UNIVERSITY COALITIONS for GLOBAL HEALTH

Hello readers!  Wondering what President Obama has been up to in his first days in office?  Check out this article from The Guardian! 

by, Daniel Nasaw

President Barack Obama today made the most contentious move of his young administration with an order, overturning a ban on federal funds to foreign family planning organisations that either offer abortions or provide information or counselling about abortion.

The rule change continues the dismantling of George Bush’s conservative policies. It is likely to encounter fierce criticism from the still robust anti-abortion movement.

It will allow US aid, usually through the US agency for international development, to flow to HIV/Aids clinics, birth-control providers and other organisations that advocate or provide counselling about abortion across the world. It is known as the “global gag rule” because it denies US taxpayer dollars to clinics that even mention abortion to women with unplanned pregnancies.

The rule was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1984, overturned by Bill Clinton in 1993, and reinstated by Bush. Critics of the rule say it deprives the world’s poor women of desperately needed medical care, while proponents say US tax dollars should not promote abortion.

Family planning groups in America and the UK cheered the rule change. Dr Gill Greer, director general of London-based International Planned Parenthood Federation, estimated the gag rule had cost the group more than $100m for family planning and sexual and reproductive health programmes during the eight years of the Bush administration, which she said amounted to 36 million unplanned pregnancies and 15 million induced abortions.

“The gag rule has done immense harm and caused untold suffering to millions around the world,” she said in a statement. “It has undermined health systems and endangered the lives and health of the poorest and most vulnerable women on the planet by denying access to life saving family planning, sexual and reproductive health and HIV services and exposing them to the dangers of unsafe abortion.

“While Obama has spent the first two days of his presidency overturning Bush policies, for example restricting US interrogation practices of terror suspects and an order pledging to close the US prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, those were backed by a broad political consensus. Abortion, however, remains a bitterly contentious issue, as evidenced by the thousands of people who marched in Washington yesterday opposing abortion rights.

Yesterday was the 36th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade, which guaranteed a woman’s right to choose abortion.

While both Clinton and Bush used the Roe v Wade anniversary to change US policy on abortion, Obama declined yesterday. He instead issued a statement reaffirming his commitment “to protecting a woman’s right to choose”.

“On the 36th anniversary of Roe v Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters,” he said.

The rule comes as no surprise. During the president campaign Hillary Clinton, who as secretary of state will oversee foreign aid, pledged to end the rule.

The rule change “would be huge,” California Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado told National Public Radio. “By the US restricting women’s rights to reproductive planning internationally, it really destroys their lives. Because they can’t control the size of their family, that affects their use of resources and food and child nutrition and so many other things. The way to increase the stability in Third World countries, frankly, is for sensible family planning.”

Jordan Sloshower, Research Coordinator in Family Medicine at the University of Manitoba, Canada, tells us about his university’s involvement in the UCGH Week of Action. He also reflects on the reasons for the increasing interest in global health -Stephanie

During the week of March 24, 2008, the University of Manitoba played host to a lecture series on topics related to “Global Health”. This event was part of a larger “Global Health Week of Action” organized by Universities Coalitions for Global Health (UCGH)-a network of international health-focused organizations and individuals with a university presence.

The overarching goal of this international campaign was to bring together medical, graduate and undergraduate students to advocate for the right to health for populations that are underserved by drawing attention to a host of pressing issues, including gender inequality, HIV/AIDS, access to clean water, sanitation and essential medicines, and the global healthcare worker shortage.

Here at the University of Manitoba, lecturers spoke about their groundbreaking work in the field of infectious disease, about HIV/AIDS advocacy and activism, and about the relationship between health, politics and culture. In the lecture series’ keynote address, Professor Emeritus Dr Alan Ronald outlined his experience with the university’s global health initiatives in Kenya, Uganda and India and provided advice for students in health disciplines who wish to “change the world” through their life’s work. As this lecture series coincidentally overlapped with the launch of The University of Manitoba’s Alan Klass Memorial Program for Health Equity and the publication of a two-day report in The Winnipeg Free Press on HIV/AIDS prevention programs in India set up by Manitoba-based researchers and physicians, (1) the question arises, why there is so much interest and activity in the field of global health and health equity?

Part of the answer to this question surely lies in the fact that the search for solutions to global health problems presents unique challenges (and funding opportunities) to researchers who attempt to apply science and technology to the improvement of the human condition. However, an equally significant reason for the recent surge of interest amongst the public and academics worldwide is that achieving global health equity, or fairness in basic health care measures for rich and poor alike, is not just a scientific problem, but also a cultural, political and economic problem deeply rooted in rapidly changing social structures. In other words, the issues raised by the field of global health probe deeper into human consciousness, as they call into question the way we organize our affairs in society and raise ethical questions about our actions in an increasingly interconnected world.

The aforementioned report in the Winnipeg Free Press is illustrative of this point. Rather than focusing on Dr Stephen Moses’ groundbreaking scientific research on the effectiveness of male circumcision in preventing the spread of HIV, the report assumed a more humanistic perspective. By examining the sex-trade in India, the report outlined how underlying social structures and cultural norms on gender roles become embodied as disease in female sex-workers. In so doing, this article effectively conveyed the anthropological observation that “AIDS is a socio-cultural and political-economic phenomenon with biological manifestations.” (2) As a result, preventing HIV/AIDS is not just a problem for medical doctors, but is a complex initiative requiring collaboration between health workers, politicians, development workers, community leaders and ordinary people. The need for such an interdisciplinary approach speaks to the underlying reality that the problems afflicting the health of populations worldwide are symptoms of a web of social, political and economic pathologies that constitute social injustice. Hopefully, the growing interest in global health reflects the realization that assaults against human dignity should not only attract the interest of inquisitive scientists and researchers but should compel all constituents of global civil society into concerted pragmatic action. Jordan Sloshower: sloshowe@cc.umanitoba.ca

References

(1) Skeritt J. Where HIV flourishes:India’s culture makes AIDS campaign an uphill battle. The Winnipeg Free Press 2008 Mar 22. Available from:URL: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/aidsindia/story/4147383p-4737039c.html

(2) Marshall W. AIDS, race and the limits of science. Soc Sci Med 2005;60(11):2515-2525.

Student Training Calls: March 13th at 9pm (EST) & March 14th at 12pm (EST)
Call in Number 1-888-296-6500 Code: 130039
Learn more about the week of action toolkit and speak directly with the UCGH national coordinators!

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

Global Health Week of Action 2008
The Many Sides of the Right to Health

WHAT: The member organizations of the University Coalitions for Global Health (UCGH) have come together again in the spirit of partnership to hold the 1st even Global Health Week of Action where we hope to bring together med, grad and undergrad students to advocate for the right to health for populations that are under served or where it is outright ignored by the governments responsible for their welfare. We will bring attention to the right to health by focusing on the following issues:
• Access to Clean Water
• Women and AIDS
• HIV and Malaria
• Access to Medicines and the Role of Universities
• Global Health Care Worker Shortage

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

This year’s activities include:
• Implementation of an Issue=specific toolkit created by the national coordinators of UCGH
• Online chats with Global Health Experts
• Student planning and advocacy training conference calls

WHEN: March 22nd-March 30th 2008 On your Campus!
Student Training Calls: March 13th at 9pm (EST) & March 14th at 12pm (EST)
Call in Number 1-888-296-6500 Code: 130039
Learn more about the week of action toolkit and speak directly with the UCGH national coordinators!

Contact: your national coordinator or sdevita@globalhealth.org to find out more!!!

Check out the Week of Action and download the toolkit online

Take action with out partners at Advocates for Youth!~Stephanie

Access to EC Denied!

10,000 signatures by March 7!
Help us keep pressure on the FDA!

We are at a pivotal point in the fight to win full access to emergency contraception (EC) for all women, and we need your help!

The Center for Reproductive Rights - a legal advocacy organization that promotes and defends the reproductive rights of women worldwide - recently filed a lawsuit to force the FDA to reverse its decision that restricts young women’s access to Plan B without a prescription.

Today, Advocates for Youth and Choice USA are launching a 10,000 signature petition drive to keep pressure on the FDA. It’s time to make sure that ALL women have access to emergency contraception - not just women 18 and older!

Click here to download the Petition Kit! Collect signatures on your campus and in your community and send them in by fax or mail. We will deliver completed petitions to the FDA later this spring.

Our goal is to obtain 10,000 hard copy signatures by March 7! Together, we can make these three weeks count!

Ask your friends and family to join you in support of unrestricted access to Plan B. Print out a copy of the petition kit and simply mail or fax in the completed petition forms. The more signatures, the stronger we stand!

Download the Petition Kit TODAY! We need your help to pressure the FDA - let’s meet our signature goal by March 7!

Let’s get to work! It’s time to prove to the FDA that all young women deserve equal access to emergency contraception.

Good luck, and let’s get those petitions signed…

Peace,

Mimi Melles

Mimi Melles
Program Coordinator,
Youth Activist Network
Advocates for Youth

Hey All–This week is a busy one in Washington, because the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is up for Reauthorization this year and is going to “mark up” in the House tomorrow. I’ll have more updates on that later in the week, but first I’ll pass over the blogging baton to Victor from GlobeMed to talk more about what it is that his organization does and how you can get involved! Cheers!
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GlobeMed connects the resources of our thirteen student-led chapters at universities across the U.S. directly to grassroots health organizations to work in partnership to design and support innovative and vital health projects. For example, GlobeMed members at Northwestern worked with local partners near Ho, Ghana to construct a health clinic in Ho, Ghana that now provides health services to a rural population. Students at University of Michigan designed and implemented a health education program for a free clinic in an underserved area of Detroit. While a common vision and mission unite members at each of our campuses, the strength of the GlobeMed network rests in each chapter’s unique projects and efforts.

Our aim is not only to improve health in communities around the world, but to educate and train the next generation of leaders for global health. We stimulate critical thinking on global health issues and provide a framework in which students can gain personal and professional skills for affecting change. Through year-round programs on campus and across the country, we help catalyze students to commit their lives to social justice and global health. By tying education to action, GlobeMed is playing a vital role in advancing a student-driven global health movement.

-Victor