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| Vocational schools in
China provide an avenue for reaching thousands of young people with HIV/STI
prevention messages. Credit: ILO
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News (Updated
October 18, 2009)
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16 October 2009
|
| Vocational schools in
China provide an avenue for reaching thousands of young people with HIV/STI
prevention messages. Credit: ILO
|
The
Programmes like the one supported
by ILO can serve as an excellent model to reach tens of millions of young people
and their partners in China, right at the age when they are most prone to
behaviours that put them at risk of HIV or other sexually transmitted
infections.
Dr Bernhard Schwartländer,
UNAIDS Country Coordinator in
Many graduates from
Zhaoqing’s school will find jobs along the province’s Pearl River Delta,
which is the largest manufacturing zone in the world and employs over 60 million
migrant workers from
For many young people at the school the intervention seems to be working and they are reaping the benefits of greater openness and access to information. According to one female student, “At the beginning of HIV training I felt very nervous and shy. After the teacher's explanation I felt natural and accepted what she said. I felt I had known nothing about HIV… People with HIV are not dangerous and they don't deserve any discrimination.”
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| Vocational
schools in
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Using the example of
Zhaoqing and other similar schools, the ILO and the United States Department of
Labor, (USDOL) have set out to reach as many of the 18 million students in the
country’s 16,000 vocational schools as possible.
The ILO/USDOL project,
known as SHARE (Strategic HIV/AIDS Responses in Enterprises), recognises that
vocational schools are in a position to reach large
numbers of vulnerable young people with HIV, STI and reproductive health
training. A survey of 1,602 female students from vocational schools in
Based on this need, SHARE
has established programmes in 1000 vocational schools and trained over 2000
teachers in delivering participatory training. The Chinese Ministry of Human
Resources is supporting this effort with a national policy which requires all
vocational schools under its authority to integrate STI, HIV and reproductive
health training into the psychological health curriculum.
According to Richard
Howard, ILO Chief Technical Advisor of the HIV/AIDS workplace education project
in
in the vocational schools, five million students will be reached in
The authorities in the country are very much aware that, despite early
successes, the project needs careful monitoring and evaluation. “Challenges
ahead include how to track the impact of this intervention,” says Zheng
Dongliang, from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and National
Project Director of the ILO/USDOL HIV/AIDS workplace project. He adds, "We
can now assess how that knowledge has been transferred during examinations but
our objective is to facilitate behaviour change and we are looking at ways to
better monitor and evaluate the impact of the interventions to make sure we
achieve positive behaviours among these vulnerable youth.”
In principle, sex
education in Chinese schools was established in 1992. However, its
implementation and effectiveness varies. Ms. Li Hua, a teacher at the
“It is refreshing and
encouraging to see teachers and students interact in a lively and imaginative
way about rather private matters”, says Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, UNAIDS
Country Coordinator in
2009-10-14
BEIJING
Knowledge
of HIV/AIDS prevention in
Managed
by GBC China (Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB & Malaria), CHAMP is
a unique collaboration of media companies, private businesses, NGOs, government
sectors and UN agencies. It mobilizes the communication power of mass media to
fight HIV/AIDS in
Oct 12, 2009
NEW
DELHI
The sex education lesson
for 15-year-olds is not part of
Traditionalists say such
classes are against Hindu sensibilities and invade a private matter that is best
dealt with inside the family home.
But, with rapid social
change in
"
"These Western
influences are welcomed. So why is talking about sex in schools not
accepted?"
Sheikh, a counsellor whose
lesson communicates sexual information in a simple and relaxed manner, admits it
is a "tricky subject", but she believes it is a vital duty to combat
ignorance.
She displays slides from
the ancient Indian erotic text Kamasutra, as well as drawings of how an
adolescent's body develops, and graphics to explain AIDS and the rise of
sexually-transmitted diseases in
Students at the school
often hesitate to ask questions, she said, but they all feel the course helps
clear away many of the misconceptions and the secrecy that shrouds such taboo
subject.
"I had no clue about
sex, pregnancy and the precautions required to protect oneself during an
intercourse. I am glad that I am aware now," said Riddhima Tiwari, a
15-year-old student at the school, which asked not to be named to avoid
publicity.
Parents said they had
permitted the course to be taught as they were aware their children needed to be
able to look after themselves, adding it would pass on information which they
would be shy of discussing at home.
But millions of students
studying in government schools are denied any such advice, as
"If implemented, the
subject would have adverse effects on young minds," said Swami Nityanand, a
Hindu priest in
Nityanand said he never
uses the word "sex" in front of his young disciples, as he feels that
Indians learn all the facts of life naturally and need no guidelines on the
topic or diseases related to it.
In 2007, Nityanand's
followers burnt school books that discussed contraception and
sexually-transmitted diseases, and forced the government in the western state of
"Imparting this kind
of education would mean devaluing Indian culture and values, so I will fight
until the end to protect our rich heritage," he told AFP.
But a 2007 survey
"Indian Adolescent: Changing Sexual Behaviour", conducted by doctors
and voluntary organisations, concluded that there was an urgent need for sex
education in schools.
It said around 40 per cent
of all HIV infections in
Teen pregnancy also
doubled in the previous five years, the survey stated.
And, according to the
National Crime Records Bureau, more than 20,000 rapes are reported every year,
of which 25 percent of the victims are minors.
Many experts blame such an
array of statistics on the lack of sex education.
"This theory of
Indian culture and morality is a big sham," said Ravi Kumar Tandon, a
Delhi-based doctor who specialises in sexual issues.
"Girls and boys need
to learn about sex, and boys have to be trained to adopt alternative modes of
relating to women, rather than just being aggressive," he said.
Tandon collected data for
the "Indian Adolescent" survey by interviewing about 500 urban and
rural teenagers.
"There are
misconceptions galore in their minds. Many rural girls thought a man's touch was
enough to make a them pregnant, while the urban boys said they access the
Internet and watch pornographic videos to understand sex," he said.
He said conservative
groups were being hypocritical and unrealistic about the problems of modern
"To educate the youth
about sex, and to show them how to use a condom will not westernise them. It
will make them aware of their sexuality," he said.
However,
"What can I say about
sex education? We are yet to apply our mind over the issue," Human Resource
Development minister Kapil Sibal told AFP.
2009-10-19
BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua)
-- The health of young people in Asia-Pacific region is in jeopardy as many of
them have inadequate preparation for sexual lives, warns a declaration from the
Fifth Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights (APCRSHR).
"Few
young people receive adequate preparation for their sexual lives. This leaves
them potentially vulnerable to coercion, abuse and exploitation, unintended
pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV," read the
Youth Declaration announced Sunday.
The
APCRSHR is hosted every two years since 2001 as a platform for the Asia-Pacific
countries to exchange experiences in promoting reproductive and sexual health.
Statistics
from the conference show that there are more than five million HIV cases in
The
declaration called on national governments and civil societies to offer
consultation and services on sexual and reproductive health to young people,
especially to marginalized groups such as migrant workers.
The
declaration noted that poverty and malnutrition make young people in the region
vulnerable to greater risks of HIV transmission.
The
Fifth APCRSHR, co-sponsored by the National Population and Family Planning
Commission of China, the United Nations Population Fund and the International
Planned Parenthood Federation, will run from Oct. 18 to 20.
16 Oct 2009
Source: IRIN
According to
"If this bill is
passed it will be a clear violation of human rights and will push men who have
sex with men even further underground than they are," Beatrice Were, a
Ugandan HIV/AIDS activist, told IRIN/PlusNews.
"Our national
strategic plan for HIV/AIDS aims to achieve universal access to HIV prevention,
treatment and care, but if people are criminalized and not allowed to exist, how
can they access these services?" she added.
Homosexual acts, or
"carnal knowledge against the order of nature", are already
criminalized in
Under the draft bill,
"promotion of homosexuality", including publishing information or
providing funds, premises for activities, or other resources, is also punishable
by a seven-year sentence or a fine of US$50,000.
If passed, the bill would
see the death penalty handed down for the crime of "aggravated
homosexuality" - a sexual assault committed against a member of the same
sex who is under 18 or disabled. Anyone found guilty of the offence of
homosexuality would be forced to take an HIV test.
"Bahati's proposed
bill also supports stigma and discrimination against HIV-positive people, and
would undermine years of efforts to tackle the epidemic," Solome
Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe, a human rights activist, and Frank Mugisha, co-chair of the
rights group, Sexual Minorities Uganda, said in a statement.
"
The Uganda AIDS Commission
classes men who have sex with men (MSMs) as "most at risk", yet there
are no HIV programmes targeting them and no action has been taken in response to
a 2009 study http://www.unaidsrstesa.org/files/u1/Uganda_MoT_Country_Synthesis_Report_7April09_0.pdf
by UNAIDS and the Uganda government recommending that "legal impediments to
the inclusion of most-at-risk populations, including commercial sex workers,
MSMs and IDUs [intravenous drug users], in the HIV/AIDS national response should
be reviewed".
"Morals do not stop
HIV; what stops HIV is the evidence from science - we know that using condoms
can prevent infection, using PEP [post-exposure prophylaxis] after exposure can
stop infection, and ARVs [life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs] prevent
mother-to-child transmission," Were said. "People must feel
comfortable enough to seek these services regardless of their sexual
orientation."
15 Oct 2009
Source: IRIN
Fundraiser UNITAID has
collected an estimated US$1.2 billion since 2006 for the treatment of HIV,
tuberculosis and malaria, mainly from a small levy on airline tickets bought in
34 participating countries, most of them in
"With the current
financial crisis it is going to be very difficult to achieve the MDGs [UN
Millennium Development Goals] through official government aid, so innovative
methods of financing the fight against these diseases must be sought," said
Philippe Douste-Blazy, chair of UNITAID and a UN special advisor on innovative
development financing at the first UNITAID implementers' meeting in the Kenyan
capital, Nairobi, on 15 October.
A World Bank report in
April projected that the global economic downturn could put the treatment of
more than 1.7 million people in the developing world at risk by the end of 2009
through drug shortages, treatment interruptions and higher burdens of
AIDS-related diseases.
According to Douste-Blazy,
the airline levy gives participating developing nations an opportunity to
contribute to treatment in their countries rather than depending on handouts
from the developed world. "The idea is for funding not to move only from
the North to the South, but also from the South to the South," he said.
Beth Mugo,
The funds are channelled
through NGOs like the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI), which has used the
money to put 170,000 children in 38 countries on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs).
From 2010 individuals will
be able to make a voluntary contribution of as little as US$2 when purchasing
air tickets, booking hotel rooms or renting cars as part of a new initiative
being launched by UNITAID in partership with the Millennium Foundation for
Innovative Finance for Health, formed by the UN in 2008.
Strengthening African
health systems
The meeting in
"In this part of the
world we have weak public health systems; we have problems diagnosing these
diseases, and when we do diagnose them we have difficulty finding qualified
staff to treat patients," said David Okello,
There were also calls for
greater efficiency in the approval and distribution of essential drugs across
the continent. "When providing more drugs, we need to make sure that
systems exist to ensure they reach the patients," Okello pointed out.
The UNIADS country
coordinator for
"This would replace
the fragmented system that currently exists, put an end to manufacturers running
from country to country to seek product approval, and reduce the time patients
must wait for new drugs."