In addition to the ethical practice of individual health professionals, bioethical debate about conflict of interest (CoI) must include the institutional ethics of public policy-making, as failure to establish independence from powerful stakeholder influence may pervert public health goals. All involved in public policy processes are accountable for CoI, including experts, scientists, professionals, industry and government officials. The liquor industry in South Africa is presented as a case study. Generic principles of how to identify, manage and address CoI are discussed. We propose that health professionals and policy makers should avoid partnering with industries that are harmful to health. Regarding institutional CoI, we recommend that there should be effective policies, procedures and processes for governing public-private joint ventures with such industries. These include arms-length funding, maintaining the balance between contesting vested interests, and full disclosure of the identity and affiliations of all participants in structures and reports pertaining to public policy-making.

Gender-based violence is increasingly recognized as a profound violation of human rights and a major barrier to social and economic development. Domestic violence is notoriously difficult to document and most prevalence studies are considered underestimates given the reluctance of many women to discuss it. Despite this various studies have identified a high prevalence of both physical and psychological violence against women in South Africa highlighting the urgent need for effective legislation. A prevalence study across three provinces in South Africa in 1999 found that 9.5% of women had been physically abused in the previous year. In one province 28.4% of women reported ever being physically abused and over 50% of women reported one or more types of emotional abuse in the previous year. In another study more than 40% of male workers in three urban municipalities reported having physically and/or sexually abused their female partners in the previous 10 years. (authors)

South Africa's first democratic government passed the Domestic Violence Act (DVA) into law in 1998 as part of local and international commitments to protecting the human rights of women. Although the Act was welcomed as groundbreaking legislation, delays in implementing it led to increasing frustration. This paper describes an advocacy campaign conducted by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication in partnership with the National Network on Violence against Women, to ensure the effective implementation of the DVA. Lessons from the campaign stress the importance of coalition building to draw on diverse strengths, and the use of a combination of advocacy tools, including lobbying, media advocacy and social mobilisation to achieve campaign goals. Given the critical role NGOs dealing with victims/survivors of domestic violence and the justice system played in lobbying for change and drafting the new law, their exclusion from the implementation process was ironic. While many advocacy efforts focus on the development of policy and legislation, ongoing efforts are needed to ensure effective implementation, the commitment of adequate resources and monitoring to identify gaps and propose new solutions. Our experience highlights the important role of policy advocates in connecting the multiple streams at play in the policy and legislative arena.