk factors for both intimate partner and sexual violence include:

• lower levels of education (perpetration of sexual violence and experience of sexual violence);
• exposure to child maltreatment (perpetration and experience);
• witnessing family violence (perpetration and experience);
• antisocial personality disorder (perpetration);
• harmful use of alcohol (perpetration and experience);
• having multiple partners or suspected by their partners of infidelity (perpetration); and
• attitudes that are accepting of violence and gender inequality (perpetration and experience).

Factors specifically associated with intimate partner violence include:

• past history of violence;
• marital discord and dissatisfaction;
• difficulties in communicating between partners.

Factors specifically associated with sexual violence perpetration include:

• beliefs in family honour and sexual purity
• ideologies of male sexual entitlement and
• weak legal sanctions for sexual violence.

The unequal position of women relative to men and the normative use of violence to resolve conflict are strongly associated with both intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence.

Health consequences

Intimate partner and sexual violence have serious short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for survivors and for their children, and lead to high social and economic costs.

• Violence against women can have fatal outcomes like homicide or suicide.
• It can lead to injuries, with 42% of women who experience intimate partner violence reporting an injury as a consequence of this violence.
• Intimate partner violence and sexual violence can lead to unintended pregnancies, induced abortions, gynaecological problems, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The 2013 analysis found that women who had been physically or sexually abused were 1.5 times more likely to have a sexually transmitted infection and, in some regions, HIV, compared to women who had not experienced partner violence. They are also twice as likely to have an abortion.
• Intimate partner violence in pregnancy also increases the likelihood of miscarriage, stillbirth, pre-term delivery and low birth weight babies.
• These forms of violence can lead to depression, post-traumatic stress and other anxiety disorders, sleep difficulties, eating disorders, and suicide attempts. The same study found that women who have experienced intimate partner violence were almost twice as likely to experience depression and problem drinking. The rate was even higher for women who had experienced non partner sexual violence.
• Health effects can also include headaches, back pain, abdominal pain, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, limited mobility and poor overall health.
• Sexual violence, particularly during childhood, can lead to increased smoking, drug and alcohol misuse, and risky sexual behaviours in later life. It is also associated with perpetration of violence (for males) and being a victim of violence (for females).

Impact on children

• Children who grow up in families where there is violence may suffer a range of behavioural and emotional disturbances. These can also be associated with perpetrating or experiencing violence later in life.
• Intimate partner violence has also been associated with higher rates of infant and child mortality and morbidity (e.g. diarrhoeal disease, malnutrition).

Social and economic costs

The social and economic costs of intimate partner and sexual violence are enormous and have ripple effects throughout society. Women may suffer isolation, inability to work, loss of wages, lack of participation in regular activities and limited ability to care for themselves and their children.

Prevention and response

There are a growing number of well-designed studies looking at the effectiveness of prevention and response programmes. More resources are needed to strengthen the prevention of and response to intimate partner and sexual violence, including primary prevention, i.e. stopping it from happening in the first place.
Regarding primary prevention, there is some evidence from high-income countries that school-based programmes to prevent violence within dating relationships have shown effectiveness. However, these have yet to be assessed for use in resource-poor settings. Several other primary prevention strategies: those that combine economic empowerment of women with gender equality training; that promote communication and relationship skills within couples and communities; that reduce access to, and harmful use of alcohol; and that change cultural gender norms, have shown some promise but need to be evaluated further.
To achieve lasting change, it is important to enact legislation and develop policies that:

• address discrimination against women;
• promote gender equality;
• support women; and
• help to move towards more peaceful cultural norms.

An appropriate response from the health sector can play an important role in the prevention of violence. Sensitization and education of health and other service providers is therefore another important strategy. To address fully the consequences of violence and the needs of victims/survivors requires a multi-sectoral response.

WHO response

WHO, in collaboration with partners, is:

• Building the evidence base on the size and nature of violence against women in different settings and supporting countries' efforts to document and measure this violence and its consequences, including improving the methods for measuring violence against women in the context of SDG monitoring. This is central to understanding the magnitude and nature of the problem at a global level and to initiating action in countries.
• Strengthening research and research capacity to assess interventions to address partner violence.
• Undertaking interventions research to test and identify effective health sector interventions to address violence against women.
• Developing technical guidance for evidence-based intimate partner and sexual violence prevention and for strengthening the health sector responses to such violence.
• Disseminating information and supporting national efforts to advance women's health and rights and the prevention of and response to violence against women.
• Supporting countries’ to strengthen the health sector response to violence against women, including the implementation of WHO tools and guidelines.
• Collaborating with international agencies and organizations to reduce and eliminate violence globally.

Global tuberculosis report 2016

From the WHO Website;

WHO report warns global actions and investments to end tuberculosis epidemic are falling far short

 

New data published by WHO in its 2016 "Global Tuberculosis Report" show that countries need to move much faster to prevent, detect, and treat tuberculosis if they are to meet global targets. The report highlights inequalities among countries in access to cost-effective diagnosis and treatment, and signals the need for bold political commitment and increased funding.

To read the full report click here.

You can also read the WHO press release here

The APOPO-PASADA Collaboration Shining

The Second Durban Declaration Access Equity Rights - Now!

PASADA attended the just ended 21st International AIDS Conference which took place in Durban, South Africa from the 18th to 22nd of July 2016. The meeting Released the 2nd Durban Declaration as shown below;

The Second Durban Declaration Access Equity Rights - Now! There has been remarkable progress in our response to AIDS since the global HIV community last convened in Durban in 2000. Curbing the spread of HIV was the first step . Accelerating investment and action on robust human rights and social justice agenda is the next. Despite significant scientific advancements, we continue to encounter structural barriers that impede real world progress. Realizing the promise of scientific achievement requires a greater commitment to removing barriers between discovery and implementation. The 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016) must bring these pieces together – the key scientific advances needed to end the epidemic and the key structural barriers impeding progress – and secure greater political commitment including financial resources to get the job done.
Focusing on the five key scientific advances Ensure access to antiretroviral therapy for all people living with HIV The benefits of early and sustained antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the health of people living with HIV and treatment as prevention in the overall population are undeniable and broadly recognized. We must ensure that on diagnosis ART access for all people living with HIV becomes a reality despite resource constraints.   Scale up modern combination HIV prevention packages Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and voluntary medical male circumcision are major breakthroughs in HIV prevention science. They should complement the benefits of universal ART and must remain a priority. Long-acting and more convenient prevention methods such as injectable PrEP should be further developed to become an integral part of today’s combination HIV prevention package.   Treat and manage co-infections and co-morbidities Morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV is increasingly driven by co-infections and co-morbidities. A range of new technologies and drug options have been developed which now need to be fully scaled up, notably, for hepatitis C and tuberculosis HIV co-infections. Non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension are another important area of linkage requiring attention.   Amplify research efforts for a vaccine and a cure Preventive vaccine strategies and sustained HIV remission while off ART remain paramount to achieving definitive and economically-sustainable epidemic control. The recent progress in vaccine development and HIV cure research should be accelerated, driven by the necessary resources and motivation to consign AIDS to history. Optimize implementation research Implementation science should increasingly become the cornerstone for realising access, acceptability, uptake, and sustained adherence across the HIV cascade. This will include leveraging differentiated models of care and other innovative approaches to translate science into long-term, sustainable and equitable progress.		Addressing the five key structural barriers Focus on key populations within and across various HIV epidemic scenarios Key populations – men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers and people who inject drugs – are disproportionately affected by HIV and among these groups there has been a recent resurgence in HIV infections. National responses should create an enabling environment and increase their access to HIV services across the cascade – including for adolescent key populations.   Address gender inequality and empower young women and girls Socially-embedded inequalities render young women and girls – including transgender women - particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. We need a global plan for ending the epidemic among them that includes ensuring multi-sectoral policy and programmatic synergy and embraces sexual and reproductive health and rights.   Challenge laws, policies and practices that stigmatize and discriminate against people living with HIV and key populations It is long past time to amend and remove laws, policies and practices that inappropriately regulate (e.g. violation of sexual and reproductive rights), control (e.g. entry, stay and residence restrictions), punish (e.g. criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, exposure and transmission) and/or fail to protect (e.g. criminalization of homosexuality, sex work and drug use; lack of protection from violence) key populations and people living with HIV in many contexts.   Increase investment in civil society and community lead responses Civil society – as activists, advocates and service providers - has long been the backbone of the AIDS response, ensuring greater accountability and action from political leaders to address the epidemic. In many settings, these groups are under siege by restrictive laws and funding cuts. The global HIV community must stand in solidarity with civil society and reaffirm its place in the HIV response.   Enhance capacity of frontline healthcare workers Ensure that frontline healthcare workers have what they need to provide client-centred care through national roll out of quality pre- and in-service training. This should include addressing stigma and discrimination which is often considered one of the most significant barriers to accessing HIV services.
We, the undersigned, agree that the return of the conference to Durban this year will be a defining moment to establish a clear path toward guaranteeing that no one is left behind in the AIDS response. When we write the history of the epidemic, let it be that in Durban in 2016 we seized the opportunity to alter the course of this epidemic forever. Now, more than ever we must ensure Access Equity Rights – Now! For further information and signing the Declaration click here