BEIJING (AFP) -
China
's migrant workers are less prone to discriminate against people infected with
HIV/AIDS after a massive campaign to inform people about the condition, a survey
found.
The three-year project,
launched in 2007 by the International Labour Organization and the
US
and Chinese labour departments, covered 50 million rural migrant workers, said
the impact assessment survey, released late Monday.
Among the 250,000 workers
who participated in 29 programmes in
Guangdong
province in the south,
Yunnan
in the southwest and
Anhui
in the east, 84 percent said they did not mind working with people living with
HIV, it said.
That represented a sharp
increase from 40 percent in a survey of the workers conducted before the
campaign started.
China's migrant workers, who have left their
hometowns for better job opportunities in cities, are at particular risk of
contracting HIV/AIDS, the China Daily said Tuesday.
This is because a
higher-than-average proportion visit prostitutes, while condom usage is also
low, according to the paper.
Officially,
China
had 276,630 AIDS cases as of the end of 2008 and 38,100 deaths, but experts say
the true figure is much higher.
UNAIDS estimates that
between 30 and 50 million people may be at risk from the condition in
China
, where transmission through sexual activity is becoming more common.
China has roughly 140 million migrant workers, who
often engage in dirty or dangerous jobs that city dwellers do not want.
By DEEPTI HAJELA,
Associated Press Writer Deepti Hajela, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 6,
5:54 pm ET
NEW YORK – Agreements between former President Bill
Clinton's foundation and two drug companies will lower prices on medications for
patients with drug-resistant HIV in the developing world.
One agreement, with Mylan
Inc., lowers the annual price of four antiretroviral drugs that are used as a
second line of treatment when patients develop a resistance to the first drugs
they are treated with. The other agreement, with Pfizer Inc., reduces the cost
of a medication that can be used in conjunction with the drugs in patients who
have tuberculosis.
The agreements would help
drugs "reach hundreds of thousands more people and save hundreds of
thousands of more lives. This is a very big deal,"
Clinton
said Thursday in announcing the deal.
Clinton said Mylan, through its subsidiary Matrix
Laboratories Limited, would bring the annual cost of the antiretroviral drugs
atazanavir, ritonavir, tenofovir and lamivudine down to under $500.
Starting in 2010, the
pills will be packaged together and sold as something patients can take once a
day, for an annual price of $425. The Clinton Foundation said that price is 28
percent lower than the current lowest-priced alternative.
Pfizer will sell the
tuberculosis drug rifabutin at $1 per dose, a 60 percent price decrease, or $90
for a full, six-month treatment.
Clinton
said tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among HIV patients, but
interactions between standard tuberculosis treatments and second-line drugs can
hamper treatment. Pfizer's rifabutin does not have the same interactions with
the second-line drugs.
Clinton said the drugs would be even more important in
coming years, as more people become resistant to the first line of treatment
drugs.
Since starting its
HIV/AIDS Initiative in 2002, the Clinton Foundation has worked with 25 countries
in Africa, the Caribbean and
Asia
to set up AIDS treatment and prevention programs.
The foundation also
provides access to lower-priced AIDS drugs in 70 countries.
Clinton
said more than 2 million people are now receiving AIDS drugs purchased under
these pricing agreements.
New South African Government Eschews Skeptical, Unscientific Approach of Past
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington
Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 8, 2009
PRETORIA,
South Africa, Aug. 7 -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham
Clinton on Friday welcomed the new South African government's approach to
fighting HIV/AIDS after years in which officials questioned the link between the
two and suggested such "cures" as eating beets and garlic.
"We have the
challenge everyone is aware of. We have to make up for some lost time, but we
are looking forward,"
Clinton
said at a U.S.-funded clinic where patients receive antiretroviral drugs.
The clinic visit
underscored a new juncture in U.S.-South African relations after years of
tensions over AIDS, the
Iraq
war and other issues.
Clinton
wants to improve ties with a country regarded as
Africa
's economic powerhouse, and she and the South African foreign minister agreed to
work together more closely on such issues as climate change and nuclear
nonproliferation.
Clinton was accompanied to several of her meetings by
Eric Goosby, the
U.S.
global AIDS coordinator. That "shows how eager we are to broaden and
deepen our relationship" with the new government led by President Jacob
Zuma, she said.
South Africa has the highest number of HIV-positive people
in the world, with about one in five adults, or nearly 6 million people,
infected. But under Zuma's predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, authorities questioned
whether HIV caused AIDS and were skeptical about treating it with antiretroviral
drugs. One of Mbeki's health ministers urged HIV-positive people to cure
themselves by eating lemons, beets and garlic.
The policies caused the
premature deaths of an estimated 365,000 people, according to a recent study by
Harvard
University
researchers.
Goosby said in an
interview that he was "thrilled" about the AIDS policies of Zuma, who
has pledged to halve the incidence of HIV in the country.
The
U.S.
government's global AIDS program has a major presence in
South Africa
, spending $550 million a year on treatment and testing.
Clinton
said the
U.S.
program "stands ready to work with the South African government in
whatever way the government believes is effective."
Clinton's delegation toured a clinic in the poor
mining town of
Cullinan
, outside
Pretoria
, that is funded by the
U.S.
and South African governments. She was greeted in the courtyard of the
low-slung building by about two dozen children in pink and red T-shirts, some of
them patients at the clinic, others orphans whose parents had died of
AIDS-related illnesses.
Before the facility opened
in 2006, the nearest clinic that treated people with HIV/AIDS was 40 miles away,
and transportation there was too expensive for many residents, officials said.
"It has changed life
around this place as people used to know it," South Africa's new health
minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, told Clinton after she toured the clinic.
A young woman who has been
treated at the clinic, Simangele Ncube, told
Clinton
that when she tested positive for HIV, "I felt like the world was
collapsing in on me."
But "here I am -- and
I look good," she said.
More than 900 people die
of AIDS-related causes each day in
South Africa
. U.S. Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), the head of the House Appropriations
subcommittee that funds foreign aid programs, said at the ceremony that she
hopes to see more assistance going toward prevention, rather than just
treatment.
South Africa is the second
stop on Clinton's seven-nation swing through Africa, a trip aimed at improving
ties with the continent and addressing security, economic and development
concerns.
One of
Clinton
's priorities is building closer ties with what she called "major and
emerging global powers," including
South Africa
and countries such as
China
,
India
and
Brazil
.
The Obama administration
is especially hopeful that
South Africa
will push the authoritarian president of neighboring
Zimbabwe
, Robert Mugabe, to cease harassment of opposition leaders and the media.
South Africa's foreign minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane,
said her government was trying to persuade Mugabe to make more progress on a
power-sharing agreement signed in February with the opposition. But
South Africa
gave no indication Friday that it would go as far as the
United States
wanted.
NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP)
– Experts from 65 nations gathered in Indonesia Sunday to assess progress in
the battle against HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, amid concern that only a
quarter of those in need in the region were getting treatment.
The ninth International
Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), to be opened by
Indonesia
's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the resort
island
of
Bali
, will look at how to ensure "universal access" to antiretroviral
treatment, congress chairman Zubairi Djoerban said.
He said that only 25
percent of the 1.7 million of people with HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region
who needed the treatment were receiving it.
"We're still far away
from our target," he said.
"We're not talking
100 percent, which is the ideal. If
Latin America
can treat 62 percent of sufferers there, we should strive towards that."
UNAIDS regional director
Prasada Rao said that countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Laos have been
able to treat 80 percent of HIV-positive people there but about 10 countries
managed to cover only 10 to 15 percent, due to geographical limitations and lack
of funding.
An estimated five million
Asians are living with HIV, especially in southeastern countries such as
Thailand
,
Cambodia
, the
Philippines
and
Indonesia
, according to a UN report released last year.
The congress, which runs
until Thursday, will also demand commitment from governments to tackle a disease
that killed 380,000 people across
Asia
in 2007, Djoerban said.
"We ask for
commitment from the countries to achieve the targets they have set and if they
say they can't, we'll discuss new efforts to help them reach their goals,"
he added.
"We can discuss
prevention and treatment but with no leadership and commitment from countries
and the community, we won't achieve much."
The congress also aims to
put pressure on governments to change policies that "just keep on
discriminating people because of their sexual behaviour such as males who have
sex with males and commercial sex workers," Rao told reporters.
While there are some
bright spots in the region, such as
Cambodia
, where HIV prevalence has declined through condom use, new infections are
growing in populous countries such as
Bangladesh
and
China
, the UN report said.
In
Indonesia
and
South Asia
, Djoerban said, the biggest threat was the lethal combination of dirty needles
and unprotected sex.
"We're concerned
about
India
,
Indonesia
and
Pakistan
, where there is overlapping of drug injecting and unprotected sex... this
includes sex workers taking drugs and drug users not using condoms," he
said.
"New infections are
offsetting positive results from preventive actions."
In
Indonesia
, where HIV/AIDS cases have tripled since 2005 to 26,632, according to official
figures, prisoners and prostitutes have joined injecting drug users to become
among the groups most at risk.
A third of 254 prison
deaths in the country in May this year were due to HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, one of the
worst HIV epidemics outside of Africa is under way in
Indonesia
's remote eastern
province
of
Papua
, where 2.4 out of every 100 people are infected due to an influx of migrants
workers and a booming sex industry.
However, HIV prevalence in
the region is still low compared with
Africa
.
"In South and
Southeast Asia
, the HIV prevalence is 0.3 percent. In sub-Saharan
Africa
, it's five percent," Djoerban said.
The
Bali
congress will also cover topics ranging from HIV risks among transgenders and
migrant workers to biomolecular advances in HIV treatment and the impact of the
financial crisis on those with HIV/AIDS.
Indonesia,
South Asia
new flashpoints in AIDS fight: experts
Fri Aug 7, 12:02 PM
JAKARTA (AFP) -
India
,
Indonesia
and
Pakistan
have become key fronts in Asia's fight against HIV/AIDS, health experts said
ahead of the International Congress on AIDS in
Asia
and the Pacific next week.
Delegates from 65
countries will gather on the Indonesian resort
island
of
Bali
from Sunday to Thursday to discuss strategy and "renew our commitment to
fight the disease," congress chairman Zubairi Djoerban said.
Two of the main talking
points are expected to be how to reach the 75 percent of sufferers who are not
receiving treatment, and how to stop the disease spreading among intravenous
drug users.
But Djoerban said that,
without a matching commitment from governments to tackle the disease that killed
380,000 people across
Asia
in 2007, the conference would achieve little.
"We can discuss
prevention and treatment but with no leadership and commitment from countries
and the community, we won't achieve much," he said.
An estimated five million
Asians are living with HIV, especially in southeastern countries such as
Thailand
,
Cambodia
, the
Philippines
and
Indonesia
, according to a UN report released last year.
While there are some
bright spots, such as
Cambodia
, where HIV prevalence has declined through condom use, new infections are
growing steadily in populous countries such as
Bangladesh
and
China
, the report added.
In
Indonesia
and
South Asia
, Djoerban said the biggest threat was the lethal combination of dirty needles
and unprotected sex.
"We're concerned
about
India
,
Indonesia
and
Pakistan
, where there is overlapping of drug injecting and unprotected sex... this
includes sex workers taking drugs and drug users not using condoms," he
said.
"New infections are
offsetting positive results from preventive actions."
In
Indonesia
, where HIV/AIDS cases have tripled since 2005 to 26,632, according to official
figures, prisoners and prostitutes have joined injecting drug users to become
among the groups most at risk.
A third of 254 prison
deaths in the country in May this year were due to HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, one of the
worst HIV epidemics outside of Africa is under way in
Indonesia
's remote eastern
province
of
Papua
, where 2.4 out of every 100 people are infected due to an influx of migrants
workers and a booming sex industry.
Despite the gloomy
outlook, the HIV prevalence in the region can be considered low compared with
worst-hit
Africa
.
"In South and
Southeast Asia
, the HIV prevalence is 0.3 percent. In sub-Saharan
Africa
, it's five percent," Djoerban said.
The congress will try to
push the United Nations and G8 countries to meet commitments made in the wake of
the UN World Summit in 2005, particularly plans for "universal access"
to antiretroviral treatment by next year.
Only 25 percent of the 1.7
million HIV/AIDS sufferers in the Asia-Pacific region who need antiretroviral
treatment are receiving it, Djoerban said.
"We're not talking
100 percent, which is the ideal. If
Latin America
can treat 62 percent of sufferers there, we should strive towards that,"
he said.
"We ask for
commitment from the countries to achieve the targets they have set and if they
say they can't, we'll discuss new efforts to help them reach their goals."
The
Bali
congress will also cover topics ranging from HIV risks among transgenders and
migrant workers to biomolecular advances in HIV treatment and the impact of the
financial crisis on HIV/AIDS sufferers.
Brazil has paved way for tackling HIV/AIDS, says
study
03 Aug 2009 10:52:00 GMT
Source: SciDev.Net
Catarina Chagas
[
RIO DE JANEIRO
]
Brazil
has set an example to other developing countries by employing "creative
measures" to successfully tackle its HIV/AIDS epidemic, says a new study.
The study commends the
country's methods employed in significantly lowering AIDS-related death and
illness, such as developing generic AIDS drugs in public factories and
threatening to produce generic versions of patented medicines.
In 2000, to combat rising
treatment costs, Brazil's health minister Jose Serra pressured pharmaceutical
companies to reduce their prices by threatening to issue a compulsory licence
that would enable local production of generic versions of patented
antiretrovirals.
The Trade-Related Aspects
of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement allows a developing country to invoke
a compulsory license if the nation's health is at risk, thus allowing the
production of patented drugs without payment to the patent holder.
Despite initial protests
from the
United States
, the move proved successful and several companies slashed their prices.
Brazil
also started producing generic copies of non-patented medicines in 2001.
Brazil issued its first
compulsory licence to import efavirenz, the most commonly used HIV/AIDS drug in
the country, made by Merck & Co, from India in 2007 (see Brazil breaks
patent on HIV/AIDS drug) and began producing the drug locally this year.
"
Brazil
's challenges to multinational pharmaceutical companies promoted transparency
about the high cost of patented medicines in an era when companies did not
publicly share their drug prices," Amy Nunn, co-author of the study and
assistant professor of medicine at
Brown
University
in the
United States
, told SciDev.Net.
She said in a press
release: "Before
Brazil
's efforts, as recently as the year 2000, most people living with HIV/AIDS in
developing countries died without receiving treatment".
Brazil's experience is valuable for middle-income
countries, who are increasingly relying on generic medicines, say the authors.
Graham Dutfield, professor
of international governance at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, says
Brazil
has set an excellent example for other countries.
"
Brazil
's drug policy has been absolutely correct, giving priority to the human right
to health over private commercial interests, something all countries are
required to do under international human rights law," he told SciDev.Net.
The authors' findings,
based on interviews and analysis of Brazilian media, are published in the
July/August edition of Health Affairs.
BEIJING
PRETORIA
JAKARTA