Female condoms and foreign aid

From the Lancet Global Health Network:

Female condoms and foreign aid
Few people would disagree that there is a huge need for interventions that allow women to initiate protection against HIV infection. But while the research community is not having much luck in the development of a microbicide is another, already existing intervention-the female condom-being overlooked? Yes, according to the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE). In a report just released, CHANGE argues that the female condom is an effective tool for HIV prevention that is getting little attention from international donors and governments, who are instead ploughing millions of dollars into microbicide and vaccine development. Ineffective programming and lack of political will continue to deny women access to female condoms, say the report authors.

Now, I *know* I just read another report that talked about the success of getting female condoms to work in Thailand among female sex workers. The women were able to get customers to use them by touting them as sex toys, even talking about how much better it made sex for them. Clever!! The result was more sex workers using female condoms and even some clients requesting to use them when visiting a sex worker.

You always run into the argument about unequal power relationships and condom use. I thought the study on female sex workers and getting clients to use them was a refreshing change. I'll have to dig that up, but probably won't until finals are over!

The Right to Health

Not a lot of time to write today, but wanted to share this piece from the Lancet's Global Health Network. Great site, great features and podcasts, and this piece on what it means to have a universal right to health is very interesting:

http://www.thelancetglobalhealthnetwork.com/archives/269#more-269

And some more links to the UN special Rapporteur's reports on the right to health:
http://www2.essex.ac.uk/human_rights_centre/rth/reports.shtm

Food crisis, women, and agriculture

Check out my latest post in my other blog, Our Planet, Ourselves, on the current price spike in commodities and the impact on agriculture and women:

http://www.zimbio.com/Our+Planet%2C+Ourselves/articles/12/Food+crisis+women+agriculture

Like a coffee van, but with cats

Thursday was ASPCA day which, due to impending finals and class that evening, I was unable to partake in this year. I was, however, able to work my first mobile adoption event for the ASPCA yesterday and it was so much fun. I'm definitely hooked on public outreach!

In the afternoon we loaded up a selection of cats into what is possible the world's greatest vehicle. The ASPCA's mobile adoptions van not only has a plexi-glass side that is exposed when you roll up the metal side so people can see all the gorgeous kitties, it has a big ol' dog face above the windshield. It is fantastic. Someone on the street called their friend and described the van as follows: "You know how the coffee and bagel vans lift up the side and then the coffee stand is there? Well, it's like that but instead of coffee it's cats." Brilliant.

We adopted out a third of the 9 cats we brought on board. They were largely not impressed with the van ride, nor being moved from their boxes to the display windows (one was so worked up he peed on me), but they all warmed up to the new digs after we had been parked for a little while.

It was a lot of fun to be the defacto "hawker"--standing outside the van, handing out leaflets, answering questions talking to people who were interested in the cats, and encouraging them to go inside and take a look and fill out an adoptions application. It was really nice to see people's faces as they went home with cats right then and there.

Tomorrow I am running a race in Central Park for the TGL foundation again--their annual race for lung cancer research funding. 9am--a little on the early side for a Sunday, but I'm really looking forward for the chance to see Central Park in Spring--all the flowers should be out by now. Here's hoping for good weather!

Rise in food prices hurts developing countries most

Paul Krugman has a great editorial that quite neatly summarizes why we've seen a rather sudden increase in the price of commodities. Climate change, increased demand for meat in middle income countries, and subsidized corn to produce ethanol (not the green fuel it is made out to be) have been driving up the price of wheat and other grains. Add to that a fall in production in Australia and you have a shortage that had caused the World Food Program to appeal for funds.

You can read the full piece here.

There is also a piece up on reliefweb that gives the humanitarian perspective in more depth.

Microfinance for profit?

I may be a little late to this debate, but I attended a conference last week where the keynote speaker, president of ACCION International, was asked about the growing trend of microfinance NGOs morphing into microfinance banks with a for-profit goal.

Micro-finance began with the goal of increasing access to credit for some the world's poorest people who otherwise would never have the means to get a loan with a non-exploitative interest rate. It's not that the poor had no access to loans in the past, it's that when they did, the terms and interest rates were so excessive it only drove them further into poverty.

Micro-finance, which gaves loans at reasonable rates, used a more community-based model that held people accountable to a small group of other investors if they defaulted on their loan. The result was near zero default rates, community empowerment, and the chance for many to finally embark on sending a child to school, starting a business, seeking medical care, etc.

The success of micro-finance has propelled some to take it to a for-profit model, typically by starting micro-finance or micro-credit banking institutions. As I understand it, there is not a lot of regulation in this area yet. Further, one has to wonder about the goals of such an institution with two bottom lines: decrease poverty but make money for the bank owners.

The NYT had two recent articles on this very topic:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE4DD113DF930A3575AC0A966958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/05/business/worldbusiness/05micro.html?em&ex=1207713600&en=a2d7c7eef5743078&ei=5087%0A