http://issues.tigweb.

org/hiv

Corporate Social Responsibility - Globalization

With businesses focusing on generating profits, sustainability was not a popular concern among companies up until
recently. Now, in an era of globalization, multinational corporations (those that conduct business in more than one
country) and local businesses are no longer able to conduct destructive and unethical practices, such as polluting the
environment, without attracting negative feedback from the general public. With increased media attention, pressure
from non-governmental organizations, and rapid global information sharing, there is a surging demand from civil
society, consumers, governments, and others for corporations to conduct sustainable business practices. In addition,
in order to attract and retain employees and customers, companies are beginning to realize the importance of being
ethical
while running their daily operations. The corporate response has often meant an adoption of 'a new consciousness',
and this has been known as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) since the 1970s.

As stated by the department of Trade and Industry in the United Kingdom, CSR represents "the integrity with which a
company governs itself, fulfills its mission, lives by its values, engages with its stakeholders, measures its impact and
reports on its activities". Although most people appreciate the recent advancement of CSR, some argue that
corporations are still not doing enough or are only acting in self interest. These people say that multinational
corporations are acting ethically in areas that are highly regulated, such as North America, but at the same time, they
are acting in an opposite manner
in other parts of the world (such as using cheap or child labour). In addition, while corporations must have good CSR
policies in order to maintain their reputation, they are also expected to maximize profits for stakeholders such as
shareholders, employees, and customers.
Therefore, people argue that businesses do not put in a sufficient amount of resources to achieve what they have
promised in their CSR policies.

In any case, companies are now expected to perform well in non-financial areas such as human rights, business
ethics, environmental policies, corporate contributions, community development, corporate governance, and
workplace issues. Some examples
of CSR are safe working conditions for employees, environmental stewardship, and contributions to community
groups and charities. The problem is that many companies that claim to be socially responsible
often do not live up to such a standard. Because CSR is becoming more commonplace among corporations, there
are concerns that some companies promote an image of CSR whether or not they have a true strategy in place and
the results to show for. Accountability and transparency are key to conducting business in a responsible manner.
 Health

Health and Wellness: Access to Wellbeing

Overview

The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Eating right, exercising, and sleeping well play an equal role in the
prevention of infections and diseases. However, a good sense of self, a loving support network, and the potential for
continued personal growth is also important to our overall wellbeing. 

Many of us are not in control of the factors that cause us to become ill whether they be genetic, environmental, or
something else entirely. There are many avenues we can take to improving our health, which include the use of
traditional and modern medicines when we are ill.

However, most people cannot access or afford proper health care such as healthy sanitation and hygiene, which is
necessary to prevent the spread of disease. 

Moreover, a large proportion of the global population are disenfranchised because of poverty, geographic location,
disability, or social stigma against those who are ill. In addition, sexual health continues to be a highly contentious
issue around the world particularly with concern to the method of transmission of some of the world's deadliest
diseases such as HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, one of the most pressing issues in terms of health and wellness is the
education, prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. The Millennium Development Goals seek to address this issue
specifically in Goal 5: Improve maternal health and Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases.

While people of all ages should maintain good health, young people face special challenges as they transition from
childhood to adulthood. With the onset of puberty, the body changes to accommodate physical and emotional growth,
but it also marks one of the most vulnerable stages in a young person's life. During this time, females tend to struggle
more than males with body image and self-esteem issues which can lead to dangerous eating disorders and even
death. On the other hand substance abuse, depression, self-mutilation and suicide have higher incident rates in
males than females and if left untreated these health concerns may lead to permanent mental and physical damage. 

Given that everyone’s body and medical history is different, it is important to be aware of what makes you sick and
even what makes you feel better on a personal level. 

There is extensive international research documenting the ways in which the health status of individuals or groups is
significantly determined by social and economic conditions as well as by therapeutic care or personal health
behaviours. Social determinants of health (SDOH) are social and economic conditions that influence the health of
individuals and communities. A wealth
of research on SDOH provides evidence that: health follows a social gradient; stress damages health; the health
impacts of early development and education lasts a lifetime; poverty and social exclusion cost lives; stress in the
workplace increases the risk of disease; job security improves health;
unemployment causes illness and premature death; social supports and supportive networks improve health; alcohol,
drug and tobacco use are influenced by the social setting; healthy food is a political issue; and healthy transport
means walking and cycling and good public transport. Other basic determinants of health, such as genetics, interact
with SDOH to present a broad overview of why
some individuals and communities are healthy while others are not.

In 2002, Canadian researchers, policy-makers and community representatives gathered together at a conference
entitled “The Social Determinants of Health Across the Life-Span” to comment upon and discuss the current state and
health
implications of key SDOH in Canada. The conference produced “The Toronto
Charter for a Healthy Canada” which identified ten key SDOH for Canadians as recognized in Health Canada and
World Health Organization (WHO) documents. The ten determinants, in alphabetical order, include: early life;
education; employment and working conditions; food security; health services; housing; income and income
distribution; social in/exclusion; the social safety net (including contributions from the voluntary and community
sector); and unemployment and job security. SDOH are directly related to the ways in which resources are organized
and distributed among the members of a society.

Sustainable health and wellness is not only part of our survival but it is also a continuously rewarding way to live out
our entire lives.

Additional References:

Marmot, M. G. (2004). The Status Syndrome: How Social Standing affects our health and Longevity. New York, NY:
Times Books.

Raphael, D. (2004). Social Determinants of Health: Canadian Perspectives. Toronto, ON: Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Diseases: Curing attitudes of stigmatization

A disease is an illness that affects the body (a single area or the whole system) and/or mind within a single organism
(World Health Organization). Basically when a person is in a diseased state, they are no longer classified by modern
and traditional medical diagnosis as “healthy”. Some examples of common diseases worldwide are: Influenza A virus,
Asthma, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Malaria, and Sickle Cell Anemia. In addition, diseases are generally classified into three
categories, which include: Genetic, infectious, and non-infectious. 

As is the case with most marginalized groups, people living with a disease(s) are often discriminated against on the
basis of their illness. Some researchers have linked negative cultural perceptions of diseased individuals to the
common occurrence of discrimination among the ill. The validity of the previous claim remains to be confirmed,
however research has shown that cultural differences between the treatment of the ill within traditional and modern
societies do exist. 

One way to reduce stigma and discrimination of the ill is through education and improvement of community health
services and networks. Yet stigma and discrimination of the ill has existed throughout human history in almost all
societies and civilizations around the globe, so eradicating its practice is no easy task.
When some of us think of disease we immediately associate it with death and rarely associate disease with life.
Although this may appear to be just a matter of commonsense, having a disease does not automatically mean a
death sentence. In fact many people who have suffered from a debilitating illness have accredited their disease to
teaching them the true meaning of survival. Disease-related advocacy campaigns around the world have focused on
survival as their central theme and message because survival signifies hope not just for a future cure but also for life
itself. In the end, whether we are diseased or healthy we are all fighting to survive. 

In 2006 the World Heart Federation (WHF) leaped from the dreams of a handful of global youth leaders and partners
into a fruitful reality as one of the leading disease advocacy organizations in the world specializing in youth advocacy.
With chapters in several nations around the world, WHF has taken their advocacy projects from national to local
levels of change. Some of their project areas include: Tobacco control, developing advocacy skills, and poor diets
and physical inactivity. 
Of course beyond the efforts of global civil society agents, youth have also been impacted negatively by disease as in
the case of millions of orphans as a result of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, the hundreds of thousands of children
who die each year from Malaria and other preventable diseases, and the growing number of acquired diseases
among youth in heavily polluted developed nations. As young people we may not be immune to disease, but we can
work to prevent discrimination of the ill and celebrate their survival. 

References

Columbia Public Schools

http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/

LARS JACOBSSON. The roots of stigmatization. World Psychiatry. 2002 February; 1(1): 25.

World Health Organization

http://www.who.int

World heart Federation

http://www.world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/children-youth/youth-health-advocacy/

Glossary

AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

Genetic = the expression of genes at the cellular and somatic levels

HIV = Human Immune-deficiency Virus

HPV = Human Papilloma Virus

Infectious = the ability to be transmitted from on state, organism, or condition to another state, organism, or condition.

Non-infectious = refers to a property that prevents or inhibits the transmission from one state, organism, or condition
to another state, organism, or condition. 
HIV/AIDS
When the history of our times is written, will we be remembered as the generation that turned our backs in a moment
of a global crisis or will it be recorded that we did the right thing?” - Nelson Mandela 

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. This virus is transferred from person to person when an HIV positive
individual’s blood, semen, vaginal fluids, or breast milk comes in contact with another person’s bloodstream (through
the mouth, throat, or breaks in the skin). This viral infection usually occurs during unprotected sexual activity, but can
also occur between an HIV/AIDS positive mother and her child, through an unsecure blood transfusion, and by
sharing used needles. 
Once infected it takes as long as 8 to 10 years for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus to effectively breakdown the
bodies’ natural immune defences, which leads to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS for short.
Although scientists around the world have been working hard to obtain a cure or even a vaccine for the HIV, none are
currently available.

According to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (2007), about 33.2 million people are infected with HIV
worldwide (which is 16% lower than 2006 estimates. So, far 2.1 million people have lost their lives to AIDS. Youth are
particularly at risk as young people between the ages of 15 to 24 account for more than 40% of new HIV infections.
Young women are also more at risk for contracting HIV; three times more likely than males in Sub-Saharan Africa
and almost two times more likely in the Caribbean.

The most devastating effect on the world’s youth, as a result of the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus around the world,
has been the alarming increase in the number of children and young people who have been orphaned by the
disease. In 2007, there was an estimated 11.4 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.

The new face of HIV/AIDS is undoubtedly global leadership or more importantly youth leadership and education.
Youth leaders are raising their voices on the issue of HIV/AIDS all over the world while spreading a message of
change and healing among their young peers. For example groups such as “The Young Women of Color Leadership
Council” who are striving to educate at-risk youth of color on issues of HIV prevention and community leadership;
“Youth Visioning” who aim to encourage and support young leaders living on small islands around the world to
propose and implement projects that will effectively impact how youth experience and understand HIV/AIDS; and the
“Rural Sensitization Campaign in Cameroon” who is actively challenging youth to learn and be trained on healthy
sexual practices, HIV prevention and transmission, testing, and treatment, in addition to targeting young women and
men, this campaign aims to involve parents and children HIV/AIDS educational programmes. 

There are several other factors that contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and the marginalization of people living with
HIV/AIDS, which include high levels of: Severe poverty, unemployment, inadequate medical care, and risky sexual
activity. However an additional factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of stigma that becomes associated to
people living with aids (PLWA) and who have openly revealed their HIV/AIDS status in their community. Stigma may
result in isolation, physical and verbal abuse, and even in the premature death of PLWA. The spread of stigma
among PLWA is preventable, but it requires the community and grassroots organizations to work together to minimize
the fear and the overemphasis on the problems associated to HIV/AIDS when spreading awareness about the
disease. 
(wiki)
Maternal Health & Child Mortality

Maternal Health and Infant Mortality: A Generation Later

Maternal health is intimately connected with the health of a child therefore when we define barriers to maternal
health, we can at the same time predict barriers to child mortality. In the most general sense, maternal health and
child mortality is described as a mother’s ability to eat healthy, to have access to safe reproductive strategies, to seek
and have access to the appropriate medical services, and to get educated on how to ensure that their life and the life
of their baby remains healthy. 
Under the Millennium Development Goals, nations around the world have the opportunity to sign on to reduce the
maternal mortality ratio by at least three quarters as soon as 2015 (www.unicef.org).

Motherless children tend to be at a greater risk of death than children with mothers. Thousands of women die during
childbirth [from complications] every minute around world, and in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a 1 in 16th
chance of a woman dying during childbirth (www.unicef.org). Yet many of the factors (i.e. unsafe child birthing
conditions) that lead to maternal mortality are for the most part preventable. A mother who has access to safe and
effective medical services also has a better chance of raising a child (under the age of five) that does not suffer from
a potentially fatal sickness such as Acute Respiratory Infection or diarrhoea (D’Souza, 2003). 
Moreover in a study by Gyimah, Takyi, & Addai (2006), researchers found that socio-economic factors, such as
extreme poverty, was not one of the major predictors of maternal health and infant mortality, however religious and
other very strong ideological beliefs were seen as more of a predictor of current disparities in the rates at which
women seek reliable medical services.

Some of the factors that directly contribute to poor maternal health and high frequencies of child mortality are:
'''Haemorrhage''', '''obstructed labour''', '''hypertensive''' disorders in pregnancy, unsafe abortion, birth-related
disabilities, and nutritional deficiencies. At least 30% of women worldwide lack '''antenatal''' care with 34% originating
from Sub-Saharan Africa and 46% from South Asia (www.unicef.org). Highly infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS
put both mothers and their infants at a greater risk of long-term sickness and early mortality. Children left orphaned
by HIV/AIDS are at a greater risk of dying in the first two years of becoming orphans than children with parents
(www.unicef.org). High-risk deliveries also pose a major threat to child mortality such that each year about 8 million
babies die worldwide during labour and delivery and remain at risk up until the infant’s first week of life
(www.unicef.org). 

Maternal health organizations around the world have narrowed down four effective intervention strategies that have
played a significant part in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. The most important intervention
specified by organizations such as UNICEF is the availability of quality medical services pre- and post-birth. This
includes better-trained traditional (i.e. midwife) and formal (i.e. doctor) health care providers and available emergency
'''obstetrics'''. As well, improving maternal nutrition practices during and after pregnancy is a strong predictor of the
quality of health a newborn baby or infant will have once they are born. In addition counselling for mothers with
HIV/AIDS or other infectious diseases (i.e. malaria) ensures that safer practices are utilized during mother-to-infant
contact (i.e. breastfeeding). Finally, secondary education for girls has been shown to significantly increase the
likelihood that mothers will have healthier pre-natal pregnancies and increase the survival rate of newly born babies.
(wiki)

Mental Health

There is no health without mental health.

Mental health is the positive balance of the social, physical, spiritual, economic and mental aspects of one’s life and is
as important as physical health. When people are mentally healthy they are able to live productive daily activities,
maintain fulfilling relationships with others, and have the ability to adapt to change and cope with stress.

Alternatively, mental illness is a psychological or behavioural phenomenon that leads to disorder or disability that is
not part of normal development. Mental illness can occur when the brain (or part of the brain) is not working well or is
working in the wrong way. When the brain is not working properly, one or more of its six functions will be disrupted
(thinking or cognition, perception or sensing, emotion or feeling, signaling, physical functions and/or behavior). When
these functions significantly disrupt a person’s life, we say that the person has a mental disorder or a mental illness.

The World Health Organization notes that “Mental health is as important as physical health to the overall well-being of
individuals, societies and countries. Yet only a small minority of the 450 million people suffering from a mental or
behavioural disorders are receiving treatment” (The World Health Report 2001, Chapter 1). The WHO also indicates
that 15 to 20 per cent of young people worldwide suffer from a mental disorder that would benefit from mental-health
treatment. Currently, neuropsychiatric disorders contribute to almost one-third of the global burden of disease in this
age group.

While effective treatment for mental disorders is available, barriers including lack of health professionals, health care
infrastructure, cost, as well as a strong and persistent stigma against people with mental disorders prevents millions
of adults and youth from accessing and receiving the help they need to get well and say well.

The more we learn about mental health, the better we understand the impact that mental health problems can have
on personal, social, civic and economic development. Addressing mental health problems early in life enhances the
opportunity for young people to get well and stay well through adulthood, improving not only the lives of individuals
and families, but also enhancing civil society increasing opportunity for socio-economic development and
encouraging global acceptance of human and cultural diversity.

Mental health is a right, not a privilege. As global citizens it is important that we work together to provide the best care
for people who are mentally ill and to ensure that physical and mental health are at the forefront of the international
agenda.

References: 

World Health Organization: Substance Abuse. Web Address: http://www.who.int/topics/substance_abuse/en 

Signs of Abuse Related to Specific Substances. Web Address:

http://www.drugfree.org/Intervention/Articles/Signs_of_abuse

Drugs of Abuse Information. Web Address: http://www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages.html. 

The Facts About Marijuana. Web Address: http://www.marijuana-info.org

Aboriginal Substance Abuse. Web Address:

http://aboriginalrights.suite101.com/article.cfm/aboriginal_substance_abuse

Understanding Substance Abuse. Web Address: http://www.unodc.org/pdf/youthnet/handbook_what_are_drugs.pdf

Treatment Options: Resources for clients, family and friends. Web Address:
http://www.camh.net/Care_Treatment/Resources_clients_families_friends/treat_young_people.pdf

Global Youth Network. Web Address: http://www.unodc.org/youthnet

Youth and the United Nations: Drug Abuse. Web Address: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/wpaydrug.htm

Aboriginal Women Drug Users in Conflict with the Law: A Study of the Role of Self-Identity in the Healing Journey.
Web Address: http://www.carleton.ca/aboriginalwomenandstigmaresearch
Indigenous peoples and substance abuse. 

World Health Organization: Aboriginal Substance Abuse. Web Address:

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/indigenous/en

Aboriginal Substance Abuse. Web Address: http://www.metisnation.org/programs/health/health_sub_abu2.html