[hivaids-twg] Today's News (2009.11.11ex)

Wed Nov 11 13:01:58 GMT 2009

Please find attached the following AIDS-related articles compiled by UNAIDS

UNAIDS

1. JAIDS - Are We on Course for Reporting on the Millennium Development Goals in 2015?

2. JAIDS - Monitoring the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS 

3. JAIDS - Are the Investments in National HIV Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Paying Off? 

AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST    

1. Business Day, SA - Push for routine offers of HIV tests

2. Times LIVE, SA - Life expectancy now 47 

3. New Vision, Uganda - HIV-Positive Persons Should Not Be Sentenced to Death  

4. Ghana News Agency - AIDS Commission will not tolerate stigma and discrimination 

ASIA AND PACIFIC

1. New Nation, Bangladesh - Awareness about HIV/AIDS 

2. Thaindian News - ‘Condom van’ spreads awareness about HIV/AIDS in Chandigarh 

3. Kathmandu Post - Net-prostitution mastermind held 

EUROPE

1. Medical News Today, UK - Call For Unified Approach To HIV/AIDS And Sexual And Reproductive Health

2. IPS Terra Viva-Europe - WOMEN: 'CEDAW IS UNIFEM'S ENTRY POINT' 

3. AFP - AIDS blamed for hike in S.Africa death rate

4. AidsMap News, UK - Global cost of HIV treatment and prevention could reach $35 billion by 2031

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

1. La Jornada, Mexico - Recibirá el país 70 millones de dólares para prevenir propagación del sida 

2. Portal Stylo, Brazil - Seduc começa mobilização pelo Dia Mundial de Prevenção à Aids 

NORTH AMERICA

1. TIME - Why Sexism Kills 

2. Michican Messenger - White House to hold meeting on development of HIV/AIDS strategy in Ferndale 

3. Washington Post - Over 20 million people need food aid in east Africa: U.N

UNAIDS WEB.SITE

1. UNAIDS - Violence against women and HIV 

2. UNAIDS - Monitoring progress towards global HIV targets 

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UNAIDS

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Are We on Course for Reporting on the Millennium Development Goals in 2015?
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

12/2009

Volume 52 - Issue - pp S69-S76

doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181baec7c

Supplement Article

Rugg, Deborah PhD; Marais, Hein BA Law, Hon. Journalism; Carael, Michel PhD; De Lay, Paul MD; Warner-Smith, Matthew MPH

Abstract

Objectives: At the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS), Member States agreed to regularly review progress made in national responses to HIV. This article provides (1) a brief overview of how the resultant global UNGASS reporting system was developed; (2) the origins, background, limitations and potential of that system; (3) an overview of the articles in this supplement; and (4) crosscutting institutional and methodological issues.

Methods: United Nations Member States biennially provide The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) with data on 25 core indicators of national responses to HIV, collected in Country Progress Reports. This article critically reviews and interprets these data in light of international political considerations and overall data needs.

Results: There has been a considerable improvement in response rates, accompanied by an increase in data quality and completeness. Both nationally and internationally, the UNGASS process is viewed as being more substantial and important than a reporting exercise to the United Nations General Assembly. The process has catalyzed the development of national monitoring systems and has created opportunities for civil society to monitor and challenge government commitments and deeds.

Conclusions: Although the UNGASS global reporting system now comprises an unequaled wealth of data on HIV responses, collected from a broad range of countries, it cannot yet answer several critical questions about the progress and effectiveness of those responses. Evaluation studies that go beyond indicator monitoring are needed, but they will take time to design, fund, implement and interpret. In the meantime, this global monitoring system provides a good indication of the overall progress in the global response to HIV and whether Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 6 (to halt and reverse the HIV epidemic) is likely to be reached by 2015

Author Information

From the *Department of Evidence, Monitoring and Policy (EMP), UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland; †Independent Writer, Johannesburg, South Africa; and ‡Faculty of Social Sciences, Free University Brussels, Brussels, Belgium.

The authors of this paper declare no conflicts of interest.

Correspondence to: Dr. Deborah Rugg, PhD, Chief, Monitoring & Evaluation (EVA) Division, UNAIDS, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (e-mail: ruggd at unaids.org <mailto:ruggd at unaids.org> ).

© 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Full-text: http://journals.lww.com/jaids/Fulltext/2009/12012/Are_We_on_Course_for_Reporting_on_the_Millennium.1.aspx

4

Monitoring the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

12/2009

Volume 52 - Issue - pp S77-S86

doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181baec92

Supplement Article

Warner-Smith, Matthew MPH; Rugg, Deborah PhD; Frescura, Luisa MSc; Moussavi, Saba MPH

Abstract

Objectives: This article describes the development of the international reporting system to monitor the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS that resulted from the 2001 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS).

Design: The UNGASS reporting system is based on the biennial submission of Country Progress Reports. These include data on a set of core indicators and are prepared and submitted by Member States using a transparent collaborative process.

Methods: This article reviews the evolution of the system and analyzes the quality and completeness of data from the most recent 2008 reporting round.

Results: Over the course of 3 rounds of reporting response rates increased from 54% to 77%. This increase occurred alongside an increase in the completeness of the reported data. Increases in reporting are consistent across countries regardless of the severity of the HIV epidemic.

Conclusions: UNGASS reporting has resulted in an unparalleled body of evidence on the response to HIV. Data from 147 countries are now available on the patterns of HIV epidemics, the behaviors related to them, and the programmatic responses that have been mounted by countries. The ultimate goal is for national governments and their civil society partners to achieve ownership of the reporting process. The reporting system has provided a catalyst for the development of national systems for monitoring and evaluating HIV programs and for guiding more effective, efficient, and sustainable responses to the HIV epidemic.

Author Information

From the Monitoring and Evaluation Division, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland.

The authors of this paper declare no conflicts of interest.

Correspondence to: Matthew Warner-Smith, Monitoring and Evaluation Division, UNAIDS, 20 Ave Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland (e-mail: warnersmithm at unaids.org).

© 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Full-text: http://journals.lww.com/jaids/Fulltext/2009/12012/Monitoring_the_2001_Declaration_of_Commitment_on.2.aspx

5

Are the Investments in National HIV Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Paying Off?
JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes

12/2009

Volume 52 - Issue - pp S87-S96

doi: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181baede7

Supplement Article

Peersman, Greet PhD; Rugg, Deborah PhD; Erkkola, Taavi MSc; Kiwango, Eva MSc; Yang, Ju M, Math

Abstract

Background: Concerted efforts and substantial financial resources have gone toward strengthening national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for HIV programs. This article explores whether those investments have made a difference in terms of data availability, quality and use for assessing whether national programs are on track to achieve the 2015 Millenium Development Goal (MDG) of halting and reversing the HIV epidemic.

Methods: Descriptive analyses, including trends, of the National Composite Policy Index data and M&E expenditures were conducted. Global Fund funding continuation assessments were reviewed for concerns related to M&E. Availability of population-based survey data was assessed.

Results: There has been a marked increase in the number of countries where the prerequisites for a national HIV M&E system are in place and in human resources devoted to M&E at the national level. However, crucial gaps remain in M&E capacity, available M&E data, and data quality assurance. The extent to which data are used for program improvement is difficult to ascertain. There is a potential threat to sustaining the current momentum in M&E as governments have not committed long-term funding and current M&E-related expenditures are below the minimum needed to make M&E systems fully functional.

Conclusions: There is evidence of rapid scale-up of basic HIV M&E systems, but if M&E is to fulfil its role in guiding optimal use of resources, ensuring effective HIV programs and providing evidence of progress toward the Millenium Development Goal of halting and reversing the HIV epidemic, essential data gaps will need to be filled urgently and those data will need to be used to guide decision making.

Author Information

From the *Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer Law School, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA; and †Monitoring and Evaluation Division, Evidence, Monitoring and Policy Department, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland.

The authors of this paper declare no conflicts of interest.

Correspondence to: Greet Peersman, Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University, 300 Hebert Hall, 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans 70118, LA (e-mail: greet_peersman at yahoo.com <mailto:greet_peersman at yahoo.com> ).

© 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Full-text: http://journals.lww.com/jaids/Fulltext/2009/12012/Are_the_Investments_in_National_HIV_Monitoring_and.3.aspx

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AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST

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Push for routine offers of HIV tests 
Business Day, SA

11/11/2009

Tamar Kahn

CAPE TOWN — Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is pushing for a radical change in SA’s approach to HIV testing, proposing that doctors and nurses routinely offer screening to all their patients instead of waiting for them to volunteer or get AIDS- related illnesses. 

People would still be able to decline the offer of an HIV test. 

At the same time, Motsoaledi is leading a government charge to get more people to take voluntary tests. Both measures are meant to increase acceptance of testing and raise the proportion of HIV-positive people who know their status, in the hope that they will take precautions to protect others from infection and seek help if they fall ill. 

SA has an estimated 5,3-million people infected with HIV, according to the Department of Health. Yet few of them know their status; last year only a quarter of South Africans had taken a test in the previous 12 months, according to the Human Sciences Research Council. 

Motsoaledi said he expected the Cabinet and other leaders to be at the forefront of a huge public HIV testing campaign, possibly on World AIDS Day on December 1 — yet another mark of the current administration’s clear break with the Mbeki era’s lacklustre efforts . 

“I will ask him (Zuma) to be in front of the queue, and indications are that he will agree,” Motsoaledi told reporters yesterday. “And I told the bishops to lead their flocks,” he said, referring to a recent meeting with religious leaders.

While prominent South Africans have on occasion taken public HIV tests there has not yet been a co- ordinated campaign involving high- profile figures. Public HIV tests for senior politicians became a contentious issue under the previous administration as neither former president Thabo Mbeki nor his health minister Manto Tshabalala- Msimang would take a such a step, defending their position as a personal matter. Tshabalala-Msimang was so irritated by Business Day’s questions at a press conference two years ago that she broke into Russian, which she had learnt during her time in exile. Tshabalala-Msimang did take a blood pressure test at a public event in a Cape Town township several years ago, in order to encourage people to follow suit. 

By contrast, Zuma took a public HIV test in rural KwaZulu-Natal in March 2007, and the then deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala- Routledge, in no less deliberate fashion, did so too. 

The progression of the pan demic could be reversed with appropriate leadership, Motsoaledi said, citing the example of the Western Cape which broke ranks with national government. The province provided HIV-positive mothers with two drugs instead of one to reduce the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Dual therapy enabled the Western Cape to significantly cut its AIDS- related infant mortality rate.

Motsoaledi said he had asked the South African National AIDS Council to review SA’s capacity to conduct a huge voluntary HIV testing campaign and to determine whether the facilities existed to provide care to the people identified as infected. 

Francois Venter, President of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, welcomed Motsoaledi’s suggestion of introducing provider- initiated HIV testing, saying such tests should be routinely offered. 

kahnt at bdfm.co.za

2

Life expectancy now 47
Times LIVE, SA

10/11/2009

By NKULULEKO NCANA 

Former president Thabo Mbeki came under fierce attack once again as Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi released shocking statistics on the devastation HIV/Aids has inflicted on the country's population. 

Motsoaledi said South Africans now had an average life expectancy as low as that of the people of a country at war. 

"Life expectancy in South Africa at 47 years is like Afghanistan, which is at 44 years, and we know that they are at war. That means we are like a country that is at war," he said. 

In 2005 life expectancy was 50.7 years compared to 63.3 years in 1990, according to Statistics SA. 

The minister said that the shocking figures - which showed that some districts have HIV prevalence rates of up to 40% - could have been avoided if Mbeki's administration had taken action and showed leadership in the fight against the spread of the virus. 

"As for the figures, it's shocking. And as for whether it has been affected by what we did in the past 10 years, to me that's obvious. I don't think we would have been here if we approached the problem in a different way. 

"Yes, our attitude towards HIV/Aids put us where we are," he said. 

"In the past, we were not really fighting HIV/Aids, we were fighting against each other. People still fight each other rather than the virus." 

Motsoaledi told journalists in Parliament that the country's mortality rate was dismal in that, of the 59% of women who died in childbirth between 2005 and 2007, 79% were infected with HIV. 

He said TB deaths were up by 334.8% - from 22071 in 1997 to 73903 in 2005. 

"In KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, our TB cure rate is 40% and we can't cure it beyond that. In the rest of South Africa it's 60%, when the rest of the world has a cure rate of 85%." 

The health minister is, however, optimistic about turning the situation around. 

"Is it reversible? Certainly, yes, it is. If it were not reversible, I would not be sitting here showing you all the plans. I would have called all of you and said 'It's bad, we are all dead, finished, full stop'," he said. 

He said that, in undoing the damage done by Mbeki's administration, President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet had vowed to lead "from the front" and promised to provide strategic leadership in a bid to reduce the HIV infection rate and encourage voluntary testing. 

"I told the president that, when we talk strategic leadership, it must start with him, and that, whatever we want to do, he has to be at the forefront. 

"When it comes to voluntary testing and counselling, I'll go to him and ask him to be at the front of the queue and indications are that he is going to agree. The Cabinet has agreed that they must take the lead," he said. 

Motsoaledi found it strange that antenatal clinics wanted to make testing for certain conditions standard, but not for HIV. He said he would propose that testing be standard procedure but women could choose not to be tested. 

He said 2005-2007 figures showed that of the 4077 mothers who died while pregnant, 46.2% were HIV positive, 12.5% were negative and 41.3% were not tested

3

HIV-Positive Persons Should Not Be Sentenced to Death   
New Vision, Uganda

10/11/2009

Joy Kafiko

OPINION

Kampala — The utility of the death penalty has, of recent, attracted a lot of debate, especially when the landmark constitutional court decision of the Attorney General vs Susan Kigula and others had just been passed early this year. The pro-death penalty group and the increasingly vibrant anti-death penalty group each put up strong arguments to support their sides.

Unfortunately, the decision never completely abolished the death penalty. However, the silver lining on that dark cloud is that the death penalty is no longer mandatory for capital offences.

This new development has, therefore, left the decision to impose the death penalty solely in the hands of the presiding judge. This implies that the judge has the powers to consider all the relevant circumstances surrounding a particular case and then decide on which sentence to pass.

It is on this premise that I make a plea for specific categories of persons who, basing on their physical and health status, need the sympathy of the law. The death penalty is the ultimate sentence and surely some groups deserve mercy despite their guilt. Any other sentence can do. The groups are; HIV-positive persons, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Even prior to the Kigula position, the law recognised the need to protect special categories of persons from the death penalty. Pregnant women could not be sentenced to death. Minors were also protected. This implies that my agitation is not unknown to the law. What is good for the goose must be good for the gander.

The most neglected of these groups is the HIV-positive convicts. They are sentenced to death regardless of their status, but is it not time for us to include these victims? The HIV/AIDS scourge has left the individual victims' lives devastated.

Uganda is one of the most hit countries in the world and so the likelihood of having HIV-positive convicts is high.This person is already, in a way, sentenced to death by the incurable disease and, therefore, it would only be humane to let such a person die a 'natural' death.

The question whether persons who intentionally infect others with HIV should be sentenced to death has also worked legal and non-legal brains alike.

However, despite the fact that there is clearly an intention to cause harm to an individual and perhaps even the intention to cause death, if such a person is convicted of murder, if the person has HIV/AIDS, that alone should be enough to grant him a lesser sentence than the death penalty.

If one looks beyond the malice that informed the offence, one can clearly see the frustration and the sense of hopelessness that an HIV-infected person suffers. The death sentence could influence such vengeful and malicious actions which affect the 'innocent' unfortunately.

My arguments should not erroneously be interpreted to mean that I condone capital crime. No. However, sometimes even capital offences are inadvertently committed and yet our criminal justice system is far from infallible. Also, even if the offence was actually committed, the disability and the special circumstances of the offender ought to mitigate the sentence. It is only one way through which society can recognise the vulnerability of these categories of minorities.

The death penalty is an evil that should be completely done away with, but since it is still lawful, then pro-active judges can use the provision for mitigation to save as many people as possible from the death penalty.

The writer works with the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative

5

AIDS Commission will not tolerate stigma and discrimination
Ghana News Agency

10/11/2009

Koforidua, Nov 10, GNA - The Ghana AIDS Commission (GAC) on Tuesday said with the mandate given to it to eradicate stigma and discrimination of persons affected by the virus, it would not tolerate any contrary performance from its stakeholders.

The Acting Director-General of the GAC, Dr Angela El-Adas, said this when she and Dr Richard Amenyah, Director of Technical and Research, paid a courtesy call on Mr Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, the Eastern Regional Minister.

The duo officially informed the minister about the selection of the region to host World AIDS Day that falls on December 01.

According to Dr El-Adas, the days when groups of people hid behind education on the virus, took money and use it for their personal gains were gone and that every pesewa given to organizations to work towards that new mandate would be monitored and accounted for.

She said stigma and discrimination over the years had prevented people infected with the virus from taking advantage of services and care available.

Dr El-Adas said in view of that the President had charged the GAC to focus on eradication of stigma to ensure that the disease could be considered as any other disease.

She said the region had been chosen to host the day not because of its high prevalence rate but as a result of commitment of political leaders, traditional authorities and the civil society in the area to education on the pandemic.

Dr El-Adas particularly mentioned the setting up of a committee by the Regional Minister to probe organizations that took money from the GAC and to find out how those moneys were spent. 

Mr Ofosu-Ampofo thanked the GAC for choosing the region for the national celebration and assured them that everything would be done to make the programme a success.

He said his resolve to personally get involved in HIV/AIDS activities stemmed from the fact that over 20 percent of deaths recorded in the region last year were AIDS related cases..

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ASIA AND PACIFIC

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Awareness about HIV/AIDS
New Nation, Bangladesh

11/11/2009

BANGLADESH stands at a critical stage as the spread of AIDS is predicted to assume epidemic proportions. According to experts, the mode of spread of AIDS virus has taken a new turn in recent years when the virus causing the fatal disease is being originated more from within the country than spread through migrant workers. The number of people carrying the virus in the country is reported to be at least 1500, which was 1207 in 2007 and 1495 in 2008. The number of undetected cases is much higher. According to a recent survey, 50 percent of males who had HIV test at a hospital in the city are students and 80 percent of those infected, contracted the virus by mixing with prostitutes. 

The rate of spread of the disease is quite high among intravenous drug users who share needles. Floating prostitutes are a potential source of the disease. Moreover, Bangladesh is flanked by India and Myanmar where prevalence of the disease is quite high. Though the country is at a high risk, the authorities do not seem to be sufficiently concerned about the problem as are the cases with other grave issues like the climate change impacts. HIV/AIDS has a serious economic impact on the society as the most productive sections of the people contract infections. 

The gravity of the situation demands urgent action. The modes of the spread of the AIDS virus make it clear that it may be prevented to a great extent by increasing people's awareness. Awareness raising programme along with sex education among higher recondary level students needs to be strengthened with all seriousness. People should be taught to behave responsibly to avoid HIV infection. All detected HIV/AIDS patients should be given proper treatment and rehabilitated. Misconception about the disease and social stigma should be removed to secure this cooperation in the fight against the disease.

2

‘Condom van’ spreads awareness about HIV/AIDS in Chandigarh
Thaindian News

10/11/2009

Chandigarh, Nov 10 (IANS) To spread awareness about HIV/AIDS and the usage of condoms mainly among the most vulnerable section - truck drivers and their attendants, a van christened ‘Ustad Condom Van’ was introduced in the city Tuesday.

The van which will move across the city for the next 27 days is part of a condom promotion awareness programme, initiated by the union territory’s State AIDS Control Society (SACS) in association with the HLL Lifecare limited here Tuesday.

The programme was started with a special awareness camp organised at ‘transport area’ here in Sector 26 that is frequented by hundreds of truck drivers from various states.

“The main aim of this programme is to target the most vulnerable section which is truck drivers and their attendants,” Said Vanita Gupta, project director of SACS, Chandigarh.

She added: “Nukkad-natak (play) highlighting the ways how one can contract infection of this deadly virus and how to prevent it was shown to them. Our trained counsellors will accompany the van and they will clear all the queries of people regarding condoms and HIV/AIDS.” 

According to official records of SACS, in the last three years both the number of deaths due to AIDS and the percentage of new HIV-positive cases has come down in Chandigarh.

“Arrangements have been made for free distribution of condoms at various locations of Chandigarh. Besides we also provide free medical services to HIV/AIDS patients in the city,” Gupta said.

3

Net-prostitution mastermind held
Kathmandu Post

10/11/2009

KATHMANDU, NOV 10 - The internet’s shady side has raised its head in Nepal as well. Thirty-five-year-old Sangeeta Shrestha was arrested on Monday, on charges of running an illegal prostitution racket through a website. 

Shrestha, who originally hails from Birgunj, was arrested, along with 22-year-old Rubi Singh Thakuri, 18-year-old Jyoti Rai, and 19-year-old Mamata Prasai. Preliminary investigations have revealed that Shrestha was operating a pornographic website—www.nepalsexguide.com—from Kathmandu to lure wealthy clientele to the city. Shrestha’s clients mostly comprised businessmen and foreigners. The investigations have also revealed that Shrestha had been acting as an agent, offering young actors and models to the clients, for the past three years.  

Police have stated that the arrests were an important step in their bid to eradicate organised crime in the valley. A source also revealed that the racket had strong links with foreign countries, notably with Indian cities. 

Recently promoted Senior Superintendent of Police Nawa Raj Silwal said that the arrested have made an important revelation about other members of the racket and that the police have launched a manhunt to nab those who are still at large

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EUROPE

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Call For Unified Approach To HIV/AIDS And Sexual And Reproductive Health 
Medical News Today, UK

10/11/2009

HIV/AIDS services must be integrated with sexual and reproductive health services if the goal of reducing HIV transmission is to succeed, according to a special issue of the international public health journal, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Published today, this issue highlights the theme of "Strengthening the linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV". 

"While the response to HIV has resulted in major achievements such as 4 million people on antiretroviral treatment, we need to step up prevention efforts as well as provide sexual and reproductive health services that meet the needs of people living with HIV," says Dr Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan, from the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization. 

HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) must be tackled at the same time because each one encourages the spread of the other, says Xiang-Sheng Chen, deputy director of the National Center for Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control in China. "An HIV-positive person with an ulcerative STI such as genital herpes can transmit HIV more easily, while it is more difficult to treat STIs in people infected with HIV." 

The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world's leading public health journals. It is the flagship periodical of the World Health Organization (WHO), with a special focus on developing countries. Articles are peer-reviewed and are independent of WHO guidelines.

WHO Bulletin full-text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2770277/

3

WOMEN: 'CEDAW IS UNIFEM'S ENTRY POINT'  
IPS Terra Viva-Europe

10/11/2009

Andrea Borde interviews JOANNE SANDLER, Deputy Executive Director, UNIFEM*

NEW YORK (IPS) - On Sep. 14, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution that opened the door for the creation of a new UN agency specifically for women.

It will draw together under one umbrella all of the existing entities for women in the UN - UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), International Training and Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI). 

The new women's entity comes at a particularly exciting time in the women's empowerment movement at the UN as another report has just been released by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) highlighting the lack of women's control over economic and financial resources in both the developing and developed world. 

The UN World Survey on the Role of Women in Development 2009, published by UNDESA addresses increasingly progressive issues such as women's unpaid work in the household, the urgency of women's financial empowerment, especially in current times of economic turmoil, and the long-standing inequalities of women in care giving, the labour market and within central financial institutions of the state such as financial ministries and central banks. 

This new women's entity may be just the right environment for enacting legislation on progressive issues such as women's unpaid work in the household, translating the UNDESA survey into real-life change. 

In the meantime, while the UN is still coming up with official names for the agency, it is working to depoliticise it and make the nameless agency more gender neutral, so it is unofficially being called "The New Entity". 

IPS spoke with Joanne Sandler, deputy executive director of UNIFEM, about the creation of this "New Entity" and the hopes and challenges of making the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - the binding convention that established the official women's empowerment movement at the UN - finally work 100 percent for women within this new women's focused arena at the UN. 

Excerpts from the interview: 

IPS: Where will the new entity be located? 

JOANNE SANDLER: Our hope is that it is present where it can do the most good. We want to make it where it will offer the best use of our resources. 

It is ultimately up to the member states. 

IPS: There's so much happening on gender empowerment between civil society and the UN, that it seems only right that the entity adopt a bottom-to-top approach taking its cue from civil society. Is there a likely conflict of interest? 

JS: A connection to a constituency is absolutely critical, because it's a stronger, more unified system. 

It's coming from all directions. I wouldn't necessarily call it a top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top approach. It is a 360-degree process. 

IPS: CEDAW is marking its 30th anniversary on Dec. 18, 2009. As of yet, 186 countries have ratified the convention, but there are all kinds of reservations by mainly Muslim and Catholic countries that counteract the influence of the convention. What are the successes and failures of this convention in your opinion and in the opinion of UNIFEM? 

JS: For UNIFEM, of course, CEDAW is a basic agreement. It's kind of our entry point. 

The trend is toward removal of reservations. There are a growing number of enlightening examples of how you take CEDAW. 

Of course there are countries that ratify it, and still have laws in their books that go against it. The main examples are property laws and inheritance rights that counteract the convention. 

We want to extend our support where there is a political will to demonstrate. It's a core part of our community. 

IPS: What will UNIFEM be contributing specifically (as far as goals and information) for this new entity? 

JS: We will be contributing our 30 years of experience. We expect to continue to work on the different background papers and analyses that we have been committed to on gender empowerment. 

This is an important moment for all of this to be moving forward. 

*IPS is running a series of interviews on the UN's decision to create a new women's agency.

4

AIDS blamed for hike in S.Africa death rate 
AFP

10/11/2009

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa's death rate doubled over the last decade due to the spread of AIDS, the health minister said on Tuesday, blaming the crisis on government policies under former president Thabo Mbeki.

"In 11 years -- from 1997 to 2008 -- the rate of death has doubled in South Africa. That is obviously something that cannot but worry a person," Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told reporters at parliament in Cape Town.

He said that in 1997 the total number of deaths stood around 300,000. Last year the figure was about 756,000.

Motsoaledi said the figures called for a "massive change in behaviour and attitude" toward AIDS among South Africans.

"On the figures, it's shocking. As to whether it has been affected by what we did in the past 10 years, to me that's obvious," he said, according to the Sapa news agency.

"I don't think we'd have been here if we'd approached the problem in a different way," he said. "It's a really obvious question. Yes, our attitude toward HIV/AIDS put us here where we are."

Most AIDS-related deaths were among young people, especially women, he said. About 57 percent of child deaths in 2007 were HIV-related, the minister added.

The frank remarks by Motsoaledi highlighted the sharp break that President Jacob Zuma has taken from Mbeki in the fight against AIDS.

Mbeki questioned whether HIV causes AIDS, in spite of scientific evidence. His health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang promoted the use of vegetables above anti-retrovirals which she said were toxic -- while hundreds of thousands died without access to treatment.

While South Africa now has the world's largest anti-retroviral programme, nearly one million people are still believed to need treatment.

5

Global cost of HIV treatment and prevention could reach $35 billion by 2031
AidsMap News, UK

10/11/2009

Carole Leach-Lemens

Without a serious change in approach AIDS will still be a major pandemic and funding required in resource-poor countries could reach an estimated $35 billion annually, three times the current level, by 2031—the fiftieth year of the pandemic— according to modelling carried out for the AIDS 2031 project by Robert Hecht and colleagues and published in the November/December edition of Health Affairs. 

Results from the Cost and Financing Working Group, AIDS 2031, headed by Robert Hecht were presented at a Health Affairs briefing on Capitol Hill ‘Meeting HIV/AIDS cost demands: is the global response working?’ in Washington, DC on November 10 2009. Others presenting at the briefing included: Anthony S. Fauci, Tom Walsh, Daniel Wikler, Alan E. Greenberg and Shannon L. Hader. 

Results support policy choices focusing on investments in high-impact prevention for most-at-risk groups—sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users—, efficient treatments, new prevention tools together with significant behaviour-change efforts. These could help cut costs by half as well as help control the pandemic. 

Progress over the past twenty-five years has been made yet an estimated thirty-three million people are still living with HIV. There were 2.3 million new infections in 2007. 

The AIDS 2031 project was set up to see how things might be done differently with the idea that by 2031 there would be few new infections, nearly all those needing treatment would get it and AIDS orphans would be helped to live normal lives. Working groups were formed to examine HIV/AIDS epidemiology, social drivers, leadership, science and technology, financing and sub-regional topics. 

The AIDS 2031 Cost and Financing Working Group’s estimation of future AIDS costs followed the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Global Resource Needs Estimates with some changes. Estimates first done in 2001 evolved to include 48 interventions in prevention, care, treatment, mitigation, programme support and international support. 

Estimates for 2031 used target population costs, unit costs and coverage through 2031 and took into consideration interventions such as pre-exposure prophylaxis, microbicides as well as vaccines. 

The group calculated costs for low- and middle-income countries (the twenty countries with the most infections plus Mexico and Brazil for geographic representation) using a simple equation: population in need x coverage x unit cost = resources required. 

The model has limitations, the authors note, including not taking account of possible synergies between variables. However, they argue, it is intuitive, easy to understand and use. 

The authors developed four broad scenarios to look at the financial and epidemiological outcomes of widely varying policy choices and stress that “the four scenarios frame the possibilities and identify actions that could result in better control of the pandemic at lower cost” and include: 

                Rapid scale up: Political will is strong, and resource availability continues to grow. It assumes all countries will achieve universal access to key prevention, care and treatment, and support services for vulnerable children by 2015 and continue at that level to 2031. How realistic this is within certain political and capacity contexts is questionable, but it does represent what the authors call a ‘what is possible’ scenario.

                Current trends: coverage of key interventions continues to grow at recent rates and coverage reaches about two-thirds of universal access targets by 2015 and stays at that level.

                Hard choices for prevention: Limited resources will mean that countries use most cost-effective approaches to achieve maximum impact. Focus is on most-at-risk populations including sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users. Countries with low-level and concentrated epidemics will give less attention to general population interventions. Treatment would remain at “rapid scale-up”.

                Structural change: Focus is on looking at changes that would reduce vulnerability and help promote a sustained response and include: reducing violence against women, change employment practices that separate workers from their families, remove legal and stigma-related barriers and strengthen health systems. Such changes will bring better coverage for most-at-risk populations, improved effectiveness of prevention programmes but would take an additional ten years to put in place.

In all scenarios even in the best of circumstances and with the scaling-up of current interventions to the maximum, the authors conclude that new adult infections would only be cut by 48 percent and more than one million would still become infected in 2031. 

The authors note that regardless of the “scale-up” strategy, adopted costs will increase rapidly over the next five to eight years and continue to rise over the following 15 years in low- and middle-income countries. All stakeholders, from government, foundations, nongovernmental organisations, households to companies will be under pressure to meet the costs. 

Of the four scenarios “rapid scale-up” is the most expensive requiring $35 billion in 2031 with a cumulative cost of $722 billion over the next twenty-two years; “current trends” and “hard choices” will cost $24 billion and $19 billion in 2031 respectively, with cumulative costs of $490 billion and $397 billion. 

The “hard choices” scenario is the most cost-effective, achieving almost the same number of infections averted with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $1,429 for each HIV infection averted. “Rapid scale-up” averts the most infections but is the least cost-effective ($7,594). “Current trends” and “structural change” are in the middle with $6,225 and $6,803 respectively. 

Choices made today by governments, international organisations, foundations and civil society groups, the authors argue, will affect how much there will be to spend for AIDS in the future. 

They highlight some important policy considerations. 

Putting “hard choices” into practice means investing in high-impact prevention efforts for most-at-risk populations—sex workers, men who have sex with men, and injecting drug users—and dealing with the barriers these groups face, such as stigma and discrimination as well as governments’ limited willingness to direct resources their way. 

Implementation of this scenario also means looking at all drug-related costs including measures such as patent pooling and adopting low-cost, high-quality delivery approaches such as task-shifting. 

While broader structural changes may increase costs in the short-term the long-term benefits may result in averting the largest numbers of new infections, in addition to improvements in women’s status and economic productivity. 

The authors highlight the need for investments in new HIV prevention tools, such as AIDS vaccines and treatments, as well as significant behaviour-change strategies. 

They conclude that mobilising the considerable sums required in resource-poor settings between now and 2031 will be difficult. The challenge is to sustain support from individual donors, foundations, and companies, notably from private sources, as well as appealing to new philanthropists emerging not only in Europe and North America but in China, India, Mexico and the Middle East. 

Reference 

Hecht R et al. Critical choices in financing the response to the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Health Affairs 28 (6): 1591-1605, 2009. 

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LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN

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Recibirá el país 70 millones de dólares para prevenir propagación del sida  
La Jornada, Mexico

11/11/2009

Ángeles Cruz Martínez

El Fondo Mundial de Lucha contra Sida, Tuberculosis y Malaria financiará con 70 millones de dólares las estrategias que México realice durante los siguientes cinco años para prevenir la transmisión del VIH/sida entre hombres que tienen sexo con otros hombres (HSH) y usuarios de drogas inyectables (UDI), informó José Antonio Izazola, director del Centro Nacional para la Prevención y Control del Sida (Censida).

La decisión se dio a conocer durante la reunión de la junta de gobierno de ese organismo que se realiza en Etiopía. De esa manera se ratificó la evaluación del comité técnico que otorgó a la propuesta mexicana una calificación de 2 y recomendó solicitar aclaraciones menores al documento.

El fondo mundial financia los proyectos de países de bajos ingresos y, principalmente de aquellos donde la prevalencia de la enfermedad es superior a 5 por ciento de la población. El Censida gestionó desde hace varios años que se tomara en cuenta la situación de México, principalmente por los casos de los HSH y UDI.

Izazola explicó que el apoyo del organismo internacional se divide en dos periodos. El primero de dos años, durante los cuales se recibirán 31 millones de dólares. Una evaluación sobre los avances y resultados obtenidos en este ciclo determinará la continuación de la ayuda hasta completar 70 millones de dólares.

De acuerdo con el proyecto de Censida, en el primer año se realizará un diagnóstico sobre la situación del padecimiento entre los HSH y UDI. Es necesario saber con precisión dónde están, cuáles son sus riesgos, las motivaciones que tienen para evitar el uso del condón en sus relaciones sexuales, así como para aumentar o disminuir el número de sus parejas.

En entrevista, Izazola comentó que “de todo esto se conocen pedacitos”, mientras otros estudios no se han realizado. El último sobre comportamiento sexual de los mexicanos se efectuó hace 15 años.

Entre otras variables que tampoco han sido tomadas en cuenta en el diseño de las acciones preventivas está la práctica de los HSH que buscan tener sexo sin protección. De manera consciente buscan adquirir o transmitir el VIH.

Los mensajes que enfatizan la responsabilidad de protegerse y cuidar a los otros carece de impacto en estos grupos, señaló el funcionario.

Con los UDI, el proyecto indica, además del diagnóstico, realizar acciones con la perspectiva de reducción de daños y una estrecha asociación con programas de rehabilitación de adictos.

Lo preferible es que las personas dejen las drogas, pero cuando esto no es posible lo que se debe hacer es evitar que adquieran o transmitan el virus, explicó Izazola.

Los recursos aprobados por el fondo mundial se entregarán a México en el segundo semestre de 2010.

4

Seduc começa mobilização pelo Dia Mundial de Prevenção à Aids
Portal Stylo, Brazil

10/11/2009

A Secretária da Educação e Cultura (Seduc) promove nesta terça, 10, o Seminário de Formação para Mobilização do Dia Mundial de Prevenção à AIDS. O evento, que é uma ação do Projeto Saúde e Prevenção na Escola, será realizado no Hotel Turim, na Capital, a partir das 8h30. O encontro terá a participação de 100 professores que trabalham no Ensino Médio, sendo 23 professores da cidade de Araguaína, 11 docentes do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciências e Tecnologia e 66 professores das escolas de Palmas.

No estado do Tocantins o evento será financiado pelo Ministério da Educação, e terá o apoio da Seduc, Sesau, Sintet e GGE (Grupo Gestor Estadual) e uma das funções é a mobilização para o dia primeiro de dezembro, Dia Mundial de Combate a AIDS, com o objetivo de mobilizar em todas as capitais brasileiras o quantitativo de um milhão de alunos para a temática DST/AIDS.

O Projeto Saúde e Prevenção na Escola representa um marco na integração saúde-educação destacando a escola como o melhor espaço para a articulação das políticas voltadas para adolescentes e jovens. O principal objetivo deste projeto é a promoção da saúde sexual e da saúde reprodutiva, visando reduzir a vulnerabilidade de adolescentes e jovens às DST, à infecção pelo HIV, à AIDS, à gravidez não-planejada, ao uso indevido de drogas por meio de ações nas escolas e nas unidades básicas de saúde, com foco na promoção de saúde.

O evento será realizado pelos Ministérios da Educação e da Saúde, em parceria com a Confederação Nacional dos Trabalhadores da Educação (CNTE), o Fundo das Nações Unidas para a Infância (Unicef), a Organização das Nações Unidas para a Educação, Ciência e Cultura (Unesco) e o Fundo de População das Nações Unidas (UNFPA).

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NORTH AMERICA

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Why Sexism Kills
TIME Magazine

11/11/2009

By M.J. Stephey

Women and Health: Today's Evidence, Tomorrow's Agenda

U.N. World Health Organization

91 pages

The Gist:

According to a report released Nov. 9 by the World Health Organization, millions of women die each year from conditions that could be avoided — if they were men. Apart from hazards like female infanticide and maternal deaths, women are more likely to contract HIV, suffer from depression and domestic abuse, or lack the basic access to health care that could help them survive.

Highlight Reel:

1. On the risks of unprotected sex: "Globally, HIV is the leading cause of death and disease in women of reproductive age. Some studies show that women are more likely than men to acquire HIV from an infected partner during unprotected heterosexual intercourse... Young women tend to have sex with older men who are more sexually experienced and more likely to be infected with HIV."

2. On domestic abuse: "A WHO study in 11 countries found that between 15% and 71% of women, depending on the country, had experienced physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner in their lifetime, and 4% to 54% had experienced it within the previous year. ... Studies from Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States show that between 40% and 70% of female murders were carried out by intimate partners." 

. How sexism affects health: "Because they are less likely to be part of the formal labor market, women lack access to job security and the benefits of social protection, including access to health care. Within the formal workforce, women often face challenges related to their lower status, suffer discrimination and sexual harassment, and have to balance the demands of paid work and work at home, giving rise to work-related fatigue, infections, mental ill-health and other problems."

4. On the exploitation of female health-care providers: "The backbone of the health system, women are nevertheless rarely represented in executive or management-level positions, tending to be concentrated in lower-paid jobs and exposed to greater occupational health risks."

5. On addressing sexism in health care: "Lessons can be learned form bold national initiatives that have sought to address social inequality and exclusion in ways that promote gender equality and women's health. For example, Chile's multisectoral and integrated approach to social protection for the poor includes a universal program for early child development. Chile Crece Contigo ("Chile grows with you") includes access to child care, education and health services to help young children achieve their optimal physical, social and emotional development, while enforcing the right of working mothers to nurse their babies and also stimulating women's employment."

The Lowdown:

It may be the first cradle-to-grave study on women's health from the WHO, but this study is far from comprehensive. Still, the organization can hardly be blamed. "The data and evidence that are available are too patchy and incomplete for this to be possible," Margaret Chan, the WHO's director, said in a statement accompanying the report's release. As for the information that is available, far too many studies focus solely on women's reproductive and sexual health — "Women are more than mothers," the WHO notes, [and] "should be engaged in research as active participants." After all, who better to examine and understand female health issues than woman themselves?

The Verdict: Read

Read the World Economic Forum's "Bridging the Gender Gap" Report.

Read TIME's Special Report on the state of the American Woman.

2

White House to hold meeting on development of HIV/AIDS strategy in Ferndale
Michigan Messenger

10/11/2009

By Todd A. Heywood

The White House Office of National AIDS Policy will hold a meeting at Affirmations Community Center in Ferndale on Nov. 18. The meeting is designed to seek and receive input from communities impacted by the HIV epidemic about the development and implementation of a national HIV/AIDS strategy.

The strategy is a goal President Barack Obama promised during his election campaign.

According to a Facebook event posting about the event, ONAP in developing the NHAS will have the following goals:

•Reducing HIV incidence

•Increasing access to care and optimizing health outcomes

•Reducing HIV-related health disparities

Mark Peterson, a director for the HIV activist group Michigan Positive Action, says the meeting is important for HIV prevention and care efforts in the state:

Too often policies which impact people living with HIV are made without the direct input from those of us living with HIV. November 18th, those of us living with HIV can speak our truth directly to power. Whether it is for comprehensive HIV prevention programming that assures that HIV stops with us, or compassionate and accessible HIV care that allows no one in this country to go without medical treatment for HIV, our national policies need to be made from the sound and logical approaches that those of us on the front lines know well. This is our chance to make sure that our policies reflect our realities and aren’t shaped solely by the winds of political expediency and popularity.

The Ferndale stop is one of many ONAP officials are planning. Other meeting will occur or have occurred in places like Minneapolis, Miami and San Francisco. The Michigan meeting will run from 6 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

3

Over 20 million people need food aid in east Africa: U.N
Washington Post

10/11/2009

By Silvia Aloisi, Reuters 

ROME (Reuters) - Drought and war in eastern Africa have left more than 20 million people in desperate need of emergency food aid, the United Nations said on Tuesday. 

"The situation is very worrying due to expected crop and pasture failures from poor rains in several areas, the increase in conflicts, trade disruptions and continuing high food prices," the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said. 

In its latest report on food and crop prospects (www.fao.org), FAO said delayed rains and dry spells often followed by floods had hurt crops and pastures in Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Uganda. 

In Somalia and Sudan, poor weather has worsened a food emergency due to civil wars, with 3.6 million and 5.9 million people in need of food aid, respectively. In the case of Somalia, that is about 50 percent of the total population. 

The U.N. agency is hosting a world food summit in Rome next week, hoping to win broad support for an increase in agricultural investments in poor countries to help them feed themselves. 

Maize production in Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, is expected to be 30 percent down on last year. About 3.8 million Kenyans, mainly living in pastoral and marginal agricultural areas, are in need of emergency food assistance, FAO said. 

That number rises to 6.2 million people in Ethiopia, where late and erratic rains have damaged maize and sorghum crops and reduced availability of pastures in many parts of the country. 

A further 2.2 million people in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo also need food help. 

Elsewhere in Africa, FAO said 2009 crop production was reduced in northern Nigeria, southern Niger, Mali and Chad, warning that could have a significant impact on regional markets and lead to new price increases. 

In Niger, the hardest hit country in west Africa, "large segments of the population will be at risk of food shortages in 2010." 

In southern Africa, pockets of vulnerability persist despite good harvests earlier this year. In Zimbabwe, FAO estimates that 2.8 million people require about 228,000 tons of food aid for the year ending March 2010. 

(Editing by Anthony Barker) 

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UNAIDS WEB.SITE

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Violence against women and HIV 

UNAIDS

10/11/2009

Numerous studies from around the globe confirm the links between violence against women and HIV. These studies show that women living with HIV are more likely to have experienced violence, and that, women who have experienced violence are more likely to have HIV infection. 

From 27-29 October the World Health Organization (WHO), on behalf of the UNAIDS family, convened a working group of experts and practitioners to review evidence around the links between violence against women and HIV, as well as programmatic interventions and strategies which address the intersections of violence and HIV. The aim of the meeting was to make policy and programmatic recommendations for national and international AIDS programmes as well as to develop an agenda for future programme development, evaluation and research efforts based on a review of evidence from different interventions. 

The meeting was part of UNAIDS efforts to operationalize the Joint Action for Results: the UNAIDS Outcome Framework, which includes violence against women and girls as one of its nine priority areas. 

Violence and HIV 

According to a 2006 report by United Nations Secretary-General one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, usually by someone known to her.

Violence and the threat of violence dramatically increase the vulnerability of women and girls to HIV by making it difficult or impossible for women to abstain from sex, to get their partners to be faithful, or to use a condom. The risk of HIV transmission increases during violent or forced-sex situations as the abrasions caused through forced penetration can facilitate entry of the virus. 

Violence, or fear of violence, also makes it difficult for women and girls to disclose their HIV status and access essential HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. Women may also avoid HIV testing due to fears of violence and abandonment in a resulting discovery of HIV-positive status. 

As noted by Dr. Claudia Garcia-Moreno, from WHO’s Department of Reproductive Heatlh and Research and Coordinator of the WHO Multi-country Study on women's health and domestic violence, “Violence against women is a fundamental violation of human rights and is often fueled by longstanding social and cultural norms that reinforce its acceptability in society – by both men and women. But there are concrete steps we can take in the AIDS and development responses to address violence, thereby dramatically improving women’s health and quality of life”. 

Behaviour and societal change 

According to participants at the consultation, policies and programmes addressing gender inequality and gender-based violence will help achieve universal targets to HIV prevention, treatment and care. Investment in responses in these areas is an essential part of HIV programming. 

“Long-term interventions which address structural factors, gender inequalities and harmful gender norms, are essential if one is to reduce violence against women and HIV,” said Kristan Schoultz, Director of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS. “At the same time there is also a need to move forward urgently to achieve shorter-term gains such as enhanced voluntary counselling and testing services and the provision of comprehensive post-rape care that addresses the psychological and physical health needs of sexual violence survivors”. 

Participants believe that a “mosaic” of action addressing both long-term and short-term needs related to violence and HIV has the potential to have an impact upon not only MDG 6 (HIV), but all the health MDGs, including reduction of maternal mortality and achievement of sexual and reproductive health and rights; in addition, this approach is at the heart of MDG 3 (gender equality and empowerment of women) and MDG1 (poverty reduction). 

The outcomes and recommendations from the meeting will feed into ongoing national and global advocacy efforts such as those of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, the UN Secretary General's Campaign for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the Africa-Wide Campaign for the elimination of Violence against Women. Recommendations will also assist national AIDS authorities to better address the intersections between HIV and violence in national programming.

2

Monitoring progress towards global HIV targets
UNAIDS

11/11/2009

In a supplement of the Journal of AIDS’ December issue published yesterday, UNAIDS explores some of the current challenges to monitoring the progress towards global HIV targets. 

The supplement, called Progress Towards Global HIV Targets: Challenges in Monitoring National Indicators, explores thematic, technical analysis of data and key findings derived from the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) reporting system. 

The issue was guest co-edited by Dr Deborah Rugg, Chief Monitoring and Evaluation UNAIDS and covers issues such as human rights in the global response to HIV and estimating the level of HIV prevention coverage, as well as addressing the key question: Are we on course for reporting on the Millennium Development Goals in 2015?

“In a time of ever more acute resource limitation, more and better studies are required that effectively evaluate whether programmes achieved their desired results, and whether those results lead to their intended outcomes,” said Dr Rugg. 

The 2001 UNGASS Declaration set forth concrete, time-bound commitments to promote a comprehensive and effective global response to the epidemic. The UNAIDS Secretariat was subsequently given a mandate to develop an international monitoring system for national HIV responses in order to manage this reporting. 

The resulting system has generated an unparalleled global body of evidence across the range of national HIV responses and key thematic areas. 

The articles included in the supplement uses data and key findings derived from the UNGASS reporting system, combined with complimentary data from other sources, on the status of both the global HIV epidemic and the response.

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