Education

A new survey provides a comprehensive snapshot of how countries’ education sectors are responding to HIV and AIDS, assesses progress since the last survey in 2004, and points out the policy implications of the current situation. Called the 2011-2012 Education Sector HIV and AIDS Global Progress Survey Progression, Regression or Stagnation?, it was commissioned by the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Education convened by UNESCO.

Background

Poverty and gender inequality, in addition to the lack of access to education, increase vulnerability to HIV infection. This is one of the main messages of the Gender Equality, HIV and Education booklet recently produced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The Women’s Health Research Unit (WHRU) in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town invites applications for a postdoctoral research fellowship, for a period of one year starting in 2013with the possibility of renewal for a further year.
 
The WHRU, an accredited UCT research unit since1996, has achieved local, national and international research standing in the areas of sexual and reproductive health and gender issues. The Unit is involved in research, teaching, technical health service support, and advocacy in the area of women’s health. It is made up of a multidisciplinary team of researchers with expertise in public health, epidemiology, sociology and anthropology.
 

Member States (MS) of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have made important progress in the last decades in reducing child mortality. However, with children under 18 years old representing 48% of the total population in the SADC region, child survival and development remains a key challenge. HIV, TB and malaria are important sources of morbidity and mortality in children. In 2009, there were more than 1 million children under the age of 15 years estimated to be living with HIV within SADC Member States, and in 2010 mother to child transmission of HIV (MTCT) resulted in more than 176,000 new infant infections in the region, with the percentage of MTCT across Member States ranging from 3 to 37%.

One-year contract appointment with possible extension
(Ref. TGB14/288/0912)

Duties:

One-year contract appointment with possible extension
(Ref. TGB14/287/0912)

Duties:

The School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape is a WHO Collaborating Centre, and has an international reputation as a leading research and teaching institution in Public Health. Its educational and research activities are wide-ranging, with a special focus on health systems research, primary health care, social determinants of health, priority conditions (including TB/HIV and chronic disease) and the implementation of district health systems. The School’s distance learning postgraduate programme, offered through a range of learning media, is unique in Southern Africa.

The 2012 edition of the Child Development Index tells a story of success. This edition of the Index shows that substantial progress has been made in addressing the most basic threats to child survival and well-being. On average, the lives of children around the world in the indicators we measured improved by more than 30%. This means that the chances of a child going to school were one-third higher, and the chances of an infant dying before their fifth birthday were one-third lower at the end of the 2000s than a decade before. During this period child well-being improved in 90% of the countries surveyed.