Physicians for Human Rights Advocacy Channel

Statement on the Rights of Nurses to Health and Safety

A Global Call to Action

We invite health professionals to join the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and the Health Action AIDS Campaign of Physicians for Human Rights in signing this statement,which calls attention to the need for workplace health and safety measures for nurses and health care workers around the world. Your endorsement will help national and local nursing and health worker organizations around the world to more effectively demand occupational health and safety measures.

You can add your personal signature at the end of the statement, below. Affiliations are for identification purposes only. If your organization wishes to endorse this statement, please contact Kimberly Carbaugh from the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care at Kimberly[at]anacnet[dot]org. (Endorsing organizations.)

Ask Congress to Protect Youth in the Juvenile Justice System

Reauthorize the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act in 2008

Youth in the juvenile justice system are some of the most vulnerable and marginalized in society. Overwhelmingly, these kids grow up in poverty, suffer childhood abuse or violence, or struggle with mental health disorders.

The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) was first passed in 1974 and most recently reauthorized in 2002, with bipartisan support, to address the complex needs of youth in the juvenile justice system--through direct funding, research, training, technical assistance and evaluation.

The JJDPA needs to be reauthorized this year to ensure that core protections for youth in the juvenile system continue.

Please urge the Senate to protect the health and well-being of youth in the juvenile justice system by reauthorizing the JJDPA with full funding this year.

Statement On The Rights Of Nurses To Health And Safety

A Global Call to Action

We are pleased to share with you this initiative being launched by the Health Action AIDS Campaign of Physicians for Human Rights and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. This statement, which calls attention to the need for workplace health and safety measures for nurses and health care workers around the world, will be released at the Mexico City International AIDS Conference in August 2008.

Bring Life Saving Global AIDS Legislation to a Vote Now

The greatly improved and expanded version of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is stalled in the Senate's legislative process. The bill authorizes $50 billion in funding and largely focuses on evidence- and human rights-based treatment, prevention and care programs. It must be passed as quickly as possible.

The Senate might not consider PEPFAR reauthorization at all this year. With 15,000 new infections every day in sub-Saharan Africa, over 60% of them among women and young girls, we can't afford any delays in renewing US commitment to fighting AIDS.

Please contact your Senators today and ask them to support the swift passage of this lifesaving bill.

PHR will also convey your support to the Senate leaders, Senators Reid (D-NV) and McConnell (R-KY).

Feel free to personalize the beginning of this message in the text box, below, to let your Senators know why AIDS is an important issue for you.

Support African Health Systems, Save African Lives

The US House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee is now deliberating on how to allocate next year's foreign assistance spending.

Please sign this letter urging your Member of Congress to ensure that the subcommittee appropriates $650 million in 2009 to support developing countries in establishing, strengthening, and implementing national health workforce strategies.

The massive shortage of health workers in Africa is severely impeding the expansion of programs to treat AIDS, keep mothers and children healthy, and enable everyone to receive basic health services, currently beyond the reach of many millions of people.

You can add your signature at the end of the letter, below.

Help Get More Co-Sponsors for the Capuano Resolution in the US House of Representatives

In the face of escalating attacks on Darfur, the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing offer a rare opportunity for the international community to exert pressure on China in regards to its relationship with Sudan.

As Sudan’s most important trading partner, China has unique influence with that country, and is thus considered one of the few nations that could stem the continuing tide of violence in Darfur. Yet China continues to protect Sudan diplomatically and shield it from international criticism. Moreover, it is one of the main suppliers of military equipment and weapons to Sudan—weapons which have been used against civilians in Darfur.

Rep. Michael Capuano has introduced House Resolution 1093, which calls for President Bush and other senior officials not to attend the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games unless China does the following:

Takes steps to stop selling military equipment, including equipment that can be used for military intelligence-gathering and communications, to Sudan
Persuades Sudan to end violent attacks in Darfur and allow for full deployment of UNAMID

We have gotten a good number of members of Congress to sign on, but more are needed to move the Resolution to the floor. ACT NOW – contact your member of Congress and urge him or her to become a co-sponsor.

Please send a letter encouraging your US Representative to sponsor Capuano’s Resolution and then support its passage.

The most effective letters are personalized; therefore please consider adding a line at the beginning of the email about why Darfur is an important issue for you.

Help Expand PEPFAR and End HIV Travel Ban

A greatly improved and expanded version of PEPFAR has been introduced in Congress, The Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. This bill will be voted on this week by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and we need your immediate help to secure the support of your Senator and pass the best bill possible.

The bill authorizes $50 billion dollars in funding and largely focuses on evidence- and human rights-based treatment, prevention and care programs. Unfortunately, the bill does not go far enough to address the critical shortage of health care professionals that are needed in the fight against AIDS and other diseases.

Please ask your Senator to support a bill that includes provisions to train and retain 140,000 new health care professionals and supports full implementation of national health workforce strategies.
The Senate bill includes language that would lift the travel ban against people with HIV—a human rights violation that has stood since the early 1990s.

Please tell your Senator that you support lifting this ban and want him or her to support the retention of this important language during the amendment process.

Please personalize the beginning of your message by telling your own experience with this issue or why it is important to you.

Endorse the Health Rights = Healthy Women Platform

Women and young girls presently comprise more than 60% of those who are living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa - and the numbers are continuing to grow. Any solution to the epidemic must acknowledge the devastating gender dynamics of AIDS and place women's empowerment at the center of programming and planning.

Presently, the global response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic is failing women, in particular, the current ABC approach to prevention. Physicians for Human Rights' Health Action AIDS Campaign is committed to mobilizing health professionals in support of a response that goes "Beyond ABC." To ensure protection of women's rights, programs and initiatives must address root causes of HIV/AIDS transmission such as widespread gender-based violence, stigma and discrimination, as well as inequalities and violations of economic, social, legal, health and educational rights.

[For the full text of the platform, click on "Tell me more."]

Please join prominent supporters in endorsing the platform.

Ask Your Representative to Support the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007

In sub-Saharan Africa, people are dying of treatable and preventable diseases simply because there are not enough doctors, nurses, and community health workers to treat them.

The African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007 would be the first piece of legislation in the House of Representatives to address Africa's health workforce crisis, a central obstacle to scaling up essential health services and meeting global health commitments, including for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and maternal and child health. The Senate version, the Durbin Bill, recently cleared a committee and awaits a vote on the floor.

Tell-a-Friend!

If your Representative is already a co-sponsor of the African Health Capacity Investment Act, thank them for their support and encourage them to ensure passage of and full funding for the bill.
If your Representative is not already a co-sponsor, please urge them to co-sponsor the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007.

A list of recent co-sponsors is on the Library of Congress website.

If you don't know who your Representitive is, you can use the elected official look-up page to find out.

Please personalize the beginning of your message by telling a personal story or why this issue is important to you.

For any questions about this action or composing your letter, please contact, Jirair Ratevosian at 617-301-4214 or healthactionaids@phrusa.org.

Ask the UN Security Council to Protect Darfurians and Support Peace

Peace negotiations for Darfur are approaching at the end of October. It is crucial that the United Nations Security Council support a just and sustainable peace and address the immediate security of civilians.

There has been promising action by both the UN and the European Union: the UN Security Council recently called for the expedited deployment of the promised UN/African Union force, and the European Union has approved a force of 3,000 European troops to protect civilians in neighboring Chad and the Central African Republic. The British Minister of State also recently made a welcome appeal to Sudan to turn over Ahmed Haroun, a suspected war criminal, to the International Criminal Court for trial.

However, the brutal attack by rebels on African Union peacekeepers – which left 10 peacekeepers dead and 10 wounded, shows the urgent need for a robust force able to protect unarmed civilians and themselves.

Please take this opportunity to write to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the 15 members of the Security Council and tell them that you support their calls to speed up the deployment of the peacekeepers, and urge them to fully support the upcoming peace negotiations.

Speak Out Against Rape and Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Darfur

The widespread use of rape of women and girls as young as eight in Darfur has been a horrific reality since the violence there began in 2003. Systematic rape, used to terrorize and humiliate both the victims and their families, is a crime against humanity. Currently, women and girls are being raped when they leave the relative security of refugee and internally displaced persons camps, to gather the vital commodities of firewood and water. The vast majority of these crimes are being perpetrated by the Janjaweed militias who carry out attacks with the support of and in concert with the Government of Sudan (GOS).

Write to President Bush and tell him to ensure that civilians in Darfur are protected.

The Health Professionals' Call for Action on Global HIV/AIDS

Add your signature to the Call for Action on Global HIV/AIDS.

Call on Pakistani authorities to properly investigate the rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid

A year after the attack and rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid in her home on state-owned Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) property, Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to conduct a full and thorough investigation into her case or bring the perpetrators to justice. Write to the Pakistani authorities to call for a full and thorough investigation into the rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid and prosecution of the individuals in the illegal jirga who called for her death.

Ask the Vietnamese Government to Cease Persecution of Dr. Son and Other Former Political Prisoners

Vietnamese physician and democracy advocate Dr. Pham Hong Son was released from prison on August 30, 2006. Dr. Son had served more than three years of his five-year sentence for translating and circulating on the internet a document titled "What is Democracy?" Since his release, the Vietnamese government has put Dr. Son under probation for three years; surrounded his family's home has with security forces; erected a barrier in front of their house; and required Dr. Son to seek permission before leaving his neighborhood. Call upon the government of Vietnam to cease persecution of Dr. Son, Dr. Nguyen Dan Que, and other former prisoners of conscience, to release current prisoners, and to comply with its human rights obligations under the Vietnamese Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.