I listened to this discussion last night, on BBC radio. What are your views? ... Would you consider an over-the-counter HIV test? Experts at the Blood Products Advisory Committee in the USA have voted 17-0 in support of the test, suggesting it would benefit people who are HIV-positive and improve access to healthcare and social services. 

Photo/GOOGLE images

EXTREME MAKEOVER: Ghana and migrant female sex workers

I am paid to re-write text, and make it more consumer-friendly. This is a sample of a recent piece:

MY EDITS:

Ghana, a mineral-rich country along Africa’s western sea coast, is endowed with a good education system and an efficient civil service. What is lacking, however, is a policy that targets mobile and migrant populations who are at high risk of contracting HIV.

After Ghana’s first case of HIV was reported in 1986, the disease spread slowly and steadily until 2003, when efforts by the government and humanitarian actors started to register success. Today, Ghana has the lowest HIV prevalence in West Africa.

But amongst mobile and migrant populations, the prevalence remains high.

Ghana has developed a national strategic plan with the aim of delivering much-needed HIV prevention, care, treatment and support services to 80 per cent of Ghana’s key affected mobile and migrant populations by 2015.

Statistics show that female sex workers, who are part of the population the government is targeting, are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection. The national HIV prevalence in 2010 was estimated at 1.5 per cent. Among female sex workers, it was estimated to be as high as 25 per cent.

In response to this, the Internationl Organztion for Migratn (IOM) and partners are conducting research which will contribute to evidence-based HIV and AIDS programming for migrant female sex workers in Ghana. The study will be conducted along Tema-Paga, the country’s longest and most widely traveled transport corridor.


ORIGINAL PIECE:

Migration is a recognized social determinant of migrant’s health. “Migration Health” refers to the physical, mental and social well-being of migrants, mobile populations, their families, and communities affected by migration. Mobility itself is not a risk factor, but rather the person’s risky behaviour. The links between migration, population mobility and HIV are still not widely understood. IOM is increasingly focusing on “Spaces of Vulnerability” where migrant and mobile populations interact with local communities in environments conducive to multiple concurrent partnerships or higher-risk sexual behaviours. Ghana is experiencing a mixed HIV epidemic: a generalized low level epidemic and a high level epidemic among Most At -Risk Populations (MARPs). The national HIV prevalence in 2010 is estimated at 1.5%. Among Female Sex workers (FSW), the HIV prevalence may be as high as 25%. Two types of Female Sex workers are described in Ghana- roamers (mobile) and seaters. Roamers usually operate at night and are found in and around bars, night clubs, hotels, brothels, popular eating and drinking spots and along some streets and parks known to be pick-up spots. Seaters usually operate at home, are located in specific communities and have some structure and organization. Ghana has developed a National Strategic Plan for Most At Risk Population with the goal of reaching 80% of all identified MARPs by 2015 with a comprehensive package of HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services.With funds from UNAIDS, IOM is currently conducting a behavioral study on HIV Vulnerability among Female Sex Workers along the Tema–Paga Transport Corridor-the longest and most widely travelled corridor in Ghana. The findings of this study will contribute to evidence based programming for Most At-Risk Populations (MARPs) in Ghana. IOM has established partnership with an international and local NGO, Management Strategies for Africa (MSA) and West Africa Program to Combat AIDS and STI (WAPCAS) respectively.


END//

Region: Ghana, West Africa
Theme(s): Migration, Health, Female sex workers

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].

EXTREME MAKEOVER: Reaching out to urban migrant communities

I am paid to re-write text, and make it more consumer-friendly. This is a sample of a recent piece:

MY EDITS:

Every year, more than 30,000 people make the perilous journey across Egypt’s lengthy desert border, in an effort to get to Israel. Unemployment, conflict, and harsh living conditions pull people to Egypt from as far away as Somalia.

Many of the migrants are undocumented. They live in squalid conditions on the outskirts of town, with little or no access to basic health care. A programme, designed the Internationl Organztion for Migratn (IOM) to cater for the migrants’ needs, has seen 82 migrant community health volunteers make 2,390 door-to-door visits between July and December 2011.

The programme, intended to strengthen links between service providers and vulnerable migrant communities in Egypt, benefited 263 men, women, and children from Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.


ORIGINAL PIECE:

As a part of IOM–Cairo’s efforts to promote migrants’ health awareness, the Transit Migration Project has started a Community Health Volunteers (CHV) Training Program by which community members are trained to be focal points of information dissemination and referral points for members of their respective communities to IOM and other organizations and health care providers providing assistance to migrants. This program was also designed in response to an identified need to increase migrants’ access to health care. Indeed language barrier and miscommunication, lack of trust from the migrant communities towards government healthcare facilities, lack of knowledge regarding rights to access healthcare all contribute to inadequate access for many migrants to appropriate healthcare. The IOM Transit Migration Project has trained volunteers from the Sudanese, Somali and Eritrean communities in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent. The training covered topics such as community mobilization; community needs assessment, first aid, and psychosocial support.. The volunteers also became acquainted with the symptoms and management of some diseases that are widely spread in the community including diabetes, T.B. and Anemia. HIV and AIDS awareness was part of the training to meet an urgent need for migrants focused health programs. Livelihoods and family well being were as well part on the training to enhance communities’ general well being. Since the beginning of the program volunteer CHVs were involved in over 25 awareness raising workshops addressing general health issues, such as management of diarrhea in children, anemia, and TB. The workshops were conducted in 4 migrant dense areas in Greater Cairo. Volunteers conducted more than 600 home visits to provide direct health-related assistance, out of which 90 cases were referred for direct assistance through IOM’s current direct assistance program. We hope this initiative will strengthen the links and communication between service providers and the migrant communities in Egypt and will assist in increasing access to appropriate health care to those most vulnerable.


END//

Region: Egypt, Eritrea, North Africa
Theme(s): Migration, Health, Humanitarian assistance

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].

EXTREME MAKEOVER: Scabies at the border

I am paid to re-write text, and make it more consumer-friendly. This is a sample of a recent piece:

MY EDITS:

A tide of demonstrations swept across North Africa and the Middle East in 2011. Libya was one of the most-affected countries. Many people lost their lives. Families were violently uprooted, and forced to travel hundreds of miles in blazing heat to neighbouring countries.

Thousands of Libyans streamed into temporary shelters in Salloum, the main border crossing point between Libya and Egypt. Camps were overcrowded, with no supply of running water. These conditions triggered a massive outbreak of scabies, a highly contagious skin disease.

1,400 men, women and children received emergency treatment from the Internationl Organztion for Migratn (IOM) and partners. IOM conducted health promotion sessions, fumigated the camp, and distributed new sets of blankets and mattresses to the migrants.

Furthermore, an emergency clinic supported by IOM provided basic health care to more than 45,000 migrants. Critically injured migrants who needed specialized treatment were transferred to public hospitals.

The IOM medical unit donated USD $25,000 worth of medical supplies to Egypt’s Ministry of Health.


ORIGINAL PIECE:

More than 1,000 migrants at Salloum border crossing between Libya and Egypt have been treated for scabies infection by a team of IOM specialists, in collaboration with the Egyptian port authorities, including the Ministry of Health and Population, and UNHCR.
Migrants and refugees who fled Libya and are currently at Salloum transit centre waiting for onward transport, started complaining of skin infections, allergy and rashes early September.
Scabies is an itchy, highly contagious skin disease caused by an infestation by the itch mite. It is transmitted by close personal contact with an infected individual, and spreads rapidly. It causes skin rashes and severe, relentless itching. Small children and babies are particularly prone to scabies infections.
Upon detecting the infection, the organization dispatched a team of 11 health volunteers, including a medical doctor as team leader, to reinforce the health team which was already in place.
In all, 400 persons were found to be infected with scabies but as a precautionary measure, all migrants and refugees, numbering 1,400 were given treatment.
IOM procured treatment medicine and supplies from its Cairo base. They were shipped to Salloum, where the IOM health team treated the infection. The treatment was repeated for four days to ensure that the infection was totally eradicated. At the same time, IOM supported complementary measures carried out by partners such as fumigating and spraying the area and the surroundings, isolating migrant’s clothes and exposing them to the sun for three days, and replacing blankets and mattresses.
Indeed, the health team also assisted with the burning of blankets and mattresses which were suspected to harbour the scabies mite, and replaced them with new ones donated by the UNHCR. Afterwards, the IOM team provided education to the migrants on how to prevent the recurrence of the scabies infections.


END//

Region: Libya, North Africa
Theme(s): Migration, Health, Humanitarian assistance

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].

EXTREME MAKE-OVER: Detained in Egypt

I am paid to re-write text, and make it more consumer-friendly. This is a sample of a recent piece:

MY EDITS:

There are several accounts of torture, rape and murder of migrants at the hand of smugglers and traffickers in Egypt’s Sinai desert. A few migrants make it safely into Israel. A big majority, however, end up in Egypt’s detention centres.

Migrants are crammed into damp, overcrowded prisons, with little or no access to basic health care services. Here, they spend many months, awaiting repatriation or deportation.

The Internationl Organztion for Migratn (IOM) conducted an extensive health assessment on migrants in 16 detention centres across three border towns in Egypt: Sinai, Aswan and Luxor.

More than 1,000 migrants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan were given medical assistance, food, and clothes.

The assessment was designed to identify urgent health needs, and to strengthen Egypt’s referral system for injured migrants in detention centres.

Guided by the findings from the assessment, IOM has started conducting public health training for police officers and border officials. It also intends to build the capacity of hospitals to address the health care needs of detained migrants.


ORIGINAL PIECE:

Migrants transiting through Egypt are often vulnerable; over the past few months, IOM has obtained considerable insight into the exploitation and abuse that has been inflicted upon migrants who are smuggled and trafficked from northern Ethiopia and Sudan to Israel, via Egypt. Along this route (and, in particular, in the Sinai Peninsula), migrants have been held ‘hostage’ by their smugglers, who demand up to an extra USD 40,000 to take them across the Israeli border, while subjecting them to forced labor, sexual exploitation and torture. Others are injured whilst trying to cross Egypt’s southern or eastern borders and/or apprehended and transferred to ill-equipped police stations and detention centers – where they often spend protracted periods awaiting repatriation or deportation. An extensive health assessment has been conducted of most detention centers in Egypt currently holding migrants for illegal border crossing looking at the health needs of apprehended migrants and at their current access to health care. A total of 16 police stations have been visited – most are located in Sinai and Aswan/Luxor area. All detainees visited (over 1000 detainees mostly from Eritrea and some from Sudan and Ethiopia) were provided with Non Food Items, food, and medical assessments and assistance when required. The assessment identified urgent health needs, including those of injured migrants shot at the border as well as urgent health needs in detention centers to address cases of TB, childhood diarrhea, and pregnant women. The assessment identified serious concerns not only at the level of the detention facilities but also at the level of the healthcare facilities serving apprehended migrants. As well as continuing the above mentioned activities, plans are underway to start conducting public health training for police officers and border officials as well as to strengthen the referral mechanism for injured migrants to the appropriate health care facility and to build the capacity of hospitals to address the health needs of apprehended migrants.

END//

Region: Egypt, North Africa
Theme(s): Migration, Health

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].

EXTREME MAKE-OVER: Nutrition survey

I am paid to re-write text, and make it more consumer-friendly. This is a sample of a recent piece:

MY EDITS:

The Republic of Yemen, south of Saudi Arabia and west of Oman, is surrounded by a host of oil-rich nations. Yet the strife-torn country is characterized by endemic poverty, weak health systems, and a severe shortage of water.

And now, a door-to-door survey conducted by the Internationl Organztion for Migratn (IOM) in September 2011 reveals that some parts of the country are also grappling with soaring rates of malnutrition.

900 children under the age of five participated in the survey, which was conducted in the Republic of Yemen’s northern Al-Jawf region. Results revealed that the country is on the verge of an emergency, with twice as many girls as boys found to have acute malnutrition.

The number of children suffering from malnutrition is expected to rise, owing to escalating civil strife, which makes the already hard-to-reach northern Al-Jawf region, more excluded from humanitarian assistance. Traditional practices like giving boys better food than girls, are expected to leave girls more vulnerable to malnutrition.


ORIGINAL PIECE:

IOM conducted a household nutrition survey of children under-5 in 6 districts of Northern Al-Jawf in September where IOM’s 5 mobile clinics are operating. The survey was implemented as part of a vulnerability assessment of the Al Jawf population. 900 children under five were measured for their age, height and weight from 30 villages across the six districts. The result of this assessment shows that 7.7% of the children suffer from SAM and 21% from MAM, both indicators being above the emergency threshold. Furthermore, when the same information is analyzed based on gender, it was found out that the proportion of girls suffering from acute malnutrition is significantly higher than boys, notably SAM (9.0% of girls and 5.7% of boys) – girls are 1.6 times more likely than boys to suffer from SAM. With the ongoing crisis affecting the whole country, and further isolation of Al-Jawf from the very limited basic services available to the Yemeni population, the number of children suffering from malnutrition is expected to rise even more in the coming months, which will ultimately result in higher morbidity and mortality. The traditional attitude of providing better food and care for boys will especially put girls even more at risk. OFDA funding July 2010 – December 2011.

END//

Region: Yemen, Middle East
Theme(s): Migration, Health, Humanitarian assistance

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].

Teaser...

I prepared this is teaser for one of our departments. A new project is rolling out; we wanted to get word out to HQ. Specific names and title have been omitted:

For the first time in 21 years, the Government of Dddddd's lead agency on technical cooperation is rolling out a humanitarian project in Xxxx.

On 13 January 2012, the XXxxxxxxxx Agency (DILA) contributed over half a million USD to IOM's migration health division to launch a pilot project in Xxxx for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Zzzzzz.

In response to the Horn of Africa's worst drought in 60 years, the three-month pilot project will aim provide clean and safe drinking water to vulnerable IDPs in South Central Zzzzzzz.

The pilot project is unique because it is based on a public-private partnership that utilizes an innovative, environmentally friendly, Japanese - developed water treatment technology called Ttt-ttt.

The project is entitled: 'KKkkkkkkkkkk', and is expected to be launched on 20 February 2012.


END//

Region: Egypt, North Africa
Theme(s): Migration, Health, Humanitarian assistance

The author is a health communications consultant. Follow her on Twitter [@msanyuosire] & keep tabs on tips she shares with health communications officers by "liking" her facebook page [Mary-Sanyu Osire].