Bulletin 18 - December 2006
WELCOME
to the ARHA e-newsletter, updating you on ARHA news
and
activities,
and bringing you a selection of general news about population
and development and sexual
and reproductive health issues.
Pledge to triple SRH efforts
New UN policy: 10% of aid budgets for RH
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Parliamentarians from 100 countries including Australia will push for at least 10 per cent of their countries' overseas aid budgets to be devoted to population and reproductive health programs.
The adoption of the 'Bangkok Statement', announced by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) on 13 December, would mean a tripling of Australia's spending in this area (we currently give 3.7 per cent of our aid budget to sexual and reproductive health, including HIV/AIDS).
Three Australian MPs, Dr Mal Washer and Senators Claire Moore and Ruth Webber (pictured left-right above), were among 300 participants at the Third International Parliamentarians' Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action (IPCI/ICPD) on 21-22 November. Altogether, 180 parliamentarians attended from 103 countries.
The conference agreed to the ‘Bangkok Statement of Commitment’ in which participants committed to attain at least ten percent of national development assistance budgets for ‘population and reproductive health programmes including HIV and AIDS prevention’.
In a press release for World Aids Day from the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development, Dr Washer said there were an estimated average of 115 new cases of HIV/AIDS a day in PNG. The main mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS in PNG was through heterosexual sex.
SA MPs' first population meeting
Interest by State members of parliament in population and development matters continued to grow throughout Australia during 2006, particularly in South Australia where members of the Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (PGPD) held their first meeting on 20 November in Adelaide.
South Australian PGPD members Vickie Chapman, Mark Parnell, Ian Hunter, Russell Wortley, Sandra Kanck, Lindsay Simmons and Trish White were joined by Senator Anne McEwen for the meeting.
ARHA staff Regan Field and Tom Gosling, in their role of providing secretariat support to PGPD, also attended the meeting and gave brief presentations on the function of PGPD at the Federal level and on issues for 2007.
Members agreed to hold further meetings around the time of ‘international’ days such as the Launch of the State of the World Population Report, World AIDS Day and World Population Day.
WHO and Lancet in campaign
Aim to reignite commitment to SRH
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has joined with one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, The Lancet, in a campaign to restore sexual and reproductive health (SRH) to centre stage of international
efforts to defeat poverty.
Lancet editor Dr Richard Horton launched a series of six major papers on SRH, with the hope that their
publication would help “reignite a commitment” to SRH that had been lost over the past decade.
Assistant WHO Director-General Joy Phumaphi congratulated The Lancet at the series launch in London in
November (AUDIO of launch and downloads of articles).
“We intend to use this launch as the beginning of a global campaign over a 12 month period where we will go to all 193 member states of WHO, and strongly advocate for the proper positioning of reproductive health within the global health and development agendas,” Ms Phumaphi said.
“I would like to thank The Lancet and assure you that WHO will continue to work as aggressively as we possibly can within our mandate in this area because we feel that without reproductive health, the global health
agenda is not feasible.”
Further details at ARHA website
Nothing to be ashamed of
AGM speaker refutes moral judgements
Efforts to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH) are constrained by
two powerful emotions: shame and guilt, the
keynote speaker at the
ARHA AGM, Professor
Terence Hull, said on 1 December (transcript available here).
Professor Hull said these emotions applied to SRH perhaps more than to any other area of public policy, with moral judgements weighing heavily in the consideration of policy and behavioural options.
ARHA had struggled for a decade and more to promote good sexual and reproductive health in a human rights framework, and each year detractors in reproductive health had cried shame.
“This year we need to make it clear to them that we are not ashamed, we are not guilt-ridden, and most of all we are not embarrassed to stand up for reproductive and sexual rights."
DOMESTIC NEWS CLIPS
Royal Women's bids for abortion drug approval
— The Age, 11 December
THE abortion drug RU486 may be available soon to Melbourne women for the first time, if a new application is approved by health authorities. The Royal Women's Hospital will today send an application to the Therapeutic Goods Administration seeking approval for 10 senior doctors to become authorised prescribers of RU486, also known as mifepristone. >>>more
PNG politicians thank Australia over aid
— National Nine News, 10 December
ALL pregnant women should be routinely offered HIV testing to help reduce the risk of transmitting it to their babies, a Federal Government advisory committee has recommended. Frank Bowden, chairman of the committee writing the new guidelines, said if women were screened during pregnancy, they would be able to take anti-viral drugs that would reduce the risk of transmission to their babies >>>more
Halt the population express
— The Canberra Times, 18 December
Steve Bracks is planning for an extra 1.5 million people in the central Victorian area in the next 20 years. Peter Beattie's regional plan for south-east Queensland expects at least a million more in the same period. Morris Iemma's state plan for NSW, while coy on the subject of population, anticipates an expansion of more than 600,000 dwellings in the Sydney Basin by 2030. Even the ACT is expected to add another 70,000 people by 2026. >>>>more
Our state's moral sidestep
— The Age, 11 November
In the old city watchhouse, a group of people converged one night last month to talk about abortion. Invitations went out to every member of State Parliament. Some did not respond. Some sent excuses. Only one turned up. The forum was organised by Reproductive Choice Australia, a group lobbying the political parties to decriminalise abortion. The trouble is that right now in Victoria, two weeks away from an election, politicians don't much want to talk about tricky, sensitive issues such as abortion. >>>more
INTERNATIONAL CLIPS
UN agencies comment on HIV/AIDS-male circumcision findings
— Angola Press, Luanda, 21 December
The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and its Co-sponsors, WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank, have given a qualified welcome to a new finding that male circumcision could reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, warning that circumcision "should never replace other known effective prevention methods". The US National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that two trials in Kenya and Tanzania had "revealed an approximate halving of risk of HIV infection in men who were circumcised." >>>more
Working for total equality
Vietnam Investment Review - 18 December 2006
Vietnam has been recognised as a regional leader in improving gender equality, following the release of an annual UNICEF report last week.
However, the report also found that the country needs to focus on the implementation of nationally coordinated policies that will continue to protect women from exploitation, trafficking and prostitution >>>more
'Historic' second bid for honest pregnancy counselling ads
Australian Democrat Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja has described as 'historic' a new cross-party bill aimed at ensuring truth in advertising Addressing the Senate on 7 December, Senator Stott Despoja said she was proud |
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"It is an historic day for the parliament, with the bill representing the second time this year that cross-party women had joined together to introduce legislation to improve women's reproductive health," she said.
The bill closely mirrors a private member's bill Senator Stott Despoja introduced in June 2005, which was examined by a Senate committee and received cross-party support throughout the process, only to be rejected by some members in August because of objections to constitutional validity, terminology and fines.
ARHA CEO Chris Richards in August (press release) urged a new bill be introduced, re-framed in such a way as to stop misrepresentation by those who seek to impose their personal abortion ideology on others.
Let's Talk About Sex
Young women's gathering planned for July 2007
It will provide an opportunity for young women from across Australia to discuss and explore sexual and reproductive health issues, especially from a rights’ perspective.
ARHA has issued a preliminary flyer about the conference, inviting contributions from young women who would like to be speakers or facilitiators. Apart from open discussions and cinema, theatre and art as mediums of political expression will be encouraged.
An important aim will be to generate better sexual and reproductive health outcomes for young Australians by communicating their voices to federal and state policy-makers. For more information, contact Patti Shih on ywg@arha.org.au.
Killer drug prescibed to women
Book tells of devastating personal experiences
DES Stories – Faces and Voices of People Exposed to Diethylstilboestrol, by US author Margaret Lee Braun introduces readers to the personal experiences of people affected by devastating cancer and reproductive complications after exposure to DES.
Reviews and purchase details for the book, “DES Stories” can be found at http://www.desexposure.
com and further information about DES Action Australia can be found at www.desaction.org.au
DES was prescribed to pregnant women in Australia, from the early 1940s to the 1970s, initially in the mistaken belief it prevented miscarriage, and then, in an equally mistaken belief, as a treatment for healthier pregnancies.
In 1971 it was discovered that DES caused a rare form of vaginal cancer in DES daughters. The effect was latent, emerging years after the original exposure. Since that time other serious health effects have emerged. It is now known that DES mothers, daughters, sons and grandchildren, may face serious health risks and infertility because of their exposure.
Daughters exposed to DES need to be aware that regular pap smears do not detect DES associated cancer and that specialised DES examinations are essential. Regular testicular self-examinations for DES sons is also important.
The author is co-founder and former executive director of the DES Cancer Network based in Washington DC. She is a DES daugher and survivor of DES cancer.
SUPPORT
ARHA
Support choice, rights, health and freedom
Since ARHA's creation in 1995, we
have been entirely funded by international grant-making agencies. However,
the time has come for ARHA to seek public support from within Australia
and internationally.
There are several ways you can support ARHA in its
work to protect and promote reproductive health.
Become an ARHA member
By
becoming a member of ARHA you will be demonstrating your support for the
work that we do and your commitment to reproductive rights and health.As
an ARHA member you will have the benefit of:
- monthly members-only e-bulletins
- priority invitations to our seminars and events
- mail outs on the latest information on reproductive health and population issues
- an annual advance copy of the UNPFA's State of the World Population Report
- opportunity to contribute to our campaigns
- access to our library.
You can Join online or
phone us for a membership application form on (02) 62828922
Donate
If you would like to donate to ARHA, it is now easier than
ever, simply visit our online donation page or call us on
02 6282 8922.
Volunteer
ARHA
volunteers offer support in many different ways.
- We have pro bono legal support and would be grateful for any other professional support that members can offer.
- We need volunteers to assist with planning and coordination of fundraising and public relations activities.
- We need office support for busy periods.
If you are interested in volunteering your services to ARHA then please call Naomi Lee on 02 6282 8922.
INTERNATIONAL CLIPS
Fight over morning-after pill splits Chile
— The Seattle Times, 17 December
SANTIAGO, Chile — President Michelle Bachelet of Chile is a feminist and physician who used to practice pediatric medicine at public clinics in poor neighborhoods. So it was hardly surprising that her government liberalized contraception policy by making the so-called morning-after pill available free at state-run hospitals. But since Chile is perhaps the most socially conservative country in South America, the measure has generated complaints and challenges not only on the right, but even from some of her allies. >>>more
We must control population growth
— Pakistan Daily Times, 17 October
LAHORE: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool stressed the need for initiating well-coordinated efforts to control the rising rate of population growth in Pakistan. Addressing a seminar on Population and Development on Wednesday, he said that Pakistan was facing four major problems, namely, rapid population growth, insufficient education and healthcare facilities and a poor mass economic situation. >>>more
Indonesian population growth alarming: President
— Antara News, 11 November
Jakarta: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the country`s population growth reaching 1.3 pct per year was alarming and must soon be lowered by the promotion of family planning programs. "The population growth rate has reached 1.3 pct per year. This figure is higher than that before the reform era. It is cause for alarm as it will give an extensive impact, among other things, on staple food availability, education, healthcare and jobs," the President said when opening of a National Congress on Indonesian People Development here Friday.
>>>more
Protect with High Tech 'Molecular Condom'
ABC News (US) — 10 December
When it comes into contact with the surfaces it is designed to protect, it congeals to form a thin, protective layer of solid gel. And when its targeted intruder is present, it instantly changes back into a liquid, simultaneously delivering a lethal dose of antiviral chemicals. It sounds like science fiction, but researchers at the University of Utah are working to bring this new type of "molecular condom" into reality. "The words 'molecular condom,' put together, really mean microbicide," said lead researcher Patrick Kiser, an assistant professor of bioengineering at the university. >>>more
The Australian Reproductive Health
Alliance (ARHA)
www.arha.org.au
Our mission is to promote public support
for enhanced reproductive and sexual health in Australia and
internationally, and promote the advancement of the status of women and
girls.
