PAN-COMMONWEALTH CSO NETWORK ON HIV/AIDS

IMPACTS OF HIV AND AIDS ON AFRICA PRESENTATION BY PAN-COMMONWEALTH CSO NETWORK ON HIV/AIDS DURING THE COMMONWEALTH AFRICA SYMPOSIUM ON THE INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION OF HEALTH WORKERS Gaborone, Botswana 16-18 June 2009

Presentation Overview! State of HIV and AIDS in Africa! Impacts of HIV & AIDS! Role of HWs in Addressing HIV & AIDS! Impacts of Migration on HIV & AIDS! Impacts of HIV & AIDS on Migration! Role of CSO in Addressing HIV & AIDS! Pan-Commonwealth Network on HIV & AIDS in Africa! Network Relationship with the CW Foundation! Past Network Activities & Achievements! Current Network Focus! What the Network Can do on HW migration

STATE of HIV and AIDS IN AFRICA! Commonwealth is home to 30% of world s population, but carries 60% of HIV and AIDS global burden (WHO, 2007)! In 2007, 77% of the world s AIDS related deaths reported from Africa! Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to 68% of the world s PLWHA & 90% of the world s infected children.! At the end of 2007, 22 million PLWHA and 1.9 new infections reported from SSA (Commission on HIV/AIDS & Governance in Africa, 2008.)

HIV Prevalence (UNAIDS, 2008)

Impacts of HIV & AIDS on Africa! Household level! National Economies! OVC! Agriculture & Food Security! Education Sector! Reduced life expectancy! Stigma and discrimination! Gender concerns

Role of Health Workers in the fight against HIV & AIDS!Treatment, Care & Support!Training community based care providers!hiv & AIDS Research!Monitoring & Evaluation of Interventions and Drugs

Impacts of Migration on HIV & AIDS in Africa! Migration leads to constrained workforce, which may lead to!!!! Inability to conduct effective prevention programs eg education, counseling etc, hence inability to contain new infections Poor or inadequate services for PLWHA, leading to earlier deterioration and death Poor monitoring & follow up on care & drug intake Inefficient medical research! Migration leads to more migrations:! sets up a vicious cycle of events in that due to too much work, morale goes down & staff may opt to leave

Impacts of HIV & AIDS on HWs Migration from Africa! Increased workload and skill demands due to AIDS! Increased risk of caring for the sick under deplorable working condition! HWs getting HIV infection and migrating to countries where they can get good treatment, care & support

Role of CSOs in addressing HIV/AIDS in Africa! Government responses have proven inadequate in the face of the enormity of HIV/AIDS! CSOs have maintained frontline positions in addressing HIV/AIDS since it was known to exist in the 80 s! Roles have included! Voluntary counseling & Testing,! Care & Support to PLWHA & affected communities! Community & institutional capacity building! Lobbying, Advocacy & research! CSOs have had comparative advantages due to their grassroots existence, flexibility, ability to function on limited funding & relative transparency.

Pan-Commonwealth Network on HIV & AIDS IN Africa! Regional network of HIV & AIDS Service CSOs in African Commonwealth countries! Established in 2006 following declaration of HIV & AIDS as a global emergency by C/W heads of gov t in 2005! Membership from the entire SSA Commonwealth! Has a Current membership of 15 countries-- Cameroon, Swaziland, Uganda, The Gambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Lesotho, Zambia,! Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa

P-C Network: Vision & Mission! Vision:! Create an HIV and AIDS free Commonwealth through strategic networking, coordination & Programming while putting PLWHA at the center of development process! Mission! bring together key CSOs working with PLWHA & affected communities through promotion of partnerships, effective programming, knowledge sharing, resource mobilisation & accountable governance in the fight against HIV & AIDS within the African Commonwealth

P-C Network: Objectives!Improve government /CSO/ private sector working relations,!promote effective HIV and AIDS programming, coordination, resource mobilisation & governance among CSO & national governments!enhance skills development for HIV/ AIDS CSOs

P-C Network: Objectives cont!document, evaluate & share knowledge, skills, best practices & challenges!develop effective fund raising strategies aimed at gov ts, private sector & International bodies!effective HIV/AIDS policy Lobbying at national, regional & global levels

P-C Network: Structure & Core Values! central secretariat (currently in Malawi, with biannual rotation within the membership states! Has sub-networks at national & local levels! Operations guided by core values of shared vision, inclusiveness, accountability, transparency, empowerment, integration & equality

P-C Network: Relationship With Commonwealth Foundation! CF spearheaded its creation & establishment! Institutional development of network secretariat! Capacity building of network & Subnetwork members! Financial support to network activities at regional and national levels

P-C Network: Past Activities & Achievements! Conducted capacity building workshop for its regional partners in Uganda in 2007! contributed to CSO s statement to the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)! Conducted national level capacity building workshops for HIV/AIDS Service CSOs in 2008! Currently evaluating HIV/AIDS national level projects in Malawi, Nigeria, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya & Cameroon

P-C Network: Current Issues of Focus! Governments to provide a conducive environment for CSOs independent operation! Governments to develop better policies to deal with HIV and AIDS issues! policy reforms relating to copy rights and patents! Public-Private Partnerships! More funding towards HIV & AIDS prevention, treatment, care, research and development! Women empowerment & gender sensitive programming.! Capacity building of CSOs & HIV healthcare providers.

WAY FORWARD What Network Can do on HW Migration.! Advocacy and lobbying for good employment policies within health care systems at national & regional levels! Reach grassroots communities & HWs through strategic advocacy to inculcate positive attitudes towards national development! Lobby governments (CW & non-cw) adopt the commonwealth Code of Practice for International Recruitment.

Cont: Way Forward! Lobby poor and rich countries develop policy options that would include exchange programs among health staff to gain experiences and minimize migrations! Engage in lobbying and advocacy efforts in partnership with government and Commonwealth health professional bodies! Lobby governments to implement CW Code of Practice & other documents/ instruments

Motivation To this day we continue to lose the best among ourselves because the lights in the developed world shine brighter Nelson Mandela- How can we make our own lights shine brighter? END -