God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

11/29/2012 • 7:04 pm Comments Off on Ahead of World AIDS Day CEO’s call to end HIV travel restrictions

Ahead of World AIDS Day CEO’s call to end HIV travel restrictions

English: World map of travel & residence restr...

English: World map of travel & residence restrictions against people with HIV/AIDS: http://www.aidsmap.co. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Global leaders oppose policies as discriminatory and bad for business

GENEVA/NEW YORK, 28 November 2012—This World AIDS Day, Chief Executives (CEO’s) from some of the world’s largest companies are calling for an end to travel restrictions for people living with HIV. More than 40 CEOs have signed an unprecedented pledge urging the repeal of laws and policies in 45 countries that still deport, detain or deny entry to people solely because they are living with HIV.

The CEOs represent nearly 2 million employees in industries from banking to mining, travel to technology. They include companies like Johnson & Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer, Heineken, Merck, the National Basketball Association, Kenya Airways and Thomson Reuters. “HIV travel restrictions are discriminatory and bad for business,” said Chip Bergh, President & CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. “Global business leaders are coming together to make sure we end these unreasonable restrictions.” The CEO pledge is an initiative of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Levi Strauss & Co. and GBCHealth, a coalition of companies that address global health challenges. “Restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV are discriminatory and a violation of human rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Every individual should have equal access to freedom of movement. I urge all countries to remove all such restrictions based on HIV status.”

CEOs oppose HIV travel restrictions because they are discriminatory and because to succeed in today’s globalized economy, companies must be able to send their employees and best talent overseas, regardless of their HIV status. “It’s time to send HIV travel restrictions packing,” said Kenneth Cole, CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions. “Using our collective might, I believe we can use our influence to eliminate these discriminatory practices.” The United States of America lifted its 22-year HIV travel ban in 2010. Other countries, including Armenia, China, Fiji, Moldova, Namibia and Ukraine, have also recently removed such restrictions. However, 45 countries still deny entry, stay, residence or work visas for people living with HIV. These countries include major hubs for international business. “Travel restrictions on individuals with HIV are unnecessary and hinder the ability for individuals and companies to operate in a truly global workforce,” said Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President of Aetna. Most HIV-travel restrictions were imposed by governments in the 1980s when less was known about the transmission of HIV, and treatment didn’t exist. Since then, we’ve learned how to effectively prevent, manage and treat HIV. Travel restrictions vary in different countries and can include preventing people living with HIV from entering altogether or deporting foreigners once their HIV status is discovered. Restrictions also include denying work visas, prohibiting short-terms stays for business trips or conferences and blocking longer-term stays or residence for work relocations and study abroad programs. The CEO call to end HIV-related travel restrictions, first launched at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., comes on the eve of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s release of a blueprint that outlines the goals and objectives for the next phase of the United States’ effort to achieve an AIDS-Free Generation.

“Eliminating HIV travel restrictions is a win-win,” said GBCHealth Managing Director and Co-President Michael Schreiber.  “It’s the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective and the right thing to do from a business perspective.”

Participating CEOs:

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc;  Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO and President, Aetna; Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, Anglo American plc; Vincent A. Forlenza,  Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, BD; Debra Lee, Chairman & CEO, BET Networks;  Andy Burness, President, Burness Communications; Lamberto Andreotti, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Muhtar Kent, Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company;  Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman;  Mark R. Kramer, Founder and Managing Director,  FSG;  Glenn K. Murphy, Chairman and CEO, Gap Inc.;Jonathan D. Klein, CEO and Co-Founder, Getty Images;  John C. Martin, PhD, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences, Inc.;  Karl-Johan Persson, CEO, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB;  Dr. Chris Kirubi, Chairman, Haco Tiger Brands;  Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board/CEO, HEINEKEN NV;  Victor Y. Yuan, Chairman, Horizon Research and Consultancy Group;  Bong Yong Dam, CEO, Hub One International Company Ltd;  Jena Gardner, President & CEO, JG Black Book of Travel;  Alex Gorsky, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson;  Kenneth Cole, CEO, Kenneth Cole Productions; Dr .Titus Naikuni, MD and CEO, Kenya Airways Ltd;  Chip Bergh, President & CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.;  Kaushik Shah, CEO/Director, Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd;  Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck;  Heather Bresch, CEO, Mylan; David J. Stern, Commissioner, National Basketball Association (NBA); Blake Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom, Inc.;  Ji Yong, General Manager, Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd; Douglas A. Michels, President & CEO, OraSure Technologies, Inc.; Ian C. Read, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.; Tzameret Fuerst, CEO, Prepex;  Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman, Sumitomo Chemical;  Liam E. McGee, Chairman, President and CEO, The Hartford;  James C. Smith, CEO, Thomson Reuters; Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO, Vestergaard Frandsen;  Philippe Dauman, President & CEO, Viacom; Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite;  Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President & Founder, Waggener Edstrom Worldwide;  Andy Payne, CEO, Wilderness Holdings Ltd;  David Sable, CEO, Y&R;  William H. Roedy, AIDS Activist and former Chairman, MTVN International

 

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Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Politics and Society, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , ,

11/27/2012 • 8:29 pm 5

World AIDS Day around the corner

Once again it is short before World AIDS Day and as usual on such a day and before, the media and the politicians have their say about success and failures of HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention work, vaccine studies and all the rest. Once a year the world is made aware of the syndrome killing still scores of people and triggering despair, tears, hopelessness, desperation but also a willingness to fight and not to give up. Have we done enough in the time since the last World AIDS Day? Has research been successful in coming closer to a vaccine? Have fewer people been exposed to the virus? Is there more prevention willingness and treatment options in the global village? Well, according to UNAIDS yes, we have done major steps in the right direction, but we also know how close we are to fail millions of people because of lack of funding. The economic meltdown, the financial crisis, the Euro battle captures our minds and hearts and I wish one would worry as much about those suffering from HIV or TB or Malaria or any other of theses for poor people mostly life threatening diseases. While the USA and other Countries spend millions and millions a day for the war in Afghanistan or undercover in Syria or elsewhere research and the good thing s for live have still to struggle for funding. The world has indeed not learned the lesson of holding up the dignity of people, instead it pays for the destruction of land, people and material goods.

While I appreciate the progress and worry about the still high numbers of non-treated people and new infections, I cannot be silent about the injustice which is reflected in the battle against HIV and AIDS. And this pandemic is only an example that we are as human mankind still far away from getting the values right we proudly proclaim in our national constitutions: that life and dignity is to be protected at all times and all costs as it is the highest value we have.

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Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

11/12/2012 • 5:01 pm Comments Off on Culture and language

Culture and language

Township Blue

Township Blue (Photo credit: Joseph A Ferris III)

Traveling through some European countries again I sometimes reflect on the distances between people’s understanding and imagination. Townships and life conditions of most South Africans are known to many in Germany only via TV, a view protected by glass and the possibility to switch it off when it comes to close. How does one bring the real colors, the smell, the atmosphere from one continent to the other?

Also the question of realities and how I name them is different and having the same vocabulary does not mean to understand each other. This is true when talking about people from different life environments, but even within my own circles I often experience that words can have so many different meanings and create so many different associations. What very often irritates me is that words are connected with judgement, with “good or bad” feelings, with “white or black” . The older I get the more I get irritated when descriptions are perceived as judgements and how often people take things much more personal than they are meant to be.

I guess, this all is important to reflect when traveling the world to bring people together and let them join hands, who are far away and maybe even never meet, but hear about each other. But this also important to reflect when working in international teams where people from different cultures and languages are working together. Also HOPE Cape Town has this kind of challenges, bringing together different South African cultures and adding the European spice. Quite a mixture, but I believe in diversity and I am sure that this challenge is also an asset because it forces us again and again to listen to each other and to learn from each other. A lifelong and never-ending learning curve – and at the same time a motor for development into the future.

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

10/16/2012 • 8:15 am 1

Preparing for Europe

south africa

south africa (Photo credit: rafiq s)

 

 

As always this time of the year I am preparing to leave Cape Town and fly to Germany for an extended period of time. For four weeks I will travel to and between Munich, Frankfurt, Dresden, Berlin, Trier, but also Vienna and London and other cities. It is a very hectic schedule, but I try to bundle as much as possible into my agenda to make the long flight worthwhile and to use the time as efficient as possible. The HOPE Gala in Dresden will be the highlight of the trip, followed by the Festive AIDS Gala in Berlin. But besides all glamor the trip is about HOPE Cape Town and about people. It is also about being an ambassador for the situation in South Africa. We are going through a tough time here in country – mine strikes, burning trucks, strikers killing people who want to work; all the news about violence and intimidation is surely not good news and paints a rather grim picture of South African society. In fights within the ANC, the ruling party, but also corruption, wildcat strikes, violence, high unemployment and the lack of political leadership brings the country to the brink of chaos and unlawfulness. It feels a bit like the wild west when watching the news. But as always there are also rays of hope and a great potential. All this makes it even more important that the relationship between South Africa and European countries is strong and based on honest and correct information, which in return fosters the means to support the new South Africa in a beneficial way. I hope that my travel contributes not only to the well-being to HOPE Cape Town Association& Trust but also gives a bit towards a better future for this beloved country.

 

 

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, , , , , , , , , ,

09/29/2012 • 9:39 pm Comments Off on A bit of spring cleaning…

A bit of spring cleaning…

Just a little bit of spring cleaning for the blog, here and there some changes and off we go – ready for all what will come in the coming month. Marikana and all the other strikes indicate that South Africa is going into a rough time – also thanks to Zuma, Malema and the question who gets the top at the ANC conference.

We must take good care not to lose it – that 3000 illegal striking people with partly new weapons (watch the footage) stop 21000 other people willing to work – and that all outside the unions – shows what potential for trouble we have. Stoning and killing people who want to work, endangering lives like now in Gauteng with the truck driver are alarm bells for our society.
It time for our politicians and those in power to stop to look for themselves and their families and clans but deliver to those in need. Just not only pay lip services but mean their Sunday sermons. Crime rate, corruption, unemployment, a rotting health deliver in parts of the country despite new buildings – its time that everybody does their spring cleaning and start afresh.

South Africa has so many possibilities – lets work together to create a future for all. Everybody in his or her environment. And please, for the bigger part no apartheid excuses anymore – the rainbow nations is full of South Africans, right?

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