News (Updated
August 8, 2010)
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6 August 2010
The World Health Organization (WHO) has
launched a web-based consultation to seek input on the development of the WHO
Global Health Sector Strategy for HIV/AIDS, 2011-2015.
The Sixty-third Session of the World Health
Assembly adopted a resolution requesting that the World Health Organization
(WHO) Director-General develop a WHO HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2011-2015, through a
broad consultative process.
You are invited to provide your feedback on the consultation materials found on the WHO web site. These materials will be available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
Comments should be submitted by 31 August using this online form. Where
possible, please submit your comments in English to facilitate the synthesis of
all inputs.
The 2011-2015 strategy will:
Build on the achievements and experiences of
the "3 by 5" initiative and the five strategic directions of the WHO
HIV/AIDS Universal Access Plan 2006-2010;
Take into consideration the broad global HIV,
health and development architecture, including the UNAIDS Strategy (under
development) and UNAIDS Outcome Framework, and existing commitments to achieving
Universal Access and the Millennium Development Goals;
Identify existing and agreed global targets to
motivate countries to plan for bold HIV responses through to 2015;
Provide guidance to countries on how to
prioritize their HIV and broader health investments;
Provide a framework for concerted WHO action
at the global, regional and country levels and across all relevant WHO
departments.
WHO works in partnership with a broad range of
constituencies, including Member States, civil society, donor and development
agencies, non-governmental organizations, multilateral agencies (including the
UN family), scientific and technical institutions and networks, and the private
sector. WHO is committed to a consultation process that involves all key
stakeholders and constituencies in the development of the Global Health Sector
Strategy for HIV/AIDS, 2011-2015.
By
Garry White
01 Aug 2010
Almost
one-in-three women aged 25 to 29 – and more than a quarter of men aged 30 to
34 – are living with the HIV virus.
This
means that businesses operating in the country will find about 17pc of their
employees are infected with the virus. With many British companies looking to
developing markets for future growth, management ignores such heath issues at
their peril.
One
company that has faced the catastrophic impact of HIV/AIDS head on is mining giant Anglo American. The company is the largest private-sector employer
in South Africa and the effects
of the epidemic were ravaging its business. Ten years ago, the company had to
train two people to do each job – just in case one of them died.
"We decided to
make the treatment
available to all of
our staff, despite the fact
we didn't know what
this would cost"
- Dr Brian Brink
Now
the situation is much more manageable and much of the credit can be claimed by
one man.
Dr
Brian Brink is Anglo's Group Medical Consultant and has been an employee of the
company for 27 years. He probably understands more about the progression of the
AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa than anyone else. In the 1980s, he was charged
with finding the first black South African that had contracted the disease. He
was there at the start and has been counting the toll ever since.
Anglo
reckons that approximately 12,000 of its 71,000 workforce are currently HIV+.
However, it's no longer a case of training up two men for each job in the hope
that one of them will survive.
"The
big turning point was when the treatment became available and effective in
2002," Dr Brink says.
"We
decided to make the treatment available to all of our staff, despite the fact we
didn't know what this would cost," he added. "Doing this was
transformational and it solved a significant problem for the company – the
fact a lot of our staff were dying."
However,
while the company was willing to pay for antiretroviral therapy (ART), the real
obstacle to getting things done was the stigma, fear and distrust surrounding
the disease.
"We
had to let our staff know that if they were HIV-positive their jobs were
safe," Dr Brink says. "This, combined with an effective treatment,
meant that the consequences of having the disease were not as devastating as
they used to be."
Companies
have to deal with all interested parties – including governments and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Distributing
ART free of charge was beneficial for Anglo's relationship with its employees,
who became much better motivated. It also improved communication with union
representatives.
Anglo
has been studying the health economics of ART provision since 2002.
In
Southern Africa, the overall impact of HIV/AIDS to the company is equivalent to
3.4pc of its payroll.
As
HIV positive employees survive longer, the cost of the programme will increase.
This increasing cost of HIV/AIDS will only be contained by stopping the new HIV
infections.
Nevertheless,
without ART the company would be in a much worse situation.
The
fully-accounted for cost of treatment is $126 (£80) per HIV+ employee. However,
people on ART are more able to work. Absenteeism declines 1.9 days per employee
per month, which saves of $96 a month. The use of healthcare services also
declines, saving $87. Added to this is the fact that staff turnover and benefits
payments are reduced, which saves $36 a month.
At
the individual level, the total savings of $219 per patient per month amount to
approximately 174pc of the cost of providing treatment. Giving out ART free of
charge makes economic sense.
"We had to let
our staff
know that if they
were HIV-positive
their jobs were
safe"
- Dr Brian Brink
There
is also little doubt that employees on successful treatment are inherently safer
down a mine – and safety is a key issue for employees, unions and the
government.
The
problem of doing too little too late can be seen in the tuberculosis (TB)
epidemic. Dr Brink described TB as an "overwhelming worry", saying
that there is anecdotal evidence of more and more TB in employees that are not
HIV+.
Anglo
has seen a "disturbing" number of cases with multi-drug resistant and
extremely drug resistant (XDR) TB.
"I
fear XDR has got loose," Dr Brink says.
Anglo
thinks the escalating TB epidemic could be more worrying than HIV. Because TB is
difficult to diagnose, it is often missed and diagnosed too late.
The
company believes that the threat of HIV/AIDS can be managed such that the risk
is reduced to a "tolerable" level and that the epidemic does not
affect the profitability or the sustainability of its business. "We also
know that this experience can be translated on a broader scale to justify a
similar response by all businesses to protect the economies of countries with a
high burden of HIV/AIDS."
Anglo
has learnt that companies benefit from investing in the health of their staff
and it is a lesson businesses moving into developing countries need to learn. As
Dr Brink says: "The AIDS story for Anglo is an example of why it works. TB
underscores why it is essential."
2010-08-04
In
an effort to reduce the rates of infection in the state of New York, Governor
David Paterson signed into law a bill that seeks to increase the availability of
HIV testing for state residents.
The new law makes HIV testing a part of routine healthcare. Now doctors will
carry out the procedure unless patients specifically ask not to be tested.
Health advocates in the state have applauded the measure. The New York AIDS
Coalition said that offering testing to every individual who seeks care would
help health officials identify those who are unaware that they are living with
the disease, and that this would help stop its spread.
"This new law will make HIV testing a routine part of every day healthcare
for every New Yorker," said Brittany Allen, the coalition's director.
"In turn, it will significantly decrease the stigma associated with
HIV/AIDS, while increasing the number of people tested each year."
She added that, by knowing who is infected with HIV at early stages of the
disease, health officials will be able to provide these people with better care.
By QMI
Agency
August 4,
2010 If a vaccine against HIV existed, a huge chunk of Canadians wouldn't bother
getting it, a new study finds.
Potentially
shunning the vaccine includes Canadians most at risk for contracting HIV: ethnic
minorities, injection drug users and men who have sex with men.
The study,
out of the University of Toronto, reviewed surveys from over 12,000 people
across Canada and concluded that if an HIV vaccine that was about 50% effective
existed, only 40% of people would get it. If there was a 100% effective vaccine,
only 74% would be vaccinated.
Peter
Newman, a professor at the University of Toronto's faculty of social work and a
Canada Research Chair, told Torontoist.com
that one of the possible explanations is that people fear vaccinations, worrying
that they may contract the very disease they hope to be vaccinated against.
“The
bottom line is it’s totally impossible for anyone to get HIV with a vaccine
[if developed]," he said. "There would not be live HIV in the
vaccine."
This same
fear extends to other vaccines. For example, only 32% of Ontarians were ever
vaccinated for H1N1.
People said
they would be more likely to get it if it was made readily and easily available.
Newman
suggested making such a vaccine available at a regular doctor's office, rather
than just at AIDS clinics, which carry a social stigma.
However,
accessibility and effectiveness weren't the only issues contributing to people's
dismissive attitudes towards a possible vaccine. A lot of people, said the
researchers, just don't think they're at risk.
“When
people felt that they did not belong to a risk group it was significantly
related to lower acceptability [of the vaccine], while people who perceived that
they were at risk were positively associated with vaccine acceptability,"
the study's co-author, Carmen Logie, told Torontoist.com.
The study
concluded that public health agencies had a responsibility to promote the
benefits of vaccination and accurate risk perceptions before making the vaccine
easily accessible.
This study
comes just two weeks after experts at an AIDS conference in Australia called for
more work on HIV vaccine research.
"With
more than 2.7 million people worldwide newly infected with HIV every year, the
need for safe and effective HIV vaccines is greater than ever," said Dr.
Peter Piot, director of the Institute for Global Health at Imperial College, in
a statement.
"We are
now in one of the richest phases in HIV vaccine research since the beginning of
the epidemic. Following up on each of the most promising advances in HIV vaccine
research will require appropriate funding, high levels of collaboration and
information sharing and the full support of researchers and governments around
the world."
In July, the
Canadian government pledged $60
million to help get AIDS vaccines from the lab to clinical trials.
