UNDP Climate Change Storytelling Contest: Oxfam supports journalists’ participation with additional fellowships

The authors of the top five prize-winning stories will be invited to attend and cover the COP21 UN climate summit in Paris

Oxfam will support the Voice2Paris global storytelling contest launched in August by the United National Development Programme (UNDP) by providing three additional fellowships for participating journalists to cover the UN Conference on Climate Change, COP21, in Paris in December. Oxfam’s contribution to the contest aims at encouraging journalists’ participation in climate change reporting and raising public awareness of climate actions.

The storytelling contest targets writers 35 years and under from developing countries who want to contribute – locally and internationally – towards greater public awareness of climate change.

The authors of the top five prize-winning stories will be invited to attend and cover the COP21 UN climate summit in Paris. UNDP will support the top two winners and Oxfam, as a special partner in the contest, will cover travel costs and per diem for writers of the next three best stories worldwide.

“The contest is a fantastic opportunity to create awareness of the harmful impacts of climate change on communities, and of potential opportunities in climate-vulnerable developing countries” said Wang Binbin, Manager of the Climate Change and Poverty Team, Oxfam Hong Kong.

He also noted that this is also a great opportunity for young journalists to strengthen their perception of climate change and to frame it not merely as an environmental issue but also as an issue of social justice and poverty alleviation.

“We welcome the partnership with Oxfam, as it gives UNDP concrete support to expand the voices of vulnerable countries, helps depict the reality of climate change globally, and gives a new generation of journalists a chance to get heard during COP21” said Jo Scheuer, Director, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction at UNDP’s Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project Launched in Kenya

For 1 million babies worldwide every year, their day of birth is also their day of death

Photo courtesy of APO

#UNICEF and The #Philips Foundation together with Concern Worldwide, Maker and Gearbox, have launched the Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project, to help save lives and improve the health of pregnant women and children in Kenya.

Under the leadership of the Government of Kenya and the Project’s Steering Committee at the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and The Philips Foundation will facilitate the development of innovative health technology and solutions in the field of maternal, newborn and child health.

This cooperation will help catalyse novel health interventions for the benefit of the most vulnerable mothers and children, and contribute to reducing the number of deaths of pregnant women and their newborn babies. This investment is in keeping with the Government of Kenya’s commitment to investing in innovative, home-grown solutions for maternal and newborn health care.

In developing countries such as Kenya, maternal, newborn and child mortality rates remain unacceptably high. Kenya has reduced under-five child deaths per 1,000 lives from 90 in 2003 to 52 in 2014, but this still falls short of the Millennium Development Goal 4 target of 33 by the end of 2015. 

Neonatal mortality is also too high at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births. One significant cause of these deaths is the lack of medical equipment and technology to support even the most basic interventions for pregnant women and their newborns, especially in remote areas where health care workers lack essential medical resources.

“For 1 million babies worldwide every year, their day of birth is also their day of death,” said Sharad Sapra, UNICEF Director of the UNICEF Global Innovation Centre. “But with strengthened health systems and innovative solutions for both mothers and children, the chance for survival is greatly increased.”

The project was launched ahead of the September 25-27 United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, where UNICEF is promoting greater involvement of the private sector in improving children’s lives.

The Millennium Development Goals expire at the end of 2015 and are being replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that represent a new set of targets for international development. 

The Philips Foundation and UNICEF will promote innovation and technology as a key strategy to realize the new SDGs and improve the lives of women and children where most needed. With the global presence of organizations, worldwide engagement and scale is at the centre of the partnership.

Mpigi appeals to government for more CD4 Count Machines

People Living with HIV and AIDS in Mpigi have appealed to the government of Uganda to give them more CD4 count machines. This took place during a stakeholders meeting held at Mpigi district main hall to come up with solutions on clotting of CD4 test blood samples.

Fred Sewanyana, Secretary of Mpigi Network of AIDS Service Organisations, said that clients from 20 ART sites depend on one machine based at Mpigi health center IV.

“The number of clients in ART care who need to get their CD4 tests before they can access antiretroviral therapy is overwhelming and many times blood samples clot before they are tested,” he added.

Sadat Ssemanda, Laboratory Technician at Mpigi HC IV, said that on average there are 100 blood samples to be tested for CD4 count but the machine can only work on 50 samples daily.

“The huge number of blood samples overwhelms the hub which results into blood clotting due to failure to run all the CD4 tests within the required 24 hours,” he added.

Ssemand noted that the sometimes blood clots due to poor transportation, or lack of lack electricity at health facility and requested the government give the district more machines.

David Ssebisubi, Program Coordinator of Muduma Health Initiative Association, said that the whole of Mpigi district has only two machines; one at Mpigi health center IV and Nkozi hospital and one mini CD4 machine at Buwama health center III.

“At Buwama health center III, 40 clients take CD4 test but the mini machine can only do 9-15 tests per day. All remaining samples are transferred to Mpigi health center,” he added.

Ssebisubi said that if more machines are given to the district more people will get their CD4 counted and get eligible for ART.

Siana Nakazibwe, Finance Manager of the Uganda Network of AIDS Service Organizations, advised the participants to use the opportunity of the political period and start a strong campaign so that they can get the machines.

“You can make those politicians pledge to contribute to buying the machines,” she advised.

According to the Health Management Information System report (July 2014-March 2015) the number of clients on ART care in Mpigi increased from 7051 to 7777. Those initiated on ART increased by 1514 from 6063. Out of those active on ART only 3467 were tested for CD4.

The report also indicates that HIV prevalence rate of Mpigi is at 8% way above the national rate of 7.3%; with people living in Buwama, Nkozi, Kammengo and Mpigi town council being at a high risk of getting HIV because most people are risk like fisher folks and trucker drivers live in these areas. 

Uganda launches new low-cost HIV drug.

The Ugandan government on Sunday launched a cheaper one-pill-a-day drug for HIV treatment, marking an advancement in its fight against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Cipla Quality Chemical Industries, Ltd, in Uganda is the proud manufacturer of the new drug, a triple cocktail (Efavirenz, Lamivudine and Tenofavir) HIV drugs. The single-dose Trioday treatment, which costs only $13 per month, replaces the cumbersome 12-drug cocktails that used to be the only option for people with the fatal human immunodeficiency virus.

“We are reaching the phase of the end of the HIV epidemic in Uganda and the region. We had never dreamed about this in 30 to 40 years back,” said Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who launched the drug on behalf of President Yoweri Museveni.

Uganda has a large burden of HIV and AIDS: based on UNAIDS estimates, there were 1,500,000 Ugandans living with HIV in 2012 with 1,400,000 being among adults and 100,000 being  children. Women are dis-proportionally affected by the epidemic because only 44% of the adults infected were men. In 2012, there were 140,000 new infections in the country with 86% being among adults while 14% was among newly born babies. Furthermore, 63,000 persons living with HIV (PLHIV) were estimated to have died of AIDS related causes in 2012. 

These statistics imply that 383 Ugandans get infected with HIV on a daily basis, and an additional 173 people die due to AIDS related causes every day. In general, AIDS is one of the major causes of morbidity in the county. According to the 2008 Service Delivery Survey by Uganda Bureau of Statistics, HIV/AIDS accounted for 14% of all visits to the health facilities.