Dreams of female migrant workers are often shattered, but hope remains

Published in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia (11 December 2023)



Purwanti (name has been changed to maintain confidentiality) was just 17 when she arrived in Hong Kong. When she saw the stunning views of glittering lights, lines of high-rise buildings, beautifully dressed women and the lavish lifestyles she came to know from many Hong Kong-produced movies and TV dramas, Purwanti felt her dream had come true.
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Are online spaces safe for women?

[हिन्दी] In today’s world many human interactions are taking place in the online spaces. As the internet and mobile technologies, as well as social media spaces, become more and more accessible, this is where many of our real life activities take place. Many of us find virtual spaces safe and convenient to share opinions, exchange ideas, increase our knowledge, and find entertainment, without even stepping out of our homes.
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No excuse for not making labour and migration safe and fair for women

[हिन्दी] Female migrant workers, despite contributing a significant share to the economy, face alarming levels of sexual and other forms of gender-based violence and harassment all across the migration cycle. Actions to make labour and migration safe and fair a reality for them are sketchy at best or few and far between.
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[podcast] SABC Lotus FM features AMR survivor Vanessa Carter

Shooting our own foot: Misuse of medicines is making infections difficult to treat

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and become resistant to (or no longer respond to) medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance, medicines become ineffective, and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat. That is why AMR ranks among the top ten global health threats worldwide.
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Goa to Paris: Growing call to find all TB to stop TB

Not just a Portuguese connect, Goa also has a Paris link now. The “Global Call to find all TB to stop TB” which was launched earlier this month in Goa, India was in prime spotlight at the World Conference on Lung Health 2023 in Paris.
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[video] Goa to Paris: Growing call to find all TB to stop TB

[video] 3rd Global Media Forum on Antimicrobial Resistance

Will governments firewall public health from Big Tobacco at the upcoming FCTC Treaty meet?

Tobacco industry interference in its myriad sinister forms is one of the biggest obstacles to implement the legally-binding global tobacco treaty. Unless the devious designs of Big Tobacco are thwarted and the industry is held to account legally and financially for causing irreparable damage to human life and our planet, #endTobacco will continue to remain elusive. The upcoming inter-governmental meeting of the global tobacco treaty offers a chance to put people before profit and advance stronger measures for tobacco control.
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[video] Find all TB to stop TB multistakeholder conference in Goa, India: 2-4 November 2023

[video] 22nd International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa to be held in Zimbabwe

Join hands with Global AMR Media Alliance - GAMA

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[podcast] Is Zimbabwe on track to Find.Treat.All TB?

This podcast features Tariro Kutadza who is a noted Zimbabwean HIV and TB advocate, and has helped shape HIV and TB advocacy agendas at national, regional and global level. She is an elected member of the Zimbabwe Country Coordinating Mechanism and Southern Africa Regional Coordinating Mechanism, representing TB-affected communities in the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (The Global Fund) and Advisory Panel of International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union).

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.
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[video] Is Zimbabwe on track to end TB and AIDS by 2030?

3rd Annual Global Media Forum in lead up to World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW 2023)

Media representatives are welcomed to attend the 3rd Annual Global Media Forum in lead up to World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) 2023 to have a direct interface with senior experts from the quadripartite organizations that have united to address Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) - one of the top 10 threats to global health security. These quadripartite organizations include: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE).
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Endorse the global call: Find all TB to stop TB

(click here to endorse the global call) Unless we stop missing TB cases, we cannot end TB. One of the key actions enshrined in the WHO Director General’s flagship initiative to Find.Treat.All (first launched in 2018) is to replace microscopy with upfront rapid molecular diagnostic test by 2027, because microscopy underperforms in diagnosing TB, and thereby misses TB cases. More importantly, the WHO initiative backed by the Stop TB Partnership and The Global Fund, calls for a people-centred and rights-based TB response, through community-led and gender-transformative interventions.
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When will we start caring for our caregivers?

A Lancet Commission report investigating the nexus of "Women, power, and cancer" says that "patriarchy dominates cancer care, research, and policy making."
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[podcast] Making a difference in Nigeria with innovative new tools to find TB


This Podcast features Dr Sheshi Michael, who is a seasoned infectious Diseases expert, supporting the National TB programme in Nigeria at both National and sub-national levels. Currently is the KNCV Nigeria's Director, Private Sector TB Initiative. He is a member of the National drug-resistant TB Concilium of experts in Nigeria.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.
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[video] Using appropriate TB screening and testing tools in Nigeria proves to be gamechanger towards Find.Treat.All

Breaking access barriers and bringing quality healthcare closer to the people in Meghalaya


Unless the full cascade of quality healthcare services reaches closer to the underserved communities, how will we deliver on the promise of #HealthForAll? One positive ray of light comes from an underserved block of Meghalaya, a north-eastern state of India.
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Ending TB one barangay at a time

[video, podcast] "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has,” had said the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead. Bearing testimony to this, a small group of people in Bantayan Municipality of Cebu, Philippines, has changed the lives of many people affected by tuberculosis (TB). TB, despite being preventable and curable, continues to be the deadliest of the infectious diseases in high TB burden countries.
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[video] Delayed or misdiagnosis of TB: "I suffered more before getting diagnosed than during the treatment"

Are we putting money where the mouth is to reach the missing millions?

Unless we find people with TB and put them on treatment, how will we be able to reduce avoidable human suffering, untimely deaths, and break the chain of infection transmission? Finding TB remains the critical entry point to TB care pathway.
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Will the world leaders walk the talk to end TB at the upcoming UN High Level Meeting?

Leaders of all the UN member countries are expected to convene on 22nd September 2023 at the upcoming second United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB (the first one was held in September 2018). The theme of this year's UNHLM is: “Advancing science, finance and innovation, and their benefits, to urgently end the global TB epidemic, in particular by ensuring equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment and care."
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[video] Surveillance and latest TB diagnostics and treatments reduced TB rates in Georgia

[podcast] Georgia's journey of reducing TB and drug-resistant TB rates

This podcast features Dr Nino Lomtadze, Head of Surveillance and Strategic Planning Department at Georgia's National TB Programme. Georgia was among the high MDR-TB burden countries till 2016 after which TB rates (including those of drug-resistant forms) have been dropping. TB decline has been 6-7% in recent years. TB surveillance and use of latest TB diagnostics and treatments have resulted in reduction in TB rates in Georgia.
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[video] Seychelles secret to keep TB under bay: screen everyone, detect early, link to treatment and care

[podcast] Would Seychelles be the first African country to end TB?

This podcast features Dr Louine Morel, Medical Registrar, Communicable Disease Control unit, Ministry of Health of Seychelles, who was on the panel for #EndTB Dialogues (season-2), #90for90 #GlobalVoices Series. Seychelles 100% funds its fight against tuberculosis and has managed to keep TB under bay. Although there has a rise in notified cases in the recent years. Listen to more insights from Dr Morel. Seychelles is likely to be the first country in Africa to end TB, hopes Dr Louine Morel.

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[video] End TB drug shortages if we are to #endTB

[video] Vietnam study: 68% drop in TB if we screen all (not just those with symptoms) and link to standard treatment and care pathway

[podcast] Vietnam study: 68% drop in TB if we screen all (not just those with symptoms) and link to standard treatment and care pathway


Vietnam study shows 68% drop in new TB cases if we screen everyone (not just those with symptoms) and link them with standard treatment, care and support pathway. It is important to underline that Vietnam study had deployed WHO recommended molecular tests upfront to confirm TB (and rifampicin-resistant TB) and link those diagnosed with active TB disease to standard care.

This podcast features study co-author Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Binh Hoa, who is also the Vice Manager of Vietnam National TB Programme, Vice Director of National Lung Hospital, and Director of Vietnam Integrated Center for TB and Respirology Research (VICTORY), and Vice Director of Vietnam Global Fund TB project.

Listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, Podtail, BluBrry, Himalaya, ListenNotes, American Podcasts, CastBox FM, Ivy FM, Player FM, and other podcast streaming platforms.
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[video] Will governments ensure access to WHO recommended TB diagnostics, treatments, and prevention?

[video] Will people take back power to demand rights-based TB services and hold governments to account?

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