BEIJINGNews (Updated May 22,
2011)
[Home]
[Previous
news]
(AFP) – 18 May, 2011
BEIJING
The International Labour
Organization (ILO) uncovered HIV-related discrimination in China's hospitals and
clinics via interviews with more than 100 people living with HIV, and 23
hospital managers and healthcare workers.
One 37-year-old man living
with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS -- from the
"Each hospital
advised that I should be hospitalised immediately for surgery, but when they
heard that I was HIV-positive, none were willing to accept me. They asked me to
go to the infectious diseases hospital," he was quoted as saying.
"That hospital did
not agree to let me use the operating theatre. They said if other patients knew
that an HIV person had used the operating theatre, it would badly influence the
hospital's reputation."
According to Chinese
authorities, at least 740,000 people have HIV/AIDS in the country, out of a
total population of 1.3 billion, although advocates for patients believe the
real figure could be much higher.
Those living with HIV/AIDS
have long faced discrimination, but there has been progress as the government
has started talking more openly about HIV prevention and control.
According to the ILO
report, HIV-related discrimination in Chinese hospitals is triggered by two
major factors.
Many general clinics
systematically refer HIV patients to specially designated hospitals for
infectious diseases. But they must only be sent there if they require treatment
linked to HIV/AIDS, not for an unrelated condition.
Hospitals in
The Chinese government has
already identified this issue as an area requiring stronger policy
implementation, the report added.
But the ILO called for
better regulations and better awareness among hospital management about the
rights of people living with HIV/AIDS to access medical services.
Copyright © 2011 AFP.
May 19 2011
HONG KONG, May 19
(Reuters) - China needs to identify and provide effective AIDS drugs to more HIV
patients infected through sexual contact and use of dirty needles if it wants
cut HIV death rates and avoid broader transmission of the virus, researchers
said on Thursday.
In a paper published in
medical journal The Lancet, the researchers found that mortality rates were much
higher for such cases of infection, as
"Increased attention
must be given to these populations to diagnose HIV infection earlier and
increase treatment coverage," wrote the researchers, led by Fujie Zhang at
the National Centre for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention in
Zhang said death rates
among HIV patients treated with AIDS drugs, or antiretroviral therapy (ART),
fell sharply from 2003 to 2009. But patients infected by sexual contact or
unhygienic needles remained at a disadvantage.
"Treatment coverage
for blood donor HIV patients is up to 80 percent and their mortality is 6.7
percent. But for injecting drug users, treatment there is only 43 percent and
mortality is much higher at 16 percent," he said by telephone.
The study showed that
patients given highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) - or stronger
cocktails of three AIDS drugs - saw the most drastic reductions in death rates.
"Death from HIV is
strongly linked to ART. Before ART, the mortality rate was 40 percent. After
ART, it was 14.2 percent. Those on HAART had mortality of 5.7 percent,"
said Zhang.
Of these, 82,540 were
treated free under a state programme started in 2003 that targeted mainly
impoverished rural folk who became infected through selling their blood in the
1990s.
Experts recommend that
HAART be given early not only to boost survival but also to control replication
of the virus in patients and reduce wider transmission of the virus.
"HAART reduces
mortality and increases quality of life and if HAART is implemented on a large
scale, it reduces transmission in the population," Zhang said.
"Treating one person
perfectly is meaningless, but treating many will bring transmission down. So we
must increase coverage and then treat early." (el.tan@reuters.com;
+852
2843 6934 ; Reuters Messaging:
el.tan.reuters.com@reuters.net))
(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn;
Editing by Ron Popeski)
By Marlowe Hood (AFP) –
20 May, 2011
The Geneva-based Fund said
it needed at least 13 billion dollars for 2011-2013 to cover minimum estimated
needs, yet pledges from donor nations and private sources so far amounted to
only 11.7 billion dollars.
Its maximum needs for the
three-year period could top 20 billion dollars, Global Fund Executive Director
Michel Kazatchkine told a press conference in
Without extra resources,
the progress of new programmes will be "significantly slower" compared
with previous years, he warned.
"We need more if we
are going to have a world in 2015 where nearly no one dies of malaria, no more
children are born infected with HIV and at least 70 to 80 percent of patients
who need treatment for AIDS get it," he said.
Universal coverage with
insecticide-treated nets in
Donations to the Fund have
been undercut by the continuing fallout from the worldwide economic crisis that
started in 2008.
In addition, revelations
that 34 million euros (25 million dollars) of dollars have gone missing from
community programmes in four African nations have prompted
Next month sees the 30th
anniversary of AIDS, traced to the publication on June 5, 1981 of a report
noting the first recorded deaths, initially among gay men in the
Since then, more than 25
million people have been killed, and more than 60 million infected by the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes the disease.
Globally-mustered
resources, however, have remained at under 16 billion dollars a year since late
2007.
Created in 2002 with seed
money from software mogul Bill Gates, the Fund accounted in 2009 for 20 percent
of international public funding for HIV, 65 percent for TB and 65 percent for
malaria.
From 2002 through 2010,
the Fund helped save 6.5 million lives, the report said.
The report's release comes
ahead of a meeting on May 26-27 of G20 nations in
Emerging nations should
also contribute, he added.
"The world is
changing, the G8 has become the G20. It is clear that emerging nations --
Last year, the Fund
disbursed three billion dollars on AIDS, TB and malaria, the biggest single-year
payout in its decade-long history.
Some of that money went to
the distribution of 56 million insecticide-treated nets, half as many as had
been given out during the preceding eight-year period.
Tuberculosis cases
detected and treated in 2010 increased by 29 per cent, with an even higher
increase -- almost 50 percent -- for so-called multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
(MDR-TB).
By the end of last year,
programmes supported by the Fund were providing lifeline antriretroviral therapy
to some three million people, a 20 percent increase over 2009.
One million of those
recipients were pregnant women living with HIV. The drugs helps block
transmission of the virus to the foetus.
Copyright © 2011 AFP.
May 20 2011
By Mike Collett-White and
Douglas MacLaurin
CANNES
Stars were out in force at
this year's cinema showcase, both on land, where they ran the gauntlet of the
world's media to get in, and at sea, where luxury yachts provided a more
intimate setting for the pleasures of fine food, wine and music.
It was a marked change
from 2010, when the hangover from the global financial crisis kept a lid on
late-night revelry.
The annual amfAR
"Cinema Against AIDS" dinner is one of the big dates on the party
circuit, and was held again this year at the exclusive Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in
Among those who made the
trip were film festival jury president Robert De Niro, Janet Jackson, Brooke
Shields, Gwen Stefani, Donatella Versace, Sean Penn and Kanye West.
The event, held in a giant
marquee in the grounds of the secluded seaside hotel, was in part a tribute to
Elizabeth Taylor, the actress who died earlier this year and who was among the
first celebrities to campaign about AIDS and HIV.
"At the very
beginning she spoke up when others wouldn't, said things that others hadn't, and
she was very bold and brave in stating her conviction," said amfAR chairman
Kenneth Cole. "To a large degree we're where we are because of her,"
he added.
During the auction,
hundreds of guests were invited to bid for items ranging from rare luxury items
to exclusive holidays.
Top lot on the night was
the opportunity to play tennis with Prince Albert II of
Albert's fiancee, South
African former Olympic swimmer and model Charlene Wittstock, raised the same
amount with an impromptu offer of a private swimming lesson, taking the couple's
total contribution to the night to one million euros.
A limited edition Herb
Ritts photograph of
As well as the auction,
actress Milla Jovovich sang "I Want to be Loved by You" and Courtney
Love gave an impromptu performance of two numbers.
Elsewhere during the
festival, dance music thumped late into the night along the narrow beach in
Industry magazine The
Hollywood Reporter rated the parties which its reporters attended this year, and
top of the pile was the soiree thrown by financing company Red Granite.
West and Jamie Foxx
performed a duet on the beach opposite the swanky
The shindig would have
earned five out of five stars in the Hollywood Reporter's rating, but was marked
down for not one, but two VIP areas which included the only places to sit down.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White,
editing by Paul Casciato)
19 May 2011 17:02
Source: Content partner //
IRIN
The Clinton Health Access
Initiative (CHAI), the international drug purchasing facility UNITAID and the UK
Department for International Development (DFID) made the announcement on 18 May.
The deal, expected to
affect most of the 70 countries comprising CHAI’s Procurement Consortium,
features notable reductions in the prices of tenofovir (TDF), efavirenz, and the
second-line ritonavir-boosted atazanavir (ATV/r) used in HIV patients who have
failed initial, or “first-line”, regimens. [ http://www.unitaid.eu/en/resources/news/331-clinton-health-access-initiative-unitaid-and-dfid-announce-lower-prices-for-hivaids-medicines-in-developing-countries.html
]
As part of the deal, the
three bodies set price ceilings for more than 40 adult and paediatric ARVs with
eight pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers, including Cipla Ltd, Matrix
Laboratories and Autobindo Pharma.
Together these eight
companies account for most ARVs sold in countries with access to generic drugs,
according to David Ripin, scientific director of CHAI’s Drug Access Programme.
As a result, the cost of
ATV/r is down by two-thirds from just three years ago. Meanwhile, a once-a-day
fixed-dose combination (FDC) pill containing TDF and efavirenz will now cost
countries less than US$159 per patient per year. In 2008, low-income countries
paid about $400 per patient per year for the same pill.
How did they do it?
According to UNITAID and
CHAI, this success is a product of increased demand for these drugs and more
efficient manufacturing of the active ingredients, which are estimated to
account for as much as 75 percent of generic ARV costs.
“When you make an active
ingredient, you use a multistep chemical process,” Ripin told IRIN/PlusNews.
“To reduce costs, you can look for a less expensive source of raw materials of
which there are a few examples, including TDF ... or you can tinker with the
chemical process used to make the product to make them more efficient.”
But Ripin added that doing
either comes at a cost for pharmaceutical companies, for whom a change in raw
material suppliers or manufacturing processes means re-applying for approval of
the drug with regulatory bodies.
“Any time you change
anything with the way you make a drug, you need to get regulatory approval,”
he said. “You have to do a fair amount of work to prove that your product
works just as well now as it did before.
“The pharmaceutical
companies and generic manufacturers are fantastic at making these types of
improvements… [but] they have a limited set of research and development
resources available to them,” Ripin said. “They often need to make a
decision where they are going to get a higher return on that research and
development, and typically that comes from the introduction of new products on
the market.”
According to Ripin, the
key is providing companies with data on the large and growing markets for ARVs.
“We help companies
evaluate for themselves whether it’s a worthwhile business opportunity,” he
said. “The second key factor they have to consider is the competitive
marketplace for their drugs, where there is an incentive for lower [production]
costs and lower-priced products as they want to maintain their market share.”
CHAI also provides
countries with data on best market prices for drugs to help inform national
procurement, as was the case with
How low can we go?
TDF has become an
important drug for many countries, including South Africa, hoping to implement
the 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) HIV treatment guidelines, which
recommend starting HIV patients on treatment sooner but also a shift away from
more toxic ARVs to TDF.
However, the high cost of
earlier treatment and better drugs has prohibited many countries from fully
implementing the WHO recommendations. According to a recent report released by Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF), both
While new price reductions
bring TDF’s price closer to that of the long-time and widely adopted
first-line ARV Zidovudine, further drops in TDF’s price will have to be logged
to ensure widespread uptake, said Brenda Waning, coordinator of market dynamics
for UNITAID.
For Waning and others like
MSF, the issue of sustainable funding for the HIV response looms large ahead of
the June UN meeting on HIV/AIDS in
“There has been a lot of
attention on commodities and not at other major drivers of cost,” she told
IRIN/PlusNews. “We have to look at other places in the health system where we
can capture cost-effectiveness.”
In particular, Waning
pointed to the potential savings associated with the roll-out of new
point-of-care diagnostics, which, although not high on the global agenda, will
help countries task shift such testing away from scarce doctors. [ http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=90868
]
Although the cost remains
high, introducting FDC would help governments save on ARV shipping,
transportation and storage, while improving adherence and patient outcomes.
llg/kn/mw
(AP) – 21 hours ago
CAIRO (AP) — While many
of their compatriots savor a new political era, gays in
In both countries, gays
and their allies worry that conservative Islamists, whose credo includes firm
condemnation of homosexuality, could increase their influence in elections later
this year.
"Our struggle goes on
— it gets more and more difficult," Tunisian gays-rights and HIV-AIDS
activist Hassen Hanini wrote to The Associated Press in an email. "The
Tunisian gay community is still seeking its place in society in this new
political environment."
In much of the world, the
push for gay rights has advanced inexorably in recent years. Countries which now
allow same-sex marriage range from
Throughout the Arab world,
however, homosexual conduct remains taboo — it is punishable by floggings,
long prison terms and in some cases execution in religiously conservative Saudi
Arabia, and by up to three years imprisonment in relatively secular Tunisia.
In
Ten years ago,
The case caused a storm in
In 2008, four HIV-positive
Egyptians were sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of the
"habitual practice of debauchery." Human rights groups warned that the
case could undermine HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in
U.S.-based Human Rights
Watch — which monitors discrimination against gays as part of wide-ranging
global activities — says there are no organizations in
"There's been no
movement on this issue in
Some of the void in
advocacy is filled by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which in a
decade of existence has defended people entangled in various anti-gay
prosecutions as part of its broader civil-liberties agenda.
The group's executive
director, Hossam Bahgat, said the once-common use of entrapment to arrest gays
has subsided in recent years. But he said anti-gay debauchery trials still take
place occasionally.
Short-term, Bahgat was
skeptical that any Western-style gay-rights movement could take hold in
"The challenge is to
ensure that what emerges from the transition isn't just a democratic government
but also a democratic society," Bahgat said, referring to the quest for
equitable treatment of women, religious minorities and gays.
"Any attempt to
fixate only on the issue of same-sex relationships is not going to be very
fruitful and can cause more harm than good," he said. "We have to
learn to coexist, to not only accept our diversity, but even celebrate it."
In the long term, Bahgat
said he was cautiously optimistic because Egyptians under 30 — a majority of
the population — seem more open than their elders to the concept of a diverse
"As
Notable among the young
Egyptians trying to change attitudes toward gays is Mostafa Fathi, 28, the
editor-in-chief at a Cairo-based Internet radio station. Two years ago, he
published a book called "In the World of Boys" which he says is the
first Egyptian novel depicting a gay central character empathetically.
The book stirred
controversy, and Fathi said some government officials made known their
displeasure. But it was not banned, and Fathi said copies are still available in
some bookstores.
"In my book, I have a
character who says, 'I am a gay. You have to respect me,'" Fathi said.
"We all should respect everyone. It's not good to judge people as
evil."
In contemporary
"You have to talk
about it under the table," he said. "I like to think the future will
be better ... but most of the Egyptian people still reject gays."
He was surprised that a
straightforward article about his book, by a foreign writer, was posted on the
English-language web site of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood,
Fathi says he wants to
launch an online magazine about gays in
Given the nature of his
novel, Fathi says he is often asked if he is gay.
"I never say I'm gay
or not," he explained. "I say it's none of your business."
Under Ben Ali,
Hanini, the Tunisian
activist, said some Tunisian gays became a bit more open about themselves in
recent years, but for the most part they were discreet about their socializing.
He noted that the country's law against homosexual conduct — Penal Code 230
— remains in force.
Hanini says
"The prestige of the
state is no longer respected," he wrote. "This doesn't work in favor
of Tunisian gays, who are finding it increasingly difficult to be
accepted."
"And don't forget the
Islamist parties who are trying to play the role of judge right now, and who
view homosexuality and the gay community as a product of the former
regime," he said. "They call it 'rot' that must be cleaned away."
One of Hanini's fellow
activists, Badr Baabou, said in an email that Tunisian gays "face a daily
struggle — in the street, at school, in the workplace, in one's family — to
be accepted and respected."
The current political
atmosphere is tense and uncertain, not only for gays but for the country as a
whole, he wrote. Yet he concluded on a hopeful note.
"The image I keep
thinking is a mother giving birth to her child, with cries of pain," he
said. "Out of this, I think we can grow into a
Copyright © 2011 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.
(AP) – 19 May, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A
proposal to ban the circumcision of male children in San Francisco has been
cleared to appear on the November ballot, setting the stage for the nation's
first public vote on what has long been considered a private family matter.
But even in a city with a
long-held reputation for pushing boundaries, the measure is drawing heavy fire.
Opponents are lining up against it, saying a ban on a religious rite considered
sacred by Jews and Muslims is a blatant violation of constitutional rights.
Elections officials
confirmed Wednesday the initiative had qualified for the ballot with more than
7,700 valid signatures from city residents. Initiatives must have at least 7,168
names to qualify.
If the measure passes,
circumcision would be prohibited among males under the age of 18. The practice
would become a misdemeanor offense punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to
one year in jail. There would be no religious exemptions.
The proposed ban appears
to be the first in the country to make it this far, though a larger national
debate over the health benefits of circumcision has been going on for many
years. Banning circumcision would almost certainly prompt a flurry of legal
challenges alleging violations of the First Amendment's guarantee of the freedom
to exercise one's religious beliefs.
Supporters of the ban say
male circumcision is a form of genital mutilation that is unnecessary, extremely
painful and even dangerous. They say parents should not be able to force the
decision on their young child.
"Parents are really
guardians, and guardians have to do what's in the best interest of the child.
It's his body. It's his choice," said Lloyd Schofield, the measure's lead
proponent and a longtime
But opponents say such
claims are alarmingly misleading, and call the proposal a clear violation of
constitutionally protected religious freedoms.
"For a city that's
renowned for being progressive and open-minded, to even have to consider such an
intolerant proposition ... it sets a dangerous precedent for all cities and
states," said Rabbi Gil Yosef Leeds of
He said for the past few
months he has been receiving daily phone calls from members of the local Jewish
community who are concerned about the proposed ban. But he said he is relatively
confident that even if the measure is approved, it will be abruptly — and
indefinitely — tied up in litigation.
Jews consider religious
male circumcision a commandment from God. It also is widely practiced by
Muslims, and while it does not appear in the Quran it is mentioned in the Sunnah,
the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. Most Christian denominations neither
require nor forbid circumcision.
The initiative's backers
say its progress is the biggest success story to date in a decades-old,
nationwide movement by so-called "intactivists" to end circumcision of
male infants in the
"It's been kind of
under the radar until now, but it was a conversation that needed to
happen," Schofield said of the debate over male circumcision. "We've
tapped into a spark with our measure — something that's been going on for a
long time."
Schofield's group calls
its initiative the San Francisco Male Genital Mutilation bill, though he said
the city attorney has opted to call the measure "Male Circumcision" on
the ballot. The group's official website features a picture of a wide-eyed,
delighted-looking baby and urges visitors to help "protect ALL infants and
children in
Female genital cutting, a
controversial practice that usually involves the removal of the clitoris, is
illegal in the
International health
organizations have promoted circumcision as an important strategy for reducing
the spread of the AIDS virus. That's based on studies that showed it can prevent
AIDS among heterosexual men in
But there hasn't been the
same kind of push for circumcision in the
For years, federal health
officials have been working on recommendations regarding circumcision. The
effort was sparked by studies that found circumcision is partially effective in
preventing the virus' spread between women and men. The recommendations are
still being developed, and there is no date set for their release, said a
spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC doesn't have a
position on the
The chief of pediatric
urology at the
In addition to the AIDS
studies, Baskin cited published research indicating that circumcision can reduce
the incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as penile cancer
and urinary tract infections. He disputed claims that circumcision is mutilation
or causes significant pain.
"It has what I would
say would be a minimal amount of pain if done properly, so my recommendation is
to use anesthesia," he said. However, he noted, "most people aren't
circumcised and they do just fine."
Baskin was not neutral on
the subject of the new ballot measure, calling it "a bunch of
nonsense."
"I'm not going to
stop doing circumcisions, and this would never pass the First Amendment
test," he said. "The people who are doing this should focus on our
budget problems, lack of education — something that could really help
society."
AP Medical Writer Mike
Stobbe contributed to this report from
Copyright © 2011 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved.