Learning Groups > Expanding Access to Services & Human Rights
Human Rights and the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
All children must have access to basic health, education, and social protection services—not just as a humanitarian imperative, but as a basic human right. Yet, providing these services can be extremely challenging in areas heavily burdened by HIV/AIDS and poverty. As a result, large numbers of children and youth living in the developing world do not have access to the care, support, and education they need to "survive and thrive."
Research Objectives of the Expanding Access to Services and Protecting Human Rights Learning Group
Expanding Access to Services and Protecting Human Rights Learning Group focuses on protecting the human rights of children affected by HIV/AIDS and develops strategies to increase their physical and psychosocial well-being. Some of the key research questions of this learning group include:
- What services are currently available to support children affected by HIV/AIDS, their families and communities? What obstacles slow the effective implementation of services, and how can they be overcome?
- How should prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT+) services be linked with early child development interventions?
- How can services be effectively integrated to address children's needs, while also strengthening the primary response role of families and communities?
The Expanding Access to Services and Protecting Human Rights Learning Group also supported a practitioner-focused Learning Collaborative on strengthening child survival at rural health centers in three districts in Rwanda. This programme tested innovative service delivery strategies to reduce HIV infections in children while improving other aspects of children's and families' health.
Learning Group Leadership
The Expanding Access to Services and Protecting Human Rights Learning Group was led by two Co-Chairs:
- Jim Kim, based in Boston, United States, holds appointments as François Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kim is also chief of the Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities at Brigham and Women's Hospital, director of the François Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights, and chair of the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
- Lydia Mungherera, based in Kampala, Uganda, has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS and TB for more than 10 years as a clinician, health educator and patient advocate. Dr. Mungherera currently works with The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) and Mamas's Club in a variety of clinical and advocacy-related capacities.
Research Findings
The Learning Group commissioned papers examining access to essential health care and social services for children in low-income, high disease burden communities.
Jim Yong Kim
Jim Yong Kim holds appointments as François Xavier Bagnoud Professor of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a major Harvard teaching hospital; director of the François Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights; and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kim has 20 years experience in improving health in developing countries. He is a co-founder of Partners In Health, a non-profit organization that supports a range of health programmes in poor communities worldwide. In 2004 and 2005, Dr. Kim served as director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department, including leading the “3x5” initiative designed to put three million people in developing countries on AIDS treatment. He currently leads a new Harvard University-based initiative in Global Health Delivery, which is designed to discover and widely share knowledge about health programme implementation in poor communities. Dr. Kim has received a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship; was named one of America's 25 best leaders by US News & World Report; and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.
Lydia Mungherera
Dr. Mungherera works in HIV/AIDS and TB as a clinician, health educator, and patient advocate. Since 1999, Dr. Mungherera has worked with The AIDS Support Organization (TASO) in a variety of clinical and advocacy-related capacities, focusing on empowering communities and developing programs on TB/HIV coinfection, human rights, and policy. Her many accomplishments include founding Uganda Cares, the first treatment centre to provide free ARVs in the Masaka District. Uganda Cares now serves 5,000 patients, including children, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and AIDSHealthCare Foundation. Dr. Mungherera also recently founded Mamas Club, a psychosocial support group for HIV-positive mothers and their children, which received the 2008 Red Ribbon Award. Dr. Mungherera received her medical degree from Makerere University in 1985. She has been living with HIV since 1997.
