Week ahead
04 – 08 February 2019
Today is World Cancer Day. This year’s theme, “I can, we can” acknowledges that everyone has the capacity to address the cancer burden.
04 February 2019
Executive Director Umunyana Rugege, Advocacy Officer Vuyokazi Gonyela and Health legal researcher, Tendai Mafuma are attending a Tuberculosis research and development training organised by the Open Society Foundation (OSF). The training brings together researchers and activists to discuss developments in public funding for TB research. It also aims to identify advocacy opportunities to ensure that publicly funded research delivers public benefit.
04 – 06 February 2019
Health attorney, Ektaa Deochand is attending a training session conducted by Change, AmFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research and PAI, Champions of Global Reproductive Rights, on the Global Gag Rule, its impact regionally and collaborative strategies to advocate against it. The Global Gag Rule is another name for the Mexico City Policy a United States government policy that blocks U.S. federal funding for non-governmental organisations that provide abortion counselling or referrals, advocate to decriminalise abortion or expand abortion services. On January 23, 2017, President Donald Trump reinstated and expanded the Mexico City Policy via presidential memorandum. Under the Trump administration, the policy has been renamed “Protecting Life in Global Health Assistance.”
Community Mobiliser, Patrick Mdletshe will be attending the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) Community advisory group meeting. This meeting aims to review South African HIV data and advise PEPFAR on the country’s progress on the HIV response. It will be attended to by people living with HIV (PLHIV) sector members and provincial sector civil society leaders.
05 February – 06 February 2019,
Community Mobiliser, Sifiso Nkala will be conducting workshops with AIDS council sectors on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights, Sexual Violence and National Health Act in the Pixley kaSeme Municipality. The intention is to ensure capacity building and informed participation in the AIDS councils especially those who sit in ward-based AIDS councils.
Health attorney, Nkululeko Conco will join Patrick Mdletshe at the PEPFAR Country Operational Planning (COP) civil society stakeholders’ engagement. Representatives of organisations from the People Living with HIV (PLHIV) sector, being Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Positive Action Campaign (PAC) and Positive Women’s Network (PWN), together with Doctors Without Borders / Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF), Health GAP and SECTION27
The meeting will discuss the People’s COP19. PEPFAR prepares a COP for each year that outlines the approach they will be taking to their work in a country, how they will implement the plan and what key indicators they will be using. The COP’s are technical and scientific, what the People’s COP aims to do, is introduce evidence gathered from the lived experience of people in the country and present evidence to convince PEPFAR to focus on different areas of concern, or vary their solutions.
07 February 2019
Ektaa Deochand will be attending the Asijiki Coalition meeting. The Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work is a group of Activists, Sex Workers, Advocates and human rights Defender who advocate for law reform of decriminalisation of sex work.
In Spotlight
Provinces make progress with AIDS plans
All nine of South Africa’s provinces have finalised their NSP provincial implementation plans, according to the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). These nine implementation plans are meant to guide implementation of South Africa’s National Strategic Plan (NSP) for HIV, TB and STIs 2017 – 2022. In total, 46 out of 52 districts in the country have finalised their district implementation plans. The six that are missing are from the Western Cape, where district implementation plans will not be implemented due to the fact that the province does not have district AIDS councils – but similar structures called Multi-Sectoral Action Teams (MSATs).
https://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/2019/02/01/provinces-make-progress-with-aids-plans/
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