LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - Voters in the city of News (Updated
December 11, 2011)
[Home]
[Previous
news]
Dec 7 2011
By Aaron Maasho
About 34 million people
worldwide are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that causes
AIDS, just over two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan
However, a decline in
donor contributions has caused a funding crisis within the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the largest body for HIV funding, and is
dampening optimism about an eventual end to the disease, UNAIDS director Michel
Sidibe told Reuters in an interview.
"It is not the time
to stop, to reverse all this achievement. The financial crisis is there ... but
when we have a financial crisis we need to be innovative," Sidibe said.
Annual funding for
HIV/AIDS programs fell to $15 billion in 2010 from $15.9 billion in 2009, well
below the $22-24 billion the U.N. agency says is needed annually by 2015 to pay
for a comprehensive, effective global response.
Speaking on the sidelines
of an international AIDS conference in the Ethiopian capital,
"If we have a global
financial transaction tax, say of 0.5 percent, we will have $226 billion. Ten
percent of that resource is enough for financing the fight against HIV/AIDS,
stopping the epidemic, because we can reduce by 96 percent the number of new
infections by putting people early on treatment," Sidibe said.
"We can have taxation
on cigarettes and alcohol. We can find different ways to mobilize new
resources."
With many large
international donor countries struggling with looming recession and debt crises,
public health experts say it is crucial for countries affected by HIV/AIDS to
increase their own funding, especially developing countries.
"Sustainability and
particularly reducing dependency, making sure that African leaders are taking
responsibility to initiate a new discussion around treatment and (the) AIDS
financing crisis in Africa, those for me will be the most important messages to
come out from
The Global Fund is already
cutting new grants for countries battling HIV. The public-private fund
contributes about 70 percent of the money spent on life-saving antiretroviral
drugs in developing nations.
Former President George W.
Bush, whose President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program
committed $15 billion dollars for a five-year period in 2003, urged Americans to
contribute despite their own economic woes.
"It's essential our
country not retreat from the world, it's essential that we continue to show our
compassion by funding programs that work," Bush told reporters ahead of the
meeting, which opened Sunday.
The
(Editing by Richard Lough
and Alessandra Rizzo)
Dec 5 2011
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS
ANGELES (Reuters) - Voters in the city of
The AIDS Healthcare
Foundation said on Monday it had submitted about 71,000 signatures, surpassing
the required number of 41,000, for a ballot initiative that could go before
voters in June 2012.
If the signatures are
certified by city officials and a vote is held on the measure, residents would
be asked whether to force
The California Division of
Occupational Safety and Health has issued over $125,000 in fines against porn
producers in the past five years for various violations, but some of those
citations are on appeal, according to figures from the agency.
Despite facing fines, most
major porn companies continue to shoot without condoms, and some in the industry
have argued that using the latex would take away from the fantasy appeal of
their product.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
said that
"We're confident
about our ability to win an initiative on an election," said Michael
Weinstein, the foundation's president. "We say, why continue to frustrate
ourselves trying to get the politicians to stand up and do something, when the
people seem to be ahead of them."
The multibillion dollar
Porn producers have said
they could move outside of
A representative from
adult industry group the Free Speech Coalition did not return a call or e-mail
seeking comment, and a representative from the city's film permitting agency
could not be reached for comment.
Former porn star Derrick
Burts, 25, who said he was infected with HIV on a porn shoot in 2010, said some
porn performers would like to wear condoms, but they will not go against the
wishes of their producers.
"In this industry,
you fight for every dollar you can make, because when you get into this
industry, it's hard to get out and make a normal living because your face is
everywhere as someone who's done porn," Burts said.
(Reporting by Alex
Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)
By Natacha Yazbeck (AFP)
– 8 December, 2011
"In the Middle East
and
"The number of people
needing treatment in the region has spiked from approximately 45,000 in 2001 to
nearly 160,000 in 2010," Bodiroza told AFP.
"This has put the
Middle East and
A United Nations report
released this month said the number of people becoming infected with HIV has
slowed worldwide, with AIDS-related deaths also on the decline as access to
treatment becomes more widespread.
But the Arab world has
been slow to catch up. Here, HIV contraction rates and AIDS-related deaths are
increasing as public awareness, government response and access to adequate
medical services have been slow to progress.
While there is little
reliable data on the Middle East and North Africa, the United Nations estimates
between 350,000 and 570,000 people live with the HIV virus in the region, home
to a population estimated at more the 367 million.
One study, published
recently on the open-access Public Library of Science, put infection rates among
men who have sex with men at 5.7 percent in
And while some countries
have begun to take small steps towards fighting a growing but hushed problem,
shame and stigma show very little sign of waning in a region where same-sex
relationships and premarital sex are often a crime.
That stigma has become a
fact of life for one young man in
"If I were to sum it
up in one word, I would say my life is one big secret," said the
29-year-old, who has known he is HIV-positive for three years.
"While I came out to
my family a long time ago, this is something I have not shared with them. I
could never burden them with that."
Infection is typically
concentrated among high-risk groups, including injecting drug users, men who
have sex with men and sex workers and their clients.
"Life for someone
carrying the HIV virus is very difficult... they suffer an inability to talk
about the disease freely with people who are close to them, and we have cases
where individuals were kicked out of the family," said Brigitte Khoury,
clinical psychologist at the
"So while some
families do offer support, it's mainly a life of secrecy, deception and living
in fear of the worst."
That fear, experts say, is
often what keeps HIV-positive individuals from seeking treatment.
"Stigma and
discrimination are among the primary reasons that people living with HIV or key
populations at higher risk of HIV infection do not have access to essential HIV
services," Bodiroza said.
"These two factors
also limit the ability of governments and civil society to provide
services."
Many states in the Arab
world require that foreigners take an AIDS test before issuing visas or
residency permits.
Making headlines this
month was the case of a South African journalist who was deported from
Section27, a public
interest legal group based in
But some more liberal
countries in the region have begun to publicise the problem, with a media
campaign in
The "Let's Talk"
campaign, which runs until the end of December, is organised by UNFPA in
partnership with the two countries' health ministries, and encourages people to
be tested.
The campaign, which in
But despite the tentative
progress, experts say governments are less likely than ever to turn their
attention to the rising epidemic in a region gripped by political upheaval.
"The common thread
that links all countries in the region is the impact of stigma and
discrimination, which are (among) the primary reasons that people living with
HIV or at-risk populations do not have access to essential services," said
Bodiroza.
"Without strong
leadership, it is unlikely that these issues will be fully or properly
addressed."
Copyright © 2011 AFP.