International Women's Day 2016 March 8

"Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future." — UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”.

The idea of this theme is to consider how to accelerate the 2030 Agenda, building momentum for the effective implementation of the new Sustainable Development Goals, especially goal number five -Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls- and number 4 –Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. The theme will also focus on new commitments under UN Women’s Step It Up initiative, and other existing commitments on gender equality, women’s empowerment and women’s human rights.

Some key targets of the 2030 Agenda:

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and Goal-4 effective learning outcomes.

By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education.

End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.

Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.

Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

UN Women Executive Director’s message for IWD 2016
“Each one of us is needed—in our countries, communities, organizations, governments and in the United Nations—to ensure decisive, visible and measurable actions are taken under the banner: Planet 50-50: Step It Up for Gender Equality,” says UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in her message.

For International Women's Day messages from the UN system, visit Women Watch.- See more at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day#sthash.ruYP3vLL.dpuf

locally:

Where are the women? Did you know that none of the fourteen committees in the House of Representatives or the four committees of the Senate (2013) is chaired by a woman? In Jamaica, a woman’s average representation in all parliamentary committees combined is a mere 10.3 percent. 

We will discuss this some more at the launch of the publication: "Where are the women?" on International Women's Day, March 8. Join Us! UN Women ‪#‎whereRthewomen‬ ‪#‎iwd2016‬ Institute for Gender and Development Studies - (RCU) UWI Jamaica 51% Coalition Jamaica Women's Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) Women's Entrepreneurship Day or Facebook

Gay Men and Trans Women Adhere Well to Rectal Gel As PrEP in Early US Study

A rectal gel containing 1 percent tenofovir showed promise as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV in a group of transgender women and men who have sex with men (MSM), who adhered well to the protocol for the gel’s use. The Phase II MTN-017 trial included 187 MSM and trans women in sites in the United States, (including Puerto Rico), Peru, Thailand and South Africa. Results were presented at the 2016 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Boston.

Tenofovir-infused topical gel has protected non-human primates and successfully combats HIV in laboratory tests. Previous research has found that a vaginal formulation of 1 percent tenofovir was neither safe nor acceptable in the rectum. So the gel in this study was one that had been reformulated into a reduced glycerin formation of 1 percent tenofovir gel.

The participants for this study, all of whom reported receptive anal intercourse, were randomized so that each went through three phases of the trial, but in different orders. These phases included eight weeks each of the following (with a one-week “wash-out” period between each phase): the rectal 1 percent tenofovir gel with instructions to insert it into the rectum daily; the gel with instructions to use it rectally before and after anal intercourse, or at least twice weekly in the event of no receptive anal intercourse; or Truvada (tenofovir/emtricitabine) with instructions to take the tablet orally once daily. The study lasted for 27 weeks.

The participants, 12 percent of whom identified as women or transgender, made study visits every four weeks. The researchers measured the participants’ adherence to the various forms of PrEP through daily SMS texts as well as through returns of the product at each study visit (to see how much unused PrEP remained). They also tested study members’ plasma tenofovir levels at each study visit and gave them the results of that test at the subsequent visit. High adherence was defined as taking greater than 80 percent of expected doses.

There were no differences between the three versions of PrEP in terms of grade 2 adverse health problems. The researchers concluded that the rectal gel was safe in either of the dosing protocols.

Overall, the participants preferred the oral regimen to the two rectal application protocols, in particular the daily regimen. Ninety percent of individuals said they like liked the oral regimen, 80 percent liked the dosing protocol associated with sexual activity, and 70 percent liked the daily rectal gel protocol.

Adherence was generally high, and participants adhered similarly to administering the gel at least twice weekly and taking Truvada daily.

The researchers concluded that the trial supported further study of rectal microbicides in MSM and trans women, and that research should focus on convenient dosing regimens.

To read the conference abstract, click here.