Good for Girls and Good for the Planet: Eco-Friendly Sanitary Towels

Posted on November 16, 2023 by admin

Africa, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Featured, Green Economy, Headlines, Health, Innovation, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations

Women’s Health

Stephany Musombi and engineers preparing the banana stems for processing at KIRDI. Credit: Wilson Odhiambo/IPS

NAIROBI, Nov 16 2023 (IPS) – ’Going Green’ seems to Dr Jacquline Kisato’s favorite catchphrase as she passionately explains her eco-friendly sanitary towel, a product she expects will help empower women and young girls while also putting money into farmers’ pockets.

Kisato is a lecturer at the Kenyatta University (KU), Fashion Design and Marketing, currently working on a project to develop affordable and eco-friendly sanitary towels while also finding a solution for sustainable packaging materials.

Kisato’s venture started out to help communities get a source of employment through the commercialization of banana stems – products that were considered useless by farmers and would usually be left to rot away on farms.

After the Kenyan government enforced a ban on the use of plastic bags in 2018, there was a need to find immediate alternatives.

Plastic bags were a necessity for grocers and fast-food vendors, an item that made it easy for customers to carry their goods home. Despite their advantage, however, their negative impact on the environment could no longer be overlooked.

‘’I started looking at this project from an entrepreneurship point of view on how I could commercialize banana stem fibers. The government had just banned single-use plastic bags, and market vendors needed alternatives to serve their customers,’’ Kisato told IPS.

‘’Poorly disposed sanitary towels also formed part of the pollution problem since they were composed of plastic,’’ she added.

According to Kisato, however, her need to empower women and young girls through affordable sanitary towels was something that she always had in mind after noticing the struggles that school-going girls went through.

‘’While walking along the hallways one day, a student on campus stopped me and asked if I could help her with a packet of sanitary pads. This incident shocked me as for a long time, I had assumed ‘period poverty’ was only experienced amongst high school children,’’ Kisato said.

Kisato and her research team interviewed 400 high school girls from Gatundi, Kibera, and Kawangware, where they found out that more than 50 percent of the girls in these low-income areas could hardly afford sanitary pads even when at home.

This did not sit well with the don as she felt something needed to be done about it.

It was while researching alternatives to plastic bags that she realized that she could solve two problems at the same time.

Kisato, therefore, applied for the National Research Fund (NRF) in 2018 with the aim of developing eco-friendly plastic bags and sanitary towels. Her wish came through when NRF granted Kenyatta University Ksh.9 million (about US $ 61,623) in 2020, with her taking the lead as the principal investigator in the project.

Her team is made up of scholars from different departments and institutions and also includes Ph.D. and master’s students, with each one of them playing a major role in seeing the project through.

‘’I lead a team of engineers from the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), whose task is to reverse engineer machines that can extract fiber from banana stems and use them to create eco-friendly packaging and sanitary towels,’’ she explained. “I also have researchers from Moi University whose work was to turn the extracted fiber into soft materials for use.”

Kisato’s aim was to produce quality sanitary towels that could compete with what was already in the market while still being eco-friendly, a fact that led her to seek the expertise of Edwin Madivoli, a chemistry lecturer at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT).

According to Kisato, the towels on the market have a component in them called hydrogel, which enables them to retain fluids for longer, and were also lined with plastic sheets to prevent any leakage. Our intention is to replicate the same but use bioplastic materials, which can degrade as opposed to the normal plastic that is being used.

From her research, Kisato also discovered that Africans, on average, wore sanitary towels for longer as compared to women and girls from developed countries and were thus at risk of getting bacterial infections. This was due to limited access and affordability in Africa.

‘’The recommended period for one to have on a sanitary pad is about three hours, which means that it should be changed at least three times a day to avoid any risk of infections. This is, however, not the case for many girls in Africa due to poverty,’’ Kisato explained to IPS.

‘’We thought adding anti-microbial properties to our product would therefore make it as good or even better than what was in the market,’’ said Kisato.

The research team also found out that there were a lot of myths surrounding menstrual flow among young girls, a fact that led to a lot of stigmatization, which made it difficult for them to understand how to use sanitary towels properly.

Some of the notable ideas that girls told each other concerning menstrual flow included:

It is a curse from God
Girls who had periods were considered dirty and impure
Their faces would become pale from losing blood

‘’These are beliefs that need to be done away with by encouraging parents and the government to speak about monthly periods with young girls openly,’’ Kisato said.

For the second phase of the project, Madivoli’s chemistry expertise came in handy, and the Research Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF) was happy to add an additional Ksh.9 million (about USD 59,000) for Kisato to continue what she had started.

‘’My role is to ensure our sanitary pads are of the same quality as what is in the market while at the same time maintaining an eco-friendly nature, which is the main agenda of this whole project,’’ Madivoli told IPS.

‘’I am tasked with the development of hydrogels, production of bioplastics, and finding a way to incorporate anti-microbial properties into our products to protect the users from possible infections,’’ he said.

JKUAT received funding of Ksh.800,000 (about US $ 5477) from the Kenya National Innovation Agency (KENIA) to further help Madivoli with this research.

“As they are left to dry up on the farms, banana stems are known to produce large amounts of methane, which is a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes to the climate change problems that we are trying to tackle, added Madivoli. ‘”Having an alternative use for the stems therefore limits the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere.’’

Madivoli said that most banana farmers usually do not know what to do with the stems once they have done their harvest, and this project gives them a way to earn some extra income as they expect to buy the stems from them at Ksh.35 per stem.

“This project will not only be environmentally friendly but will also create jobs for the people who go to cut the stems from the farms while also finding use for the biomass that the farmers thought was useless,’’ he concluded.

Once it is up and running, they expect to source banana stems from counties such as Kisii, Muranga, Embu, Meru, and parts of western Kenya.

Stephany Musombi is one of Kisato’s students specializing in textiles whose task in the project is to come up with quality packaging materials.

‘’Apart from the banana fiber, I am also experimenting with other biomass such as pineapple and seaweed,’’ Musombi told IPS. If I can find a way to make this work, the project will open up a market for seaweed and pineapple biomass.

Kisato’s project could not have picked a better time there is an international joint push for green solutions to help mitigate climate change. On September 4, 2023, Kenya also played host to the climate summit that attracted leaders from across Africa.

Kenya’s president, William Ruto, drove himself in a tiny electric car to the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), where he challenged the African leaders and innovators to find sustainable solutions to their daily activities that can help them reduce the carbon print in the continent and globally.

‘’Africa can power all energy needs with renewable resources. The continent has enough potential to be entirely self-sufficient using wind, solar, geothermal, sustainable biomass, and hydropower energy. Africa can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net zero strategies by 2050,’’ Ruto said at the summit.

Kisato expects her product to hit the market later this year, where she plans to make it more affordable for all. Her intention is to team up with startups or established companies that deal with toiletries.

‘’The cheapest sanitary packet in the market costs Ksh.140. We expect ours to go as low as Ksh.100, Kisato,’’ concluded.

Kenyatta University’s Vice Chancellor, Paul Wainaina, lauded the project, stating that it will enable the country to meet its industrial needs while conserving the environment.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Source

Smallholder Farmers Gain Least from International Climate Funding

Posted on November 14, 2023 by admin

Africa, Aid, Civil Society, Climate Action, Climate Change, Climate Change Finance, COP28, Development & Aid, Editors’ Choice, Food and Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, Food Sustainability, Global, Headlines, Human Rights, Humanitarian Emergencies, Sustainable Development Goals, TerraViva United Nations

Climate Change Finance

David Obwona at his seed rice farm in Katukatib village, Amoro district, northern Uganda. The farmer is part of a group that is now engaged in seed rice farming to climate-proof agriculture courtesy of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building Agriculture. Credit: Maina Waruru/IPS

NAIROBI, Nov 14 2023 (IPS) – Smallholder farmers from the Global South benefit from a grossly disproportionate 0.3% of international climate finance despite producing a third of the world’s food and despite holding the key to climate-proofing food systems.

The family farmers and rural communities received around USD 2 billion from both public and private international climate funds out of the USD 8.4 billion that went to the agriculture sector in 2021, even as over 2.5 billion people globally depended on the farms for their livelihoods.

The USD 8.4 billion was almost half of the USD 16 billion that was availed for the energy sector and is only a fraction of the estimated USD 300-350 billion needed annually to “create more sustainable and resilient food systems,” a new report has found.

The amount was also quite different from the USD 170 billion that smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa alone would require per year, the study on global public finance for climate mitigation and adaptation conducted by Dutch climate advisory company Climate Focus has found.

The low level of climate finance for agriculture, forestry, and fishing is of concern, given the impact of climate change on food production and the extent to which food and agriculture are fueling the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Agricultural productivity has declined by 21 percent due to climate change, while the food and agriculture sector as a whole is responsible for 29 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of global deforestation, the study explains.

The farmers have been sidelined by global climate funders and locked out of decision-making processes on food and climate despite being the engines of rural economic growth. This is especially so in Sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 80 percent of agriculture is by smallholder farmers and where 23 percent of regional GDP is attributable to the sector.

It reveals that 80 percent of international public climate finance spent on the agri-food sector is channeled through governments and donor country NGOs, making it hard for smallholder farmers’ organizations to access it. This is because of complex eligibility rules and application processes and a lack of information on how and where to apply.

Many family farmers also lack the infrastructure, technology, and resources to adapt to climate impacts, with serious implications for global food security and rural economies as well, it notes.

The study ‘Untapped Potential: An analysis of international public climate finance flows to sustainable agriculture and family farmers,’ published on 14 November, laments that only a fifth of international public climate finance for food and agriculture supports sustainable practice. The money mainly goes to the Global North, even as agriculture becomes the third biggest source of global emissions. and the main driver of biodiversity loss.

“Climate change is hitting harvests and driving up food prices across the globe. It has helped push 122 million people into hunger since 2019. We need to create more sustainable and resilient food systems that can feed people in a changing climate, but we can’t do this without family farmers,” the report compiled on behalf of ten farmer organizations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific says.

“Family farmers are also key to climate adaptation. They are at the forefront of the shift to more diverse, nature-friendly food systems, which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is needed to safeguard food security in a changing climate,” it further notes.

The groups are led by the World Rural Forum and include African groups—the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, Eastern and Southern Africa small-scale Farmers Forum, the Regional Platform of Farmers’ Organisations in Central Africa, and the Network of West African Farmers’ and Producers’ Organisations. Also part of the group is Northern Africa’s Maghreb and North African Farmers Union.

The Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development, the Pacific Island Farmers Organization Network, the Confederation of Family Producers’ Organizations of Greater Mercosur, and the Regional Rural Dialogue Programme are also represented in the study.

Many of the farmers are already practicing climate-resilient agriculture, including approaches such as agroecology, which implies a wider variety of crops, including traditional ones, mixing crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, while reducing agrochemical use, and building strong connections to local markets.

The study by the new alliance of farmer networks representing over 35 million smallholder producers ahead of COP28, which is set to agree on a Global Goal for Adaptation, is concerned that since 2012, overall, only 11% of international public climate finance has been targeted at agriculture, forestry, and fishing, which amounts to an average of USD 7 billion a year.

In 2021, the World Bank, Germany, the Green Climate Fund, and European Union institutions contributed around half—54 percent, amounting to USD 4 billion collectively, while Nigeria, India, and Ethiopia were the top recipients, receiving a combined USD 1.8 billion. Notably, some of the world’s most food insecure countries, including Sudan, Sierra Leone, and Zambia, each received less than USD 20 million, it discloses.

“As the climate crisis pushes the global food system ever closer to collapse, it is vital that governments recognize family farmers as powerful partners in the fight against climate change,” it warns.

Hakim Baliriane, Chair of the Eastern and Southern Africa small-scale Farmers Forum, observed: “Climate change has helped push 122 million people into hunger since 2019. Reversing this trend will not be possible if governments continue to tie the hands of millions of family farmers.”

The study defines small-scale family farms as those of less than two hectares, mainly in developing countries.

On the other hand, international climate finance broadly refers to finance channeled to “activities that have a stated objective to mitigate climate change or support adaptation. These include multilateral flows in and outside the (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, as well as bilateral flows at national and regional levels, including the Global Environment Facility, Adaptation Fund, and Green Climate Fund, and are usually disbursed as grants and concessional loans

The study finds that family farms are also the backbone of rural economies, supporting over 2.5 billion people globally who depend on family farms for their livelihoods. It says that in Sub-Saharan Africa, where up to 80 percent of farming is done by smallholder farmers, agriculture contributes 23 percent to regional Gross Domestic Product.

Family farmers are also key to climate adaptation in that they are at the forefront of the shift to more “diverse, nature-friendly food systems,” which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are critical in safeguarding food security in a changing climate.

It finds that millions of smallholder farmers are already practicing climate-resilient agriculture, including approaches such as agroecology—growing a wider variety of crops, including traditional crops, mixing crops, livestock, forestry, and fisheries, reducing agrochemicals use while building “strong connections to local markets.”

It concludes that governments must ensure that available climate finance for sustainable climate-resilient practices is increased, including that of agroecological approaches.

It explains: “This means funds to support diverse, nature-friendly approaches and to create community-based solutions that build on traditional expertise and experience.

It recommends that small-scale family farmers ought to have direct access to more climate finance and that financing mechanisms and funds should be developed with the participation of farmers’ organizations to meet their needs.

In addition, efforts should be made to ensure longer-term, flexible funding so that communities can determine their own priorities.

The role of the farmers as powerful catalysts for climate action, food system transformation, and the protection of biodiversity should be acknowledged and given a “real say” in decision-making on food and climate at the local, national, regional, and international levels. This should include decisions on land reform and agricultural subsidies.

The COP28 in Dubai later this month has food systems as a big part of the agenda.

An August report by the UK’s ActionAid has found that climate adaptation and green transition initiatives in the Global South received 20 times less financing when compared to main global emitters, fossil fuels, and intensive agriculture sectors in the last seven years.

It found that leading banking multinationals funded the emitters’ activities in the southern hemisphere to the tune of USD 3.2 trillion since 2015 when the Paris Agreement on Climate was adopted. German agrochemical giant Bayer was the biggest recipient of the financing, receiving an estimated USD 20.6 billion since 2016.

IPS UN Bureau Report

Source

The 2023 POZ 100 C–F

Posted on November 13, 2023 by emandowa

Introduction | A-B | C-F | G-M | N-Q | R-Z

Cascade AIDS Project

capnw.org

The Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) is the oldest and largest community-based provider of HIV services, education, housing and advocacy in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The nonprofit helps people living with HIV access essential medical care and secure housing and offers peer support and other free services, including health insurance navigation, HIV and STI testing and linkage to PrEP. Children living with and/or affected by HIV and AIDS can attend CAP’s Camp KC, a free weeklong overnight camp supported by numerous donors and about 50 volunteers with a background in mental health, social work or psychology. CAP’s Aging Well program is aimed at supporting long-term survivors and other adults aging with HIV. CAP recently helped write Oregon House Bill 2574, the first-ever legislation in the nation that clears barriers to emergency PEP for HIV prevention.

Center for Black Health & Equity

centerforblackhealth.org

The Center for Black Health & Equity (The Center) is a North Carolina–based nonprofit that facilitates programs and services to benefit communities and people of African descent. The Center advocates for equity-centered policies to address the social and economic injustices that have given rise to the health disparities experienced by African Americans, especially concerning tobacco control, COVID-19, HIV and AIDS, women’s health, cancer and mental health. It supports anti-stigma campaigns and programs that educate African Americans about HIV testing, treatment and living well with HIV. The Center provides consulting, training and technical assistance and connections to expert speakers for talks and keynote speeches. In September, the Center hosted its State of Black Health conference in Puerto Rico, where hundreds of community leaders and equity advocates gathered to brainstorm ways to achieve health justice and equity.

Center for HIV Law and Policy

hivlawandpolicy.org

The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) is a national resource and strategy center focused on laws and policies that are guided by racial, gender and economic justice. It works to end stigma, discrimination and violence toward people living with and affected by HIV, notably via its Positive Justice Project, a national coalition of organizations and individuals working to end HIV criminalization. CHLP teaches people about the HIV-specific statutes on the books in their state as well as how to fight for their right to privacy. CHLP also advocates for policies that guarantee comprehensive LGBTQ-affirming sexual health care for youth in government-operated and -regulated facilities.

Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus

chicagoblackgaymenscaucus.org

Founded in 2005, the Chicago Black Gay Men’s Caucus is the city’s only organization that focuses exclusively on improving the health of Black gay, bi and same-gender-loving (GBSGL) men. One of the group’s programs is The Prosperity Project, which was developed to improve representation by GBSGL men in local community planning efforts as well as their experience with health care and support services. The group hosts the Mind, Body and Soul Health and Wellness Circle, which is accessible via a mobile app and supports efforts to engage GBSGL men in a range of health-related services. Other programming includes group exercise classes, yoga, massage therapy and nutrition and cooking classes. It also hosts LoveFest, an annual edutainment festival during which attendees can access free health and wellness resources, including HIV and STI testing.

Community Health PIER

chpier.org

Founded by brother-and-sister duo Cedric and Gloria Sturdevant, Community Health PIER (Prevention, Intervention, Education & Research) is dedicated to achieving health equity in rural Mississippi communities by offering individuals numerous tools and resources to help them make better-informed health choices. Using a holistic, hands-on approach to health, the nonprofit organizes community health walks, hosts educational events and trains individuals in agriculture via community gardens. Services it offers include HIV education, prevention and rapid testing as well as breast and heart health awareness. Sadly, Gloria died this past August.

Cooperative Health HIV Program

cooperativehealthhiv.org

Based in Columbia, South Carolina, the Cooperative Health HIV Program provides the full continuum of health care services for men and women, infants, children and youth. Thanks to funding from Ryan White Parts C and D, clients receive comprehensive, compassionate and affordable health care services in a confidential family-centered setting. Services include transportation, behavioral health counseling, housing support, medical case management, access to PrEP and PEP, dental care, nutritional support, emergency financial assistance and more. As proof of its commitment to the UNAIDS’s 90-90-90 targets (90% of people know their status, 90% of those are on treatment and 90% of those are undetectable), by 2019, Cooperative Health had linked 96% of its HIV patients to care.

The Denver Principles

poz.com/pdfs/denver_principles.pdf

In 1983, a group of people living with HIV gathered at the Fifth Annual National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference in Denver and drafted a revolutionary document now known as The Denver Principles. The manifesto condemned attempts to label people living with AIDS (PLWAs) as “victims.” It outlined the rights of PLWAs as well as recommendations for health care professionals and all others. The Denver Principles demanded that PLWAs be involved in every level of decision-making regarding their health care. The principles launched the self-empowerment movement and are as relevant today as they were in the ’80s.

Eagle Pass SAFE

epsafe.org

Eagle Pass SAFE (Sexuality Advocacy for Everyone) is an LGBTQ resource center located in Eagle Pass, a town on the southwest Texas border. It’s the only organization in the rural area providing HIV prevention and LGBTQ-affirming services. Its mission is “to build visibility as a social group, build a stronger community and to celebrate diversity and gender variance.” The small-community based group offers 24/7 crisis counseling and provides a guide of LGBTQ-inclusive businesses in the area. It also sponsors the region’s annual Pride event and operates a donation center.

EDGE New Jersey

edgenj.org

The mission of EDGE (End Discrimination. Gain Equality) New Jersey is to respond compassionately and responsibly to those living with and at risk for HIV as well as members of the LGBTQ community. To that end, it provides many supportive services that not only link individuals to care but also help them stay in care. EDGE also offers an array of HIV prevention services, such as HIV and STI education and counseling, mobile HIV testing, free condom distribution and access to PEP and PrEP. Plus, Edge hosts numerous LGBTQ support groups for various age groups as well as groups for long-term survivors and those newly diagnosed with HIV.

Eisenhower HIV Program

eisenhowerhealth.org/services/hiv

The HIV Program at Eisenhower Health provides comprehensive HIV primary care and offers clinical, research and educational resources for people living with and at risk for HIV in California’s Coachella Valley. Eisenhower uses advances in HIV treatment to sustain the best possible quality of life for those in its care. Eisenhower frequently collaborates with other local nonprofits at regional events to provide HIV-related resources, educational materials and referrals. This December, the Eisenhower Health Inaugural HIV Interprofessional Symposium will provide education and training to health care professionals to better address the health care needs of people living with HIV.

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

pedaids.org

Founded in 1988 by Elizabeth Glaser and friends after Glaser’s daughter, Ariel, died of AIDS-related causes—Glaser herself died of the disease in 1994—the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has become a proven leader in the global fight to end HIV and AIDS and advocates for every child to live a full and healthy life. With its expertise in service delivery, capacity building, research and advocacy, the nonprofit is a leader in meeting the urgent needs of children with HIV in the world’s most affected regions. It has helped reduce new HIV infections in children in the United States by more than 95% and by more than half in children globally.

The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation

elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org

Hollywood legend and influential early AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor founded the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991 to provide direct care to the most vulnerable people living with AIDS. The ever-evolving nonprofit recently launched the “Stuck in the 1980s” campaign, which asks members of the community to demand that legislators revisit laws (many of them passed in the ’80s) that criminalize HIV based on outdated science and assumptions. The group’s largest share of funding supports youth HIV education and prevention efforts, especially in the South. The nonprofit also funds mental health and wellness programs for U.S. women living with HIV, the Elizabeth Taylor 50+ Network at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and mobile clinics in Malawi. Taylor’s grandchildren carry on her legacy by serving as ambassadors for the foundation.

Elton John AIDS Foundation

eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org

Launched in 1990 by the Rocket Man himself, the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) makes a massive global impact. Its annual Academy Awards viewing party alone has raised over $90 million. In 2020, EJAF contributed $15 million to HIV causes, making it the fifth largest philanthropic funder of HIV programs that year. Registered as separate U.S. and U.K. entities but operating as one organization, EJAF funds programs and collaborates with local groups to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV, notably among youth, LGBTQ people and people who use drugs. Recently, EJAF collaborated with Walmart to train specialty pharmacists, and the foundation backed PrEP4All’s fight to launch a national PrEP program.

End HIV 901

endhiv901.org

Shelby County, Tennessee, which includes Memphis, is identified as one of the priority counties in the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative. According to CDC data published in 2022, 82% of newly diagnosed individuals were linked to care within a month of their diagnosis. End HIV 901 is a collaborative effort intended to lower new HIV infection rates by 90% or more by 2030. Launched on social media in December 2020, End HIV 901 was awarded $12 million from the HHS Minority HIV/AIDS Fund. It has set up a community advisory board, which will issue grants to various local community groups focusing on four key strategies of the EHE’s A Plan for America: Diagnose, Treat, Prevent and Respond. The End HIV 901 website includes technical assistance for grant writing and a directory compiling HIV-related services and resources for other types of support throughout Shelby County.

Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S.

cdc.gov/endhiv

Launched in 2019 by President Donald Trump and coordinated by the Department of Health and Human Services, the 10-year federal initiative Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) in the U.S. aims to reduce new HIV infections by 75% by 2025 and by 90% by 2030. This would amount to fewer than 3,000 new HIV cases a year, according to the initiative, and would therefore meet the definition of ending the epidemic. The strategy is to focus federal HIV investments in the 57 key states, counties and cities that account for 50% of new HIV diagnoses. As we went to press, EHE’s future was uncertain, as Republican Congress members were threatening to defund the program.

Equitas Health

equitashealth.com

This Columbus, Ohio–based nonprofit community health care system is one of the nation’s largest organizations catering to the LGBTQ and HIV communities, providing services to tens of thousands of people in Ohio, Texas, Kentucky and West Virginia. Founded in 1984, it offers primary and specialized medical care, a pharmacy, dentistry, mental health and recovery services, HIV and STI treatment and prevention, access to PrEP and PEP, Ryan White HIV case management and advocacy and other community health initiatives. The Equitas Health Institute also offers training—online and in person—to organizations interested in creating more affirming environments for LGBTQ people. Equitas Health is the producer and primary beneficiary of AIDS Walk Ohio, which in the past eight years has raised $2 million for HIV-related services.

Fast-Track Cities

fast-trackcities.org

Using UNAIDS’s 90-90-90 initiative as a starting point, more than 300 cities and municipalities across the world participate in the Fast-Track Cities initiative. Mayors and other officials have joined four global partners (the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, UNAIDS, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the City of Paris) to get to zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS-related deaths worldwide by signing a declaration to help achieve the initiative’s 95-95-95 target. The goal is to get 95% of people living with HIV to know their status, 95% of people who know their status on antiretroviral therapy and 95% of people on antiretroviral therapy to achieve a suppressed viral load. A web portal allows cities to report on their progress.

Funders Concerned About AIDS

fcaaids.org

Since 1987, the mission of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) has been to inform, connect and support philanthropic efforts in response to the global HIV pandemic. More than 50 foundations and charities are FCAA members. The organization hosts an annual summit, monthly funder events and working groups to help ensure community-led approaches are embedded into HIV-informed funding. FCAA supports its members by helping to identify new opportunities for collaboration and is a driver of increased resources to underfunded regions, populations and interventions. The Philanthropic Support to Address HIV and AIDS is the group’s resource-tracking report; it includes data on more than 5,000 grants in order to identify gaps, trends and opportunities in HIV-related philanthropy.

Introduction | A-B | C-F | G-M | N-Q | R-Z

Source

New Robotic-Assisted Surgery Offers Inspiring Hope for Rwanda

Posted on November 13, 2023 by admin

Africa, Featured, Health, Innovation, TerraViva United Nations

Innovation

An artist’s impression of the completed Centre of Excellence in Kigali. The center supported by IRCAD is expected to assist with the training of surgeons throughout the continent with minimally invasive surgery training. Credit: Supplied

KIGALI, Nov 13 2023 (IPS) – In a newly established Centre of Excellence located in Masaka, a suburb of the Rwandan capital city, Kigali, an expanded lab, complete with innovative facilities and specialized instruments, is now giving surgeons a conducive environment to simulate how to perform minimally invasive surgeries.

French-based Institute for Research into Cancer of the Digestive System (IRCAD) played a major part in this initiative, the first ever on the African continent.

According to medical experts, in comparison to traditional open surgery, often requiring the patient to incur invasive large incisions, minimally invasive surgery procedures allow doctors to insert a camera through a small incision, or sometimes no incision at all.

Dr Alexandre Hostettler, head of the Surgical Data Science Team at IRCAD, pointed out that harnessing robotic and artificial intelligence is critical to enhance the capability of surgical treatment in Africa.

Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery denotes the surgical technique where the robot-applied laparoscopic tools are remotely controlled by a human operator at a console.

“Performing surgeries using robotic assistance can be more comfortable for surgeons, as they can sit at a console rather than standing for extended periods, reducing physical strain,” he told IPS.

The center also aims to train medical doctors from across Africa about how to perform surgery using very small incisions, allowing the introduction of an endoscope connected to a camera with a magnified image leading to a very precise dissection of the operated organs.

Prof Jacques Marescaux, President and Founder of IRCAD, is convinced that the new center represents a turning point in surgical education and practice in Rwanda and sub-Saharan Africa. “The center is a catalyst for all African surgeons and computer scientists,” he said in an exclusive interview with IPS.

At the same time, Rwanda is striving to build an integrated medical service system that provides high-quality services and is efficient in medical facility management. Rwandan President Paul Kagame believes the key task is to keep investing significantly in public health infrastructure.

“The [new] Centre of Excellence is not serving Rwanda alone. It is serving Africa. It is also improving and taking beyond the talent we have in Africa to a much higher level,” Kagame said at the inauguration of the new facility, for which operations and running costs will be fully funded by the Government of Rwanda and IRCAD France.

Some medical experts observe that despite its numerous advantages over traditional surgery, especially the shorter hospital stay and less blood loss with lower overall costs, the new robotic surgery is not widespread in low- and middle-income countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition, some researchers argue that computer-assisted navigation and robotics are sometimes challenging to use by perioperative nurses when caring for patients undergoing these procedures.

Dr Christine Mutegaraba, a surgeon from one of the private clinics in Kigali, told IPS that providing appropriate training remains critical for specialized medical practitioners to rely on these robotic surgery systems.

“Huge investment is also needed to ensure that clinics and other specialized referral hospitals are equipped with devices needed to perform these kind of surgical techniques,” Mutegaraba said.

According to the data from Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, laparoscopic was the sole type of minimally invasive surgical technique used by few medical practitioners across the country, and there wasn’t any formal training in place to develop the technical skills for additional doctors.

With the inauguration of the new center, both officials and health experts see hope in developing and advancing this technology, where specialized medical doctors will now be able to perform various kinds of surgeries.

While the introduction of innovative solutions in the health sector remains exciting for health officials, Marescaux points out that the new robotic technology is set to provide patients with high-quality medical services.

“We are working on building the largest team combined with computer scientists and surgeons in Africa,” he said.

Estimates by IRCAD show that access to surgical care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), such as countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, is still extremely limited, which causes a burden on the health care systems.

It said thanks to the center, African surgeons will not have to travel across the continent to receive the best training in surgery since it will be available right at home.

The 2022 World Health Organization’s study shows that strong measures are also needed to boost the training and recruitment of health workers in Africa.

Whereas the UN agency recommends that African countries significantly increase investments in building the health workforce to meet their current and future needs, new findings show that that the region has a ratio of 1.55 health workers (physicians, nurses, and midwives) per 1000 people.

Experts now believe that robotic technology will also lessen surgeon’s workload by efficiently managing the patient flow.

“As technology evolves, robotic systems are likely to incorporate more advanced features, integrating AI, augmented reality, and other technologies to aid the surgical process,” Hostettler said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

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Argentina: Unpalatable Choices in Election Plagued with Uncertainty

Posted on November 3, 2023 by admin

Civil Society, Economy & Trade, Featured, Financial Crisis, Gender, Gender Identity, Headlines, Latin America & the Caribbean, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

Credit: Tomás Cuesta/Getty Images

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Nov 3 2023 (IPS) – For many of Argentina’s voters the choice in the 19 November presidential runoff is between the lesser of two evils: Sergio Massa, economy minister of a government that’s presiding over a once-in-a-generation economic meltdown with a whopping 140-per cent inflation rate, or Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian who admires Donald Trump, wants to shut down the Central Bank and wields a chainsaw in public as a symbol of his willingness to slash the state. Many will rue that it ever came to this.

A peculiar outsider

A post-modern media celebrity, Milei’s performance style is a perfect fit for social media. He’s easily angered, reacts violently and insults copiously. He’s unapologetically sexist and mocks identity politics.

Milei bangs the drum for ‘anarcho-capitalism’, an ultra-individualistic ideology in which the market has absolute pre-eminence: earlier this year, he described the sale of human organs as ‘just another market’.

To expand his appeal beyond this extreme economic niche he forged an alliance with the culturally conservative right. His running mate, Victoria Villarruel, represents the backlash against abortion – legalised after decades of civil society campaigning in 2020 – and sexual diversity and gender equality policies, along with reappraisal of the murderous military dictatorship that ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1983.

In the run-up to primary elections in August, the two mainstream coalitions – the centre-left incumbent Union for the Homeland (UP) and the centre-right opposition Together for Change (JxC) – displayed a notable lack of leadership and indulged in internal squabbles that showed very little empathy for people’s daily struggles. All they had to offer in the face of widespread concerns about inflation and insecurity were the candidacies of the current minister of the economy and a former minister of security. They made it easy for Milei to hold them responsible for decades of corruption, ineffectiveness and failure.

In Milei’s discourse, the hardworking, productive majority is being bled dry by taxation to maintain the privileges of a parasitic and corrupt political ‘caste’. His proposal is deceptively simple: shrink the state to a minimum to destroy the caste that lives off it, clearing their way for individual progress.

Milei gained traction among young voters, particularly young men, via TikTok. He found fertile ground among a generation that no longer expect to be better off than their parents. While many of his followers concede that his ideas may be a little crazy, they appear to be willing to take the risk of embracing the unknown on the basis that the really crazy plan would be to allow those long in control to retain their power and expect things to turn out differently. Milei has capitalised on the despair, hopelessness and accumulated anger so many rightfully feel.

Surprise after surprise

The first surprise came on 13 August, when Milei won the most votes of any candidate in the primaries.

Milei only entered politics in 2021, when the 17 per cent vote he amassed in the capital, Buenos Aires, sent him and two other libertarians to the National Congress. In the 2023 primaries he went much further, winning 30 per cent of the vote. He placed ahead of JxC, whose two candidates received a joint 28 per cent, and UP, the current incarnation of the Peronist Party, which took 27 per cent. The bulk of the UP vote, 21 per cent, went to Massa. That Peronism, once the dominant force, came third was a historic first.

The second surprise came on 22 October. Following the primaries, all talk was of Milei winning the presidency. He trumpeted his intent to win the first round outright. Measured against these expectations, his second place looks like an underperformance. But the fact that a candidate who wasn’t on the radar before the primaries has made the runoff shows how quickly the political landscape can shift.

In the October vote Milei took almost the exact share he’d received in the primaries. Massa finished above him with almost 37 per cent, displacing JxC, which lost four points on its second-place performance in the primaries.

The fact that the economy minister was able to distance himself from the government he’s part of – one often described as the worst in 40 years – to come first was viewed as a notable victory, even though his share was just about the lowest Peronism has ever received.

One explanation for Massa’s improved performance was turnout, which increased by eight points to almost 78 per cent – still low for a country with compulsory voting, but enough to make a difference. Much of the increase could be credited to the political machinery that mobilised voters on election day, aided by the minister-candidate pulling as many levers as he could to improve his chances. This included putting lots of instant cash into voters’ pockets, including through tax breaks benefiting targeted groups of workers and consumers.

An unpalatable decision

There’s still much uncertainty ahead. Economic failure is Milei’s best propaganda, so much will depend on how the economy behaves over the next couple of weeks. Milei and the destruction he represents can’t be written off.

Neither those currently in power nor those in the mainstream opposition recognise the obvious: Milei is their fault. They’ve held power for the best part of the past 40 years without effectively tackling any of the issues that concern people the most.

Many voters now feel they face an unpalatable choice between a corrupt and failing government and a dangerous disruptor. They fear that if they choose to keep Milei out, their votes may be misinterpreted as a show of active support for a continuity they also reject. What’s at stake here is more than one election. If Milei is kept at bay, the political dynamics leading to the current economic dysfunction will still need to be addressed – or the far-right threat to democracy won’t end with Milei.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

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Hurricane Otis and the Indifference Toward the Children of Acapulco

Posted on November 2, 2023 by admin

Civil Society, Crime & Justice, Gender, Gender Violence, Headlines, Human Rights, Inequality, Labour, Latin America & the Caribbean, Poverty & SDGs, TerraViva United Nations

Opinion

ACAPULCO, Mexico, Nov 2 2023 (IPS) – Acapulco is a paradise. A port of golden sunsets, toasted sand, and deep blue sea. Its dream beaches captivated the hearts of Elvis Presley and Elizabeth Taylor. US President John F. Kennedy chose its shores to spend his honeymoon with Jackie Kennedy. Its luxury hotels and the untamed sea made it the most famous tourist destination in Mexico.

Rosi Orozco

Today, Acapulco is devastated. A Category 5 hurricane—the deadliest possible rating—called “Otis” hit the beach on October 25 with incomparable force. No one anticipated it. Hours before it made landfall, it was just an inconvenient storm. Suddenly it became a deadly cyclone. Most of the hotels are destroyed, the sea swallowed people, houses were blown away, and dozens of people are dead.

In the last century, its beauty attracted the world’s most influential celebrities. Its tranquil mornings and lively nightlife attracted actresses, singers, politicians, aristocratic musicians, and families who wanted to spend their summers by the sea. I myself spent my youth at the family timeshare apartment in Acapulco, and it was there that I met my husband Alejandro, with whom I’ve been married for 40 years. My life is permanently connected to Acapulco.

Luxury businessmen, millionaire athletes, and Michelin-starred chefs arrived. Also drug dealers, money launderers, and men looking for girls and boys to rape in exchange for food or a few dollars for their parents who lived in the city’s poor areas.

Because there are two Acapulcos. They both share an airport and roads, so all roads lead to that pair of versions of the same city. There is a “diamond Acapulco” where the rich vacation with all the amenities at their disposal. And there is a “traditional Acapulco,” where the poor live who work for wealthy tourists.

The people who inhabit “diamond Acapulco” and “traditional Acapulco” do not usually cross paths. They live in the same city, but they are separated by golf courses and exclusive shopping malls. Only rich foreigners and wealthy nationals cross to the poor side when they feel a repugnant urge: to make their plans for child sex tourism a reality with girls and boys as young as 3 years old.

Acapulco is one of the most unequal tourist destinations in the world. In Mexico, it is the most unequal municipality of all: more than 60% of its 900,000 inhabitants live in extreme poverty, which means they do not know what they will eat today or tomorrow. They are the workers who serve plates of fresh seafood, who sweep marble floors, who fill the wine glasses of tourists.

For years, journalists and human rights organizations have told horrific stories that combine poverty, inequality, and sex tourism: a 6-year-old boy rented out to be photographed naked in exchange for milk and eggs; a 9-year-old girl sold to a Canadian tourist to be his wife for a month; homeless teenagers invited to sex parties on lavish yachts in exchange for food; parents and mothers waiting outside hotels for their children to be raped for a price paid in dollars per hour.

Those pedophiles and child molesters turned Acapulco into the country’s primary destination for child sexual tourism. They also led Mexico to the disgraceful second position in the production of child pornography, only surpassed by Thailand, according to data from the Mexican Chamber of Deputies and the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Today, Acapulco is a different place. Little remains of the port that enchanted singers Agustín Lara and Luis Miguel. There are thousands of poor families without homes, hundreds of workers who lost their jobs, and dozens of fishermen without boats to go out to sea to find sustenance. The destruction is so extensive that complete economic recovery is estimated to take decades, not years.

Under these conditions, childhood is at very high risk. Many families have lost so much that their bodies are the only currency they have left. And in the dirty business of forced prostitution, child bodies are the most sought after.

Amid this unprecedented crisis in Mexico, the Chamber of Deputies approved amendments to the general law against human trafficking. These changes aim to broaden the scope of the law enacted in 2012 and update it to address new technologies that traffickers and organized crime engaged in sexual exploitation can use. The wording has some issues that we are still analyzing, but it also includes positive aspects.

For example, it introduces new protections for individuals with injuries, intellectual disabilities, and Afro-Mexican towns and communities. The latter represent 6.5% of the total population in Guerrero and 4% of the residents in Acapulco, according to the National Population Council.

Civil society organizations are monitoring these changes and hope that the deputies will honor their commitment to protecting the victims.

Meanwhile, it is the responsibility of all, not just in Mexico, to help Acapulco back on its feet, a place that has given so much to both nationals and foreigners. It won’t be easy or quick, but every day we delay puts the vulnerable children at risk due to the magnitude of sexual tourism in that beautiful port.

After Hurricane Otis, Acapulco will be different. Its reconstruction is an opportunity to build a new city on the ruins of depravity, one with values and respect for human dignity. I long for the day to see it standing and for its coastline, beach, and air to remain a paradise, especially for children like me who grew up happily by the sea.

IPS UN Bureau

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