PHR Student Blog

In Malawi, it’s no surprise that the families of rural farmers and residents of Lilongwe’s slums have such limited access to health care. The country has only one doctor for every 50,000 people. For a range of economic, political, social and historical reasons — including AIDS and brain drain to NGOs, the private sector and wealthier countries — Malawi has only 260 doctors to care for a population of 13 million.

However, Malawi is making progress. In 1992, it opened the College of Medicine at the University of Malawi in Blantyre, and 168 doctors graduated in the first ten years. There was a 137% increase in doctors between 2004 and 2009. Malawi is also training more nurses than ever before.

Despite this success, Malawi still faces significant challenges. It must retain these doctors and nurses while persuading them to work in isolated, underfunded and overcrowded clinics and paying them less than they would make in other English-speaking countries. According to the WHO, 57 countries have critical shortages of doctors, nurses and midwives. How can you help? Support the Global HEALTH Act.

The Global HEALTH Act will guide and fund the development of a stronger workforce in countries like Malawi. Countries will develop plans for their health systems to build up their human resources for health. A stronger workforce means greater access to care, which is essential to realizing health as a human right. You may not have chosen the Global HEALTH Act for your Global Health Week of Action, but you can still sign the petition to ask your Representative to cosponsor the bill.

Want to take it a step further? Ask your Dean to join other prominent health professionals in signing the letter that PHR will send to your Representative — Members of Congress are busy people, but they respond to experts. Present the sign-on letter (pdf) to your Dean or interested faculty member, either directly or via email. You can use this email template (doc) and include this fact sheet (pdf) if you’d like. IMPORTANT: email me at hobrien[at]phrusa[dot]org to let me know when your Dean grants permission to use her or his name.

Your efforts on this important Act can have a big impact both in Congress and to the people of Malawi.

The PHR chapter at Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOUCOM) had a banner World AIDS Day celebration. Writes NEOUCOMS’s Julia Ng:

Students from NEOUCOM’s PHR chapter held an AIDS Week of Awareness surrounding World AIDS Day. Daily speakers and activities covered a wide range of topics from harm reduction and access to anti-retroviral medications to the feminization of AIDS. As a visual representation of this week, the student body received red ribbons and many students participated in creating Peace Tiles. These tiles were a depiction of students’ emotions regarding HIV/AIDS and what should be done to help fight this epidemic. As a first year chapter at NEOUCOM, the members were extremely excited by the interest from the student body and faculty and look forward to implementing what they’ve learned at local Syringe Exchange Programs and HIV/AIDS support agencies.

Check out these photos from NEOCOM’s WAD events.

Got great photos from your chapter’s WAD events? Email me at skalloch[at]phrusa[dot]org and we’ll post them here!

Promote Women’s Rights. Protect Women’s Health.

In commemoration of World AIDS Day (Dec 1) and Human Rights Day (Dec 10), mobilize your school to join the 10,000 Signatures in 10 Days campaign for US ratification of the Convention To Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

In addition to our 2009 World AIDS Toolkit, we are excited to share these new practical tools for you and your chapter to easily participate in the World AIDS Day/Human Rights Day campaign:

Organizing the National Sign-on Drive on Your Campus

• Sample sign-on e-invitation to go out to student body email lists and relevant student groups
• Sample sign-on e-invitation for your faculty and Deans
• WAD tabling flyer to host a sign-on table in a public area on your campus
• Hard-copy version of the national sign-on, in the event that you cannot use computers at tables or events to collect signatures. (Please scan and send the hardcopy petitions to Dan at dshalev[at]phrusa[dot]org to have the signatures included in the National Sign-On.)
• Guide for Tabling

Participating in an In-District Meeting with Your Senator

• Meeting talking points
• Guide to meeting with elected officials
• Fact sheet on CEDAW, Women, and HIV/AIDS

If you are interested in having an in-district meeting with your senator, we are happy to help schedule the meeting for you. Contact Dan at dshalev[at]phrusa[dot]org for more information about how to get involved.

Note: The national sign-on webpage, HumanRightsForWomen.org, will launch on World AIDS Day (Dec 1.)

If you have any questions as you prepare for World AIDS Day, please contact me.

Check out the latest news from Physicians for Human Rights:

• PHR Analysis: CIA Health Professionals’ Role in Torture Worse Than Previously Known
• Rights Group: Mexico Disregards Forensic Findings in Probe of US Reporter’s Death
• White House Should Prioritize Protection of Darfuris from Genocidal Regime
• National Call-In Day: Tell Obama to End the Syringe Exchange Ban
• Video: Health Professional Involved Throughout CIA Interrogations
• Join PHR at APHA in Philly in November
• Continuing Medical Education Credits Available for PHR Asylum Network Training in Miami, FL
• How to Not Wrongfully Deport the Indigent Mentally Ill

Visit PHR’s Health Rights Advocate blog and the PHR Press Room for more recent health and human rights-related news updates. You can also set up a Kaiser Health News personal RSS account to regularly receive major health care news stories.

Check out the latest news from Physicians for Human Rights:

• US Health Care Falls Far Short
• Change the Debate on Burma
• A Win for Women: PEPFAR Integrates AIDS and Reproductive Health
• PHR Analysis: CIA Health Professionals’ Role in Torture Worse Than Previously Known
• Physicians’ Group Remembers Senator Ted Kennedy for Leadership
• Got 2 Minutes? Watch “More Pie”
• Orwellian World for Sri Lankan Doctors
• Human Rights Victory: Katheen Sebelius to End the HIV Travel Ban, Calls It “Unfair” and “Unsafe”