Category Archives: HIV/AIDS

Book launch: The Uncounted, June 11th

Leave a reply

IMG_3912 I can’t quite believe this is finally happening, but…my new book, The Uncounted: Politics of Data in Global Health, will launch with a virtual conversation between me and Ryan Whitacre on Thursday, June 11th, from 16:00 – 17:00 CET. The webinar is co-sponsored by the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute; GENDRO; and the Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action.

Register here to get the Zoom link, and you can order the hardcover and ebook here — a more affordable paperback will be out in a few months.

 

Right On Podcast, Episode 2: Can we police our way out of the pandemic?

Leave a reply

Episode 2 of the Right On Podcast: Human Rights Activists Respond to COVID-19 explores criminalization and policing. Many countries are now seeing the most significant deployment of law enforcement and national defense forces since World War II. Should they be arresting people who refuse to follow lockdown regulations? Or will aggressive policing, abuse and criminalization only undermine trust and fuel the virus? Should we also be considering the labor rights of frontline police officers? Can human rights offer us a way forward out of this crisis?

No easy answers, but it was a real delight to explore these questions with three inspiring activists who are also friends: Edwin J. Bernard (HIV Justice Network), Felicita Hikuam (AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa), and Mikhail Golichenko, a Russian lawyer. Actually, Patrick Eba suggested, on the first episode, that we talk to the HIV Justice Network, and it was a great suggestion. The second episode is now being edited and will air Friday, May 15, 2020 on Apple, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher. Continue reading →

Questions to ask about indicators in global health meetings

Leave a reply
analytics blur close up commerce

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

I just turned in my book manuscript, The Uncounted: Politics of Data in Global Health to the publisher this week. It will come out in mid-2020, if all goes well.

Meanwhile, here’s something I’ve been playing with: questions to ask if you’re in a global health meeting and confronting a slide presentation with indicators, targets and models.

Continue reading →

Detention of Cheng Yuan: Background & update

Leave a reply
SML and CY

Cheng Yuan and Shi Minglei

No response yet from China or UNAIDS to the letter signed by 200 individuals and organizations nearly 3 weeks ago about Chinese anti-discrimination activist Cheng Yuan and his two colleagues, the Changsha Three.

Here’s an overview to his impressive career and an update on retaliation against his wife and brother, who have raised public concerns about his detention. I’ve met Cheng Yuan in China, and know him personally as a quiet, sober civil rights activist; not someone who goes to international meetings or works with international organizations much, just a local rights lawyer who put his head down, tirelessly filing case after case on behalf of China’s most marginalized people. [A huge thank you to fellow volunteers Gisa Dang, Lu Jun, and Yang Zhanqing, who contributed research and links.] Continue reading →

Hundreds sign letter to call on China to free Changsha 3

1 Reply

Red_ribbonOver 200 individuals and organizations signed an urgent appeal letter calling on China to release the Changsha Three: Cheng Yuan, Liu Yongze, and Xiao Wu of Chinese organization Changsha Funeng. The final letter with signatures is here: Changsha Three Open Letter 30 July 2019

The Chinese translation is here (中文版): 联名信中文版 Continue reading →

End HIV discrimination: Free the Changsha Three

1 Reply
Liu Yongze
Liu Yongze
Cheng Yuan
Cheng Yuan

On July 22nd, after he visited Hong Kong for personal and organizational business, Chinese state security detained health rights advocate Cheng Yuan (photo right) and his two colleagues from NGO Changsha Funeng, Liu Yongze (photo left) and Xiao Wu. Cheng Yuan’s wife, Shi Minglei, has nothing to do with his NGO, but she was also detained and interrogated, and placed under residential surveillance under suspicion of subverting state power.

An open letter calling on China to release the Changsha Three is online here

Continue reading →

The Uncounted: Video interview

1 Reply

Screen Shot 2019-07-10 at 6.50.48 PMIn 2017 I was honored to be one of three recipients of the International Geneva Award from the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS). Here’s a 4-minute video interview about that work, now transmogrifying into part of my forthcoming book, The Uncounted: Politics of Data in Global Health. Many thanks to Ruxandra Stoicescu and the SNIS team.

The Global Fund, Governance and Public Health

Leave a reply

globalhealthwebinar_0Last month I got to join this great online webinar, “The Global Fund, Governance and Public Health”, with AIDS-activist-turned-prof Matt Kavanagh (Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute) and Dr. Eric Goosby (UCSF, currently UN Special Envoy on TB and former head of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR), moderated by Philip Landrigan (Boston College).

Matt shared his recent study on the impact of the Global Fund on good governance in countries, Dr. Goosby and I shared comments, and we had a rich, focused discussion with some good audience questions. In hindsight, I only wish that I had spoken slower 🙂

Listen to the recording, and see the slides, here.

 

Reach the Last Mile First: High-Level Panel on Universal Health Coverage

Leave a reply
DrTedros-768x512

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (WHO) and Ambassador François Rivasseau (France). Photo: The Global Fund

Meg Davis and David Ruiz Villafranca

This blog appeared on Health and Human Rights.

In exploring what can be learned from the experience of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria in the shift towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), speakers on a recent high-level panel in Geneva pointed to three key lessons: the importance of embracing health as a human right; the role of the Global Fund’s investments in building stronger health and community systems and in advocating for the rights of key populations, women and girls; and the central role played by communities in advocating for their rights and in planning, implementing and evaluating the HIV response.

Continue reading →

Donors Risk Human Rights Violations When Leaving Middle-Income Countries

Leave a reply

Do health aid donors transitioning out of middle-income countries have any obligations under human rights law?

In February, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and UNAIDS held a consultation on human rights in the HIV response. I worked with the Free Space Process and PITCH (Partnership to Inspire, Transform and Connect the HIV Response), which together represent dozens of national and regional key populations networks and HIV NGOs, on a submission addressing just this point. Working with Russian lawyer Mikhail Golichenko, we argued that donors that transition abruptly may risk violating human rights standards—here’s why.

Read the full blog at Health and Human Rights Journal.