News (Updated October 4, 2009)

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HIV spreading faster than treatment in Africa : UNAIDS

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The number of people receiving AIDS treatments in the region, where two-thirds of the world's HIV positive people live -- rose from 2.1 million in 2007 to 2.9 million last year.

Although the region showed the world's greatest progress in expanding AIDS treatment, new infections still outpace the numbers of people on the life-saving drugs, according to new figures from the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS and the UN Children's Fund.

"The number of new infections in the region is outpacing the number of people getting treatment by a ratio of two to one," regional UNAIDS director Mark Stirling told a press briefing in Johannesburg .

Several sub-Saharan governments were putting prevention strategies in place, but the political will to implement them still lags, he said.

More discussion was also needed around the social factors underpinning new infections, such as sexual violence and inter-generational sex between older men and young women and girls, said Stirling .

"There really needs to be a social transformation. At the moment, there is no social movement, so there is a need for a stronger political leadership and for a stronger traditional leadership."

The gap between treatment and new infections in sub-Saharan countries posed a financial threat to the treatment schemes, said Stella Anyangwe of the WHO in South Africa .

"At the rate it is going, it is almost impossible that every country gives free treatment to everyone," she said.

South Africa , which has the world's largest HIV positive population of nearly six million, had developed a "very coherent" prevention programme, said Stirling .

"2008 was an important transition year on the prevention. We are not seeing the results yet, but the strategy is there and the results will come."

The joint report, launched in Geneva on Wednesday, showed that more than four million people from poor and middle-income countries received HIV/AIDS treatment in 2008.

Of an estimated 9.5 million people who needed treatment in these countries in 2008, 42 percent or 4.03 million were receiving anti-retroviral therapy. In 2007, just 2.97 million were getting treatment, according to the report.

Tenfold rise in HIV treatment for poor: UN

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The biggest progress was recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, where two-thirds of all HIV infections occur, said the joint report by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"Access to antiretroviral therapy continues to expand at a rapid rate," said the report.

Of an estimated 9.5 million people who needed treatment in these countries in 2008, 42 percent or 4.03 million were receiving antiretroviral therapy. In 2007, just 2.97 million were getting treatment, according to the report.

In sub-Saharan Africa , about 2.9 million patients were receiving treatment, up from almost 2.1 million in 2007, an increase of 39 percent.

The increase in the number of people receiving treatment is also expected to grow at the current pace.

Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS, told reporters during a press conference that some seven million people are expected to be receiving treatment by 2010, marking a three million increase in two years.

"That's including treatment needs, all suport for orphan care, capacity development and system building, preventing mothers, young people," he said.

Teguest Guerma, who heads the HIV/AIDS programme at the WHO said cheaper drugs was a key reason for the significant improvement in access to treatment.

"One of the major factors which contributed to create a wider availability of treatment is reduction of price of the most frequently used antiretroviral drugs," she said.

She explained that prices of most basic form of drugs fell by 10 to 40 percent between 2006 and 2008.

These drugs are known as first line treatment, and while they are cheaper, they are less efficient than second line and third line treatments.

However, the UN report also warned that access to treatment services is "falling far short of need and the global economic crisis has raised concerns about their sustainability."

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said: "This report shows tremendous progress in the global HIV/AIDS response."

"But we need to do more. At least five million people living with HIV still do not have access to life-prolonging treatment and care."

The increase in infections also poses a further challenge in ensuring sustainable and equal access to patients.

According to the WHO, the number of new infections is increasing at a faster rate than the number of people receiving treatment.

"All indications point to the number of people needing treatment rising dramatically over the next few years, said Sidibi.

"Ensuring equitable access will be one of our primary concerns and UNAIDS will continue to act as a voice for the voiceless, ensuring that marginalized groups and people most vulnerable to HIV infection have access to the services that are so vital to their well-being and to that of their families and communities."

Kenya seeks to restore public confidence in condoms

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

National Quality Control Laboratory head Hezekiah Chepkwony told reporters on Tuesday the machine was purchased for 175,000 US dollars (123,000 euros) by the UN Population Fund.

Its acquisition follows the withdrawal from the market of a batch of Hot brand condoms found to be ineffective.

National AIDS/STD Control Programme head Nicholas Muraguri urged the public not to lose confidence in condoms, saying the government plans to introduce more stringent quality controls.

Kenya is "not condemning all condoms," he said, "only Hot condoms which have a very small market share."

"Condoms are very important for HIV prevention and preventing pregnancy at a level of over 98 percent," he said.

In 2007 around 150 Kenyans were dying each day of AIDS-related diseases, the government has said.

Condom use in the country has come in for criticism notably from the Roman Catholic church and controversial first lady Lucy Kibaki.

Muraguri also warned that using latex condoms with petroleum-based products rather than water-based lubricants can render them ineffective.

"In Nairobi , maybe you are using Vaseline?" he said. "What do they use in the village? Maybe cooking fat or milking jelly. Some people even use oil from vehicles. Condoms and petroleum based products do not agree."

Charity auction nets $1.1 million for AIDS

Michael Jackson's crystal-studded boots fetch euro10,000 at event chaired by sister Janet

By Colleen Barry, Associated Press Writer

On Tuesday September 29, 2009

MILAN (AP) -- Crystal-studded boots that Michael Jackson intended to wear on his planned comeback tour fetched euro10,000 ($14,650) at a celebrity fundraiser chaired by his sister, Janet.

AP - Janet Jackson during tha auction for the amfAR charity dinner during the fashion week in Milan , Italy , Monday, ...

The charity event, held on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week, attracted such fashion luminaries as Donatella Versace and model Linda Evangelista, as well as rapper and producer Kanye West.

Organizers say the event late Monday netted a total of $1.1 million (euro750,000) for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), a nonprofit organization that supports HIV/AIDS research.

The event included a charity dinner in a central Milan palace and continued into the early hours of Tuesday with French DJ Bob Sinclar serving his famous mixes on an upstairs dance floor.

"I'd just like to thank everyone here in the global fashion community who've done so much to help amfAR and to support HIV/AIDS research," Ms. Jackson told celebrity diners, who paid anywhere from euro1,500 to euro8,000 ($2,200 to $11,500) apiece to attend the dinner. "When this terrible pandemic began everyone ... who was infected died of AIDS. Today with your help millions of people are living with HIV."

She remembered the 5,000 who die of the disease every day.

Evangelista recalled the death of her first booking agent due to AIDS in the early days of the epidemic. "Those were desperate times for so many of us. I watched him die and helped bury him, not understanding any of it," Evangelista said. "The fashion industry was especially hard hit by AIDS."

But amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost celebrated the first "flicker of hope" that the AIDS epidemic may one day be contained, the news last week that a two-vaccine combination tested in Thailand had cut the risk of being infected with HIV by one-third. Researchers say the results are not good enough for immediate use, but the results were widely viewed in the AIDS prevention and research camps as a hopeful sign.

"That, my friends, is the power of research," Frost said. "So believe me when I tell you, there is a way out. We believe with the right investment, we can bring this epidemic to an end in our lifetime."

During the auction, Sudanese model Alex Wek helped stir interest in the Giuseppe Zanotti-designed boots that featured 3,000 multicolored Swarovski beads, which Jackson planned to wear on the opening night of his comeback.

"Growing up in southern Sudan , I did not know a lot of pop stars. But Michael did touch a lot of people," she said in tribute to the singer, who died in June before his much-anticipated comeback could begin.

A custom black leather jacket designed by the Canadian twin designers Dean and Dan Caten of the DSquared2 label set off a bidding war between rapper West and Diesel designer Renzo Rosso. Rosso prevailed with a bid of euro36,000 ($52,740), the highest price paid for any of the auctioned items.

Model Noemie Lenoir, who flew in from New York for the event, was supposed to auction off a chance to sail aboard the yacht "Born for Sports" as it attempts to break the trans-Mediterranean record from Marseilles to Carthage in Tunisia . Instead, she improvised an auction of an evening out in her company.

"Come on, cheap people, more money," she urged, as the bidding reached the winning level of euro11,000 ($16,115).

The yacht-racing experience later went for euro18,000 ($26,370). The auction -- which among the other items included a Fendi bicycle with GPS and a leather-encased bike chain that earned euro16,000 ($23,440) and a private DJ lesson with Bob Sinclar that brought in euro28,000 ($41,000) -- netted a total of euro155,000, or $228,000.

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