Publications

A systematic surveillance system for HIV and risk behaviours is essential for a country to monitor its prevalence of HIV and the risks of an epidemic as well as trends over time. All available evidence in Bhutan suggests that HIV prevalence is indeed low in the country, but at the same time, risks may be high. Based on the principles of Second Generation Surveillance, this first BSS was conducted among population groups considered to be most at risk for HIV in Bhutan.

Together We Must! represents an initial effort to draw attention to the knowledge, institutional capacity and resources needed to comprehensively address the intersection between HIV & AIDS and Violence against women and girls (VAWG). It aims to stimulate debate and collaboration among practitioners and advocates around how to identify and promote policies and practices that are effective and can be adapted to various contexts. Of the multiple suggestions that could be drawn from the 'promising practices' profiled here, the report prioritizes five key recommendations.

By reviewing available data and literature on HIV transmission in intimate partner relationships; understanding the current national response for addressing this emerging epidemic trend; the endeavour was identifying potential programmatic entry-points for preventing HIV transmission in intimate partner relationships.

This paper summarises the common issues and challenges for health information systems in Pacific island countries and territories. Pacific participants of two meetings hosted by the Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub in 2009 identified these issues and suggested future actions. These two key events were held in the Pacific region in 2009: a meeting of the Pacific Health Information Network (PHIN) in September in Nadi and a Pacific Health Information Systems Development Forum in November in Brisbane. Both events were designed to create greater knowledge about what is happening within the region, and provide forums to discuss common issues and challenges and learn from relevant local advances. The global agenda and drivers of health information systems were discussed at both meetings to provide a clearer understanding of how Pacific island countries are positioned within the larger international agenda. 

On 20 November 2009, the global community celebrates the 20th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This unique document outlines universal standards for the care, treatment and protection of all individuals below age 18. It is the most widely endorsed human rights treaty in history, currently ratified by 193 States parties. During the past two decades, the Convention has transformed the way children are viewed and treated throughout the world. It has exerted a pervasive and profound influence on national and international legislation, policy and programmes, public and private institutions, families, communities and individuals. And it has supported marked advances in survival, development, protection and participation across the world.

Faced with a rising HIV epidemic among injecting drug users, harm reduction policies and programs were introduced in Malaysia in 2005. The positive impact seen since the introduction of these programs comprise the inclusion of the health aspects of illicit drug use in the country’s drug policies; better access to antiretroviral therapy for injecting drug users who are HIV infected; reduction in HIV-risk behavior; and greater social benefits, including increased employment. Despite these achievements, tension between law enforcement and public health persists, as harm reduction exists alongside an overall drug policy that is based on abstinence and zero tolerance. Unless there is harmonization of this policy, sustainability and scale-up of harm reduction programs will remain a challenge.

The objective of this documentation note is to describe the current status of the health information system and its activities across the Vanuatu health sector. It is expected that the outcome of this will provide a strategic overview and preliminary diagnostics for use in determining areas requiring improvement and allow planning for future health information system activities. After a brief description of the Vanuatu context, the six components of the Health Metrics Network Framework and Standards for Country Health Information Systems (WHO 2008a) are used to describe the present state and potential of the Vanuatu health information system. To inform this analysis, a review of existing forms and databases was undertaken, as well as a number of consultations held with key stakeholders.

Worldwide, far more people migrate within than across borders, and although internal migrants do not risk a loss of citizenship, they frequently confront significant social, financial and health consequences, as well as a loss of rights. The recent global financial crisis has exacerbated the vulnerability internal migrants face in realizing their rights to health care generally and to antiretroviral therapy in particular. For example, in countries such as China and Russia, internal migrants who lack official residence status are often ineligible to receive public health services and may be increasingly unable to afford private care. In India, internal migrants face substantial logistical, cultural and linguistic barriers to HIV prevention and care, and have difficulty accessing treatment when returning to poorly served rural areas. Resulting interruptions in HIV services may lead to a wide range of negative consequences, including: individual vulnerability to infection and risk of death; an undermining of state efforts to curb the HIV epidemic and provide universal access to treatment; and the emergence of drug-resistant disease strains. International human rights law guarantees individuals lawfully within a territory the right to free movement within the borders of that state. This guarantee, combined with the right to the highest attainable standard of health set out in international human rights treaties, and the fundamental principle of non-discrimination, creates a duty on states to provide a core minimum of health care services to internal migrants on a non-discriminatory basis. Targeted HIV prevention programs and the elimination of restrictive residence-based eligibility criteria for access to health services are necessary to ensure that internal migrants are able to realize their equal rights to HIV prevention and treatment.

This book begins with four case studies that examine how policing practices directly impact the lives of people who use drugs. Though the settings differ, the themes are similar: an approach to drug use that is primarily the responsibility of law enforcement officials rather than health care personnel results in corruption, abuses, and reluctance on the part of drug users to access even the most basic disease prevention services.

This study sought to examine the effects of husband’s control and frequency of spousal discussion on domestic violence against Cambodian married women, using the 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey data. The sample included 1,707 married women, aged 16 – 49 (M=35.14). Structural Equation Modeling showed that husband’s control positively predicted both emotional and physical violence. Frequency of spousal discussion positively predicted emotional violence, an association consistent with the idea that a husband holding patriarchal beliefs would interpret women’s more frequent discussion as a violation of Cambodian norms for quiet, submissive wives.