The INFO Project Blog

From guest blogger Vanessa Mitchell, a Program Specialist with the INFO Project, and a Program Officer with CCP/Côte d’Ivoire:

On July 17, 2008 in Abidjan, a mini-film called Porteuses de Vie, premiered in front of groups in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as well as the media. The 26 minute film on the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT) was created by Alexis Don Zigre with support  from the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (CCP).

Through this communication tool, JHU/CCP explores the issue of HIV positive women seeking to have children. The film is targeted primarily towards health centers and NGOs in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and is complemented by a user guide. The user guide covers five main areas that are targeted toward women, their partners, and their families: communication in a relationship, stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), the role of service providers, the role of PLWHA support groups, and PMTCT. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay,  so for thos those of that don’t speak Spanish -  Prepárese means get ready! The XVII International AIDS Conference, will take place August 3-8, 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico.  The conference brings together scientists, researchers, clinicians and people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS to discover the latests research and programming and share best practices.  The theme of this years conference is Universal Action Now, and emphasizes the need for all stakeholders to respond to the HIV/epidemic.

I have the privilege of attending the conference on behalf of INFO in order to attend HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health integration related sessions and promote the Resources for HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health Web site.  I will blog about all the sessions that I attend as well as send daily updates through the Family Planning and Integration Community of the IBP Knowledge Gateway  so stay tuned!

The official press release for the conference can be found here: Press release.

The INFO Project is proud to announce its three latest publications - Population Reports: New Findings on Contraceptives , Population Reports: Vasectomy: Reaching Out to New Users and INFO Reports: Vasectomy: Tools for Providers.

The New Findings on Contraceptives Report summarizes new research findings on contraceptive methods, interprets these findings in the context of previous research, and suggests implications for practice.  The vasectomy reports provide the latest research on safety and effectiveness of vasectomy techniques and discuss how program managers can increase uptake of the vasectomy.  vasectomy is quick, cost-effective  and patients suffer relatively few complications.

Hurrah to all staff writers and research for producing such high quality publications!!!!!

Here at the INFO Project, we usually post stories about male circumcision and HIV prevention on the Resources for HIV/AIDS and Sexual and Reproductive Health Integration site.  Recently, our colleagues at Plus News  submitted a video for inclusion on the site. The video, which can be accessed by clicking on the image below, discusses the new mobile circumcision pilot  program that Marie Stopes International has begun in the Nyanza province of Kenya.

Plus News filmed this short clip while visiting the mobile clinic. Kenya is getting ready to roll out a national male circumcision program following 2006 studies which showed that male circumcision may be one factor that may decrease a man’s risk of HIV infection.

When the leaders of the G8, a group of 8 industrailzed nations (the G8 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States) meet July 7-9 in Hokkaido for their annual summit  global health will be on the agenda!  Leaders discuss setting targets to tackle the world’s growing shortage of health workers. 

Japan, as host of the July 7-9 summit, is particularly pushing for G-8 cooperation to promote universal access to reproductive health services and increased birth attendance by skilled attendants in Africa to 75 percent in five years to drive forward the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, the sources said. - Associated Press

Leaders of the G8 said that they will discuss ways to increase global cooperation to achieve the MDGs and to discuss ways to increase effectiveness of aid delivery.