'The millennium goals and the role of Caribbean journalists
The following is an edited version of the speech given by Dr. Mirta Roses
Periago Director, Pan American Health Organisation at the 11th
PAHO/Caribbean Media Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism.
One of my early commitments as Director of PAHO, is to continue to promote
the role and contribution of health in development and focus the attention
of the Hemisphere on the Millennium Development Goals, which highlight the
contribution of health. Accepted by member states of the United Nations in
2000, the eight Millennium Development Goals and targets are seen as a
framework for measuring development progress. The eight are:
* Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
* Achieve universal primary education.
* Promote gender equality and empower women.
* Reduce child mortality.
* Improve maternal health..
* Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
* Ensure environmental sustainability.
* Develop a global partnership for development.
Four of these goals are directly related to health and there is a health
dimension to all the others. The first seven are mutually reinforcing and
are directed at reducing poverty in all its forms. The last goal,
concerning a global partnership for development, is about the means to
achieve the first seven.
The importance of the MDGs in health is, in one sense, self-evident.
Improving the health and quality of life of the poor is an end in itself, a
fundamental goal of economic development. But it is also a means to
achieving the other development goals relating to poverty reduction. The
linkages of health to poverty reduction and to long-term economic growth
are powerful, much stronger than is generally understood. The level of
education, the quality of water, availability of housing and access to
appropriate services, all have an impact on the health status of both
individuals and the community. The poor and disadvantaged members of
society, usually have less access to good education, housing, potable water
etc., resulting in a less than favourable health status. Therefore,
directly or indirectly the MDGs refer to the area of health or to
determinants closely related to health and are convergent for the most part
with the public health mandates of PAHO/WHO.
HEALTH GOALS AND TARGETS
I will focus my attention on the Goals which more directly relate to heath,
Reduction in child mortality; improvement in maternal health; combating
HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and ensuring environmental protection.
The Caribbean has achieved considerable progress towards these indicators
yet there are differences within and between countries. Undoubtedly, this
region has led the way in several respects in terms of achievements in
health. Of immense significance are the strides made through an aggressive
immunisation program which saw early success in the eradication of polio
and now the virtual elimination of measles. Other successes include a
reduction in the number of underweight children; infant, child and maternal
mortality; increased numbers of births delivered by skilled personnel; and
improved water source and sanitation, increasingly available essential
drugs.
However, there are still significant health concerns. This Region is now
one of the most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. There is also a
resurgence of tuberculosis and a rise in obesity, and the non communicable
diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension.
Reduce Child Mortality
There is evidence that countries are undergoing a demographic transition
evidenced by a rise in life expectancy and a fall in infant mortality.
Life expectancy at birth for 1996-2002 is 73 years, an increase from 68.1
years for 1980-1985.
Infant Mortality rates (per 1000 live births) declined from 36.9 (1980-85)
to 25.3 (1995-00). The main causes of infant deaths are conditions
originating in the prenatal period, that is the periods covering gestation,
birth, and the first weeks of life. This accounts for 38% (198,500) of all
under five deaths in the late 20th century in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Available information shows that child health has improved in recent years
throughout the Caribbean. Data from Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC)
indicate that between 1980 and 1995, communicable disease mortality rates
in children aged 1-14 years declined by 67 per cent as a result of
interventions such as preventive immunisations, and provision of safe,
potable water.
IMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTH
Worldwide, more than 50 million women suffer from poor reproductive health
and serious pregnancy-related illness and disability. And every year more
than 500,000 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
High maternal mortality rates in many countries are the result of
inadequate reproductive health care for women and inadequately spaced
births. These are often cured by serious neglect of women`s reproductive
health, particularly for the poorest women, as well as ineffective
interventions.
COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria are among the world`s biggest killers,
and all have their greatest impact on poor countries and poor people. These
diseases interact in ways that make their combined impact worse. Effective
prevention and treatment programs will save lives, reduce poverty, and help
economies develop.
Estimates suggest that tuberculosis costs the average patient three or four
months of lost earnings, which can represent up to 30 percent of annual
household income.
Although mortality due to communicable diseases has declined, tuberculosis
cases increased to 949 in 2000 (from 882 in 1980) due to a combination of
factors such as poverty, malnutrition, diminished control efforts, the
HIV/AIDS epidemic and the emergence of multiple-drug-resistant strains of
the causative agent (Mycobacterium tuberculosis).
REVERSING THE SPREAD
I wish to elaborate a bit on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This pandemic
represents a unique challenge of unprecedented urgency and intensity. This
single epidemic can undermine development in the Caribbean over this and
the next generation. The time is now ripe for aggressive action by all
persons in the Caribbean. And media workers are especially welcomed as
active partners in this response. The vast reach of the media into the
daily lives of our communities make them formidable allies in health
promotion. Over the years, for public health communicators, collaboration
with the media have provided many advantages. There is ample evidence of
your effectiveness in advocating health causes such as tobacco control,
breast cancer promotion, and environmental protection. I salute the
contribution that you are making especially in recent months in
highlighting the many and varied concerns pertaining to HIV/AIDS in this
region.
CAREC estimates that there were more than half a million people living with
HIV/AIDS in the wider Caribbean at the end of 2000. Taking into account the
HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, the conclusion is that at the end of 2000, for
every single individual living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil, there were close to
five individuals living with that same condition in the Caribbean.
An analysis of AIDS cases between the period 1982-2000 in the Caribbean
shows the highest incidence is in the 25-34 age group (35.3 per cent), the
male/female ratio stands at 2 to 1, and the highest category of
transmission is through sexual encounters among heterosexuals (64 per
cent).
The Caribbean is faced with a major challenge to combat this disease.
However, you are well on the way. Your senior Government officials are
signatories to the PAN Caribbean partnership against HIV/AIDS and now, with
possibly one exception, all countries have drafted National Strategic Plans
and are in the process of developing or implementing operational
strategies. The costs are high both to do and not to do, but I would prefer
that we err on the side of action.
Several international partners are providing direct technical assistance to
CARICOM and CAREC for regional programmes and to national Governments for
bilateral programs. PAHO for its part will continue to make contributions
to improve the general health systems, negotiate and procure where
necessary, cheaper antiretroviral drugs to reduce sexually transmitted
infections, and provide technical guidance for prevention of transmission
of HIV from mother-to-child.
Foremost in all these efforts, national Governments must assign efficient
managers to monitor and evaluate their programs, to ensure that returns on
the significant investments for HIV/AIDS are being realised. It is not
adequate just to provide drugs, we must use our best efforts to develop
programs that address prevention, reduce stigma and discrimination. We must
provide the means to interact with, and the services needed to people in
prisons, also persons who, for whatever reason, are commercially engaged in
sex. We must pay special attention to our young persons 15-24 year olds who
are proving to be the more vulnerable members of our population.
ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY
Accessibility to safe drinking water continues to be of the highest
priority in this region for several valid reasons. We all know that
universal access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation services have
a direct and beneficial effect on good health, and consequently to social
stability and economic development. It is also true that this region, with
its heavy reliance on tourism, is especially dependent on rational
management of water resources and proper disposal of wastewater. Hence,
commitment to the MDGs are especially significant in this region.
JOURNALISTS AS ALLIES
The need for partnerships and external support is particularly pertinent to
the English-speaking Caribbean; for although most of your countries fall in
the middle income groupings, many are experiencing economic challenges,
increase in social instability, demonstrated by the increase in violence
which is now recognised as a public health challenge. I challenge all media
practitioners in this country and the region to commit yourselves to
working through your channels of communication to ensure that the Caribbean
remains on stream for achieving the MDGs.
The late American journalist Water Lipmann once wrote that ŠMass media are
like the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one
episode and then another out of darkness into vision.‰
I encourage you, as gatekeepers of public information, to direct the media
searchlight on the Millennium Development Goals.
As many of you already know, recognition of your gatekeeping potential is
implicit in the Caribbean Charter for Health Promotion endorsed by the
Ministers Responsible for Health in 1993. Despite patterning most of the
strategies in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the Caribbean
Charter is unique for the attention and importance it accords to the role
of the media as an ally in health promotion, or as agents of change and
development.
The MDGs provide an opportunity to see how effectively this alliance for
health called for in the Caribbean Charter can be manifested in the
interest of development in this region. It remains your challenge to ensure
that these goals are illuminated and legitimised in the public information
spotlight in the interest of the community you represent.
The MDGs provide a fresh path to development. With political involvement
and/or participation from the highest level, and with collaboration from
all partners, we are convinced that real success will be realised and be a
step forward towards not only ensuring but also sustaining the health and
development of the Caribbean.
10 November 2003 The Gleaner Pg. 3A
Gleaner takes two at PAHO Media Awards
FOUR JAMAICAN journalists won awards and certificates at the 11th PAHO
Caribbean Media Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism held in Barbados
on Friday.
The Gleaner`s Western Bureau reporter, Erica James King, won the award for
best news story in print, `Dirty Sugar Probe`, a four-part news series. She
received a plaque, cheque and an airline ticket, courtesy of British West
Indian Airways (BWIA).
Feature`s Co-ordinator for The Sunday Gleaner, Patricia Watson, won a
UNICEF award for her articles on HIV Orphans and Vulnerable Children. She
received a plaque, cheque and a ticket from BWIA. She jointly shared the
award with Jacqueline Woods of Belize, who received for her documentary on
violence and children. Ceila Morgan of Radio Jamaica received a certificate
of merit for her radio feature on diabetes and Indi McClymont of the
Jamaica Observer also received a certificate of merit.
healthy lifestyles
The Caribbean Media Awards for Excellence in Journalism recognises
journalists whose stories are well researched and considered excellent by
judges. The stories should also provide vital information on health,
increase awareness and influence the adoption of healthy lifestyles in the
Caribbean. According to chief judge of the Regional Competition, Katherine
Drayton, the submissions this year raised first the question of the right
to health, which is bound up with public health measures, and secondly, the
fundamental right of access to health care.
`Both these rights are linked to poverty and/or wealth, of the society and
of the individual. Since the 1950s, Caribbean citizens have taken both the
right to health and the right to health care more and more for granted.
This year`s health stories have shown that both these rights are in
jeopardy,` Ms. Drayton noted.
health care
Using the analogy of the Trinidadian Carnival character, the Midnight
Robber, Ms. Drayton noted that health in the Caribbean is a question of
`Your Money or Your Life`. She said many of the entries were stories of
sick people, some of whom died because neither they nor their countries
could pay for the health care they needed.
`So we face a dilemma. New technologies and new drugs make it possible to
diagnose, treat and to cure many illnesses but, unless you can pay for
them, you will die. It is indeed Your Money or your Life!` she explained.
This year`s regional competition welcomed the largest number of entries.
There were 60 entries, many comprising several parts, as compared to 37
entries received in 2002.
Journalists from Belize came out on top with three awards and one
certificate, followed by Jamaica with two awards and two certificates.
Published November 16, 2003
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