Publications

The period covered by this progress report has been highly eventful, not least because of the recent UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) which was held in April 2016. The UNGASS has been a central focus of IDPC’s work during these 13 months. It has been a fast-paced year with tandem efforts to ensure civil society visibility and engagement in the UNGASS process, alongside seeking to positively influence the outcome towards ensuring the prominence of health and human rights. In addition to the UNGASS, this report highlights IDPC's networking efforts in South East Asia and Latin America and show cases the growth in the Support. Don’t Punish campaign which continues to engage and mobilise new activists in countries as diverse as Burkina Faso, South Africa, Costa Rica, Chile, Lebanon, Serbia, Slovenia, Russia, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, New Zealand, Myanmar and the Philippines.

The Global Fund instituted the Country Dialogue, which is an on-going process that occurs at the country level among the government, the private and public sectors, the networks of key populations including people living with HIV, civil society and other technical partners as a means to ensure that meaningful participation happens. It was envisioned to result to a shared vision amongst partners on how to improve health and fight the epidemic that is expected to redound to a robust country Concept Note. As other countries who are recipients of the Global Fund grants, Indonesia implemented the New Funding Model beginning form the country consultation processes in developing national health strategies and strengthening health and community systems. The country has added, as part of their country dialogue, the conduct of National Gender and HIV Assessment, as well as, HIV and the law/human rights legal review. The country has also identified the stakeholder groups who should be engaged in the process, and the specific activities that need their feedback.

APCOM shares the Global Fund against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's (GFATM) goal of increased meaningful participation among MSM and transgender community at a country level in Asia and the Pacific. The Global Fund New Funding Model (NFM) is an opportunity for the community to get engaged meaningfully in country processes for a robust grant. Specifically, this report aims to look at and gather the experiences and level of participation of the MSM and Transgender community in the Philippines (New) Funding Model project development process. This report focuses to capture the following aspects: 1. The level of knowledge and understanding of the MSM and transgender community on the Global Fund Country Processes; 2. The level of engagement of the MSM and transgender community with the country dialogues 3. The level of engagement of the MSM and transgender community with the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM); and 4. The level of engagement of the community with the Global Fund  Country Teams. This document has been funded by grant 2014097 to the Consortium of MSM and Transgender Networks by the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund.

Mainstream, traditional and conservative forms of institutional and popular Christianity in Asia-Pacific countries such as Singapore, the Philippines, India, Hong Kong and Tonga are often disapproving of sexual diversity and gender variance. People who attempt to access HIV preventive measures are often held in suspicion and regarded as indulging in ‘sin’ (Wanje 2012). This becomes particularly problematic for gender variant and sexually diverse people who are often automatically connected to HIV and AIDS. Furthermore, People Living with HIV (PLHIV) are frequently perceived as being punished for their ‘sin’ (Pieters 1994). This paper examines the attitudes of institutional and popular Christianity towards men who have sex with men (MSM), transgenders (TG) and HIV, the impact of such attitudes towards MSM and TG in relation to HIV prevention and treatment, and Christian teachings and strategies that affirm MSM, TG and PLHIV.

A Snapshot of the Legal Environment on Same-Sex Sexual Acts and the Rights of Transgender and Intersex Persons in Asia and the Pacific is produced on the occasion of the 28th ILGA World Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. The Snapshot provides an overview of the legal environments in the Asia-Pacific region to inform the issues, challenges and opportunities regarding the rights of men who have sex with men and women who have sex with women, as well as transgender and intersex persons. The data provided in this Snapshot may serve as an indication of the realities of the lives and experiences of LGBT people in the region. However, it is important to understand that inconsistency of legal interpretation within national penal codes and/or policies is often found, and law enforcement does not always adhere to the written legislation.

This report aims to raise awareness about the role that the reform of public health laws can play in advancing the right to health and in creating the conditions for people to live healthy lives. By encouraging a better understanding of how public health law can be used to improve the health of the population, the report aims to encourage and assist governments to reform their public health laws in order to advance the right to health. The report highlights important issues that may arise during the process of public health law reform. It provides guidance about issues and requirements to be addressed during the process of developing public health laws. It also includes case studies and examples of legislation from a variety of countries to illustrate effective law reform practices and some features of effective public health legislation.

Adolescent health has become a priority on the global agenda. The Every Woman Every Child Global Strategy for Women's, Children's, and Adolescents' Health (2016-2030), launched at the Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015, has added a focus on adolescents, in view of the uneven progress thus far in addressing their rights and needs. As part of the Every Woman Every Child movement, many governments have made political commitments to prioritize adolescent health together with their overall efforts in improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health. Given this context, this document can guide country stakeholders in conducting a systematic situation assessment that will enable them to prioritize adolescent health within their national policy processes. The goal is to ensure future investments are guided by available data on adolescents, and importantly, maximally-used to support evidence-informed health interventions that can be brought to scale in order to reach and fulfill the rights of adolescents, especially those left behind.

Like all people, if LGBTIQ people are to achieve wellbeing and be respected and given worth in society they need to be assured of human rights and protections. Unfortunately, experience shows that these rights are, all too often, unavailable for many LGBTIQ people due to criminal laws in most of South Asia that punish same-sex sexual conduct, and give powers to the police to threaten and arrest transgender people for causing 'public nuisance'. LGBTIQ people are often discriminated against for who they are. This happens in their homes, at schools or colleges, at workplaces, in housing, and while accessing healthcare. National human rights institutions (NHRIs) can be approached by the victimised LGBTIQ people (or through their representatives) who seek to complain about rights violations that they have experienced. It is the duty of NHRIs to consider these complaints and respond to them by inquiring into their accuracy and substance, and investigating the violations that have been brought to their notice.

The 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey (AfDHS) is designed to provide data for monitoring the population and health situation in Afghanistan. The 2015 AfDHS is the first Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Afghanistan in collaboration with The Demographic and Health Surveys Program. The objective of the survey was to provide reliable estimates of fertility levels, marriage, fertility preferences, awareness and use of family planning methods, breastfeeding practices, nutrition, maternal and child health and mortality, awareness and behavior regarding HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other health-related issues such as smoking, tuberculosis, and cancer that can be used by program managers and policymakers to evaluate and improve existing programs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) convened a technical consultation during 1–2 December 2016 to review new evidence on the risk of HIV acquisition with the use of hormonal contraception (1). The issue was recognized as a critical one, particularly for sub-Saharan Africa, where women have a high lifetime risk of acquiring HIV, hormonal contraceptives constitute a significant component of the contraceptive method mix and unintended pregnancy is a common threat to the well-being and lives of women and girls. Through consensus, the GDG arrived at new recommendations for progestogen-only injectables. The recommendations for use of progestogen-only injectables among women at high risk of HIV changed from category 1 to category 2, with an accompanying clarification, in the Medical eligibility criteria for contraceptive use (MEC) (1). Recommendations for all other methods of hormonal contraception remained unchanged.