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About Us

The Health Section collaborates with governments, international organisations, civil society and other stakeholders to address the following priority areas:  

  1. Combating HIV/AIDS
  2. Maternal health
  3. Infant health
  4. Managed migration of human resources in health 

Highlights of the Programme

Combating HIV/AIDS

  • Advocating on male and youth participation in HIV/AIDS prevention and care. This includes working with the Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) to promote the CYP Ambassadors of Positive Living Programme, which empowers young people to help educate others on AIDS prevention and set up support networks among persons living with HIV/AIDS.
  • Encouraging member countries to adopt a multisectoral gender-sensitive approach to the pandemic, by reviewing or assisting in the formulation of HIV/AIDS policies, strategic plans and programmes.
  • Establishing, in collaboration with the Gender Section, the International Institute on Gender and HIV/AIDS in South Africa in 2004 to ensure programmes reflect gender concerns and address issues faced by women affected with HIV/AIDS. Institutes are planned in the Caribbean (2005), Asia (2006) and the Pacific (2007).
  • Launching, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development Division (GIDD), a project to assist governments with contingency plans to mitigate the loss of staff in the public sector from HIV/AIDS.

Maternal and Infant health

  • Working with Commonwealth countries to deepen their understanding of factors affecting maternal mortality, to develop multisectoral strategies for the reduction of maternal and child mortality rates and to audit maternal deaths for better planning and programming of maternal health programmes.
  • sing its advocacy, brokerage and catalytic role in working with partners to improve midwifery skills of practitioners, especially in rural areas, since the presence of skilled health workers at birth is seen as a key intervention in the reduction of maternal deaths

Managed migration of human resources in health

  • Assisting countries to develop strategies and systems to manage migration of health professionals and implementation of the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Health Workers.