Joint
Panel Event at the World Conference on Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
On
5 September WHO will hold a joint panel event with UNAIDS and
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in
conjunction with the World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban,
South Africa. This event will focus on the theme Exploring the link: HIV/AIDS, stigma, discrimination and racism.
The joint panel will
examine the link between HIV/AIDS and racism, racial
discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Panel
discussions will be based on a background issues paper, prepared
by UNAIDS and WHO, highlighting the link between HIV and
presumed and actual stigma, discrimination and racism.
Discussions will address the relationship between different
forms of racism and discrimination as determinants of and
responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic; poverty, race and HIV/AIDS;
gender inequality, race and HIV/AIDS; the question of
dissaggregated data on the basis of race and ethnicity as a tool
to address health inequalities.
Training
Course on Public Health Implications of Multilateral Trade
Agreements
HDE is running a training
course on the Public
Health Implications of Multilateral Trade Agreements from
10-14 September in Geneva. The prime objectives of this course
are: to explain the relevance of MTAs to people’s health and
the health system; and to identify opportunities for the public
health community to participate in MTA negotiations at national,
regional and international level, and encourage and support them
in this process.
The course will begin by
looking at the history, goals and objectives of the World Trade
Organisation (WTO). It will then look specifically at four
multilateral trade agreements relevant to health: GATS (Generals
Agreement on Trade in Services), SPS (Agreement on the
Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures), TBT
(Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade) and TRIPs (Agreement
on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. Case studies
will be used to illustrate how each agreement affects health.
Participants will also take part in a variety of activities to
develop their negotiating skill.
Preliminary course
materials are now available on-line at this stage to
course participants only.
A full set of course materials, including presentations, case
studies and role-plays will be placed on the HDE shortly after
the course finishes.
For more information,
contact Robert Beaglehole on beagleholer@who.int
before 15 August.
PRSP
workshops
The development of Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers is a top priority for around 40 of the
world’s poorest countries. PRSPs must be produced in order for
countries to access debt relief under the HIPC II initiative.
Many countries have already produced interim PRSPs, and are now
in the process of developing full (4-year) PRSPs.
The development of Poverty
Reduction Strategy Papers is a top priority for around 40 of the
world’s poorest countries. PRSPs must be produced in order for
countries to access debt relief under the HIPC II initiative.
Many countries have already produced interim PRSPs, and are now
in the process of developing full (4-year) PRSPs.
Resources released by debt
relief should be invested in health and education, however in
many PRSPs already produced the health component is typically
weakly developed. Therefore there is an urgent need to assist
countries in the preparation of the health component of PRSPs.
The two PRSP workshops organised by HDE aim to address this
need. Their objective is to strengthen the skills of national
officials from the ministries of health, finance, planning and
economic affairs, as well as WHO and Unicef country-based staff,
to develop the health, nutrition and population (HNP) component
of PRSPs, and their implementation.
The first workshop was
held in Dakar, Senegal from 21-25 May 2001. A second workshop is
planned for Nairobi in the early October.
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