Gender-friendly Units of NP Not Much of Use
The Himalayan Times - Kathmandu, Nepal, 5/31/2014
Hundreds of police stations, which were destroyed during the decade-long Maoists insurgency, are being reconstructed across the country with modern facilities, including gender-friendly shelters. Nepal Peace Trust Fund under the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction has spent around three billion rupees so far to rebuild infrastructures destroyed or damaged during the war. These facilities, however, have become immaterial as most police units either have no posting of women police or have only one posting for women, thereby being insufficient to hear, take up, investigates and take action in cases such as gender violence, violence against women and children. A unit has at least 29 personnel while a post has only 10. There is no posting of women police in posts.
Safe Sex Practices Lead to Drop in HIV Prevalence
The Hindu - Hyderabad, India, 5/31/2014
HIV prevalence among all risk groups has come down in the State, thanks to increasing adoption of safe sex practices, said A.P. State Aids Control Society (APSACS) Joint Director T. Kailashditya. HIV prevalence that was 1.22 per cent four years ago now stands at 0.77 per cent, he said at a programme Coming Together - A Partnership for Public Health, organised by India HIV and AIDS Alliance and FICCI. Mr. Kailashditya said the fourth phase of the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) was on and the target was to bring the prevalence of the virus to zero.
Introduce Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Education in Schools
New Straits Times - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 5/30/2014
Writer-cum-activist Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir has proposed the introduction of comprehensive education in schools to provide knowledge that can lead to a behavioural change to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS. She said education played a vital role in reducing the stigma, prejudice and discrimination against people living with HIV. An effective HIV and AIDS education could also help prevent new infections by equipping individuals with the knowledge to protect themselves from becoming infected with the virus, she said.
LGBT Community to Hold Month Long Events From Next Month
Business Standards - Chennai, India, 5/30/2014
The LGBT community will hold month-long events here commencing June on issues relating to alternate sexualities and gender identities. As part of this, the annual Chennai Rainbow Pride march, an awareness event on these issues, will be held on June 29, a release here said. They will include cultural performance festivals, sensitization of educators, parents and other stakeholders on sexuality and gender-identity issues, poster and placard-making sessions and film screenings,’ it added.
Sex Education Urged Among China`s Minors
People’s Daily - Changchun, China, 5/29/2014
‘Which parts of your body should not be touched by strangers?’ Ye Xingtong asks a cohort of blushing, giggling girls; a taboo question in rural China. Using cartoons and interactive games, Ye, a volunteer from the Girls` Protection Project (GPP) under the China Social Assistance Foundation, explains what is ‘private’ and how to prevent sexual assault to students from Hope Primary School (HPS) in Changchun City, capital of northeast China`s Jilin Province, the first session of its kind in the locale. As urgency for change mounts, Ye Xingtong strongly supports more sex education. ‘I just hope that our society takes sex education more seriously and raises children`s awareness of self-protection, so there will be fewer tragedies,’ Ye said.
Gay Sex: RSS Comment Sparks Hope on Section 377
The Times of India - Mumbai, India: , 5/28/2014
In an apparent softening of its rigid stand, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP`s ideological parent, has said that criminalization of homosexuality is debatable. The remark made by RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav has sparked hope of a more rational view of the controversial Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that renders homosexuality a crime. ‘While less antagonism can be expected from the ruling party, I`m worried that the party will say that it`s enough that they don`t think we`re criminals. For any real changes in the lives of India`s LGBT community, they need to back curative petitions on the subject,’ said Pallav Patankar, director (HIV Programmes) at Humsafar Trust, which works for the LGBT community.
Increase in HIV/AIDS Cases
Dawn , Pakistan, 5/25/2014
Figures indicate that the state and society cannot afford to ignore HIV as according to UNAIDS there has been an ‘eight-fold’ increase in new HIV infections between 2001 and 2012 in Pakistan as a whole. Over the years, the issue of tackling the spread of HIV and AIDS seems to have been relegated to secondary status as compared to other daunting health challenges. Therefore, a proactive response from the provincial AIDS control programmes is needed. In order to tackle the spread of HIV and AIDS, the UN has recommended that updated data records be maintained while expansion of testing services, especially amongst vulnerable groups and that along with efforts to prevent new HIV cases through awareness, the state must ensure those living with the condition have access to medical care and support.
`New Government Should Give Priority to Gender Budgeting`
The Times of India - Guwahati, India, 5/24/2014
Planning Commission member Syeda Hameed expressed concern at the poor management of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and has appealed to the Prime Minister-elect, Narendra Modi, to give importance to gender issues in the country. ‘The GRB process is fraught with loopholes. It has not progressed at all and for this all the respective state governments are to be blamed. The new government, with absolute majority, should give priority to these issues. If they are determined to make GRB a hit, nothing can stop them,’ Hameed told Times of India on an event on GRB organised by North East Network (NEN) in the city on May 23, 2014.
HIV Success
The Financial Express, India, 5/23/2014
The world has made significant strides towards realising the UN Millenium Development Goal (MDG) on checking the spread of HIV by 2015 and reversing infection trends by 2020 - as per the World Health Statistics Report 2014 of the World Health Organization (WHO), new infections have fallen by a third from their 2001 level, from 3.4 million to 2.3 million in 2012. One of the primary reasons behind the success is that anti-retroviral therapy (ART). India too, mirrors much of this success as in the WHO report, India shows a progressive decline in new infections, and increase in ART outreach.
More Trained Midwives a Must
The Daily Star, Bangladesh, 5/23/2014
Asian University for Women (AUW) organised a three day seminar ‘National Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Seminar’ which was held on May 20-22, 2014, at Bangladesh. It underlined the need for increasing the number of trained midwives to reduce the maternal mortality rate in the country and the speakers laid emphasis on improving sexual and reproductive health of women in Bangladesh. Dr. Kamrun Nesa, a consultant of Obstetrics and Gyenaecology department of Chittagong Medical College Hospital, said that adolescent sex and reproductive health education should be incorporated in the curriculum of schools and colleges to make people aware of the issue.
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