Poster session on Population and human rights

The unaffordable health care cost is believed to be one of the important causes of impoverishment in India. Using the data of WHO sponsored Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE-India) of 2007, an attempt is made here to examine the health care expenditure, catastrophic health spending and the extent of health insurance coverage in rural and urban India. The survey covers about 10,000 households from six states of India. The analysis indicates that on an average , a household spent 13 percent of its income on health care. Among the households incurring catastrophic health expenditure, 24 percent became impoverished. Study also found that nine percent of non-poor households have become poor (impoverished) due to health spending. About 20 percent of households borrowed from their relatives and 8 percent sold their assets like land, furniture, livestock and jewellery to meet health care costs. According to this survey, the households having health insurance/policy are 5 percent in urban areas, it is only 1 percent in rural areas. The findings of the study convincingly illustrate the vulnerability of poor in India in the context of spiralling health care costs, privatization of medical sector, and lack of health insurance coverage.

This paper explores Infant mortality gaps between indigenous and non indigenous children in Latin America from a human rights framework. The data provided by population censuses shows that indigenous peoples suffer the greatest inequalities with a persistence of excess mortality. As most of these deaths are preventable with appropriate access to health, the over mortality became an indicator of the human rights violation. Given the persistent inequity and heterogeneity, the challenge is to develop a cross cultural approach considering cultural and geographical diversity in the frame of equity and human rights. The 2010 Census offers a great opportunity for measuring to what extent infant mortality -close to 60 per 1,000 live births in the 2000 censuses- has declined; Also it is an important moment for estimating if the equity gap between indigenous and non indigenous children has increased, decreased or maintained. It is crucial to know the patterns and tendencies to evaluate the impact of cross cultural programs and interventions developed since the 90's in most Latin American countries.

The need to integrate TB and HIV control programmes has become critical due to their interface at the clinical level and the need for optimal use of resources. In developing countries such as Ghana where public health interventions depend on donor funds, such calls have become more urgent than ever. But, its implementation depends on attitudes of implementers. This paper explores the views of stakeholders on tuberculosis and HIV integration in Ghana. Using a qualitative data collection approach, respondents were purposively selected from four regions with the highest reported tuberculosis cases. Two general views emerged: support for and opposition to integration. Supporters argued on shared clinical and social constructions and reducing financial and functional duplications. Those opposed cited increased workload, clinical complications, leadership crisis, and “smaller the better” arguments. Although a policy for TB/HIV integration exists, lack of clarity of direction and unwillingness of some programme managers to collaborate have resulted in disjointed health care for co-infected patients. Underlying the debate is an unspoken unwillingness of implementers to cede some or all-institutional “autonomy” for active, broad-based planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programmatic goals.

Government policy and administration concerning indigenous peoples in early Commonwealth Australia encompassed many human rights abuses and population control including removal of children from families, forced migration, oversight of marriage and family life, regulation of employment and wages and access to natural resources. This paper documents the role of population data and information systems in these policy and administrative domains in early Commonwealth Australia using the Northern Territory as a case study. In focusing on the role of demographic data in Australian Aboriginal affairs this paper contributes to the construction of a comprehensive historical record regarding the use of population data systems as well as the promotion of discourse among demographers and social statisticians concerning the ethical dimensions of the collection, analysis and use of population data in social programs and policy formation. The specific goals are to document the existence of population data and information systems in Aboriginal administration, and to reveal, where possible, the connections between the collection and use of data and demographic information that contribute to human rights violations of Indigenous Australian persons, families and communities in the Territory.

One group of human rights is to guarantee an adequate standard of living to everyone. This paper narrows the focus to health, particularly with respect visual difficulty. Indonesia is the ninth country who signed the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. It took four years for Indonesia to finally ratify the convention, precisely on 18 October 2011. At almost the same time, the Indonesia 2010 population census collected information on visual difficulties. It is the first nationwide data gathering information on this type of disability. It is a self-assessment which takes three options: no difficulty, some difficulty and severe difficulty. Therefore, the paper aims at providing reference statistics, distribution and prevalence, on visual difficulty estimated from the Indonesia 2010 Population Census
We use two types of measurements: distribution and prevalence. It takes into account differential by age, sex and place of residence. This paper also examines the extent Indonesians have the financial ability and accessibility to improve their visual ability; and the laws as well as their enforcement to help improving the visual ability.

Sexual exploitation and HIV/AIDS epidemic are emerging problems of border provinces between Vietnam and China, where are places of trading, cultural exchange, tourism, hot spots of smuggling and trafficking in people. Girls and young women are often the targets of sexual exploitation, in particular, ethnic minority women and girls. Estimated 70% trafficked victims are sent directly to foreign men, brothels; bars and karaokes…for sexual exploitation as prostitution. They are suffered numerous sexual intercourse and served 15 - 20 clients/ day in brothels. Their owners force them to not use condom in sexual activities with their clients. Therefore, almost prostitutes are infected STDs, and some are HIV/AIDS. The linkage between sexual trafficking and HIV/AIDS transmission is not only violation of fundamental human rights but also increased risk of STIs, HIV/AIDS infection and damages women/girls’lives who are stigmatized and ostracized by their families and communities.
So far, fighting against trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation and HIV prevention has not effectively done because of the complexity phenomenon, global sex demand, increasing labor force and a great profit that sexual commerce brings about. Therefore, trafficking women and girls for sexual exploitation has been existing and unbated.

Almost 668,000 of 918,000 of prisoners in Africa are in Sub-Saharan Africa where Southern Africa itself makes up 10% of the total number of prisoners in Africa. Therefore the study main objectives are in line with the need to assess the treatments and condition of prisoners and detainees in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries. In particular, the study evaluates and assesses the potentials of the relevant legal, policy, procedural and practice for the right to health and the treatment of detainees in the SADC Region. The other objectives of the study are to identify and discuss challenges faced by prisoners and detainees in the SADC Region; and advocate for opportunities for health awareness for both staffs and prisoners in the SADC Region. The study is a desk based. In conducting this research primary and secondary data will be used. The SADC Lawyers’ Association report on prisons visit in some SADC countries will inform our recommendations. The study finds that lack of health services in some countries or their inappropriateness in other countries significantly contribute to the vulnerability of prisoners. It is suggested that Governments should allocate sufficient fund for the management of prison and that regular inspections or monitoring systems should be put in place