Reproductive and Sexual Health is the Key to Defeating HIV 
- Says Africa Public Health Rights Alliance "15% Now!" Campaign as it Calls on African Governments to Seize the Opportunity of 2008 Annual Budgets to Start Funding:

• The African Union Health Strategy
• The African Union Implementation Plan on HIV, TB and Malaria, and
• The Maputo Plan of Action on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights

In its statement to mark World AIDS day 2007 the Africa Public Health Rights Alliance “15% Now!” Campaign has called on African governments to meet commitments to Public Health by implementing the Abuja pledge to allocate 15% or more of annual budgets to health in their 2008 budgets, and in particular to start funding the African Union Health Strategy,  the AU Implementation Plan on HIV, TB, and Malaria, and the Maputo Plan of Action on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights.

APHRA and 15% Campaign Coordinator Rotimi Sankore stated:

"Global health is a global responsibility. But while we call for global health commitments to be met, African governments must also fund African health strategies and plans if Africa is to be taken seriously in its fight against infectious diseases and to improve Public Health."  He underlined that "it took African governments 25 years after the start of the global HIV epidemic to develop a plan of Action. Now that the African Union leadership has after years of hard work delivered an overall continental Health Strategy and key plans of action for HIV, and Reproductive and Sexual Health, we cannot wait another 25 years to fund them. Africa's future is grim if our governments do not act now."

He emphasised that "the link between HIV and Reproductive and Sexual Health is universally understood and recognised and there is no dispute that the majority of HIV infections are sexually transmitted or linked with pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding. It is therefore imperative that African governments focus health policy and investment on Reproductive and Sexual Health. It is no coincidence that the countries with the best reproductive and sexual health systems also have the lowest prevalence of HIV and almost zero Mother to Child Transmission of HIV. Gender inequality and violence against women must also be addressed " 

He further stated that "the high prevalence of HIV and TB co-infection in southern Africa is a warning to the entire continent not to be complacent on tackling HIV. The reduction in 2007 HIV estimates must have no impact on resource mobilisation for HIV and Public Health in general. From an African Public Health perspective, a downward revision from 24.5 million to 22.5 million is no cause for celebration. Globally, there are still estimated 6 800 new infections and over 5 700 AIDS deaths daily and the rate of infection far outstrips access to prevention, treatment and care. For Africa in particular the demand is still the same for health systems development and in particular for sufficient numbers of and better working conditions for health workers without which no health targets can be met."

In a related development, the APHRA and 15% Campaign Coordinator welcomed this weeks commitment  by the South African government to announce a new protocol for a prevention of mother to child transmission programme within two weeks.  "With an estimated over half a million cases of MTCT in Africa annually, the South African initiative on reducing MTCT is a welcome positive step."

ENDS
Support the Africa Public Health Rights Alliance 15% Now campaign for sustainable financing for health in Africa - www.africa15percentcampaign.org

For Further Information Please Contact the Following: 
Int. office:  +44 207 424 5744; Or Africa Office +234 1 4925568, email: media[at]africapublichealth.org.

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APHRA – “15% Now!” Campaign, Background
The Africa Public Health Rights Alliance [and the “15% Now!” campaign] launched on December 10 2006 - International Human Rights Day - is the first to articulate Public Health for Africa as a Rights and Development issue across Africa and beyond. It brings together actors from various key sectors of civil society. 
 
The Campaign is based on the premise that “we all have to be alive and well to exercise any other rights in any meaningful way” and therefore that Right to Health and to Healthcare is arguably the most crucial right of all as articulated by both the constitution of the World Health Organisation and Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 
 
Current social development and health indicators from international and African institutions show that over 8 million African lives are lost annually to preventable, treatable and manageable health conditions and diseases mainly - Child Mortality, Maternal Mortality, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and TB. 
Any loss of life to disease is bad enough. The annual loss of populations equivalent to entire African countries - and over a few years greater than the losses from all modern day global wars and conflicts combined is both unacceptable and unsustainable, and brings Africa closer to the slippery slope to collapse of society and extinction. Public Health is not realisable without adequate and sustainable health financing. Meeting the Abuja 2001 by African leaders to allocate 15% or more of annual budgets to health is  crucial to Public Health in Africa. Yet this pledge remains largely unmet with just two countries, Botswana and Seychelles demonstrating their commitment to the 15% pledge.

The key objective of the Alliance is to engage the African Union, sub-Regional Economic Communities such as the East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) etc, their institutions / member countries, and the African public towards: 1) Promoting greater awareness and understanding of African Health Issues and; 2) Achievement of Health based MDG's and Universal Access Targets for Prevention, Treatment and Care; 3) Adopting Comprehensive Health Policies based on a Public Health Rights and Development philosophy - and mobilising and committing resources for sustainable implementation of health policies - including through meeting the 15% pledge.
 
The Alliance will also engage global stake-holders and actors including donors, the UN, EU and their institutions, World Bank, IMF, and international Non-governmental Institutions and organisations especially those concerned with health, social and economic development.
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*Partners of the Africa Public Health Rights Alliance and the “15% Now!” Campaign are:
 Honorary Chair: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Prize winner

♣Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS (AGHA), Uganda,
♣Africa Health Research Organization,
♣Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice),
♣African Network of Adolescents and Youth in Population and Development (AfriYAN)
♣African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or Personally Affected by HIV and AIDS (ANERELA+),
♣African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)
♣Centre for Research, Education and Development of Rights in Africa (CREDO-Africa),
♣Coalition of African Parliamentarians Against HIV/AIDS (CAPAH)
♣Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre – CISLAC Nigeria,
♣Cross-of Ministries International Uganda (CGMI),
♣Development Alternatives With Women for New Era (DAWN-Africa),
♣Friends of the Global Fund Africa
♣Global Aids Alliance
♣International Refugee Rights Initiative
♣Institute for Democracy in South Africa – Governance & Aids Prog (IDASA)
♣Kenya Health Rights Advocacy Network (KHRAN),
♣KIGEZI Healthcare Foundation, Uganda ,
♣Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA),
♣Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
♣Oeuvre de Charité et Développement de LEMBA (OCDL ongd/asbl) - DRC,
♣POSITIVE-Generation (Cameroon),
♣Positive Women’s Network, South Africa ,
♣Physicians for Human Rights (PHR),
♣RESULTS,
♣Santayalla Support Society (Togo),
♣Society for Women and AIDS in Africa – Southern Africa (SWAA Mozambique),
♣Southern Africa HIV & AIDS Dissemination Services (Safaids),
♣Southern and East African Alliance of Parliamentary Committees on Health and HIV/AIDS (SEAPACOH)
♣Stop TB and HIV/AIDS-The Gambia,
♣Tbaction Kenya,
♣Treatment Action Campaign (TAC),
♣Tuberculosis National League (Cameroon),
♣Women Advocates and Research Documentation Centre (WARDC),
♣World Aids Campaign (WAC),
♣Zimbabwe College of Public Health Physicians