Representatives
of the British embassy in News (Updated
December 5, 2010)
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Nov 30, 2010
By Kate Kelland
A report by the U.N.
children's fund UNICEF found that millions of women and children, particularly
in poor countries, fall through the cracks of HIV services either due to their
gender, social or economic status, location or education.
While children have
benefited from substantial progress made in the fight against AIDS, it said,
more must be done to ensure all women and children get access to the medicines
and health services designed to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.
According to latest United
Nations data, 370,000 children were born with HIV in 2009, the vast majority of
them in
"Although it is very
rare for a child to be born with HIV in the developed world, there are still a
thousand newborns a day infected in Africa," UNICEF's head of HIV and AIDS
Jimmy Kolker told reporters. "This is something we know how to
prevent."
AIDS is still one of the
leading causes of death worldwide among women of reproductive age and a major
cause of maternal death in countries with AIDS epidemics. In sub-Saharan
Just over half of all
pregnant women infected HIV got the drugs they needed to prevent mother-to-child
transmission in 2009, compared with 45 percent in 2008.
In 2009, some 33.3 million
people around the world had the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes
AIDS, and 22.5 million of them were living in sub-Saharan
UNICEF said one of the
most significant increases in access to prevention drugs was in eastern and
southern
Margaret Chan,
director-general of the World Health Organisation, said there was now
"strong evidence that elimination of mother-to-child transmission is
achievable".
"Achieving the goal
will require much better prevention among women and mothers in the first
place," she said.
Babies are particularly
vulnerable to the effects of HIV and without treatment about half of infants
infected with HIV die before their second birthday.
UNICEF said that while the
availability of early infant diagnosis services has increased dramatically in
many countries, global coverage still remains low, at only six percent in 2009.
In a separate statement before world AIDS day on December 1, the UNAIDS director Michel Sidibe said: "Nothing gives me more hope than knowing that an AIDS-free generation is possible in our lifetime."
Source: Global Times
December 02 2010
By Fang Yunyu
Representatives
of the British embassy in
"I usually see around
18 new patients a month," said Dr Zhao Hongxin, the director of the AIDS
department at Beijing Ditan Hospital (BJDTH), dedicated to treating infectious
diseases. Most of her patients come from other provinces, she said.
Zhao noted that thanks to
recent AIDS education efforts, Beijingers have started to change their attitudes
towards carriers of the disease.
"People see it as a
disease in urgent need of medical treatment rather than a dirty label," she
said.
BJDTH has received AIDS
patients since 1987, and has provided medical treatment to over 2,500 HIV
carriers to date, including free treatment for 550 AIDS patients.
Four adult AIDS carriers
were also there to talk about treatment and discrimination.
"I don't tell the
public about my disease," one AIDS patient who did not wish to be named
told the Global Times. He rarely suffers discrimination in his daily life,
however he said the one place he does sometimes sense it is at other hospitals.
"Some nurses give me
strange looks once they know I'm an AIDS patient," he said.
He contracted the virus
from a blood transfusion in
"I was very angry and
upset after I found out I was infected," he said. "But now I have
accepted the reality."
He began to receive free
medicine from BJDTH every three months in 2005; previously he had to spend
around 5,000 yuan ($750) per month for the treatment, money he gathered with his
family's help.
The other patients said
that they have told no one, not even family members, of their diagnosis.
The British government has
spent 52 million pounds ($80.82 million) in the last 10 years on AIDS prevention
and education across
"We believe educating
people about the issues, and ensuring that people are treated humanely, is a key
aspect to stopping the spread of AIDS," he told the Global Times.
01 December 2010
The
Dan Chugg, UK Political
Counsellor in
The British Embassy
Beijing and
The event honours the
contributions made by hospital workers and volunteers at
Dan Chugg, UK Political
Counsellor in
Today’s event kicked off
a wider programme to distribute the bags to hospitals across
Dan Chugg said:
‘Preventing the
spread of HIV is an important concern for the
World AIDS day is one of a
number of International Days marked by the British Embassy as part of the
Embassy’s civil society strategy. Marking these days highlights the important
contributions made by a range of grassroots civil society organisations in
Dec 2 2010
By Philip Pullella
"It's all about love,
taking the love that we receive from nature, in the form of wine, and giving it
back to the earth, in the form of helping our needy brothers and sisters in
Africa," said Luca Sanjust, owner of the Petrolo winery in Tuscany.
Petrolo, a high-quality
boutique winery that produces only about 70,000 bottles a year, is just one of
the Italian producers sending a life line to
The project that links
Tuscany's idyllic rolling hills with some of the world's most blighted areas was
started seven years ago by Rome's Sant' Egidio Community, which has been
nominated several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
As part of the program,
more than 120 of
Some two million bottles
have borne the stickers in the past eight years.
Fifty euro cents of the
price goes to Sant' Egidio to finance their program called DREAM -- an acronym
for Drug Resource Enhancement Against AIDS and Malnutrition -- to administer
antiretroviral treatment.
DREAM centers have opened
in
"This is about life,
it is not about business," said Sanjust, 51, whose wines for the project
include his Galatrona and Torrione labels, contributing tens of thousands of
euros to the program each year.
"Wine to us is
sacred. Life is sacred. I think the people who are doing this work in
PEACE MOVEMENT
Founded by students in
The DREAM project gets
about 250,000 euros ($329,700) a year from its Wine for Life initiative. The
rest comes from charities, institutions, private donations and corporations.
Their clinics currently
treat some 98,000 AIDS patients, including 59,000 for HIV and AIDS. Nearly
12,000 children been born healthy from HIV positive mothers thanks to the
program of antiretroviral drugs.
Sant' Egidio runs 31
centers with 18 laboratories in
Some 500 professionals
from the developed world, many of them doctors, go to
Another well known Italian
winery that takes part in the dream program is Zenato, which produces, among
other delights, Amarone Valpolicella DOC, which this year was rated 36 in the
Top 100 list in the
"Land is a gift of
God and the earth. Our ties to the earth and our vines can make us great and
bring a smile to children," said Nadia Zenato, vice president of the
family-own winery based in the hills west of
"We want to do good
for the those who are less fortunate than us. That's our family
philosophy," said Zenato, 38, who runs the company with her mother and
brother.
"It's in our blood.
It's in our vines," she said.
(Editing by Paul Casciato)
By Dominic Hughes Health
correspondent, BBC News
Routine
tests for the HIV virus should be carried out in casualty wards and GP
surgeries, according to experts who say too many cases are going undiagnosed.
Eight pilot projects were
carried out across
The study also asked
patients for their views.
More than 95% said they
thought testing for HIV was a good idea.
One study of emergency
hospital admissions found that only a quarter of undiagnosed HIV positive
patients were correctly targeted and diagnosed.
These findings come in the
wake of a study published last week by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) that
showed more than half of all HIV cases last year were diagnosed late.
Dr Ian Williams of the
British HIV association says early diagnosis is crucial.
“Start
Quote
It's good news that people
are happy to be tested and we can pick up cases of HIV that could otherwise be
missed or found much later”
End Quote Anne Milton
Public Health Minister
"The later people are
diagnosed with HIV, the more difficult and expensive it is to treat them, the
poorer their outcome may be, and the more likely they are to have transmitted
the infection."
The number of people
living with HIV in the
The new studies also
suggest that doctors may be missing HIV cases because of preconceptions over
what someone with the virus may look like.
At present testing is
recommended in areas where there are a greater number of cases of HIV but this
doesn't happen across the board.
All pregnant women and
anyone who is sexually active and attends a clinic for sexually transmitted
diseases are automatically offered a test for HIV.
Almost all pregnant women
who are offered a test say yes.
And it seems that patients
are also fairly relaxed about routine testing for HIV.
The study found that 95%
of patients in a casualty ward and nearly 97% in a GP surgery agreed that
testing was a good idea.
The Public Health minister
Ann Milton was pleased patients had responded positively.
"Earlier diagnosis
means people can start treatment as soon as possible and live a near normal
life.
"It also helps
prevent spreading the virus, so it's good news that people are happy to be
tested and we can pick up cases of HIV that could otherwise be missed or found
much later."
The proposal wouldn't see
routine testing for HIV rolled out everywhere.
Instead it would be
focused on areas with the highest rates of HIV.
In
(AFP) – 4 days ago
The hike in test numbers
-- a total of 11.4 million more people since 2006 -- came after the US Centers
for Disease Control began a campaign that year to incorporate testing for the
virus that causes AIDS into routine medical visits.
The CDC's Vital Signs
report said the percentage of adults who had been tested at least once in their
lives increased to 45 percent -- or 82.9 million -- in 2009, after holding
steady at approximately 40 percent from 2001 to 2006.
But 55 percent of American
adults -- and 28.3 percent of people with a risk factor for AIDS -- have never
been tested, so more action is needed, the CDC said.
"Today's news shows
that we have had progress increasing testing, and that more progress is both
necessary and possible," said CDC chief Thomas Frieden.
"With most adults and
with nearly a third of high-risk people having never been tested for HIV, we
need to do more to ensure that all Americans have access to voluntary, routine
and early HIV testing in order to save lives and reduce the spread of this
terrible disease."
About 1.1 million people
in the
"Reducing the number
of undiagnosed infections is a critical component of HIV prevention, as most
sexually transmitted HIV infections in the
(AP) – 3 days ago
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The
three large blue and white boxes of condoms appeared to be the elephant in the
room at the Catholic AIDS clinic, a trailer beside the church in a dusty
red-soil settlement in the world's most AIDS-riddled nation.
But parish priest Rev.
Didier Lemaire showed no embarrassment when asked about the stash of 600
condoms, set conveniently on an examination couch so one could grab a few on the
way out the door. Lemaire said Pope Benedict XVI's groundbreaking statement
about the selective use of condoms only cements what Catholic AIDS workers have
said for years.
"What the pope is
saying, many priests have been saying for a long time," said Lemaire. He
said eschewing condoms when people have AIDS goes against the commandment
"Thou shalt not kill."
Pope Benedict's comments
have far-reaching implications for
For many Catholics in the
front lines watching people die of AIDS, Benedict's pronouncement confers a
belated blessing on what they are already doing. They hope Benedict's comments
are just a precursor to opening up further conversation.
"The people in the
trenches have been allowing people to use condoms for 10 years now," said
Sr. Elaine Pearton at Lemaire's Inkanyezi parish. She said Catholic AIDS workers
did not want to lay down the moral law for patients who might not be Catholic,
and that they were acting on church teaching that "your conscience is the
highest authority."
Pearton is among the
Catholic religious and lay workers who were in the vanguard confronting AIDS in
"We don't hand them
out (indiscriminately) for people to make balloons out of," she said,
laughing. "But if someone needs them to protect themselves from a deadly
hazard, we just give them a box."
Benedict was quoted in a
book as saying that condom use by people such as male prostitutes showed they
were moving toward a more responsible sexuality by aiming to protect their
partners from a deadly infection.
Basically, the pope
acknowledged that the church's long-held stance against birth control does not
justify putting lives at risk. His statement startled many Catholics and angered
others. Some conservative Catholic theologians have said bluntly that they
disagree with the pope, and that condoms still represent an immoral use of
artificial birth control.
Among those punished by
the church for their views on condom use is a German priest, the Rev. Stefan
Hippler, whose "Hope" project in
Hippler is prohibited from
preaching but continues his AIDS work, now funded by the South African diocese
and not the German Bishops' Conference.
The Southern African
Catholic Bishops' Conference in a statement Wednesday reiterated its 2001
declaration, then rather revolutionary even though it omitted the dreaded
"condom" word. The bishops said, "When one spouse is infected
with HIV/AIDS they must listen to their consciences. They are the only ones who
can choose the appropriate means, in order to defend themselves against the
infection."
Still, Catholic AIDS
workers insisted that only abstinence and fidelity can provide a long-term
solution to ending the AIDS pandemic. They said condoms should not be
distributed indiscriminately, for fear they might promote promiscuity and worsen
the crisis. The largest Catholic donor in the world, the U.S.-based Catholic
Relief Services, has reiterated that it will not be distributing condoms.
Sr. Shelagh Mary Waspe, a
nun and professional nurse, described why she gave condoms years ago to a
shack-dweller: "She was riddled with AIDS, continually being raped at night
in a little shack where she lived on her own. Those kind of situations, you just
do it quietly, don't make a big issue." The woman died two months later.
For Waspe, condoms often
are "a matter of self-defense" in a society like
"Lots of people are
adamant about not even looking at condoms, not talking about condoms, not giving
out a condom, but I think on the QT (quiet), lots of other people have been
doing it," Waspe said.
Among those who consider
their lives were saved by Catholic nuns, count
The Mofokengs, Christian
but not Catholic, got antiretroviral treatment a year before the government was
handing it out, in a country where half those in need of the lifesaving drugs
remain on a waiting list.
"This clinic and its
caring workers have changed our lifestyle and saved our lives," said
Elizabeth Mofokeng. "We've changed our diet, we're rigorous about taking
our ARVs (anti-retrovirals) and, every time we have sex, we use condoms."
---
Associated Press writer
Victor Simpson contributed to this report from
Copyright © 2010 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.
|
Dr
Brink said isolation and loneliness were issues for people with HIV |
In
The theme of the day was
universal access and human rights and
People in
The Health and Social
Services department said: "Raising awareness will improve understanding,
prevent transmissions and stop HIV prejudice."
Three people living with
HIV and Aids shared their experience of life in
One said: "This is
such a beautiful island, it's my home, with great people living here, but it's a
small place, still relatively conservative.
"People can be quick
to judge others, people worry what their friends and family think about them.
"People must know
that this dreadful virus can affect anyone…. Please don't judge others, just
because lightning struck them.
"HIV is a reality,
even here in
Another added: "I
feel lonely and afraid and am only able to discuss these fears with my doctor
and nurse at the clinic. I am too scared to discuss my situation with anyone
else as I think they will judge me."
A third added: "The
greatest problem that HIV sufferers have to contend with is the stigma that is
attached to the disease. We didn't ask to be infected - yes, maybe we made a
foolish decision, trusted when we shouldn't have, had unprotected sex when we
shouldn't have, but who hasn't?
"But, not only do we
have to live with the consequences of those mistakes, but the terrible and
unrelenting stigma, horror and ignorance that is almost always associated with
HIV."
|
Dr
Bridgeman encouraged anyone with concerns to seek professional advice |
Dr Nikki Brink,
HSSD said: "We are
fortunate to be able to access modern drugs for the management of HIV in
They added: "Living
with HIV in
The Director of Public
Health, Dr Stephen Bridgman, said: "I would encourage any Bailiwick
resident with concerns to seek the confidential and professional advice
available."
