The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation Program will begin its third decade in 2012. Since its inception, the program has achieved noteworthy successes in fostering cooperation in a region that, at the commencement of the program, was emerging from a period of prolonged conflict. The program has built a reputation as a flexible, results-oriented, project-delivering vehicle for promoting regional cooperation and contributing to economic growth and poverty reduction as well as to the provision of regional public goods. Increased recognition of the benefits of regional cooperation is manifested in the evolution of regionalism both in Asia and more broadly. New institutions have emerged while others have become more vigorous. Within this context of evolving regionalism, the GMS Program remains highly relevant. The start of a new decade is an opportune time for the GMS Program to assess its achievements and develop this new strategic framework for 2012–2022. The new strategic framework builds on the substantial progress the program has made and the likely global and regional trends. It also builds on the commitment that member countries have made in their national development plans to the promotion of regional integration, and will guide the efforts of member countries to steer the program during the new decade to the next level in terms of results.
Development partners have recognized the obligation to mitigate HIV risks associated with infrastructure development as an opportunity to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS and poverty in the Greater Mekong Subregion. Development partners agreed to strengthen inter-agency cooperation and harmonization to scale up and enhance the effectiveness of HIV and AIDS prevention in future infrastructure interventions. To achieve this, they jointly developed a set of practice guidelines that can provide some standardization of effective program elements, focusing on three different but interacting populations---sex and entertainment workers, local communities impacted by infrastructure development, and migrant workers.
The East–West Economic Corridor (EWEC) was launched in 1998 as a flagship initiative of the Greater Mekong Subregion. EWEC has since achieved many of its infrastructure targets and must now be transformed from a transport corridor into an economic corridor. This report reviews and updates the Pre-Investment Study for EWEC conducted in 2001. It consolidates the interests and concerns of stakeholders into a revised and updated strategy and action plan to provide a vision and framework, improve coordination, and assist in mobilizing resources for EWEC development. Preparation of this revised and updated strategy and action plan for EWEC involved a series of consultations with government officials of EWEC countries and representatives of the private sector, nongovernment organizations, and development partners. These consultations culminated in a regional workshop held on 24 April 2009 in Khon Kaen, Thailand. The revised and updated strategy and action plan for EWEC was endorsed at the 15th GMS Ministerial Conference held in Cha-am, Petchburi Province, Thailand on 17–19 June 2009.
After reviewing the historical forces and human agencies which have shaped contemporary Myanmar, this book addresses healthcare and public policy provision, with suggestions as to what potential roles the international community might have in assisting Myanmar's future socioeconomic development.
It has now been 25 years since the apocryphal report in the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dated June 5, 1981 entitled, “Pneumocystis Pneumonia - Los Angeles”, which announced what was to become HIV/AIDS. HIV has now affected virtually all countries that have looked for it and has had a devastating impact on the public health and medical care infrastructure around the world. HIV/AIDS has also disproportionately affected nations with the least capacity to confront it, especially the developing world nations in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and the emerging republics of Eastern and Central Asia. The pandemic, unlike any other disease of our time, has had profound impacts on the practice of public health itself: bringing affected communities into decision making; demanding North-South partnerships and collaborations; and changing the basic conduct of clinical and prevention trials research. While much has been written in scholarly publications for medical, epidemiologic and disease control specialists, there is no comprehensive review of the public health impact and response to HIV/AIDS in the developing world. This edited volume seeks to systematically describe the emergence and form of the epidemics (epidemiology), the social, community and political response, and the various measures to confront and control the epidemic, with varying levels of success. Of particular importance are strategies that appear to have been useful in ameliorating the epidemic, while contrasting the situation in a neighboring country or region where contrasting prevention or care initiatives have had a deleterious outcome. Common to all responses has been the international multi-sectoral response represented by the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and the Gates Foundation, among others, to promote HIV pharmacologic therapy in resource-poor settings. The chapter authors will explore the political challenges in meeting HIV/AIDS prevention and care in concert with the public health realities in specific country and regional context.
This module is designed to improve the awareness, knowledge and skills of health professionals on poverty and gender concerns in the field of HIV/AIDS. Experience increasingly shows that the socioeconomic factors contributing to the rapid spread of HIV in the Region include low education, limited access to health care services and increased mobility within and between countries -- factors that are largely determined by poverty and gender inequality. The growing commitment to curbing the HIV/AIDS epidemic requires that health professionals at community, provincial, national and international levels have the knowledge, skills and tools to more effectively respond to the health needs of poor and marginalized people and address the gender inequalities fuelling the epidemic. However, many health professionals in the Region are not adequately prepared to address these issues. This module is designed to help fill this gap. This module, which is part of a Sourcebook for health professionals, is intended to be used in pre-service and in-service training of health professionals. It is divided into six sections: Section 1 provides a brief overview of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and an understanding of HIV/AIDS; Section 2 examines What the links are between poverty, gender and HIV/AIDS; Section 3 discusses why it is important for health professionals to address HIV/AIDS, from efficiency, equity and human rights perspectives; Section 4 discusses how health professionals can address poverty and gender concerns in HIV/AIDS; Section 5 provides notes for facilitators and finally Section 6 contains a collection of tools, resources and references to support health professionals in their work in this field.