The world premiere of "The Silent Partner: HIV in Marriage" in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday drew a crowd of 131 attendees, plus 39 members of the media. The event was held in a lovely room in the City Centre's Nairobi Hilton, and was sponsored by The Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA) and Population Action International (PAI).

Participants included representatives from Pathfinder International, Men for Gender Equity Now (MEGEN), Kenya's National AIDS Coordination Council and the film's stars and director, Nathan Golon.

Thailand has a rich and colorful history, but perhaps its most interesting success is its effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years. Thailand effectively mobilized an appropriate response to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic of the early 1990's, with significant political support and financial backing committed by the government. Advocates launched a successful public awareness and behavior change campaign to inform and enhance public knowledge about the spread of the HIV virus and how to protect themselves.

Spearheaded by one of the most famous AIDS activists in the world and a national hero in Thailand, Mechai Viravaidya (also known as "the Condom King"), thorough his organization the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) initiated a nationwide community-driven response, involving government officials and health ministers, schoolteachers, street vendors, religious leaders and taxi drivers to promote condoms as a lifesaving vehicle to prevent the spread of HIV infections in Thailand. A series of radio and television ads about using condoms aired every hour and comprehensive sexual education about HIV/AIDS was launched in schools to help spread the message.

One of the unique features of the Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) is that it brings together reproductive health (RH), family planning (FP), development and environment nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). We in the movement know that all of our activities are linked and mutually reinforcing, but a platform such as APA holds our feet to the fire in terms of active and meaningful collaboration.

Another aspect of APA is that official development assistance (ODA) agencies and other donors, such as private foundations, are invited to the table as members. APA aims to provide an environment for donors whereby they can learn from one another both best practices and lessons learned -- from the Australian Government's overseas aid program (AusAID), to Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), New Zealand's International Aid & Development Agency (NZAID), the newly merged Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), along with U.S. foundations such as The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additionally, APA hopes to provide a forum for NGOs and civil society to engage with the ODAs/donors investing in their region, to improve communication and understanding of the important role played by the other.

The Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) is hosting its annual meeting in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. An appropriate location, given the theme of this year's meeting, Refugees and Migrants and their access to Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Conference attendees heard first from fellow APA members, Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand (PPAT) and Population and Community Development Association (PDA), who introduced the migrant and refugee situation through their experiences.

Next, advocates from the Mobile Obstetric Maternal Health Workers (MOM) Project, which delivers maternal health services among internally displaced populations in Eastern Burma; Friends International, which works with street children; the Adolescent Reproductive Health Network on the Thai/Myanmar border; and China Youth Network/Youth Coalition each shared their organization's work with migrant and refugee populations.

Suzanne Ehlers is Vice President for International Advocacy at PAI.

Thailand has been in the international news this last week, as protests against the current Prime Minister's administration broke out in the streets of Bangkok. Here in the north, in the city of Chiang Mai, the annual meetings of the Asia Pacific Alliance (APA) have proceeded without disruption, although the many global examples of political uncertainty and instability, as well as financial collapse and fragility, are heavy on the minds of advocates gathered here.

It is a challenging time to be advocating for increased resources to foreign assistance budgets, much less reproductive health and family planning programs. But that is what APA was created to do: bring together population, reproductive health, development and environment nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from six member countries -- Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia, and Canada -- and promote and support collaborative advocacy to advance the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)'s Programme of Action and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The Official Development Assistance (ODA) agencies in each of these donor countries are also encouraged to be a part of APA's membership, and organizations like PAI are fortunate to be invited to the table as partners.

By Emily Barcklow, Projects Coordinator, and María Eugenia Romero, Executive Director, at Equidad de Género: Ciudadanía, Trabajo y Familia.

A little over a month ago, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the abortion law reform approved by the Mexico City Legislative Assembly on April 24, 2007.

This ruling not only ensures the continuation of safe and legal abortion care up to 12 weeks of gestation for residents of Mexico's capital city, but it also sets the groundwork for replicating this landmark reform in other states.

The law that was passed last year in Mexico City decriminalized abortion up to 12 weeks of gestation and obligated the Mexico City government to implement comprehensive policies and actions that promote sexual and reproductive health and rights. Prior to this reform, abortion was only permitted in case of rape, congenital malformations, non-consensual artificial insemination and in case of risk to the women's health. In addition, women were not penalized for accidental pregnancy loss.   

 

Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS, made the rounds in DC last week discussing how the global community can achieve the internationally agreed upon target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.   His message has been clear: Without a massive scale-up of prevention programs, we will fall far short of addressing the growing feminization of this disease.  PAI welcomes Dr. Piot and his salient message.  Now consider the future of this epidemic in countries where men and women desire to protect themselves and plan the size of their families but do not have access to services and supplies—especially condoms and contraceptives—which would make that desire a reality.

 

Take Kenya, for instance.  In a country where HIV/AIDS funding is strong and steadily growing (U.S. funding increased from $2 million to $74 million, 1995-2005), funding for family planning has fallen off (decreasing from $12 million to $9 million, 1995-2005).  With fewer financial resources for family planning services, unintended pregnancies have risen—nearly doubling in the years 1998 to 2003—and contraceptive use has declined.

 

If we’re serious about reaching universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, we cannot turn a blind eye to the demand for voluntary family planning services and supplies—including condoms. Access to these supplies and services gives men and women the tools they need to determine the size and spacing of their families and to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.   Through robust voluntary family planning programs and their integration with HIV prevention programs, we can achieve universal access to HIV prevention and treatment programs. 

 

Tragically, just the opposite is happening.  Since 1995, U.S. funding for international family planning programs has fallen more than $100 million—a whopping 41% reduction when adjusted for inflation—despite the fact that the number of women of reproductive age in the developing world alone has increased by approximately 275 million women since 1995. (In Kenya, the number of women of reproductive age increased 35.9% between 1995 and 2005.)  This family planning funding shortfall is very apparent in PEPFAR's 15 focus countries, where the vast majority have seen a decrease in family planning funds in recent years. 

 

PAI urges the U.S. and the rest of the world to scale up funding for both HIV prevention and family planning/reproductive health programs.  This is the only way we can ever hope to defeat this deadly disease.

HIV/AIDS is an issue of tremendous concern to the sexual and reproductive health and rigpopact (SRHR) community. This shouldn’t be news, but it bears repeating. And therefore, SRH initiatives are key to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS. While stemming the tide of new HIV infections, these programs also curb child and maternal mortality, prevent the spread of other sexually transmitted infections and alleviate global poverty. So, why isn’t SRHR a core component of every global initiative to fight HIV/AIDS? It should be. PAI has joined many in challenging the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to make it so.

Many men and women already actively seek reproductive health services, whether for family planning, contraceptives, or treatment for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Linking these services to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment—as well as malaria and tuberculosis programs—provides another avenue for men and women to get the supplies and services they need to prevent these deadly diseases, helping the Global Fund to reach its targets: men, women, young people, children and other vulnerable groups.

As the Global Fund’s Replenishment Conference convenes later this month in Berlin, it is critical that SRHR, through strong involvement of key civil society representation, receives the recognition of its significant role in the Global Fund’s mission: preventing HIV and meeting the health needs of those already infected. To date, the process by which the Global Fund invites proposals, the in-country work to develop these proposals, and the process by which they are approved does not adequately support the role of SRHR or sexual and reproductive health providers.

After just a few short years, the Global Fund has saved over 1.8 million lives worldwide. Just think what can be accomplished—how many more lives saved—if the Global Fund partnered with the life-saving work of sexual and reproductive health providers.