New WHO Strategies on HIV Pushed
The Philippine Star - Manila, Philippines, 6/30/2011
A party-list congressman has urged the Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC) to quickly adopt here the new strategies being pushed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to reduce the spread of HIV and save the lives of men who have sex with men. The PNAC is the central advisory, planning and policy making body on the prevention and control of HIV and AIDS in the country.
Discourse of Desire
The Hindu - New Delhi, India, 6/29/2011
Film scholar Shohini Ghosh dwells on the intersection between cinema and sexuality by saying, ‘As a society we have many contradictory responses to homosexuality. Bombay cinema rides that paradox too. Interesting spaces are beginning to manifest in our films. Prime examples are movies like Kal Ho Na Ho and Dostana. In the first one, the behaviour of the characters played by Shah Rukh and Saif is misconstrued as homosexuality. The persona of the maid ‘Kanta behen` is used to express shock. Together these two elements are contrived to evoke laughter in the audience. But are we laughing at the homosexuality or the homophobia? Dostana straddles the same erotic versus phobic dichotomy.’
Make it Legal
Hindustan Times - New Delhi, India, 6/29/2011
Legalise gay marriages - that’s the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community’s big demand ahead of the second anniversary of the decriminalisation of gay sex in India. With the recent passing of governor Andrew Como’s bill that legalises same-sex marriages in New York, Indians are hopeful that the move would show positive ripple effects in the country, and are set to shout for it at Jantar Mantar on July 2 - the day that marks two years since the reading down of IPC’s Section 377 by the Delhi High Court.
Indian Girls Persuade Parents They Are Too Young For Marriage
Guardian, India, 6/29/2011
After learning that Seema`s family was planning an early marriage for her, Rumi and other adolescent girls` club members began a concerted campaign of visits to her parents and grandmother. The teenagers` well-informed arguments convinced the family to let Seema complete her education and wait till she was emotionally and physically ready to become a wife and mother. To spread the message that early marriage is unacceptable, NGOs including UNICEF are working with regional government bodies across India to set up Adolescent Girls` Clubs Against Child Marriage.
Analytics Software Helps Health Pros
Bangkok Post, Thailand, 6/29/2011
Business analytics software is now playing an important role in health care through the core functions of analysing and evaluating patient segments and behaviour.The Thai Red Cross Aids Research Centre uses analytics software for planning Aids-prevention campaigns and activities, targeting people at high risk. The campaign aims to reduce the number of HIV-infected patients, which in turn would help reduce government spending on treatment for HIV patients and ease social problem.
Thailand Still High on Human Trafficking Watch
Bangkok Post, Thailand, 6/28/2011
Thailand remained high on the list of nations where there is human trafficking as the US lowered the alert on the Philippines, Singapore and Laos. The US State Department said that ‘Tier 2 Watch List’ nations named in the annual report, including Thailand, have been big on promises to fight human trafficking but have failed to show improvement over the past year. Along with Thailand, there were numerous Tier 2 countries, from Afghanistan and Argentina to Vietnam and Zambia. It includes Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Russia.
Sellers Tread a Fine Legal Line but Safety is a Major Issue
Bangkok Post, Thailand, 6/28/2011
Under Section 287 of the Criminal Code, distributors, producers or exhibitors of obscene materials, or those who assist with advertising them, face fines of up to 6,000 baht and/or jail terms up to three years. Defining ‘obscene’ is not easy, though anything representing male or female genitalia is illegal, even sex dolls, says Pol Col Phrutthiphong Prayoonsiri. In his view, the most serious cases involve the issue of safety. He points to the wide variety of counterfeit drugs and other products as opposed to legal ones.
‘Every Day is Like Slut Walk For Us’
Mid Day, Delhi, India, 6/28/2011
`Slut Walk` campaigns around the globe from Boston to Brasilia have kept protestors, commentators, activists, academicians and civil society groups busy debating over a phenomenon which some have termed as a `befitting feminist response` to sexual violence. But the latest to speak up are a bunch of women who deal with the much debated word every day. ‘When I think of it it`s ironic. Your gentrywalas have created such a hullabaloo over the word; for us it is something tattooed on our head.
Fourth Round of HASP Begins
Daily Times - Karachi, Pakistan, 6/27/2011
The fourth round of HIV and AIDS Surveillance Project (HASP) has begun. The project seeks to enhance the capacity of the Government of Pakistan to implement an effective the Second Generation Surveillance (SGS) System for HIV and AIDS. The HASP is a capacity building project that involves working with the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), Provincial AIDS Control Programmes (PACPs) and other stakeholders to develop a sustainable SGS system for HIV and AIDS.
Indonesia Struggles to Protect Human Rights
The Jakarta Post - Jakarta, Indonesia, 6/27/2011
Though the demise of its authoritarian rule is now 13 years past, Indonesia still struggles to protect human rights, as the state repeatedly finds itself embroiled in criminal acts against its citizens, a report says. A one-year review by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), which wraps up in June, identified 30 incidents in which citizens were brutally tortured by the usual suspects, the police and the army, through interrogation and efforts to intimidate. Kontras asserts that the figure only represented the tip of the iceberg, as victims seldom have the courage or the means to report the abuses.
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