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AFPPD WINS |
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Reform Drug Policies and Laws to Public Health Need Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya |
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Bangkok
- Nearly 20 parliamentarians from twelve countries
participated in the
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Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya, Senator of Thailand and Secretary
General of AFPPD, opened the consultation. He stated that
there is an urgent need to introduce and expand harm
reduction as an integral component of broader
response to the AIDS epidemic and illicit drug use. He
added, “We must mobilize parliamentarians and all our
resources, networks and political will to expand support as
well as funding for harm reduction where it is practiced,
and to reform our drug
“...the services and programmes are often male oriented.” Ms. Khartini Slamah In emphasizing the need for the inclusive drug user programme, Ms. Khartini Slamah representing Asia-Pacifi c Network of Sex Workers, stated that most of the services and programmes for IDUs in the region are often male oriented while the attention towards female sex workers is limited. She further noted, “We are still far in delivering comprehensive integrated programmes of services”. Mr. Mauro Guarinieri of Asian Division of the Global Fund on AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in his remarks stated, “In spite of the fact that HIV epidemic in the region is started and still driven by injecting drug use, less than 10% of our annual budget on HIV for this region is spent on harm reduction programmes”. “HIV infection should be addressed as a socio-economic issue, also” Ms. Gea Westerhof Ms. Gea Westerhof, International Project Manager of Mainline Foundation pointed that response to HIV infection among drug users should be addressed not only as a health issue but also as a socio-economic issue and that response must also consider cultural factors that drive epidemic. Ms. Mariam Claeson, Programme Coordinator of HIV/AIDS in the Human Development Network of the World Bank stated that the gathering indicated a role of the community in improving the process of harm reduction programmes. The need to forge dialogue between NGOs, communities, activists, policy makers, implementers, and donors has made this consultation important”, said Ms. Claeson. Mr. Oscar Fernandes, Member of Parliament, India in his address called for more collaboration among NGOs to come forward in fi ghting HIV/AIDS. Parliamentarians’ Sessions on Harm Reduction Community to be Engaged; Human Rights to be informed
One of the key highlights of the consultation was the parliamentarians’ sessions on harm reduction. The first day of the session was devoted to the discussion entitled, “Regional Overview on Drugs, HIV and Human Rights Issues”, chaired by Mr. John Hyde, a Member of State Parliament from Perth, Australia in his remarks he called for the “Community to be Engaged; Human Rights to be informed”. “…involvement of IDUs in programme designing and services needed” Mr. Mauro Guarinieri
Asia has well advanced policies
Dr. Suresh Kumar, Psychiatrist and Consultant of UNODC, UNAIDS in his presentation on HIV prevention and intravenous drug user care, stated that Asia has well advanced policies in addressing harm reduction. However, the gap is still large in the areas such as amphetamine use. In addition, Dr. Kumar pointed out that there is a signifi cant resource gap in terms. of human resources which is going to be a challenge to overcome for in the next five years. “It is a human rights issue”
Dr. Mohd Yusmadi Yusoff, Malaysian MP’s shared his national experience that drug issues are addressed as a social problem. In his discussion on strategizing and lobbying for harm reduction, MP Dr. Yusoff asked the need of technical support to inform parliamentarians on human rights education. “The issue should be addressed from human rights paradigm before any strategies be formed”. HIV related to Poverty Ms. Mariam Cleason
Dr. Juana Tomas Rossel lo, Treatnet Coordinator for South East Asia, UNODC in her presentation on treatment reforms advocated that the community-based approach of treatment is the most cost-effective.
“...lack of community involvement is still a concern…”
Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary In the plenary session on the feedback of the Parliamentarians’ session on harm reduction, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Member of Parliament from Pakistan presented the outcome of discussions during the fi rst day of the consultation. Dr. Chaudhary captured the problem of resource gap in response to HIV epidemic. He said that resources are provided from outside Asia but lack of community involvement is still a concern. Recapitulating discussions on different approaches to response to HIV, Dr. Chaudhary highlighted the challenges for parliamentarians by stating, “Our challenge as parliamentarians is that how we can apply different approaches of tackling HIV epidemic to maximize the impacts”. Drug Policy Reform Ms. Ann Fordham “Pharmaceutical Injecting and Drug Policy Reform” was the central theme of discussion on the second day of the parliamentarians’ session. The session was chaired by Mr. Mauro Guarinieri, Civil Society Offi cer of Global Fund Asia. In this session, Ms. Ann Fordham of International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) presented the overview of international drug control system that the previous ten years of drug control was confused on containment in terms of consumption, production and distribution. Prioritizations of law enforcement over public health lead to unintended negative consequences such as lack of access to drugs. Ms. Fordham said that the system of international drug control has direct infl uences on how policies are formulated at a national level. Linking international drug control system with harm reduction policies, Ms. Fordham pointed out that the effective implementation of harm reduction intervention is only possible in the legal environment in which drug use is not criminalized”. Accurate Data Needed Dr. Zulmair Yanri On the third day, a dialogue between parliamentarians and drug users was arranged. Responding to a question of the role of parliamentarians in helping drug users, Mr. John Hyde stated that key is to convince communities on health issues and financial facts. The involvement of the media is vital. Dr. Zulmair Yanri, Member of Paliament, Indonesia, stated that the key role for parliamentarians to play is that of budgeting. She pointed that in order to convince parliament to increase budget for harm reduction, there is a need to gather accurate data to support the evidence. Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya in his closing speech pledged to mobilize parliamentarians in the Asia-Pacific region in a strong partnership to win public support, to do away with social stigma, and spare no effort to create an enabling environment where harm reducing measures can be introduced, implemented effectively and bring real public health benefits to our people. “The spread of HIV among injecting drug users is preventable, and denying the real benefi ts of harm reduction will only perpetuate the problem. We can no longer afford the silence on this matter”, said Dr. Kullavanijaya.
The three-day consultation
saw useful discussions and policy recommendations to improve
policies conductive to the health
and rights of injecting drug users. The consultation
concluded with a proposal of parliamentarians to form a
Standing Committee of Parliamentarians on harm reduction to
pursue parliamentary advocacy. |
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Bangkok – The Senate Committee on Public Health in Thailand held a meeting of the population sub-committee under the chairmanship of Senator Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya, Secretary General of AFPPD. This committee on population has been arranging discussions and hearings on Maternal Health and MDG-5.
Bangkok - Dr. Anan Ariyachaipanich,
Dr. Somsak Pattarakulwanich, Deputy Director General at Department of Heath gave statistics regarding Thailand’s maternal health. The goal of the rate of maternal death in 2008 was to be 18 deaths per 100,000 live births. In fact, the number was less than that of 17.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. However, when internationalorganizations such as WHO published statistics, the number was 100 deaths per 100,000 live births, which shows a difference in data. Regarding other aspects of maternal health, Dr. Somsak explained that data and statistics originate from mostly public facilities and data does not include those from other facilities such as private clinics; such data includes infant mortallity, teenage pregnancies and abortion. Teenage Pregnancies Dr. Somsak also said that during recent year, the Department of Health has organized a number of programs dealing with teenage pregnancy and teenage sexual behavior. These include the Program of Teenage Friends, public teenage health facilities, the youth program To Be Number One and reproductive health delivered at a bachelor’s degree level. As for policies concerning development of mother and child, Dr. Somsak stated that the Department of Health has plans to collaborate with the Ministry of Public Health and other organizations and ministries. Factors for MDG-5
Dr. Wassana Im-em of UNFPA discussed the discrepancies
regarding the data of Thailand’s RH and Family Planning.
Dr. Wassana also stated that MDG-5 is measured not only by
maternal death,
Statistics Dr. Worawan Chandoevwit of the National Institute for Child and Family Development stated that another major issue that stands between Thailand and reaching MDG-5 by 2015 are the discrepancies between statistics of Thai studies and those from the international studies. Registration Inaccuracies Ms. Urai Homtwee from the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) informed that according to research conducted by the PDA, when family members of adolescents who commit suicide from reasons regarding teenage pregnancy during high school years, it is rare that the family members register the death being related to pregnancy. Therefore, this is another reason why the present numbers of maternal death and adolescent pregnancy is inaccurate.
Dr. Suvajee Good, Deputy Director of the
Planned Parenthood Association of Thailand spoke of research
conducted in the three southern provinces of Thailand. The
research has shown that one of the major problems regarding
maternal health is the lack of information that is available
to women in the south.
Ms. Kanda Sutthanunt of UNICEF referred to hildren’s rights,
and noted that t
.The subcommittee on population saw useful discussions and
policy recommendations to improve Thailand’s movement to
reach MDG-5. The meeting closed with an agreement to a
continuation to discuss the MDG-5 at a later date. |
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Progress Made and Lessons Learned
Bangkok - Executive Director of AFPPD, Shiv Khare, attended
a USAIDS organized a conference from March 6-11 entitled
Reconvening Bangkok 2007 to 2010 – Progress Made and Lessons
Learned. The meeting was a The meeting reviewed the programs, as well as lessons learned in the movements of the scaling-up of family planning – maternal and child health, and the best practices in Asia and the Middle East region.
The conference also discussed achieving MDG-5, and state of
the art approaches available in the area of family planning,
as well as pragmatic solutions and their integrations with
reproductive health and stronger Keynote speakers included Dr. Olivier C. Carduner, Mission Director for the Regional Development Mission for Asia of USAID from Bangkok, Dr. Siriwat Tiparadol the Deputy Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Health and Dr. Jeff Spieler from the Offi ce of Population and Reproductive Health from USAID, USA. Issues included medically oriented themes that discussed prenatal, neonatal and maternal care. This includes discussions regarding prevention of common prenatal conditions such as anemia and eclampsia, both of which are easily preventable with proper education and care. Dr. Abdul Mannan of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University presented a lecture concerning the frequent cases of neonatal asphyxia and how to prevent it. Technologically oriented themes were discussed including modern methods of contraception methods and roles in Asia and the Middle East. Dr. Jeff Spieler gave a presentation entitled New Contraceptive Technology. Dr. Kiran Ambwani of DCH gave a lecture of Reinvigorating Postpartum Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (PPIUCD) in India. Mr. Shiv Khare, Executive Director of AFPPD also attended this event.
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Mr. Stefano Scarpetta, Head of the Division for Employment and Analysis Policy in OECD discussed how the fi nancial and economic crisis have turned into a social crisis due to unemployment.
Mr. Rolf Alter, Director of Public Governance and
Territorial Development Directorate of OECD, and Mr. Grant
Kirkpatrick, Acting Head of Corporate Affairs of OECD spoke
of how transparency and integrity are central to the health
of the world economies and their stabilities, and emphasized
the need for regulatory reform. |
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Sexuality education can play a key role in improving knowledge and reducing sexual risk behaviours among young people. Equipped with better knowledge, information and skills, young people can be empowered to make informed decisions about sexual choices. In response to this challenge, the voluntary and non-mandatory International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education developed by UNESCO in partnership with UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO seeks to assist education, health and other relevant authorities to develop and implement school-based sexuality education materials and programmes. The International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education is based on a rigorous review of evidence on sexuality education programmes and is aimed at education and health sector decision-makers and professionals.
The International
Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education was co-authored by
leading experts in the fi eld of Sexuality Education and
subjected to extensive review and comment by a global panel
of experts and practitioners from civil society
organizations, ministries of education, and international
agencies. (UNESCO 2010) |
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In Brief: Demise of Two Pro-women Bills in Pakistan
The National Assembly of Pakistan passed, with
rare unanimity, a bill to protect women and children from
domestic violence but it could not become a law as it was
not approved by the Upper House in 90 days as government did
not pass the bill after an objection by a member and the
bill was allowed to lapse. There was the protection against
harassment of women at work place Act 2009 and Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act 2009. |
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The Global Consultation between UNFPA and NGOs took place in New York on February 15-16, 2010. The consultation was opened by the Executive Director of UNFPA, Ms. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. In her statement, Ms. Obaid talked about how the ICPD at 15 reviews in 2009 set the stage to move forward, and highlighted areas in which UNFPA and NGOs need to pull their strengths together to complement each other to make the dream that emerged from Cairo a reality for all.
ICDP+15 Outcomes - Panel
In the panel of ICDP+15 outcomes, Mr. Werner Haug, UNFPA Director of the Technical Division, presented some of the key conclusions of the ICPD at 15 processes. He highlighted that there seems to be clarity of what the gaps, challenges and priorities are, but not on how to address them. Some of the key conclusions of ICPD at 15 which he mentioned were that there was a reaffi rmation of ICPD principles but also a call for implementation; that the ICPD Programme of Action (PoA) was decentralized with focused areas in the different regions; and that there has been progress on the institutionalization of the PoA, with the creation of laws and policies, but gaps remain in adherence. He ended his presentation with three recommendations on where NGO’s and UNFPA may wish to partner.
Ms. Sivananthi Thanenthiran, Ms. Sivananthi Thanenthiran of the Asia Pacifi c Resource and Research Center for Women (ARROW), representing the Global Partners in Act ion: NGO Forum Steering Group, presented the outcomes of the NGO forum held in 2009 in Berlin. She also presented the five points of the Berlin Call to Action and some issues which emerged during the forum. Ms. Safi ye Cagar Ms. Safi ye Cagar, Director of the Information and External Relations Division of UNFPA noted that this consultation between NGOs and UNFPA, the fourth of its kind, included partners beyond the sexual and reproductive health community, is a step towards hearing broader perspectives. She complemented the panel by focusing on the outcomes from the parliamentary and ministerial meetings held in Addis Ababa in 2009; namely the International Parliamentary Conference on the Implementation of the ICPD (IPCI) and the high-Level meeting on MDG-5, co-hosted by the Dutch government. Some of the actions urged of civil society in the Addis Call to Action are to galvanize political resolve, counter opposition and, hold governments accountable for their commitments. The IPCI conference saw the largest number of civil society representatives from 115 countries, including a youth coalition. Its outcome, the Parliamentarian’s Statement of Commitment focuses on what parliamentarians pledge to do, including hearings and partnerships with civil society. Ms. Safi ye urged participants to use both the Addis Call to Action and the Parliamentarians Statement of Commitment as advocacy tools.
Mr. Shiv Khare and Mr. Neil Datta After the presentations, Shiv Khare from the Asia Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) and Neil Datta of the European Parliamentary Forum on Population and Development (EPF) made statements from the fl oor in which they highlighted their advocacy, particularly activities to work with NGOs and parliamentarians together. Ms. Gill Greer, Director - General of IPFF, who served as Chair of the Berlin NGO Forum, also spoke from the fl oor suggesting that follow-up activities could be organized according to the tracks of the Forum (human rights, HIV, maternal health, etc.) as spelled out in the Strategic Options for NGOs. |
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“The Need for Dialogue to be Both Ways” Ms. Gill Greer |
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This session was chaired by Ms. Purmina Mane, Deputy Executive Director of UNFPA. A dialogue followed the panel including issues of NGO involvement in UN and inter-governmental processes, which could be addressed by NGOs participating in national delegations; on the importance of investing in the leadership of young people, on community engagement and simple language, on off-setting fundamentalist groups by working with ministers/governments and Faith Based Organizations that support ICPD, on the importance of advocacy and networking/working together and on looking for resources in places like the private sector. These comments were addressed again in the afternoon work group and presented the following day as concrete recommendations.
Working together to advocate for the ICPD This panel was chaired by Ms. Gill Greer, Director General of IPPF. The presenters included Ms. Dame Billie Miller (Barbados), Recipient of the United Nations Population Award, and Ms. Susan Cohen (USA), Guttmacher Institute. Rebranding messages needed Ms. Dame Billie Miller
“Need to highlight the mutually supportive role of maternal health” Ms. Susan Cohen Ms. Susan Cohen from the Guttmacher Institute in USA, focused her presentation on US support to the population agenda. She noted that the US Global agenda requires keeping pressure on the funding front (target of $1 billion in funding by 2014) and pushing the envelope on the policy front. On the policy front, there is a need to highlight the mutually supportive role of maternal health and women’s health and link the MDGs, particularly MDG5, with interventions already being supported so policy makers better understand the connection. The US commitment to family planning and reproductive health survived the post-Cairo setbacks as funding levels were pushed despite a very unfavorable political environment. The budget allocation stands at $650 million with $55 million allotted to UNFPA. Interventions of Important Issues Mr. William Butz Following the presentation, several speakers were invited to provide comments from the fl oor. Mr. William Butz, Population Reference Bureau requested inputs on how their website could more effectively focus on important issues. Population Growth Other interventions during the meeting included the following key points and recommendations: as needs continue to rise while funding is stagnant, it is important to go beyond a rights based approach and recognize that population growth is still important, global advocacy must specify regions and outline specifi c interventions, there is a need to support the African Union (AU) summit for a stronger and better Programme for Action for SRH and rights (post Maputo), coherence at the country level remains a challenge (i.e. initiatives of WHO, UNFPA, etc), there is a need for greater emphasis on “selling” the health benefi ts in the population debate. Major 2010 Events Mr. Stan Bernstein The second day of the consultation opened with a panel on Major Events in 2010, Chaired by Katie Chau of the Youth Coalition. Mr. Stan Bernstein, Senior Policy Adviser for UNFPA spoke of the MDG+10 summit, which will take place from September 20-22 at the United Nations in New York. The message for MDG+10 review is that MDGs are attainable. In addition, during the summit they will showcase progress made and utilize those advances to demonstrate how to scale up. He stated that the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) agenda is well positioned but throughout this process we should remain on target and aggressive with our messages. The key messages with regard to Cairo: focus on embedding SRH issues into larger social development agenda including through broad-based partnerships, integration of services, focus on entire continuum of care, increase resources and linking to action plans, give balance to prevention not just disease-oriented aspects of health and focus on social determinants and inequities in health including access for marginalized i.e. within rural, disabled, socially excluded. Mr. Stan Bernstein concluded his statement by saying that the MDG agenda will witness partnership with civil society in national processes: our efforts will come together at the national level, in national dialogue and national action. Beijing +15
Both Ms. Aminata Toure, Chief of the Gender, Culture and
Human Rights Branch of UNFPA and Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Special
Adviser on Gender Issues, Advancement of Women to the
Secretary General, spoke on Beijing +15. The focus of 54th
session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will
be on sharing best practices in advancing the Beijing
Platform for Action and overcoming obstacles and new
challenges. The focus of Beijing +15 review is on bridging
the gap between rhetoric and action; the focus should be
implementation of the existing frameworks; while aiming to
provide impetus for gender equality at the national level.
bridging the gap between rhetoric and action; the focus
should be implementation of the existing frameworks; while
aiming to provide impetus for gender equality at the
national level. Reflections on the Way Forward
Ambassador Brookman - Amissah speaking about the
consultation, said that she felt it had been a step forward
to enable UNFPA and NGOs to work together. She said that it
is time to implement and operationalize action plans. We
need to look at intersections and broader frameworks. She
also proposed that we develop few, simple and succinct
messages that enable us all to speak with one voice, even on
controversial issues while protecting rights above all. |
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A new report on maternal health in the Pacifi c from the New Zealand Parliamentarians’ Group on Population and Development (NZPPD) calls on the New Zealand, Australian and Pacifi c Island governments to take immediate action to improve the maternal health situation in the Pacific.
While progress is being made in some Pacific Island countries, other countries still have high rates of maternal deaths. Five women a day die in the Pacific region due to pregnancy or childbirth related causes. The majority of these deaths are in Melanesia, and largely preventable. “We know what is needed to prevent so many of these deaths. Access to family planning services and contraceptives, more midwives and better facilities to name a few. But it also requires the political willingness to prioritise and invest in this area”, said Dr. Jackie Blue, MP, NZPPD Chair.
Many women in the Pacifi c do not have
access to family planning services, modern contraceptives or
the necessary care during and after pregnancy and
childbirth. Teenage pregnancy rates in Vanuatu, the Solomon
Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, and the Marshall
Islands are among the highest in the world. |
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The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), was held during March 1-12 at the United Nations and marking the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action.
The most controversial resolution, adopted
late on the last day of the meeting, was “Eliminating
Preventable Maternal Mortality and Morbidity through the
Empowerment of Women” presented by the United States. While
Member States acknowledge that MDG-5 was the goal lagging
the most behind, during four days and nights of intense
negotiations it became quite apparent that reproductive
health continued to be a controversial issue and Member
States were not yet ready to address the issue of maternal
mortality and morbidity in an inclusive and realistic
manner. Controversies in the negotiations revolved around
family planning; unsafe abortion; “early and forced
marriage” versus “child marriage”, and fi nally, whether
additional fi nancial resources were needed. |
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Panama IPCI
Global Consultation The meeting also felt that strategies of working with parliamentarians should also be reviewed on the basis of the experience of regional parliamentarians’ forums. What kind of advocacy techniques works and what do not work should be reviewed and new strategies should be planned to reach parliamentarians in changing time. AFPPD conducted such a review earlier but experience at other regions could be different. It was suggested to organize such a consultation with all stakeholders taking part.
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Nearly a quarter of a billion people escaped slums in the
past decade, but the housing effort was
outstripped
by population growth and rural exodus to the cities,
according to a recent report released by UN-HABITAT. These were among the document ’s highlights:
Investigators determined that housing was a slum if it
lacked at least one of these five menities: it had a
permanent structure; had less than three people sharing a
room; access to water that was suffi cient, affordable and
could be obtained without extreme effort; a private toilet
or a public one shared with a reasonable number of people;
and secure tenure. (Bangkok Post) |
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If population growth and size is not an issue but migrant workers is, even then large Thai population is poor and unemployed. Is quality of population an issue or population growth and economic development is not keeping pace resulting unrest. PAI (Population Action International) study shows that population size and lack of employment lead to social and then political unrest. Should we examine this in Thailand?
Editor |
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WATER availability cannot cope with population growth in India. Severe water shortage is already felt in various parts of India. Bombay alone is short of 400 million liters of water and that demand increases with every child born. Around 300 million people in India are below poverty line. If Indian population continues to increase, can any formular provide them all food, water and shelter. Should we not examine this for India?
Editor |
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“Instead of controlling the environment for the benefi t of the population, maybe we should control the population to ensure the survival of our environment.” Sir David Attenborough |
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Today, I would like to talk about exercising for health. Not
every exercise or sport is necessarily good or safe for
one’s health. Exercising for heart refers to any exercise
that strengthens the heart, lung, and circulation. This
involves the use of large muscle groups, such as the arms or
legs, continuously for about 30 minutes until the heart rate
reaches about 70% of the maximal heart rate. Maximal heart
rate is calculated from subtracting one’s age in years from
220. For example, the maximal heart rate of a 30 year old
man is 190 (220 minus 30). Thus, a 30 year old man should
exercise so his heart (pulse) rate reaches 70% of 190 which
is 133 beats per minute. He also should exercise at least
three times per week. If you know the basics of exercising
for health - using large muscle groups continuously for 30
minutes (with enough intensity and frequency) - you can
understand yourself of what type of exercises this should
be. Exercises that are benefi cial for health are walking,
jogging, running, bicycling, swimming, and other aerobic
exercises. Infact, any type of exercise that can be done
with enough intensity, proper duration and frequency is
benefi cial for your health. If you understand this you will
know straight away that tennis, badminton or golf are not
exactly an exercise or a sport for health. This is because
when playing these sports, you do not exercise continuously
nor with enough intensity (sometimes with more, sometimes
with less intensity depending on game). This is a major
reason why you occasionally hear about people dying while
playing tennis.
Of course, if you do not die during the games you are
healthier than those who do not play tennis. The lesson here
is that if you want to play tennis, you should exercise for
health fi rst. You should begin training your body for, say,
three months to get your heart, lungs and circulation fi t
enough for tennis. Even then, do not play only tennis but
carry on exercising for health three times a week and play
tennis as a sport instead. For example, run on Sunday,
Tuesday and Friday and play tennis on Monday and Wednesday,
etc.
With my very best wishes |
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Parliamentarians’ session on Harm
Reduction organized in conjunction with the second Asian
consultation on the prevention of HIV infection related to
drug use. During the two day session the parliamentarians
discussed policies and practices on the prevention of HIV
infection among drug users and called for urgent action on
harm reduction. Over 200 participants attended the above
mentioned consultation which was organized by Response
Beyond Border (RBB) in collaboration with AFPPD, UNAIDS,
UNODC, WHO, USAIDS, the World Bank, and other development
agencies on January 21-23, 2010 in Bangkok.
policy and laws into a rights-based
approach where harm reduction is being hampered by misconcept ions and i r rat ional responses to public health
needs”. 
Mr.
John Hyde
Mr.
Mauro Guarinieri, Civil Society Offi cer of the Global Fund
Asia gave an overview of the situation of HIV epidemic and
intravenous drug abuse in Asia. “HIV epidemic in the region
still concentrates among injecting
drug users in which only few countries have integrated
comprehensive programmes of services for those specifi c
communities”, said Mr. Guarinieri. He further pointed out
that one of the problems to scale is the limited involvement
of IDUs in programme designing and services needed to be
delivered to local communities to create ownership in order
to ensure sustainability of the programme.
Dr. Suresh Kumar
Dr. Mohd Yusmadi Yusoff
Ms. Mariam Cleason, Coordinator of HIV/ AIDS in Human
Development Network of the World Bank discussed challenges
of policy and practices under different economic development
approaches. She explained that HIV prevalence in Asia is
related to poverty and thus the uneducated are most
affected. Elaborating World Bank strategies, she said that
the Bank is investing in local communities to tackle stigma
in the sociocultural context. However, the success would
have not been achieved without parliamentarians who take up
the cause to make programme receptive to the community.
“Parliamentarians are agent of change”, said Ms. Cleason.
Chairman, Senate
Standing Committee on Public Health opened the subcommittee
discussion by reiterating the importance of a quality
population. He said that the subcommittee was formed to
solve problems about population and development related
issues in Thailand. The main topic which the subcommittee
discussed was the progress of MDG-5 in Thailand. 
but also by around four factors which are:
1) rate of birth control 2) teenage pregnancies 3) rate of
skilled birth attendants, and 4)
failed birth controlrates. The number of failed birth
control can be seen by the reports of high demand of
emergency contraceptives. Also, in order to monitor the
progress of MDG-5, Thailand needs to monitor adolescent
birth rates as well as unmet needs of family planning. Dr.
Wassana stated that as of 2010, many countries have planned
to gather statistical information in order to successfully
carry out MDG-5. Thailand in fact plans to begin on July 1,
2010, however, there are still
many problems to face.
eenagers are unable to return to school
after giving birth. UNICEF has been discussing with the
Ministry of Education in order to solve this issue and allow
young mothers to return to school and complete their
education
Senator Dr. Pinit Kullavanijaya,
Secretary General of AFPPD participated on OECD
Parliamentary Seminar on “Sustaining Global Recovery” on
February 18 in Paris. Chaired by Mr. Anthony Gooch, Director
of Public Affairs and Communications Directorate of OECD,
the seminar focused on the impacts that world is facing in
the aftermath of the fi nancial crisis. 
Ms. Thoraya
Obaid, Executive Director of UNFPA call to make Cairo Dream
a Reality
Discussion
Ms. Dame Billie Miller, recipient of the UN Population Award
from Barbados, spoke of progress achieved in the debate on
population dynamics, which is now linked to migration,
poverty eradication, climate change, among other issues.
However, achievements in the development arena have been
overtaken by natural disasters and the fi nancial crisis. At
current projections, the MDGs will not be met by 2015,
particularly the last 3 goals, however, she emphasized the
“struggle must go on”. In this context, there is a need to
begin
planning for post 2015 and think about “rebranding our
message and image”. She affi rmed that NGOs must make
themselves indispensable to governments, stress their
comparative advantage, and work more and harder in “smart
partnerships”. NGOs must learn to engage governments as
indispensible partners that can do the job better and for
less money. More efforts are needed towards coherence,
particularly in times of scarce and dwindling resources, to
ensure that donors avoid pursuing projects in isolation.
NGOs must also look at new and innovative ways of doing
business (i.e. texting, more youth participation, etc) while
retaining what works in the old and traditional ways. In
order to further mobilize efforts, she saw the need to reset
and retrain where necessary and look into Results Based
Management (RBM), while also ensuring a focus on outcomes
rather than only being preoccupied with outputs to meet
donor requirements.
The Report, Making Maternal Health Matter, is the results of
an Open Hearing on Maternal Health in the Pacifi c held by
NZPPD in September 2009, where individuals and organizations
working within the field were able to voice their concerns
to New Zealand parliamentarians about the challenges still
facing maternal health in the region.
Making Maternal Health Matter, brings together the key
messages from the Open Hearing, with recommendations from
NZPPD on where urgent action is needed.
Ms. Nobuko Horibe, Director
of UNFPA Regional Office, Ms. Nobuko Takahashi and Ms.
Galanne Deressa of UNFPA Regional Off ice visi ted AFPPD
to review AFPPD Parliamentary Programme and future
plans.
New York – The ICPD+15 was the opportunity to take stock and
review the impact of the regional parliamentarians’ forums
on policies and political commitment. The IERD of UNFPA,
responsible for parliamentarians’ initiatives convened a
strategy meeting on February 18-19 in New York. This meeting
was opened by Ms. Mari Simonen, Deputy Executive Director of
UNFPA and chaired by Ms. Safi ye Cagar, Director of IERD,
UNFPA. The meeting was attended by UNFPA regional and
international focal points for
parliamentary tasks and regional parliamentary forums.
The UNFPA in cooperation with the Regional Parliamentarian
Forums bring together parliamentarians of the world at the
International Parliamentarians Conference in ICPD (IPCI)
every three years to review, plan future programmes and
reinforce parliamentary advocacy. In the year 2006, the
conference was held in Bangkok and in 2009, it was held in
Addis Abba, Ethiopia, which was attended by more than 600
parliamentarians and others.
A total of 227 million people rose out of slum conditions
from 2000 to 2010, thanks especially to hard work in China
and India, according to the UN Human Settlements Programme,
also called UN-Habitat.
Thailand, population growth is stabilizing according to UN
experts and population/ family planning programmes are
considered a success but poverty still prevails. Disparity
between rich and poor was a reason given
for recent political conflict in Thailand. 
Dear fellow parliamentarians and colleagues, In the last
issue I wrote about four
important
characteristics one should have in order to make him or her
a complete person: being a good person, a good worker,
having well rounded knowledge, and a healthy body and mind.
To be good at work one must have good vision, be good at
dealing with people, communicate well, be good at fi nance,
good at managing time and knows his work very well. However,
of course it can be diffi cult to have any or all these
qualities if you are starving, with no chance of an
education and no access to public health services.