Agencies, donors boost coordination on food safety, animal and plant health aid

WTO.,NEWS. January 2012. Strengthened coordination to improve results in a number of areas feature in a new medium-term strategy for 2012-16 adopted on 10 January 2012 by a five-agency programme to help developing countries meet international standards on food safety and animal and plant health.

The ultimate goal is to assist developing countries tackle pests, animal and plant diseases and contaminants so that they can expand and diversify food and agricultural production and exports, resulting in economic development, poverty reduction, better nutrition, food security and environmental protection.

The Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) contributes to this by helping them build up their capacity to implement requirements known as “sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)” standards through increased awareness and knowledge of good practices and by funding projects that promote compliance with the standards, including grants to help prepare projects.

It was set up by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO), and is run by the five partners together with donor countries and representatives of developing countries.

The 2012–16 strategy aims to:

• boost collaboration and information sharing on technical co-operation
• help recipient countries identify their needs, define their priorities and design project proposals that are likely to receive funding from various donors
• improve the performance of countries benefiting from the limited number of STDF-funded projects

Funding to implement new strategy will remain at the current target of $5m per year, with a mid-term review due in 2013. The STDF will continue to dedicate at least 40% of its project resources to beneficiaries in least developed countries (LDCs) and other low income countries.

Since it was set up in 2002, the STDF has supported 47 projects and 48 project-preparation grants benefiting 54 developing countries. In addition, conferences and other events have been organized on thematic cross-cutting topics of common interest such as SPS-related public-private partnerships, the links between SPS and climate change, and the use of economic analysis in SPS decision-making. It has received a total of $25m from 17 donor countries.

Its current donors are Canada, Denmark, EU, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Chinese Taipei, US.

Background

The five organizations formally established the STDF in August 2002 as a partnership and trust fund with three years of start-up financing from the World Bank and the WTO. In 2005, membership of the STDF was expanded to include donors and experts from developing countries with knowledge in the areas of human, animal or plant health, or SPS market access issues more generally.

The STDF is funded through voluntary contributions to the trust fund established under the financial regulations and rules of the WTO. The WTO houses and administers the STDF Secretariat and provides the Secretary to the STDF from its regular budget.

The STDF is a global partnership that supports developing countries in building their capacity to implement international sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards, guidelines and recommendations as a means to improve their human, animal and plant health status and ability to gain or maintain access to markets.

SPS measures can pose significant barriers to the expansion and diversification of food and agricultural exports, a key element in many national development plans and poverty reduction strategies. Moreover, the reduction of pest and disease burdens, and improved food safety, has a key role to play in raising agricultural production, reducing the prevalence of food-borne diseases, increasing food availability, and the protection of the environment.

Hence, building the SPS capacity of developing countries has important public and environmental health benefits and can help in contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Efficient and effective SPS control systems are a global public good.

The STDF brings together the collective expertise and skills of its five partners, donors and developing country experts. This includes the participation of the standard-setting organizations designated as reference bodies by the WTO SPS Agreement in their own right, as well as through the involvement of their parent organizations. The STDF also engages regularly with other organizations and initiatives involved in the provision of SPS-related technical cooperation.

The final beneficiaries of the STDF are public and private sector entities in developing countries seeking to improve their capacity to implement international SPS standards, guidelines and recommendations, and subsequently the consumers of those products throughout the world. Partners, donors and other organizations and initiatives also directly benefit from the work of the STDF, notably in terms of information exchange, sharing experiences and the identification, dissemination and replication of good practice.

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First Regional Forum on Human Resources for Health and Indigenous People: The Challenge of Interculturality

PAHO.On 21-23 November 2011, Panama City will host the First Regional Forum on Human Resources for Health and Indigenous Peoples: The Challenge of Interculturality. The forum is a joint initiative of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, Health Canada, the Fondo Indígena and the Inter-American Development Bank, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Panama.

You can follow the event live via webcast on November 21 and 22 (8:30 am to 5:30 pm, Washington DC time) at:http://www.livestream.com/paho

Interpretation into English is available at: https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?password=M.B8CD32A3FA5D970A769D8C9BEAF7ED&sid=1110

More information (in Spanish) is available at:http://www.paho.org/pueblosindigenas

Experts Analyze Obstacles to Universal HIV Treatment in Latin America and the Caribbean

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 9 November 2011 (PAHO/WHO) — Latin America and the Caribbean have higher levels of antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage than any other developing region, with 50 percent of people who need treatment receiving it, according to data from 2009. Nevertheless, achieving the goal of universal coverage faces serious obstacles that will require stepped-up action by governments, health systems, and international partners, experts say.

Obstacles to universal HIV treatment and how to overcome them will be the focus of a meeting in Santo Domingo this week organized by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), UNAIDS and other UN agencies in collaboration with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“Ensuring universal access to prevention, diagnosis, care and treatment for HIV is a public health priority in our Region,” said PAHO Director Dr. Mirta Roses. “Access to treatment is not just a matter of human rights; it reduces the risk of transmission and strengthens prevention.”

An estimated 950,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean need treatment for HIV, but only 478,000 receive it, according to a 2010 progress report by WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS. In recent years, 40,000 people on average have begun antiretroviral treatment each year, while some 120,000 new HIV infections are reported annually. Ensuring universal access to treatment would require doubling the number of people receiving it through improvements in diagnosis and care, experts say.

People with HIV are considered in need of treatment when they have reduced levels of a type of cell known as CD4, which protects the body against infections and tumors. HIV uses CD4 cells to gain entry into the immune system and leads to a progressive reduction in the number of these cells. WHO recommends that people with HIV begin treatment when their CD4 cell count drops below 350 per cubic millimeter of blood or when they have symptoms of disease.

One of the problems facing Latin America and the Caribbean has been shortages of HIV medications. A 2011 PAHO/WHO survey of 12 countries found that two-thirds had experienced so-called “stock-outs.” This required changing or suspending treatment regimens, increasing the risk of HIV resistance and eventual treatment failure.

Experts say shortages result from several factors, including fragmented health systems, lack of integration of HIV treatment into national pharmaceutical supply systems, inefficient procurement systems, and difficulties with storage and distribution of antiretrovirals, which have increased as treatment regimens have become more complex.

Another obstacle to universal treatment is the high cost of HIV medications. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 70 percent of funds spent on HIV go to treatment, and half that amount is spent on antiretrovirals. The prices paid for antiretrovirals vary from country to country, with some paying as much as six times what others pay.

“The costs of first-line antiretrovirals have declined significantly in recent years. However, demand for other high-cost medications to cover the needs of people who have developed resistance has also increased,” said Jeffrey O’Malley, director of the HIV Unit of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). He added, “Access to needed treatment is a matter of human rights.”

At the High-Level United Nations Meeting on HIV/AIDS in 2011, representatives of Latin American and Caribbean governments established concrete goals to provide HIV treatment for all those who need it by 2015.

“Bold goals give us the opportunity to strengthen joint efforts by governments, civil society, and cooperation agencies,” said Dr. César Núñez, regional director for Latin America of UNAIDS.

On November 9–11 in Santo Domingo, experts from PAHO/WHO, the Global Fund and UNAIDS will meet with the heads of HIV programs and managers of pharmaceutical supply systems from 16 countries, as well as with representatives of other UN agencies and civil society, to develop proposals for increasing access to HIV treatment through:

• Optimal selection of antiretroviral therapy regimens.
• Use of flexibilities in the area of patents to increase access to affordable medicines
• Simplification of treatment regimens within the framework of Treatment 2.0, a WHO-UNAIDS initiative
• Monitoring and prevention of, and rapid response to, stock-outs of antiretroviral medications.

Links:

• Antiretroviral therapy (PAHO/WHO)
• Progress Report 2010: Toward Universal Access: Scaling up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector, published by WHO, UNAIDS, and UNICEF
• PAHO Strategic Fund
• HIV treatment (UNAIDS)