Impartiality - To be or not to be! (By Dr Hany El-Banna)

Partial or Impartial.

To be or not to be.

Partial could mean that I am a part of some group, some club, some family, or something else altogether. So, I carry the opinions of such groups and I advocate for it as my interest because it is the interest of my group. My product would become the success of my group and this is not wrong, it is a part of the life, of man, and we should not be feeling ashamed of it because this is how we love having been created by God in this way. So we protect our smaller societies, families, and neighbourhoods. But what do we mean by being impartial? The ‘I’M’ will neither take me to this partial nor to that partial. Impartiality means the pendulum which can keep both sides of the scale of justice just.

Impartiality is how to control your emotion when you treat a savage wounded enemy or feed the people who need help yet are fighting against you, or treat the enemies of war with love and respect, or give back the right of your enemies to them.

Impartiality means containing your personal and emotional anger towards the murderers because you are looking for the common good of the larger community.

Impartiality makes you feel that you are part of both partials.

Impartiality also means truth is the winning factor which caves out on top of transparency and openness. It is difficult to act impartially because we are made from many parts which could partial us to the right or to the left but it is a duty incumbent on our humanitarian values to act impartially and justly with all communities, particularly in conflict.

Complement-ality

Complement-ality is acknowledging the value of the added value that each and every one of us can bring to the discussion table. 

It is the understanding that we can do it alone, which is nothing to be ashamed of. It means saving money, time, and effort while having our diverse effective solutions delivered to the community.

Complement-ality is a cross-fertilisation of thoughts, ideologies, dreams, visions, and objectives. This process of cross-fertilisation will enable complement-ality to produce long lasting community solutions.

Complement-ality is a defence mechanism that protects the meaning of true infrastructure of the social fabric of our societies to effectively protect its faith, value, culture, and resources.

Complement-ality is the way forward for a faster, more effective developmental growth of any society.

Complement-ality is the easiest way for laying down the foundations of any civilisation.

Another way to look at complement-ality is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece needs each other to complete the puzzle; each piece complements each other and collectively they result in the completion or solution.

Complement-ality is another never ending story that humanity started before the creation of man where every creation of God was complementing the role of another creation, knowingly or unknowingly.

In humanity’s complement-ality cycle, we as creations of God are playing individually and collectively a very effective role of keeping humanity proceeding through its discourse.

I will be with you in Impartiality.

Inclusivity

Over the next few days, our chairman Dr Hany El-Banna will be discussing at the themes Inclusivity, Compliment-ality and Impartiality. 

For me, inclusivity means no doors, no locks, and no key chains. Inclusivity means open participation of the people concerned with the discussed issue. It means no pre-set agenda for discussion. The agenda should be drawn by the participants as a respond to the needs of their community.

Inclusivity is a tool, a bridge, or a vehicle that enables us to cross to both sides, delivering a very well, read, heard, and understood message.

It has neither a hierarchy nor grassroots; it is both. Creating inclusivity should be needs driven and not fund driven. Inclusivity needs us as participants to have crystal clear intentions reflecting our transparent objectives. Inclusivity is not about lobbying, manoeuvring, or twisting peoples’ arms but rather about discussing, engaging and convincing.

Inclusivity is about ‘US’ which include all the WE’s and the I’s, so the big ‘US’ means that we agree on a commonly shared value which can include all of US, because we are all equal, partners, shareholders, and owners of our ideas and dreams. Inclusivity is not about a religion, a sect, a race, history, culture, language, or a vision but inclusivity is about all of these and more.

Inclusivity does not believe in borders, visas, barriers or walls. We should all ask ourselves this question “Are we inclusive in our approach of finding a solution to our own issues?”

I’ll leave it to you to answer this it and see you when I discuss ‘Compliment-ality’.

Indonesia's "Next Top Model"

 By Mohammad Shakir

 Indonesia has adopted a new model for measuring HIV infections on the country and surrounding regions. The HIV in Indonesia Model or HIM has been designed specifically for Indonesia taking into account the different epidemic, behavioural and geographical variations that occur in the different countries.

Created in partnership between researchers in Jakarta and scientists from the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales in Australia, the model will be able to give a clearer picture of how the HIV epidemic is developing in Indonesia.

The model will assist in the planning of HIV prevention programmes and give pointers in how to best develop them.

Muslim countries aren’t doing nearly enough to alleviate the suffering of people living with HIV. Other countries need to follow in the steps of Indonesia to fully assess their needs and work with different parties that can help them to implement proper prevention programmes that will save lives.

For more information about the HIV epidemic in Indonesia click here.

World Health Day: Combating Drug Resistance

 7^th April is World Health Day. This year’s theme is antiretroviral resistance, which in simple terms is the body or bacteria building up a resistance to drugs which work against viruses such as HIV.

Drug resistance is a huge barrier to the control of diseases and viruses and is an issue which needs to be addressed if we are to help people live their life and in some cases, cure them of the condition that they are suffering from.

Viruses and bacteria gain resistance to drugs by mutating, which in turn makes it stronger. This could become worse because if these viruses aren’t controlled, diseases and infections may become uncontrollable.

So what causes the mutation and resistance?

One of the main problems is the misuse of drugs or the wrong type of drugs. Many people suffering from a condition may not be able to afford the best quality drug and may resort to using the black market for their drug supply. The use of these drugs can make the virus or infection build up resistance, so when the right drug is used, it has no affect.

We need to work harder with the pharmaceutical companies, governments and aid agencies to lower drug prices so that all people who need it can get the highest quality drugs.

This World Health Day lets highlight what we can do collectively to reduce antiretroviral resistance to ensure that diseases and infections can be eradicated with ease.

For more information visit the World Health Day website.

Are we forgetting Latin America?

By Mohammad Shakir

When we think of HIV, our thoughts immediately go to the effect of the virus on the African continent. Latin America has often been overlooked even though HIV is prevalent in the region.

While we have seen dramatic improvements in HIV prevention in Africa, Latin American has seen transmission rates rise during the past decade. 

Latest figures from UNAIDS reports that the number of people living with HIV in the region went up from 1.1 million to 1.4 million, between 2001 and 2009. In addition, there is another 200,000 people living with HIV in the Caribbean. 

Different problems affect many countries in Latin America and their response to HIV. Political instability, migration between countries in the region and a lack of resources are all major issues in the prevention of HIV.

Myths about HIV are also prevalent and a requirement of awareness and education are sorely required so that the populous in the entire region can work together to debunk these myths so that the correct information about HIV/AIDS can be disseminated and crucial work in preventing HIV can work in earnest.