News (Updated July 17,
2011)
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Mon, Jul 11 2011
By Sui-Lee Wee
Several non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) involved in fighting AIDS in
"I think it'll be a
big mistake for a donor and particularly, for anyone who's invested in China
today, to withdraw, for the simple reason that this funding is a catalytic
fund," Michel Sidibe, executive director for the Joint United Nations
Program on HIV/AIDS told Reuters in an interview.
Sidibe said the Global
Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria was helping to bring innovation and
make a difference in most-affected countries by establishing a new link among
the government and civil society and NGOs to work together.
The Global Fund has
approved funding of $947 million to
The fund's chief said in
April that donors' decisions to suspend $180 million of aid to the Global Fund
could hit efforts to combat the diseases.
Sidibe, a
HIV/AIDS became a major
problem for
But
Asked about
by Jessica Geen
21 June 2011
The World Health
Organization (WHO) has released new guidelines on HIV in gay and bisexual men
and transgender people.
According to the body,
there has been a recent resurgence of HIV infection in men who have sex with
men, especially in industrialised countries.
Meanwhile, new epidemics
are being identified in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and
Gay and bisexual men are
almost 20 times more likely to have HIV than the general population. Among
transgender people, HIV rates range from eight to 68 per cent, depending on the
country.
New WHO public health
guidelines say countries must address discrimination as a factor in high HIV
infections and difficulty in accessing treatment.
Laws against gay
relationships, social stigma and anti-LGBT violence can all contribute to higher
infection rates, experts say.
Dr Gottfried Hirnschall,
WHO’s director of HIV/AIDS Department, said: “We cannot imagine fully
reversing the global spread of HIV without addressing the specific HIV needs of
these key populations. We are issuing these guidelines to help countries and
communities scale-up the services needed to reduce new infections and save
lives.”
George Ayala, executive
director of the Global Forum MSM & HIV, added: “Men who have sex with men
and transgender people everywhere face huge difficulties in accessing HIV
services.
“The guidelines both
present evidence for effective prevention interventions for these populations
and provide recommendations to help ensure that pervasive barriers like stigma
and criminalisation no longer stand in the way of life-saving services.”
Advice includes repealing
discriminatory laws, establishing more inclusive health services, encouraging
condom use and continuing targeted health projects.
By Associated Press,
Published: July 11
BEIJING — The world’s
top emerging countries banded together Monday to help fight diseases in the
poorest countries, pledging to explore the transfer of technologies to the
developing world to enable poor nations to produce cheap and effective
lifesaving medicines.
Health ministers from
Such cooperation could
pressure multinational pharmaceutical companies.
South African Health
Minister Dr. Aaron Motsoaledi said the BRICS countries could influence global
attitudes on access to cheap medicine in the developing world. BRICS countries
account for 40 percent of the world’s population.
“For my country it is
absolutely essential, as we know most of the developing world is in sub-Saharan
“It is within BRICS
countries that most of the affordable drugs are found to supply the developing
world. So we think the partnership is strong enough to be able to influence
events around the world,” he said.
It was the first
ministerial-level meeting of health officials from the emerging countries’
bloc, and the countries said they would collaborate with international health
organizations such as the World Health Organization and the U.N. agency, UNAIDS,
to increase access to affordable, safe and effective medicines and vaccines.
Michel Sidibe, UNAIDS
executive director, welcomed the bloc’s efforts to push for the needs of the
poorest countries, noting that
“BRICS is a new
voice,” Sidibe said at a news conference. “It will help us to change the
course of debate on public health by bringing to the center the voice of the
poorest segment of society by making sure that social justice and the
redistribution of opportunities will become a major aspect of the way we deliver
public goods to the people.”
Though largely an ad-hoc
grouping at present, BRICS has the potential to be a new force in world affairs
on the back of their massive share of global population and economic growth.
With the inclusion of
The group is willing to
play a larger role in financing global health efforts, but not as a replacement
for the support of richer nations, said Brazilian Health Minister Alexandre
Padilha at a news conference.
BRICS countries should
increase production of affordable generic drugs, because if such countries could
compete with other manufacturers, drug prices would fall, said WHO
Director-General Margaret Chan.
The health meeting comes
after leaders of the five countries held a one-day summit in the southern
Chinese resort of Sanya in April at which they said they wanted a stronger voice
in the international financial order.
Copyright 2011 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Health officials have
attributed HIV/Aids infection to complacency.
By Yasiin Mugerwa
Sunday, July 17 2011
As the world celebrates
good results of an HIV/Aids drug trial conducted in
The announcement early
this week in the
Fresh alarm
Though infections in Uganda, which once had the highest, incidence rate in the
world, dropped from 30 per cent in the early 1990s to around 7 per cent to date,
Centre for Disease Control (CDC-Uganda), a bilateral partner within the US
mission to Uganda has raised fresh alarm over increasing HIV/Aids infections.
Dr Wuhib Tadesse, the
director CDC-Uganda at a news conference in
Dr Tadesse said there are
no clear-cut answers to explain this trend, but added concerted efforts will be
needed to stop new infections. “We are investigating what has caused this
stagnation in the fight against HIV/Aids in
According to Dr Tadesse,
in the past 10 years,
Much of
Dr Tadesse said under PEPFAR,
However, with more than
110,000 new infections occurring every year, more funds will be required to help
In his response to the
crisis, Dr Kihumuro Apuuli, the director general of the UAC, has since warned
that the rising number of new infections will cause a critical challenge in the
future, suggesting that more focus should be put on prevention and that the
government should stop over relying on donor monies in its battle against the
HIV/Aids pandemic.
A senior official in the
Ministry of Health who preferred anonymity in order to speak freely, said even
those on ARVs receive treatment largely as a result of American generosity.
“We are guilty,” she said, adding: “As government, we have not taken
prevention seriously. We have concentrated so much on treatment and care yet
more Ugandans are getting infected each year and the number of those who need
ARVs is increasing. It is time we reviewed the old-fashioned prevention because
it has flopped. The few people in
Poor access linked
to homophobia, youth particularly vulnerable
OAKLAND, Calif., July 12,
2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new global survey of more than 5,000 men who
have sex with men (MSM) has shown that less than half of MSM around the world
have easy access to lifesaving HIV prevention and treatment services. Released
on the eve of the 6th HIV Pathogenesis Conference, the survey is the first of
its kind to examine levels of access and knowledge regarding HIV services –
including emerging prevention interventions like pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)
– among MSM across all major world regions.
Conducted by the Global
Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF), the study shows that less than 50% of MSM
surveyed worldwide could easily access HIV testing or free condoms. Only
36% of respondents could easily access HIV treatment, and less than a third
reported easy access to behavioral interventions and HIV education materials.
Levels of knowledge about emerging prevention technologies were also low.
Of all study participants, 39% of respondents had never heard of PrEP and
44% had never heard of topical microbicides for preventing HIV.
The study also identified
key variables that influenced access to HIV prevention services among MSM.
Greater access to HIV prevention services was positively correlated with
receiving HIV prevention messages and having access to venues that distribute
HIV prevention information. Among all variables, the strongest predictor
of compromised access to HIV prevention services was the level of homophobia
experienced by participants.
"The results of this
study lay bare the enormous role that homophobia plays in undermining the global
response to HIV," said George Ayala, Executive Officer of the MSMGF. "Even
the most effective prevention, care and treatment tools are useless if
discrimination prevents gay men from accessing healthcare services in the first
place. More than anything, this data is a call to action."
Significant disparities in
levels of access, knowledge and homophobia were observed between regions. Levels
of access to HIV prevention and knowledge of emerging technologies were lowest
among participants in Asia and the Middle East, followed by participants in
other low- and middle-income regions, while these measures were significantly
greater among participants in higher-income areas like Europe and
Considerable differences
also emerged between age groups. Among all age groups, younger MSM
reported the lowest access to HIV prevention services, the lowest knowledge of
emerging technologies and the highest levels of homophobia.
"Across the board,
the trend is alarming – men who have sex with men are not able to access the
services they need," said Pato Hebert, Senior Education Associate at the
MSMGF. "But just below the surface, we find that those barriers are
enormously complex, varying according to age, region, and other factors. We
will need smart, locally-tailored responses to overcome these challenges."
The full report - Access
to HIV Prevention Services and Attitudes about Emerging Strategies: A Global
Survey of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) and their Health Care Providers – is
available on the MSMGF's website at: http://www.msmgf.org/files/msmgf//Publications/GlobalSurveyReport.pdf
The Global Forum on MSM
& HIV (MSMGF) is an expanding network of AIDS organizations, MSM networks,
and advocates committed to ensuring robust coverage of and equitable access to
effective HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support services tailored to the
needs of gay men and other MSM.
Media Contact:
Jack Beck