[afro-nets] Unserved HIV Prevention Window: Healthcare Safety @ Toronto 2006 (2)

["Peter Burgess" <profitinafrica@gmail.com>]

Unserved HIV Prevention Window: Healthcare Safety @ Toronto 2006 (2)
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Dear Colleagues

I am pleased to see the issue of safe healthcare on this list again. Though I am not a medical expert, I am fairly good at understanding the financial issues and the socio-economic impact of many of the aspects of relief and development sector (RDS). I think this is an issue worth having on the agenda.

The international RDS experts have not done a very good job of helping to focus on the terrrible shortage of resources in the "south's" public finance arena ... and have tended to look to donor assistance as the way to bridge finance gaps. With that, there has been a move from local priorities to the donor priorities. The healthcare infrastructure and funding is seriously deteriorated in much of the "south" and little resources are being used to fix it substantively.

In the dialog about safe healthcare a couple of years back, it was pointed out that some 5% of HIV AIDS transmission is probably associated with problems in  healthcare ... needle stick injury, multiple use of one use syringes, tainted blood for transfusions, etc. ........... but 5% was not important because 95% was the big issue.

I find this sort of dumb thinking quite reprehensible ... 5% of HIV AIDS transmission is a big number (probably more than 150,000 a year) and it should be ZERO. It is also relatively easy to address ... it is a relatively simple management issue and allocation of resources and not an issue requiring difficult change in human behavior.

I hope all aspects of HIV AIDS will get on the agenda ... but I also hope that the oversight situation can be improved so that the limited resources are used to best effect, and that those engaged in enriching themselves on top of the fund flows to help can be identified and then brought to justice.

Sincerely

Peter Burgess
Transparency and Accountability Network
Tr-Ac-Net Inc in New York 212 772 6918
mailto:peterbnyc@gmail.com