PHR Student Blog

The Obama Administration has initiated a comprehensive review of US landmines policy to decide whether or not the US will join the Mine Ban Treaty. President Obama needs to hear from you about how harmful landmines are to the health and human rights of people worldwide.

Email President Obama today and tell him to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

PHR shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for our work to ban landmines. Since then, 156 countries have signed onto the treaty, which bans the use, trade, production and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines.

However, the US has refused to join. President Obama now has the opportunity to partner with every member of NATO—and every country in the Western Hemisphere, save Cuba—in supporting this critical treaty. Tell him to take action today.

Landmines kill thousands of people a year, with millions more affected by the agricultural, economic and psychological impact of the device. While landmines are a weapon of war, most casualties are civilians: indeed, UNICEF estimates that 30-40% of landmine victims are children. And landmines don’t just kill in conflict zones: there are millions of landmines and unexploded ordinances in more than 80 countries worldwide.

These indiscriminate weapons maim and kill, and destroy families and communities. The US has not used landmines since the 1991 Gulf War; it is time for us to promise never to use them again. Tell Obama to join the Mine Ban Treaty today.

68 Senators co-signed a letter to President Obama in May, showing their support for the Mine Ban Treaty. Now Obama needs to hear from you. Email him today, and ask 6 friends to do the same. PHR members have been advocating to ban landmines for more than 15 years. This is our best chance to join the Mine Ban Treaty in years, and we need your support.

Take action today!

Want to do more? We are asking major US health professional associations to sign a letter to the Administration against the use of landmines. If you have any contacts at health professional associations who might be able to help, please email Gina at gcoplon-newfield[at]phrusa[dot]org.

As you read in our previous landmines blog post, the Obama Administration is reviewing current US landmine policy right now, and will soon decide whether or not the US will join the Mine Ban Treaty. Why should the US join? Check out these compelling facts and see why this is a critical health and human rights issue:

Injury and Death:

• The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) estimates that 15,000-20,000 people are maimed or killed by landmines yearly, with millions more affected by the agricultural, economic and psychological impact of the weapon.
• UNICEF estimates that 30-40% of mine victims are children under 15 years old.
• Landmines are responsible for the injury and death of thousands of US and allied troops in all US-fought conflicts since World War II, including dozens in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the 1991 Gulf War, landmines caused 34% of US casualties.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, nearly 80% of landmine victims were military personnel. Today, 90% of landmine victims are civilians.

The Economic and Social Cost:

• The ICBL estimates that there are millions of landmines and other unexploded ordnance in the ground in over 80 countries.
• Landmines cost as little as $3 to produce and up to $1,000 per mine to clear.
• Most kinds of landmines last forever. Mines laid during WWII are still killing and maiming civilians.
• It costs $100 to $3,000 to provide an artificial limb to a landmine survivor. Adults require a prosthesis replacement every two to three years and a child must have a new one every six months to a year.
• Landmines cause environmental damage in the forms of soil degradation, deforestation, and the pollution of water resources with heavy metals. Subsistence farmers are unable to work the land in mined areas.
• Landmines affect all aspects of human life, including the ability of refugees to return home. A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) published in 1997 stated that 13.2 million refugees, 4.9 million internally displaced people and 3.3 million returnees were at risk from landmines.

The US and Landmines:

• The United States is one of only 39 countries that have not yet joined the Mine Ban Treaty; in the Western Hemisphere, only the U.S and Cuba are non-signatories.
• The US has the third largest mine arsenal in the world—a stockpile of 11 million Anti-Personnel Landmines (APLs)—despite not using landmines since 1991 or producing them since 1997. Enormous amounts of taxpayer money are used to maintain these weapons.
• The United States is one of only 13 countries that refuse to halt production of APLs.
• The Bush Administration’s landmine policy, announced in February 2004, represented a major rollback of US progress on the landmine issue. The policy increased funding for mines, permitted indefinite US use of self-destructing mines, and refused to phase out long-lived mines until 2010. The Obama Administration has yet to revise the Bush policy.

These indiscriminate weapons maim and kill, and destroy families and communities. President Obama is currently reviewing US landmine policy. We need your voice to tell the President to ban mines now! The US has not used landmines since the 1991 Gulf War. It is time for us to promise never to use them again.

Take action today: email Obama and tell him to join the Mine Ban Treaty!

The Obama Administration has initiated a comprehensive review of the US landmines policy to decide whether or not the US will join the Mine Ban Treaty. PHR has re-engaged in this campaign at the request of The US Campaign to Ban Landmines (USCBL) and members of the Administration, and we are hopeful that this will be an opportunity to show the world that the US respects health and human rights.

Over the next few months, we’ll be updating you on the treaty via a new blog series (this is blog #1) and asking for your help to urge President Obama to join the Mine Ban Treaty.

One immediate action item: We are asking the presidents of major US health professional associations to sign a letter to the Administration showing the unity of the medical, public health and nursing community against the use of landmines. If you have any contacts at major health professional associations who might be able to help, please email Gina Coplon-Newfield at gcoplon-newfield[at]phrusa[dot]org as soon as possible.

As you may know, PHR is a founding member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a grassroots movement that brought the international community together to form the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which bans the use, trade, production, and stockpiling of antipersonnel mines. PHR and the other ICBL founding groups were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work toward achieving the treaty, which 156 countries have signed.

As with many international human rights treaties, the US has refused to sign, arguing that US soldiers are exposed to risk if the country can’t use landmines as a deterrent weapon. The United States’ position sets us apart from most other countries: Indeed, all other member countries of NATO are signatories to the treaty (Poland plans to ratify the treaty in 2012). By refusing to sign, the US joins China, Russia, Cuba, India and Pakistan among the countries that have not committed to stop using landmines. The US has not used landmines since the 1991 Gulf War, yet previous administrations have chosen to keep the weapon available, just in case.

Early in his tenure, it appeared President Obama had made the same decision. In November 2009, a White House spokesman stated that after reviewing the matter, the Obama Administration had decided not to sign the Mine Ban Treaty. The announcement prompted public outcry among human rights groups, and the following day, the White House insisted the issue was still under review. The current review is headed by Samantha Power and Barry Pavel at the National Security Council.

We expect the Obama Administration to make a decision in the next few months, making it critically important that the President hear from health professionals and human rights activists about how harmful landmines are to humanity. We will soon send out an action alert, which will give you the chance to email Obama and urge him to sign onto the Mine Ban Treaty. Please take action, and urge friends and family to do the same.

Congress is joining in the advocacy too. On May 22, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont sent a letter co-signed by 68 senators (including 10 Republicans) to President Obama, encouraging him to develop a plan to overcome any obstacles to joining the Convention. 68 is a magic number: international treaties must be approved by a 2/3 majority in the Senate, so if Obama decides to sign onto the treaty, 68 Senators would be enough to accede to it (of course, though this letter is a good indication of potential votes, it’s not a guarantee).

PHR members have been advocating to ban landmines for more than 15 years, and we need your help again at this critical juncture. Keep an eye out for more actions alerts and blogs. And spread the word—this is our best chance to join the Mine Ban Treaty in years, and we need your voice!

On May 10th, The New York Times published a heartrending story on the faltering fight against AIDS in Uganda — a story that has sparked a firestorm of controversy and criticism of the Obama Administration’s global AIDS strategy.

The Times identified a deep funding gap for combating AIDS in Uganda, including a freeze on new funds from the United States and a lack of commitment to AIDS spending by the Ugandan government (which evidently has no problem finding $300 million to spend on Russian fighter jets). The Times also outlined the devastating human toll this funding gap is taking on people living with — and dying of — AIDS.

Sadly, this news is not new. In March 2009, PHR invited Dr. Peter Myugenyi, Founder and Director of the PEPFAR-supported Joint Clinical Research Centre in Uganda, to Washington, DC to talk about the emerging funding gap for AIDS in Uganda. Said Dr. Mugyenyi:

After urging people to get tested and enter care, we now have to tell them there is no treatment available when they need it. We created hope and now we are returning to the days when one member of a family can get treatment and the others cannot.

It is a recipe for chaos as patients start to share doses or skip treatment altogether. I fear that we will soon start to see more drug-resistant strains of HIV and rising death rates.

As The Times notes, one year later, Dr. Myugenyi remains fearful:

Dr. Peter Mugyenyi, the hospital’s founder, helped the Bush administration form its AIDS plan and sat beside Laura Bush during the State of the Union address as it was announced.

The loss of donor interest “makes me frantic with worry,” Dr. Mugyenyi said.

He offers copies of e-mail messages he exchanged with American aid officials. One reminds him that he has been instructed to stop enrolling new patients and asks for an explanation of reports that he is treating 37,000 when only 32,000 are authorized. Another asks him not to announce publicly that his funds have been frozen.

He admits slipping pregnant women and young mothers like Ms. Kamukama into treatment slots “contrary to instructions.”

“Morally, I can’t turn them away,” he said.

This story gained traction worldwide, and was followed by a New York Times editorial, The Wavering War on AIDS, which outlined a $13 billion deficit in AIDS spending, and a series of letters to the editor, including one by PHR Global Health Action Campaign advisor Pat Daoust.

Dr. Mugyenyi won’t turn away patients. And we won’t turn away from this issue.

PHR, in conjuction with other global health groups, sent a letter to Secretary of State Clinton last week, urging her to end the AIDS funding freeze and ensure Ugandans have access to life-saving AIDS treatment.

PHR members have spent years advocating for more global AIDS funding and health programming based on science and human rights. We will continue to fight for greater global health funding, a strong US global health strategy, and to ensure people living with AIDS worldwide have access to drugs and quality care.

Want to help? Encourage your Representative to co-sponsor the Global HEALTH Act, which will provide $2 billion for health system strengthening and support a comprehensive US global health strategy, both of which will help in the fight against AIDS.

We’re just a month away from World Health Day (April 7th) and the official launch of advocacy for the Global HEALTH Act of 2010. So far this month, through this blog you’ve learned about the Global HEALTH Act and gotten some great facts about the health workforce crisis (and how many people are waiting in line for an I-Pad — impressive!). Today’s post includes a few more resources that highlight the impact of Africa’s health workforce shortage. Check them out and share with colleagues. PHR made the following video in collaboration with our Kenyan partner group, the Health Rights Advocacy Forum. In this 6-minute video, four health workers at Mbagathi Hospital talk about  the challenges they face every day — and why they stay and practice medicine in their home country. This moving video can be shown on campus or at your workplace to stimulate discussion and urge people to take action. For more personal stories, check out Africa’s Health Care Worker Crisis: Views from the Ground, a PowerPoint presentation that outlines six main drivers of the health workforce crisis in Africa and explores these challenges through the eyes of four Ugandan medical student leaders. Feel free to use this to make a presentation on campus or in your community, or use facts from it to drive home the need for action. And watch our slideshows of Dr. Fred Katumba and Clinical Officer Jane Byarugaba following them through a typical day as they provide health care to the rural poor in Southwestern Uganda. Dr. Katumba’s work has propelled Lyantonde District to #2 out of more than 90 districts in terms of health outcomes — a phenomenal accomplishment and testament to Dr. Katumba, his staff, and the millions of hard-working health professionals who help communities realize the right to health every day.

Commemorate World AIDS Day TODAY by joining a nation-wide movement to protect women’s rights and promote women’s health.

Today, World AIDS Day, marks the first day of the 10,000 in 10 Campaign, a joint effort of Physicians for Human Rights, the American Medical Student Association, Advocates for Youth, Americans for Informed Democracy and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.

Between World AIDS Day (Dec. 1) and International Human Rights Day (Dec.10), join the campaign to mobilize 10,000 Americans to support US ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2010.

Be one of 10,000 strong. Sign the petition here and forward to 6 friends.

Human rights violations such as widespread gender-based violence, systematic stigma and discrimination, and economic, social, health and educational inequalities put women at a disproportionately high risk of HIV/AIDS. Protecting women’s rights is essential to halting the feminization of AIDS.

CEDAW is the top international treaty that sets the standards for critical women’s rights issues, including equality in civil, political, and economic life, protection from sexual violence, and reproductive
freedom-all key to the fight against AIDS.

After 30 years of failed attempts at US ratification, CEDAW finally has the strong support within the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Administration needed to make ratification in 2010 possible.

Let’s make the most of this new opportunity: Visit www.humanrightsforwomen.org and sign on.

If you are on facebook, spread the word and use this as your status today:

Celebrate World AIDS Day (Dec 1) and Human Rights Day (Dec 10)—join 10,000 Americans calling on senators to stop AIDS by protecting women’s rights at www.humanrightsforwomen.org

Or Tweet:

Celebrate #WorldAIDSDay—join 10,000 Americans calling on Senators to stop AIDS by protecting women’s rights at www.humanrightsforwomen.org

Let your Senator know now is the time to ratify CEDAW and show that the US is serious about global health and women’s rights worldwide! thanks for your support!

PHR’s “10,000 in 10” Campaign officially launches on December 1st—help us ensure the US ratifies CEDAW in 2010.

Why CEDAW? Why now?

1. Suggestions that the US is a leader in human rights is questionable when the country is not a party to the main human rights treaties, including CEDAW;
2. US calls for other countries to fulfill women’s human rights lack credibility when the US has not ratified the main women’s human rights treaty;
3. Successive administrations would be under a legal human rights obligation to submit periodic reports on its implementation of the rights contained in CEDAW;
4. US civil society could monitor and report on what the US government is doing to implement the human rights of women in this country. Called a ‘Shadow Report’, this report is submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (the Committee). The Committee welcomes this information to ensure that it is as well informed as possible;
5. Individuals and groups can make complaints against the government to the Committee;
6. The Committee on its own initiative can investigate grave or systemic in-country violations of women’s human rights.

The latter two procedures are only available when a country has accepted them. Hence, this would require the US ratifying the Optional Protocol to CEDAW.

If the US ratifies CEDAW, fulfillment of women’s human rights in the US would no longer be at the whim of different administrations. As the U.S. would be a party to CEDAW, people within the US could demand that any US administration fulfill the rights contained in the treaty.

Between World AIDS Day (December 1) and International Human Rights Day (December 10), PHR is launching the 10,000 in 10 Campaign. We’re mobilizing 10,000 Americans, including students nationwide, to ask their US Senators to support US ratification of the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2010.

We need your help to meet our goal. It will take 2 minutes:

• The petition is online now. Help us reach 10,000 signatures today!
• Get More Involved: Join our “10,000 in 10 Leadership Team” and make a pledge to collect 50 signatures from family, friends and colleagues. Email me at skalloch[at]phrusa[dot]org to join the team.

Why CEDAW?
Women all over the world are facing discrimination, abuse and systematic inequities that make them especially vulnerable to some of the most severe global health challenges. Until we promote and protect women’s rights, the most severe diseases and health complications will continue to disproportionately affect women world wide.

Why Now?
The US remains one of only 7 countries in the world who have yet to ratify this critical treaty, along with Sudan and Somalia.

Since the treaty was adopted by United Nations in 1979, efforts for US ratification have come up repeatedly in the Senate but faced significant obstacles by CEDAW opponents, crushing potential for ratification. Now, CEDAW has strong support within the Foreign Relations Committee and is listed by the Obama administration as one of the top three treaties to ratify.

Things are looking a lot brighter: Let’s make the most of this new opportunity to protect women’s rights and support women’s health worldwide by finally ratifying CEDAW!

Let your Senator know that it’s time for the United States to ratify CEDAW and get serious about women’s rights worldwide.

I just returned from an inspiring ANAC conference (Association of Nurses in AIDS Care). It is always fun, fabulous and totally energizing to be around ANAC members, who are deeply committed to stopping AIDS, supporting people living with AIDS and building an amazing community of caregivers, educators and advocates.

Former PHR Health Action AIDS Campaign Director Pat Daoust was honored with one of ANAC’s most prestigious awards, the Public Serive Award, for her three decades in AIDS care and her amazing advocacy work through Health Action AIDS. Her acceptance speech is below. In it she thanks all of you, the campaign’s supporters, for your deep commitme

nt to stopping AIDS. Read and be inspired!

First of all, thank you very much. I am extremely humbled and honored by this recognition, especially because it comes from this organization — ANAC — my fellow nurses.

When I received word that I would be the recipient of the Public Service Award, the letter noted that this is in large part an acknowledgment of the work accomplished as Director of the Health Action AIDS Campaign while at PHR. While I am extremely proud of the campaigns’ successes, I am the first to emphasize that without our coalition partners and the commitment of our members — particularly the thousands of nurses both here in the US and abroad — we would never been able to reach our goals!

• Wen we called upon you to write or sign on to letters to members of congress calling for the repeal of the HIV travel ban.
• When we asked you to set up in-district meeting with your representatives to help educate them on the importance of women’s rights and the need to integrate FP and reproductive health care with HIV service.
• Whenever we held summits or organized hill meetings to advocate for US investment in health systems and health workers in the developing world.
• Whenever we urged op-eds or LTEs that addressed human rights or the right to health for the most vulnerable including IDUs , MSN or women and children at risk for HIV.

You never let us down. You always rallied above and beyond.

The powerful voice of the nurse truly made a significant impact. The wins for AIDS, human rights and global health could never have happened with out the expertise, the dedication, the passion and the commitment of the largest group of health professional in the world. NURSES!!!

Our size as a profession — comprising close to 80% of all health professionals in the world — gives us power but also holds us responsible, obligates us to be advocates for those who voices are not hear. Our work is not done: appropriations for PEFAR and global health is still an unknown and with 70% of those in need of treatment lacking access and infection rates continuing to grown we have to keep our mission on the front pages and at the top of the USG agenda.

In closing I want to acknowledge and thank Deb von Z for nominating me for this award, the ANAC board for approving the nomination, my mentor Larry Kessler, the founder of the AIDS Action Committee in Mass, who first taught me about advocacy and  the entire HAA team at  PHR  and, last, my biggest supporter,  my husband Paul, who for years has put up with my international travel, my long absences and my obsessive behavior. He has never once complained.

Thank you all once again.