Kampala Key, Vulnerable and Priority Populations (KVP) News

What does a disease deserve? Jocelyn Kaiser Pressure from AIDS groups such as ACT UP, protesting at the White House in 1987, propelled Congress to begin earmarking research funding for HIV/AIDS.  PHOTO: © BETTMANN/CORBIS   In the early 1990s, as the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic marched across the United States and the world, lawmakers in Congress and top officials at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reached an unusual understanding: Roughly 10% of the NIH budget would be dedicated to fighting the devastating disease. Since then, the steady flow of research cash—some $3 billion this year—has helped transform HIV infection from a death sentence to a manageable disease for many people, and some researchers believe they are getting closer to developing a vaccine that could halt new infections. That special arrangement is now under fire. Health policy experts, lawmakers, and even NIH officials have wondered why, 2 decades after AIDS death rates began dropping dr...

SUMMARY: Local government officials can present over 25 performance indicators below following the use of USAID funds: 1) focus on the poor; 2) improve engagement of the private-for-profit sector; 3) enhance efficiency; 4) strengthen stakeholder coordination; 5) improve service quality; 6) stimulate consumer-based advocacy for better health;  7) programming in maternal; 8) newborn and child health; 9) immunization; 10) family planning and reproductive health; 11) nutrition; 12) health systems strengthening; 13) water/sanitation/hygiene; 14) malaria; breaking cycle of transmission of HIV; 15) pediatric HIV care and treatment; 16) increase in numbers of women attending at least one antenatal care visit with a health care provider; 17) Opportunities for women to deliver their babies with a skilled attendant present will increase; 18) planning meetings on targeted health themes;  19)  identify key persons to contact as far as HIV/AIDS, Adolescent girls and Young Wome...

The main role of public health in the 21st Century will be to protect us from various diseases or life threatening conditions deriving from: climate change; emerging diseases; bioterrorism; racism; stigma; prejudice; and political dilemmas. Public health practitioners of the 21st Century must be in position to understand the complexities of cultural diversity, e.g.,different generational, economic, professional, ethnic, religious, linguistic background, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, stereotypes, prejudices, physical status, conscious bias, unconscious bias, structural bias, enjoyment of access to resources, access to opportunities, access to options, safety from violence,   affordability of housing, civil rights, access to food, access to jobs, opportunities for job trainings, access to recreation and readiness to be   a compassionate provider. Many clients and communities face bias and discrimination when they attempt to access health and social services and ...

All countries have a Public Health Provision Model that combines maximizing individual positive outcomes as well as minimizing adverse collective outcomes. The countries promote population-based activities, monitor health status, investigate health problems and hazards, inform and educate people about health issues, mobilize communities, develop policies and plans, enforce laws and regulations for the wellness of their citizens. To promote public health practice, medical health practice and long term care practice that in turn ensure quality life, these countries invest money of different amounts. They commit resources which cause health outcomes. However, the social-ecological factors in these countries make it a unique framework within which to provide public health and medical health services. Biologic, environment, behavioral, social, cultural and health services available in a given country in turn affect the well-being of the citizens.  These in turn affect the impact...

Quick Facts About Uganda Following the On-going Election Campaigns 2015-April 2016 1. Four major candidates have the logistics to move around Uganda: Incumbent/President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni NRM Flag-bearer; Colonel( Ret.) Dr. Kiiza Besigye FDC Flag-bearer; Former Prime Minister, Amama Mbabazi TDA Flag bearer and Dr. Abed Bwanika PDP Flag bearer 2. Four other candidates are still having problems moving around the country: Mr. Mabirizi J.,  Ms. Kyaalya Maureen, Major ( Ret.) Benon Biraro and Professor Barya Venansius. For more read: http://www.elections.co.ug/new-vision/election https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amama_Mbabazi http://www.elections.co.ug/new-vision/election/1408157/kyalya-left-sh300m-job-contest-presidency Enjoy!!

Mental illness is a human condition caused by factors such as: trauma, accidents, racism, subjugation, lopsided laws, inequity, inequality, torture, criminalization and social structures (homelessness and treatment of women). Mental illness affects productivity due to: the different diagnosable mental disorder and how they are treated; work-defined disability; employer-defined disability; utilization and access of workplace rehabilitation facilities. Mental illness is a health condition that has been the trigger of stigma and discrimination.   To locate how productivity and mental illness affect each other one has to first understand how productivity at the workplace is nested as well as how mental illness is perceived in society today.  Productivity at the workplace involves a multitude of baseline factors. The factors are: human resource; shelter; economic status of people;  the money invested to establish the job, the level of qualifications, skills, competency...

BY FESTUS MOGAE AND STEPHEN LEWIS, 12 JULY 2012 In Uganda and across Africa, HIV continues to prey on women, sex workers and men, who have sex with men. http://allafrica.com/stories/ 201207131147.html It is clear that to end the HIV epidemic, we must protect and support these groups. Yet, our country and others enforce bad laws and customs that disempower these groups and make them more likely to be infected with HIV. We cannot hope for an HIV-free generation when we have laws that marginalize and punish those most vulnerable to the disease. A global commission of legal, human rights and HIV leaders recently released a report that showed punitive laws were standing in the way of effective AIDS responses. Archaic laws and customs make women and girls more vulnerable to HIV. Legally condoned violence and oppression - including genital mutilation, sexual violence, denial of property rights and early marriage - undermine the ability of women to protect themselves. Laws ...

Estimating the range of potential epidemiological impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis: run-away success or run-away failure?. Cremin, Íde; Hallett, Timothy B. Supplemental Author Material Published Ahead-of-Print Abstract Objective: To investigate the influence of potential interactions between key aspects of a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) intervention on projections of epidemiological impact and cost-effectiveness. Methods: A mathematical model representing the HIV epidemic and intervention context in Nyanza province in Kenya was developed. We consider a scenario whereby a fixed annual budget is allocated to a PrEP intervention. A standard projection of impact is generated, assuming that the unit cost of PrEP, adherence to PrEP and the ability of the programme to direct PrEP to those at high risk, all stay constant. The influence of dynamic assumptions and possible interactions between PrEP intervention assumptions is then assessed in comparison. Result...

February 24, 2015 Dear Advocates,   Today at the  Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, new data on oral PrEP and vaginal tenofovir microbicide gel emerged that have implications for HIV prevention worldwide. We’ve collated the press releases and statements from groups involved in the research, as well as links to relevant webcasts—which become available 24 hours after presentation. Click here to view these resources ; read on for a summary of the news. Three  oral PrEP  trials presented at CROI provided additional evidence for use of the pill Truvada (TDF/FTC) for prevention. All three trials had very high rates of consistent use and very high rates of protection against HIV infection, specifically: The  Partners Demonstration Project  among discordant heterosexual couples (where one partner is HIV-positive and one is not) in Kenya and Uganda showed that a program that delivers both PrEP for ...

Renowned Ugandan activist Frank Mugisha will present Martha Tholanah with the award on stage at the prestigious Teddy Awards ceremony in Berlin  this Friday . 11 February 2015  [Berlin]  – The David Kato Vision & Voice Award (DKVVA) is proud to announce that the 2015 award will go to HIV Positive activist Martha Tholanah from Zimbabwe. Martha risks her life everyday to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people across the country. Her activism is a powerful example of a straight ally standing in solidarity with LGBTI people despite threats to her own safety and security. Martha also demonstrates extraordinary leadership on behalf of other marginalized communities, fighting for women’s rights, disability rights and sex worker rights both locally and internationally. She will receive the award on stage  this Friday , at the prestigious Teddy Awards ceremony which is part of the Berlin International Film Festiva...

Can be accessed from: Gus Cairns Published: 04 February 2015 http://www.aidsmap.com/No- improvements-in-CD4-count-at- diagnosis-in-African-patients- in-last-decade/page/2942452/? utm_source=NAM-Email- Promotion&utm_medium=hiv- update&utm_campaign=hiv-update A study by Harvard Medical School has found that the average CD4 count in sub-Saharan African people who are diagnosed with HIV has not risen since 2002. Neither has the average CD4 count on initiation of treatment, which remains well below the AIDS-defining limit of 200 cells/mm3.  The authors call for far more active HIV  testing and facilitated referral programmes, and continued global financial support for HIV testing and treatment. A second study of a number of different prevalence and incidence surveys conducted by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) among selected populations in the region shows that annual HIV incidence ranges from zero to 19% according to the population studied, i...