[hivaids-twg] Fwd: Today's News (2009.11.27ex)

Mon Nov 30 06:18:08 GMT 2009

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Diaz, Clara <diazc at unaids.org>
Date: Fri, Nov 27, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Subject: Today's News (2009.11.27ex)
To:

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

*UNAIDS*

1. Viet Nam News - *Children: the forgotten victims of HIV*

2. Global Times, China - *HIV sufferers still discriminated against by
healthcare workers: survey *

3. Fiji Times - *Specialist explains how to handle viral problem *

4. Cuban News Agency - *United Nations Praises Cuba’s Efforts to Fight
HIV/AIDS *

*AFRICA** AND MIDDLE EAST*

1. Angola Press - *Health authorities launch Hiv/Aids awareness campaign *

2. NEXT, Nigeria - *Effects of HIV/AIDS on food security *

3. New Vision, Uganda - *NOTU starts HIV program for workers *

4. The Namibian - *Ministry Sets Up System to Monitor Health Spending *

*ASIA** AND PACIFIC*

1. Xinhua News, China - *Beijing** reports 1,105 AIDS infections in 10
months *

2. China Daily - *TCM benefits 9,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers*

3. Global Times, China - *Vice minister responds to HIV/AIDS protesters *

4. Fiji Times - *HIV, a topic on its own *

*EUROPE***

1. Reuters, UK - *China AIDS sufferers face widespread discrimination: U.N*

2. Le Monde - *Sida : la prévention parmi les homosexuels "priorité absolue"
*

3. AFP - *VIH/sida: MSF met l'accent sur le financement, MDM et Aides sur le
dépistage *

*LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN*

1. Jamaica Observer - *'HELP PERSONS WITH HIV/AIDS FEEL LIKE A PART OF
SOCIETY' *

2. La Nación, Costa Rica - *Pacientes VIH/sida crecieron 7 veces en la
última década *

3. El Tiempo, Colombia - *A pesar de esfuerzos, aumentan número de personas
con VIH en el Tolima *

4. Agência Aids, Brazil - *Desigualdade de gênero ainda é um dos principais
fatores de infecção pelo HIV em mulheres jovens, acreditam ativistas*

*NORTH AMERICA*

1. New York Times - *What’s Your Underlying Condition?  (Op-Ed)*

2. ABC News - *Timely and Continuous HIV Care Extends Survival *

3. Ottawa Citizen - *Commonwealth leaders gather amid uproar over human
rights, AIDS *

===========================

*UNAIDS*

===========================

*Children: the forgotten victims of HIV**
**Viet Nam News***

27/11/2009

by Nguyen Kieu Van

Viet Nam continued to set an example for the Asia-Pacific region when Prime
Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the National Plan of Action for Children
Living with and Affected by HIV/AIDS in June.

The plan to 2010 with a vision to 2020 was part of Viet Nam�s response to
the appeal for governments to provide such action at the East Asia and
Pacific Regional Consultation on HIV-AIDS conference in Ha Noi in 2006.

But while the efforts of Viet Nam�s and other Asia-Pacific-country
governments to implement healthcare policies and support for children living
with and affected by HIV-AIDS have been acknowledged, the results have not
always matched the expectations of those whose lives have been blighted by
the virus.

As United Nations Children�s Fund, or UNICEF, representative in Viet Nam
Jesper Morch explains: "Viet Nam has excellent policies and legislation in
place. But policies and legislation are sometimes difficult to enforce."

Double burden

Many of the affected children carry a double burden: Not only have they lost
one or both parents to AIDS or are living with the HIV virus themselves;
they are also without caregivers and lack the opportunity to learn.

Vietnamese Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan,
who well knows the plight of these children, puts it best: "The pain to
their spirit following the death of their parents is made much worse by the
discrimination they suffer from those around them."

The epidemic has limited their basic rights.

But progress is being made. A UNAIDS report issued in Shanghai on Tuesday
says HIV infections have fallen 17 per cent over the past eight years. The
heaviest fall was in East Asia - almost 25 per cent.

"The good news is that we have evidence that the declines we are seeing are
due, at least in part, to HIV prevention," says UNAIDS executive director
Michel Sidibe.

"If we do a better job of getting resources and programmes to where they
will make most impact, quicker progress can be made and more lives saved."

The Indonesian National AIDS Commission has provided a particularly
impressive initiative with the extension of a life-skills education
programme that empowers communities in the management of the virus in the
country�s remote Papua Province.

UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office director Anupama Rao Singh is
also quick to acknowledge the progress but advises: "Governments and civil
societies should strengthen the evidence about the impact AIDS has on
children and put them on a properly costed National Strategic Plan for
protection, prevention care and support.

"Given the low-level and concentrated nature of the HIV pandemic in the
Asia-Pacific, the best response is to engage in integrated programmes to
promote overall child welfare and reduce poverty," she says.

In addition to the early identification of the disease, policies to support
AIDS orphans through loans or job training are also necessary.

Such programmes should begin at the grassroots.

Many government and NGO studies reveal why such action is necessary.

These show that children living with and affected by HIV are more vulnerable
to ill health, malnutrition, psychosocial suffering, slowed cognitive
development, anxiety, depression, abandonment and abuse.

Changing patterns

Anupama Rao Singh warns the number of children living with HIV in
Asia-Pacific is increasing. "This is because patterns of HIV infection are
changing," she says.

"An increasingly large number of women not traditionally considered to be
members of high-risk groups are becoming infected."

More than 43 per cent of new infections in Cambodia were among married women
and more than a third of all new infections were from mother to child.

Most HIV infections in children are transmitted from mother to child and
this makes early diagnosis through the universal testing of pregnant women
and the provision of ART prophylaxis regimens to those infected crucial.

Vietnamese minister Ngan says high-risk children should be a focus of
attention.

These include drug users; children who have both parents affected by HIV or
those who live at social centres; street children and victims of human
trafficking or sexual abuse.

But the Asia-Pacific has more orphans than anywhere else in the world-an
estimated 90 million � and so poor children living with HIV in poor
countries are all but overlooked.

They receive little support from governments and civil organisations and
without money cannot buy the pharmaceutical drugs that would save their
lives. Each year an estimated 93 per cent of children living with HIV in
poor countries go without access to effective treatment.

The result: 18.4 per cent of the world�s yearly AIDS�s dead are children.

Most died because their parents did not have access to ART prophylaxis
Regimens while their health centres lacked testing equipment and the
necessary medicine.

The fact that the drugs suitable for children cost four to five times more
than those for adults exacerbates the problem.

It means that governments, the World Health Organisation and the global
pharmaceutical corporations must give priority to HIV testing, examination
and the supply of the necessary drugs to the children in poor countries.

Doctors Without Borders has set the example.

It has supplied free prophylaxis regimens to people living with HIV in 29
poor countries. Surely, most of the beneficiaries were children.

UNAIDS estimates number of people living with HIV globally at 33.4 million.

The agency puts the number of children afflicted at 2.3 million with 95 per
cent of them in poor countries mostly sub-Saharan Africa. � VNS

*4*

*HIV sufferers still discriminated against by healthcare workers: survey**
**Global Times, China*

27/11/2009

By Yin Hang

A survey released Friday morning in Beijing by UNAIDS says nearly one-sixth
of those with HIV had their status disclosed by healthcare professionals to
other people without their permission. Nearly one-quarter of medical staff
and more than one-third of government officials and teachers develop more
negative and discriminatory attitudes towards people living with HIV after
learning of their HIV-positive status.

The report, entitled The China Stigma Index Report, is based on a survey of
more than 2,000 respondents and their experiences living with HIV in China.
It is the first survey of its kind in China and among the first in the
world.

“These results really underscore the importance of ensuring health care
professionals receive appropriate training to reduce stigma and
discrimination and increase their ability to provide appropriate services to
people living with HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

Dr. Huang Jiefu, China’s Vice Minister of Health commented, “The Chinese
government is committed to continuing to work together with the
international community, including UNAIDS, and to doing more to eliminate
discrimination, thus effectively helping to halt AIDS globally, and ensure
the health of humankind.”

“This data collection project has clearly shown that people living with HIV
need to be part of the response to AIDS. By working together we can make a
big difference,” said Yu Xuan, 28, who was diagnosed as HIV positive and a
consultant for Positive Talks, a campaign to stop stigma and discrimination.
“People living with HIV should not be forced to live in the shadows.”

The research showed that 40 percent of people living with HIV reported
facing HIV-related discrimination and more than two-thirds of all
respondents said that their family members had experienced discrimination as
a result of their HIV status. More than 12 percent had been refused medical
care at least once since they were tested positive.

The release of the survey belongs to one part of a campaign launched jointly
by UNAIDS, the Ministry of Health and the organization of People Living with
HIV (PLHIV) and others to address HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

The nation-wide campaign will culminate around World AIDS Day on December 1
and will feature video broadcasts and more than 20 giant outdoor posters in
12 cities across China.

The Ministry of Health, Beijing Health Bureau and China Contraception Supply
Centre will distribute more than 30,000 posters through their extensive
networks. In addition, the videos will be shown in 88 Accor China hotels and
on sohu.com and UNAIDS.org websites.

The Chinese Ministry of Health estimates that at the end of 2009, 740,000
people are living with HIV in China. According to the latest data, 48,000
were infected in 2009. More than 70 percent of new infections were through
both homosexual and heterosexual transmission.

*6*

*Specialist explains how to handle viral problem **
**Fiji Times*

26/11/2009

CRIMINALISING HIV/AIDS will not stop the spread of the virus, a United
Nations human rights specialist has warned.

United Nations Development Program human rights specialist Suki Beavers said
HIV was a virus and not a moral issue.

She said it needed to be dealt with by taking into account the
socio-economic impacts of the virus.

Ms Beavers made the comment during consultations on a proposed HIV
Prevention and Treatment decree in Lami last week.

She said Fiji and the Pacific had a young population and, in Fiji's case,
the number of HIV cases was low compared to the rest of the world.

Ms Beaver said the HIV numbers in Fiji should not make for complacency.

She said in order to control and reduce the number of HIV cases, people
living with HIV should feel comfortable about getting tested and care should
be available to all.

At the same meeting, UNAIDS Stuart Watson said HIV was disproportionatlly
affecting women and girls and Fiji was following the global trend.

Mr Watson said part of the blame had to do with laws which promoted
discrimination or the violation of people's rights when dealing with a
positive HIV diagnosis or the discrimination and stigma associated with HIV.

Mr Watson said when dealing with the relationship between HIV and gender,
authorities had to look at their laws on property and inheritance rights.

"We need to look at the cultural, social and political frameworks which deal
with these and many other issues such as adoption," he said.

*7*

*United Nations Praises Cuba’s Efforts to Fight HIV/AIDS**
**Cuban News Agency*

26/11/2009

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 26 (acn) Cuba’s efforts in the prevention of and fight
against HIV/AIDS, as well as the strategies carried out in the island to
reduce the impact of this disease, were praised on Wednesday by UN experts
during an international meeting.

Dr. Ana Maria Navarro, UNAIDS representative for Cuba and the Dominican
Republic, stressed that Cuba is a model for Latin America and the Caribbean
not only because of its low levels of prevalence of the disease but also for
its initiatives and programs.

During the Latin American and Caribbean Workshop on HIV/AIDS Prevention,
from a socio-cultural perspective, (SIDACULT) that began yesterday in
Havana, Roberto Galvez, the resident representative of the UN Development
Program, highlighted Cuba’s role since the AIDS pandemic began in the 1980s.

He also praised the national plan “STD (Sexually Transmitted
Diseases)/HIV/AIDS” based on four main pillars: epidemiological watch,
health education, medical care, and research.

Meanwhile, Fernando Rojas, Deputy Culture Minister, said that culture is a
very effective instrument to, with the promotion of values, contribute to
prevention.

The event, which takes place until Friday, aims at promoting practices from
a socio-cultural approach of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and creating new
alliances for community work, among other goals.

SIDACULT is an initiative of the Regional Office of Culture for Latin
America and the Caribbean of UNESCO in Havana.

Specialists from several countries, including teachers, researchers,
journalists and officials from institutions and governmental organizations,
are attending the meeting.

The main goal is to stop and to reduce the spreading of the pandemic by the
year 2015, in complying with the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Copyright ©2004  Cuban News Agency CUBA (ACN)   All Rights Reserved

===========================

*AFRICA** AND MIDDLE EAST*

===========================

*Health authorities launch Hiv/Aids awareness campaign**
**Angola Press*

26/11/2009

Ndalatando – The health authorities in northern Kwanza Norte province
launched Tuesday in Ndalatando an awareness campaign against Hiv//Aids
covering the rural communities of the region.

The campaign is expected to end on December 1, this year.

Speaking to Angop, the head of the provincial nucleus of the Institute for
Fight Against Aids, Mateus Manuel, said that the campaign will take place
throughout the province,  through mobilisation of people, visiting homes and
distributing pamphlets, posters and condoms.

According to a programme of the local health authorities, the workshops will
be held in various public institutions and barracks of the Angolan Armed
Forces (FAA), Angolan National Police and Fire Fighters, prison services,
schools in the districts of Ndalatando, Dondo and localities of Kwanza Norte
province.

The awareness campaign on the danger of the disease will also be conducted
through radio debates on local radio.

The activity will count on the participation of human and preventive health
experts

*2*

*Effects of HIV/AIDS on food security**
**NEXT, Nigeria*

26/11/2009

Amoo Abiodun

Since the first case of the Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was
diagnosed in 1981 in the United States, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) has spread throughout the world. In some rural communities in Africa,
HIV/AIDS is now resulting in labour shortages for both farm and domestic
work.

Besides the loss of AIDS patients through sickness and subsequent death,
family members have to divert time to care for the sick and eventually
neglect farm or off-farm activities. This results in loss of potential
income. The situation is aggravated in farming systems in which division of
labour is based on gender. With the death of a spouse, the widow or widower
does not necessarily take over the work of the deceased spouse.

Labour-intensive farming systems with a low level of mechanisation and
agricultural input use are particularly vulnerable to the impact of HIV/AIDS
as the economic return to labour tends to be low. In addition, traditional
customs like the extended time of mourning, where no farming activities can
be carried out, can have an adverse effect on the availability of labour
during periods in which deaths are frequent.

Crop production

The impact of HIV/AIDS on crop production relates to a reduction in land
use, a decline in crop yields and a decline in the range of crops grown. The
reduction in land use is attributed to a number of factors which have
occurred as a direct result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The effect of HIV/AIDS
in reducing the number of family members needed to cultivate larger areas of
land, has led to substantial reductions in land use in many communities.

In some communities, where land tenure and inheritance traditions favour
male inheritance, the effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic may be especially
severe. As increasing numbers of women are left widowed, and their right to
land is already constrained by traditional inheritance customs, their access
to land extremely difficult.

HIV/AIDS has also affected several other areas of agriculture such as
reduction in soil fertility, increase in soil and diseases and, changes in
crop practices.

Reduction in soil fertility appears to be due, in part, to reluctance by
farmers to carry out long-term soil conservation measures because such
measures do not yield an immediate income and are labour demanding in an
environment in which the farming system is already short of human resources.

Increase in soil and diseases refers to the increasing incidence of pest and
plant diseases. This phenomenon occurs in crop production systems which are
highly dependent on farm labour. The loss of labour, as a result of AIDS,
has reduced the amount of time, care and cash required to effectively carry
out practices such as the use of pesticide by small scale farmers.

In the cocoa-banana system, the banana weevil which destroys banana
plantations, and fungus infection which infects cocoa plantations are
affecting yields. Banana weevils used to be controlled either by traditional
means, which are labour-intensive, or with the use of chemicals.

A shortage of human resources hinders farmers, who do not have the financial
resources to purchase chemicals from controlling weevils using traditional
methods. Similarly, in the cocoa plantations, increasing infestations of
fungi are believed to be symptomatic of poor cultural practices.

The reduction of soils, lack of labour, the high incidence of pests and
diseases, are at least partly attributable to the frequent deaths and
sickness of farmers and their children caused by AIDS. In order to adapt to
factors caused by AIDS farmers have responded by changing their cropping
patterns. In some farming systems this has resulted in a shift away from the
cultivation of cash crops such as cocoa in order to concentrate all
available labour on the production of subsistence crops like sweet potatoes
and cassava in most part of Africa.

Impact on livestock farming

The effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on livestock-raising practices has been
felt in several ways: cattle are frequently sold to pay medical bills and
funeral expenses and decrease in labour availability result in lower levels
of care for livestock. Among pastoralists, there has been a tendency for
herd sizes to become smaller. As with sedentary cattle keepers, people who
fall sick sell their animals to pay for drugs, hospitalisation and other
expenses.

The effect of HIV/AIDS on extension work in areas of high epidemic incidence
may be two-fold: in one case local extension workers may lose all of their
working time as a result of the disease. Staff members may be frequently
absent from work, attending funerals and caring for sick relatives. In some
cases, extension messages have to be revised to take into account the impact
of the disease on agricultural systems, i.e., the shortage of labour,
changes in farmers’ needs and priorities both in crop and livestock
production systems.

Amoo85 at hotmail.com

*3*

*NOTU starts HIV program for workers**
**New Vision, Uganda*

26/11/2009

By Darious Magara

THE National Organisation of Trade Unions of Uganda has started an HIV/AIDS
programme for workers to reduce stigma and boost productivity at the
workplace.

“We want employers to know that HIV-positive people have a right to
employment and must not be discriminated against in the process of
recruitment,” Wilson Owere, the general chairman, said.

The programme, which began last week with the training of the national
leaders of the affiliate unions, intends to train employers and members of
unions countrywide.

It will also involve placing of condoms at work places, selling messages
discouraging the practice of workers who are found HIV-positive from losing
their jobs, Were said.

“Those who are already employed must not lose their employment on grounds of
their HIV/AIDS status,” he said.

“We are going to work with the Federation of Uganda Employers, the labour
ministry and all stakeholders to achieve our goal,” he added.

The affiliate organisations include the Transport Union, Fisheries Union and
the Plantation Union.

The program is funded by the Trade Union Confederation of Britain and
supported by the International Labour Organisation.

*5*

*Ministry Sets Up System to Monitor Health Spending**
**The Namibian*

26/11/2009

Nangula Shejavali

THE Ministry of Health and Social Services on Monday launched its third
National Health Accounts (NHA) exercise to provide a detailed account of
health spending for the years 2007-8 and 2008-9.

The NHA is an internationally recognised framework that measures health
expenditure, and tracks spending on healthcare.

Among others, it will allow the Ministry "to estimate total health
expenditure in Namibia, to monitor the use of programme funds, to identify
potential areas for resource mobilisation, to evaluate expenditure against
priorities" in the sector.

The Director for Policy Planning at the Ministry, Celina Usiku, said that
data extracted from the exercise, could be used to "advocate for additional
resources to the health sector, to realign health sector resources to
priority areas, to inform on how the health sector resources are aligned to
sector (and national) goals, and to guide health sector reviews and health
sector plans development".

She also noted that the data would help to inform the financial and policy
planning of the Ministry, the HIV-AIDS response, and other key areas.

New in this round will be sub-accounts for tracking expenditure on
Reproductive Health and HIV-AIDS, as well as the linking of the HIV-AIDS
sub-account to the National AIDS Spending Assessment (Nasa).

Speaking at the launch of the third round, Deputy Health Minister Petrina
Haingura praised the NHA, saying "informed decision-making requires reliable
information on the quantity of financial resources used for health".

She also applauded the new components of this NHA, in terms of the two
sub-accounts.

"Namibia has signed up to international declarations and set targets for
curbing the spread of HIV-AIDS, mitigating its impact, and extending
treatment access. The tracing of HIV-AIDS expenditures that reflect the
continuum of services employed in the fight against the epidemic is
therefore long overdue," she said.

With regard to reproductive health, Haingura stated that both maternal and
child mortality had increased over the past few years, adding that the
sub-account would "help examine spending levels and patterns for
reproductive healthcare in particular family planning, prenatal care, and
delivery".

It is expected that data gathering - which will involve enumerators visiting
companies, medical aid schemes, NGOs, development partners and government
ministries - and the report, will be completed by May next year.

Representatives of the United Stated Agency for International Development,
UNAIDS, and the World Health Organisation - partners of the Ministry in this
process - were also present at the launch.

They too applauded the launch of the NHA exercise, with USAID Mission
Director, Gregory Gottlieb, calling for the institutionalisation of the
resource tracking process.

"It is our view that these efforts will lead directly to greater
accountability, transparency, co-ordination, and informed policy decisions
that will shape the future of Namibia's health system for decades to come,"
he said

*=======================*

* *

*ASIA** AND PACIFIC*

* *

*=======================***

*Beijing reports 1,105 AIDS infections in 10 months**
**Xinhua News, China*

27/11/2009

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 1,105 people in Beijing were tested
HIV positive in the first 10 months this year, the local health authority
said Thursday.

    It brought the total number of HIV carriers and AIDS patients in the
city to 6,987, according to the municipal health bureau.

    Among the newly infected cases, almost 78 percent were from places
outside Beijing and about 71 percent were infected by sexual transmission,
said Deng Xiaohong, vice director with the bureau.

    Deng said AIDS was spreading rapidly in the city and HIV transmission
among homosexuals was increasing rapidly.

    In China's northwest province of Shaanxi, 338 people were infected with
the HIV virus and 29 had died by Wednesday since the beginning of the year,
the provincial health administration said Thursday.

    So far, the province had registered 1,620 HIV carriers and AIDS
patients, including 277 deaths.

    Unsafe sexual behavior and sharing of injecting needles among drug users
accounted for about 70 percent of all the infections.

    A total of 319,877 people in China had been registered HIV positive,
including 102,323 AIDS patients and 49,845 deaths, as of Oct. 31, according
to statistics released on a national AIDS control meeting.

    But the actual numbers could be much greater as the statistics only
included cases reported by medical facilities.

    AIDS is spreading rapidly among high-risk groups in parts of China and
is threatening to become a serious epidemic, said Minister of Health Chen
Zhu on Tuesday.

    According to estimates by the Ministry of Health and the Joint United
Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), China had 560,000 to 920,000 people
infected by HIV virus and 97,000 to 112,000 AIDS patients by the end of
2009.

    Another 41,000 to 55,000 people would have contracted the virus within
2009, according to the estimation.

Editor: Xiong Tong

*3*

*TCM benefits 9,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers**
**China Daily*

27/11/2009

BEIJING: The pilot program to treat HIV/AIDS with traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM) had benefited 9, 267 people, said the State Administration of
Traditional Chinese Medicine Thursday.

The program was jointly initiated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the
administration in five provinces in 2004. The effort had been expanded to
include another 12 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

A total of 160 million yuan ($23.4 million) had been spent, mainly on
personnel training, traditional medicine, clinical investigation and
management.

And treatment had been provided free of charge. A total of 5,972 people were
receiving the treatment as of June and 1,570 of them had been treated for 48
months.

"Standard treatment of TCM has been proved effective in treating HIV/AIDS, "
said Xu Zhiren, director of the medical department of the administration,
"Like improving and stabilizing the immune function of the patients.

Xu said statistics from the clinic analysis indicated that TCM could
ameliorate symptoms include fever, coughing, asthenia and diarrhea.

A total of 319,877 people in China had been registered HIV positive,
including 102,323 AIDS patients and 49,845 deaths, as of October 31,
according to statistics released on a national AIDS control meeting.

*4*

*Vice minister responds to HIV/AIDS protesters**
**Global Times, China*

27/11/2009

By Yin Hang

China's Vice Minister of Health said Friday that the central government
"will take into account the appeals of the protesters and solve their
problems", responding for the first time to a demonstration outside the
Ministry of Health on Wednesday by 38 HIV/AIDS protesters from Henan
Province.

"We maintain a clear stance, that the central government will put people's
demands and appeals as the top priority. If we find any levels of government
failed to commit to their duties during our investigation, the related
government body will be punished," said Huang Jiefu, vice minister of the
Ministry of Health, said at a press conference held by UNAIDS in Beijing
Friday.

Huang invited the media to keep a close watch and promise to carry on their
investigation in accordance with the law.

Huang also explained that this group of HIV/AIDS protesters from Henan
Province was infected through selling blood and blood transfusions in the
1990s. He said those infected with the HIV/AIDS virus through blood
transfusion were already under control, and were not the main channel of HIV
transmission in China anymore.

On November 25, 38 villagers of Kaifeng, Henan Province, one of the
provinces worst-hit by AIDS, through blood transfusions or from their
spouses, protested in front of the Ministry of Health in Beijing, the Global
Times reported.

The protest came less than a week before World AIDS Day and one day after an
international AIDS control meeting in Shanghai, where Minister of Health
Chen Zhu said China's HIV-positive population had reached nearly 320,000,
prompting health experts to call for stronger efforts to curb the spread of
the virus that causes AIDS.

After about an hour, security guards moved the protesters from the ministry
compound to a designated petition office several kilometers away, where the
protestors said health ministry officials "patiently" listened to them but
didn't make any promises.

yinhang at globaltimes.com.cn

*5*

*HIV, a topic on its own**
**Fiji Times*

26/11/2009

Margaret Wise

THE involvement of people living with HIV and AIDS is crucial for an
effective response to the epidemic.

In a paper to raise awareness on the disease and fight stigma and
discrimination, Pacific Islands AIDS Foundation legal training officer and
policy analyst Laitia Tamata said the involvement of people with HIV was a
good-governance requirement.

"The failure of which casts serious doubt on the credibility of partners,"
Mr Tamata said. He said the paper was based on the notion that using laws
and policies was an effective response to the epidemic.

"The rights-based approach does not only provide people living with HIV and
AIDS with the promotion, protection and enforcement of their rights to be
free from undignified thinking, speaking and acting but provides an opening
to claim a right to affirmative action which will lead to preferential
consideration for them in terms of their civil, political, economic, social
and cultural rights which above all includes special programs to ensure
their right to life, employment, education and a high standard of health
care among many others.

"HIV and AIDS is a topic on its own and not a side dish. Instead of
streamlining it to other programs, the interests of people with HIV is
better served when other programs are streamlined into HIV and AIDS," he
said.

*========================*

*EUROPE***

*========================*

*China AIDS sufferers face widespread discrimination: U.N**
**Reuters, UK*

27/11/2009

*Story carried by Washington Post*

BEIJING (Reuters) - People in China living with HIV and AIDS face widespread
discrimination and stigma, with even medical workers sometimes refusing to
touch them, according to a U.N. survey released on Friday.

China's Health Ministry and UNAIDS estimate that the country has between
97,000 and 112,000 people infected with AIDS.

But more than 40 percent of people surveyed in a new UNAIDS report said they
had been discriminated against because of their HIV status. More than
one-tenth said they had been refused medical care at least once.

Chinese AIDS activist Yu Xuan, talking at a news conference to unveil the
report, recounted the story of a friend who was refused an urgent operation
because of her HIV status, and who ended up dying as a result.

"I don't want people to have the kind of experiences I have had," said Yu,
who also has AIDS.

China has long faced a problem in tackling a disease which officials once
refused to acknowledge, and where for many people taboos surrounding sex
remain strong, limiting public or even private discussion.

Deputy Chinese Health Minister Huang Jeifu said the government would work
harder to address issues related to AIDS stigma and ignorance, but admitted
it would be difficult.

"The biggest obstacle is that there is not enough education or publicity
about AIDS. Society does not know enough about the disease, and people think
you can get it just from touch, talking, shaking hands or eating together,"
Huang said. "This is a huge problem."

The government will launch a video campaign to break the stigma of AIDS
featuring Chinese and NBA basketball star Yao Ming which will be shown on 20
large outdoor screens in 12 cities, but will likely have their work cut out.

The survey found that some children with infected parents but who were not
necessarily infected themselves had been forced to leave school.

"Many of the respondents knew who they could go to for support in addressing
discrimination and taking action against those that violate their rights,"
the report said.

"Unfortunately, the success rate when addressing problems encountered is
very low."

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard, Editing by Dean Yates)

*4*

*Sida : la prévention parmi les homosexuels "priorité absolue"**
**Le Monde*

27/11/2009

Les chiffres sur l'infection par le VIH en France, rendus publics par
l'Institut de veille sanitaire (InVS), ont confirmé l'urgence d'adapter la
prévention à la réalité de l'épidémie. C'est le sens du rapport sur les
"nouvelles méthodes de prévention" et les éventuelles modalités de mise en
place d'une prévention ciblée, que doivent rendre public, au ministère de la
santé, vendredi 27 novembre, France Lert, chercheuse à l'Inserm (Unité U687)
et le professeur Gilles Pialoux, chef du service des maladies infectieuses à
l'hôpital Tenon (Paris).

En 2008, l'InVS estime à 6 940 le nombre de personnes nouvellement
contaminées par le VIH en France. Soit, rapporté à la population âgée de 18
à 69 ans, un taux d'incidence global de 17 cas annuels pour 100 000
personnes.

Les hommes ayant des rapports homosexuels représentent la population la plus
touchée : 48 % des cas de nouvelles contaminations, avec un taux d'incidence
estimé à 1 000 cas pour 100 000 personnes. Ce taux est 200 fois supérieur à
celui observé dans la population hétérosexuelle (5 cas par an pour 100 000
personnes).

Chez les usagers de drogues par voie intraveineuse et chez les personnes
hétérosexuelles de nationalité étrangère, l'incidence est respectivement 18
fois et 9 fois supérieure à celle de la population hétérosexuelle française.

Le directeur général de la santé, Didier Houssin, avait demandé à France
Lert et à Gilles Pialoux un rapport sur les évolutions de la prévention de
la transmission du VIH. Dans le document qu'ils ont rédigé, celle-ci
constitue, en particulier, "une priorité absolue et urgente" chez les hommes
lors de rapports homosexuels.

Pour les auteurs, l'"objectif réaliste" n'est pas "d'éradiquer l'infection
VIH ni de réduire à zéro au niveau populationnel les risques d'être infecté
ou de transmettre le VIH". Le rapport s'inscrit plutôt dans "une approche de
réduction des risques". Cette "prévention combinée" a pour but d'"offrir à
chacun la possibilité d'utiliser plus de moyens, de s'appuyer sur un système
plus robuste et de se donner plus de chances d'être protégé et de protéger
les autres."

Le rapport se situe donc dans le droit fil de celui de la Haute Autorité de
santé, qui a recommandé un dépistage du virus du sida sur toute la
population française de 15 à 70 ans et la pratique d'un test tous les ans
pour les "groupes à risque" et la Guyane, territoire français le plus touché
par le VIH.

"SOCLE DE LA PRÉVENTION"

Tout en rappelant que le préservatif reste "le socle de la prévention", le
rapport Lert-Pialoux considère, comme avant lui le Conseil national du sida
(CNS), qu'un traitement rétroviral efficace (ART) réduit le risque de
transmission VIH. Ce concept du rôle préventif des traitements
antirétroviraux est à présent solidement fondé sur des études et est
suffisamment fort "pour constituer dès maintenant une information utile pour
les personnes séroconcernées."

Le rapport préconise la création de centres de santé sexuelle pour le public
des lesbiennes, gays, bisexuels et transsexuels (LGBT).

Eestimant que "les conflits qui ont stérilisé l'action publique ces
dernières années doivent être dépassés", le rapport Lert-Pialoux souhaite
"une répartition plus précise des rôles entre la Direction générale de la
santé (DGS) pour les orientations stratégiques et les aspects réglementaires
et l'Institut national de prévention et d'éducation à la santé (Inpes) pour
la diffusion et la mise en œuvre des recommandations".

De même, France Lert et le professeur Pialoux souhaitent la nomination d'un
responsable de la "santé sexuelle LGBT" au sein de l'INPES. Cette personne
favoriserait la coordination, ainsi que le lien et la dynamique entre les
experts scientifiques et associatifs.

Paul Benkimoun

*5*

*VIH/sida: MSF met l'accent sur le financement, MDM et Aides sur le
dépistage**
**AFP*

26/11/2009

PARIS — A la veille de la journée mondiale de lutte contre le sida du 1er
décembre, Médecins sans frontières (MSF) s'inquiète du "déficit de
financement" des programmes tandis que Médecins du Monde (MDM) et Aides
insistent sur la nécessité de faire évoluer l'offre de dépistage.

"Les équipes de MSF travaillant dans la prise en charge du VIH/sida
constatent un certain désengagement politique au niveau international, qui
se traduit principalement par un important déficit de financement", écrit
jeudi MSF.

"Dans certains pays, des patients sont d'ores et déjà renvoyés chez eux par
manque de traitements disponibles, pour les soignants, cette situation de
rationnement est insoutenable", poursuit MSF, ajoutant que "des traitements
plus efficaces et mieux tolérés, largement prescrits dans les pays
développés, ne sont toujours pas disponibles pour les patients du sud".

L'ONG médicale appelle de ses voeux une "diversification des sources de
financements" et salue des "initiatives innovantes" comme celle des
+communautés de brevets+ (patent pool) qui peuvent "permettre la mise au
point de nouveaux médicaments, moins chers et plus efficaces".

De leur côté, MDM et Aides soulignent que "l?épidémie évolue, l?offre de
dépistage doit évoluer aussi", souhaitant que l'utilisation de tests de
dépistage rapide (TDR) du VIH (résultat en 30 minutes à partir d'une goutte
de sang prélevée à la pointe du doigt) soit généralisée.

Actuellement l'utilisation des TDR doit entrer dans le cadre d?une recherche
biomédicale, limitant de ce fait les populations pouvant y avoir accès,
regrettent les deux ONG. "Les lieux d?accueil des associations, travaillant
au plus près des populations vulnérables", notamment les sans-papiers, "qui
ne se rendent pas dans les structures classiques de dépistage, pourraient
pourtant être des lieux adaptés pour proposer un TDR".

"Le TDR est un outil adapté aux populations les plus exposées ayant peu
accès aux dispositifs classiques et pour faire face aux situations
d?urgence, comme celle que connaît aujourd?hui la Guyane", qui enregistre le
taux de prévalence du VIH le plus élevé de France et se trouve en situation
d?épidémie généralisée selon l?OMS, ajoutent les deux ONG.

*========================*

* *

*LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN*

* *

*========================*

*'HELP PERSONS WITH HIV/AIDS FEEL LIKE A PART OF SOCIETY'**
**Jamaica Observer*

27/11/2009

Courtney Castello

CHIEF Medical Officer Dr Sheila Campbell-Forrester yesterday made an
impassioned plea for Jamaicans to fight the stigma which has been plaguing
persons living with HIV/AIDS.

"(For) too long Jamaicans have been caught up with the notion that persons
living with HIV/AIDS cannot make meaningful contributions to society, and
that they ought to be despised and avoided. Instead, we should play our part
in helping them to feel as if they are still part of our society," she said.

Campbell-Forrester was speaking at yesterday's health and wellness expo at
the Scientific Research Council in Hope Gardens, St Andrew, and sponsored
jointly by the council and the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the chief medical officer, HIV/AIDS discrimination headed a
list of six things she said individuals and the country as a whole needed to
effectively address. The others included healthy eating habits, the
promotion of health and wellness in the workplace, and the practice of
backyard farming.

"We ought to go back to the days when we planted most of what we eat in our
backyards and would eat most of what we plant in our backyards," she said.

Campbell-Forrester's sentiments about eating more locally produced foods
were shared by junior minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and
Commerce, Michael Stern.

"Jamaica can produce much more; if we produced more we wouldn't find
ourselves in this spot in this global recession," said Stern.

"Jamaica can earn much more through agriculture, much more than tourism and
bauxite," he added.

Several corporate entities had booths displaying various products at the
expo.

Cari-med used the occasion to promote safe sex and gave lessons on the
proper way of putting on a condom.

*2*

*Pacientes VIH/sida crecieron 7 veces en la última década**
**La Nación, Costa Rica*

27/11/2009

Luis Edo. Díaz | luisdiaz at nacion.com

Entre los años 1998 y 2008 aumentó siete veces la cantidad de personas que
recibieron tratamiento contra el VIH/sida.

Mientras en 1998 la Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) suministró
medicamentos contra el VIH/sida a 409 personas, una década después el total
de personas que recibieron tratamiento médico como portadores o enfermos de
sida fue de 2.886.

El dato, revelado por la Dirección de Farmacoepidemiología de la Caja, toma
en cuenta tanto a las personas con VIH (quienes solo portan el virus,
también conocidos como seropositivos) como a aquellos que desarrollaron la
enfermedad del sida (síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida).

Además, en la última década el índice de enfermos por ese padecimiento nunca
tuvo tendencia a la baja entre un año y otro.

De hecho, la transmisión del virus sigue en aumento: solo en el primer
semestre de este año la Caja tenía en lista a 3.160 personas que a diario
tenían que tomar medicamentos contra la enfermedad.

En el 2008 la Caja invirtió cerca de ¢2.200 millones en adquirir los
medicamentos para los pacientes seropositivos o con sida.

Pese a que el aumento en los tratamientos es significativo, la Caja estima
que las cifras sobre el sida no revelan la realidad del país respecto al
virus.

“Los datos, por supuesto, no toman en cuenta a aquellas personas que tienen
el virus y que todavía no lo saben”, explicó el infectólogo Ricardo Boza,
quien coordina la Clínica del Sida del Hospital San Juan de Dios.

Ese centro es uno de los seis en todo el país donde atienden de manera
prioritaria y especializada a los enfermos por VIH/sida.

Solo en el San Juan, el promedio de casos nuevos de portadores del virus es
de 10 por mes.

En números. Como parte de las acciones previas al Día Mundial del Sida, que
se conmemorará el próximo martes, la Clínica del Sida del San Juan de Dios
brindó datos que muestran “parte” de la realidad del país sobre la
enfermedad.

Según dijo el infectólogo Boza, la clínica atiende a 1.450 personas con
VIH/sida.

De ellos, el 75% ( 1.088 pacientes) son hombres y un 25% mujeres.

En el caso de los varones, la mitad (544) son heterosexuales; el resto
homosexuales.

De acuerdo con Boza, en cuanto a las mujeres que atiende la clínica, “no hay
que creer que la mayoría son trabajadoras del sexo, como se piensa a veces,
sino que son amas de casa que muy probablemente fueron infectadas por sus
esposos”.

En medio de la exposición de las cifras, el médico también tuvo noticias
alentadoras para el país.

Por ejemplo, dijo el galeno, en los dos últimos años no ha nacido un solo
bebé con sida tras el parto de una madre VHI/sida.

Otro cambio significativo en relación con el pasado reciente es que “en los
años 90 un paciente requería hasta 17 pastillas para tratarse el virus;
ahora solo requiere de tres”, explicó Boza. Esos medicamentos son la
zidovudina, la lamivudina y el efavirenz.

*3*

*A pesar de esfuerzos, aumentan número de personas con VIH en el Tolima**
**El Tiempo, Colombia*

27/11/2009

Pese a las campañas de sensibilización e información que la Secretaría de
Salud del departamento adelanta, el número de casos en lo corrido de 2009
iguala la cifra del año anterior.

En el 2008 el número de afectados fue 90. En el 2009, con corte a 15 de
noviembre, se contabilizan 87.

Estas cifras se dan sin contar con el sub registro, que según fuentes
consultadas por EL TIEMPO, podrían llegar a los 3 mil casos.

Una de las mayores dificultades, cuando el próximo martes se conmemora el
Día Internacional de la lucha contra el Sida, sigue siendo que las personas
continúan creyendo que esa enfermedad es un tema de cierto sector de la
población.

"Tenemos que tomar conciencia de que el VIH Sida nos toca a todos, aquí no
hay distingo de raza, credo, condición sexual ni socioeconómica", advierte
Melba Ortiz Santos, coordinadora del programa de salud sexual y reproductiva
de la Secretaría de Salud del Tolima.

Uno de los múltiples problemas que enfrenta una persona que vive con VIH
está relacionado con el empleo, la parte médica, el tratamiento integral y
oportuno que debe recibir el individuo y el apoyo psicosocial que en muchos
de los casos no se brinda de manera adecuada por parte de las EPS.

Estigmatizados

La estigmatización o señalamiento de la sociedad, sigue siendo uno de los
problemas a los que se enfrentan las personas que viven con el VIH.

"Si aceptáramos, sin señalar con el dedo a las personas contagiadas y si
todos estuviéramos bien informados de lo que es la enfermedad, la
estigmatización tendría que desaparecer, lo que debe prevalecer es el
respeto por el otro", señala Jesús Antonio Fino Vidales, miembro de la
alianza tolimense de organizaciones que trabaja en VIH.

María Claudia (nombre ficticio) es una madre de familia que hace parte de un
grupo de 25 mujeres portadoras de la enfermedad.

Para ella la vida continúa a pesar de las dificultades.

"Enfrentar el tema del estigma y la manera como nos apartan las personas, es
lo más difícil, pero hay que levantarse y continuar viviendo porque la vida
no termina aquí, me gustaría que la gente entendiera que mis derechos no
terminan en el diagnóstico ni en la confirmación", afirma.

Secretaría de salud afirma que cifras preocupan

De acuerdo con cifras otorgadas por la Secretaría de salud del Tolima el 70
por ciento de las personas que viven con VIH en el departamento corresponden
al sexo masculino y el 30 por ciento restante a mujeres.

En cuanto a las edades el mayor porcentaje de personas que viven con la
enfermedad está entre los 15 y 44 años, grupo del cual la cartera de salud
del Tolima cuenta con 71 casos.

Entre las personas de 45 a 59 años de edad el reporte a 15 de noviembre de
2009 señala 21 casos. Los municipios con más casos son Ibagué con 57, Honda
con 5 y Melgar con 4.

*4*

*Desigualdade de gênero ainda é um dos principais fatores de infecção pelo
HIV em mulheres jovens, acreditam ativistas**
**Agência Aids, Brazil*

26/11/2009

Para a pesquisadora da Secretaria de Estado da Saúde de São Paulo e membro
do Instituto Cultural Barong, Regina Figueiredo, por motivos culturais a
sociedade evita passar informações sobre sexo para adolescentes. “A
principal preocupação delas é a gravidez”, disse.

Um segundo fator apontado por ela, também cultural, é a confiança das
mulheres no parceiro. “As meninas, quando iniciam a vida sexual, geralmente
usam o preservativo, mas logo quando começam a namorar já negociam com o não
uso da camisinha. Ou seja, os dois sexos são vulneráveis, porém os meninos
acabam se relacionando com mais de uma jovem, por isso o número maior em
mulheres infectadas”, explica Figueiredo.

”Outro ponto importante é incluir a sexualidade como uma das disciplinas nas
escolas. O programa SPE (Saúde e Prevenção nas Escolas) é do governo
federal, mas as escolas são dos Estados e Municípios, por isso nem todas
aderiram ao programa. Na pesquisa que realizei, pude observar que em São
Paulo o SPE atinge apenas 43% das escolas”, disse Regina Figueiredo.

Micaela Carolina Cyrino da Rede Nacional de Adolescentes e Jovens Vivendo
com HIV/AIDS (RNAJVHA) também acredita em fatores culturais. “As meninas
depositam muita confiança no parceiro e as mulheres sempre foram
desvalorizadas perante os homens na decisão de escolha de usar o
preservativo ou até mesmo se querem ou não fazer sexo”, disse.

Para ela, o Brasil precisa realizar um trabalho de prevenção que vá além da
questão do preservativo. “É preciso promover mais a confiança e autonomia
das mulheres, além do uso do preservativo feminino”, destacou a ativista.

A tendência crescimento do número de mulheres infectadas também foi
destacada no relatório do Programa das Nações Unidas para HIV e AIDS
(UnAids), divulgado ontem. Ele mostra que dos 2,7 milhões de novos casos da
doença estimados para 2008, 48% foram em mulheres.

Rodrigo Vasconcellos e Talita Martins

*========================*

*NORTH AMERICA*

*========================*

*What’s Your Underlying Condition?  (Op-Ed)**
**New York Times*

26/11/2009

By JEROME GROOPMAN and PAMELA HARTZBAND

Boston

ONE of the profound mysteries of medicine is why in the midst of an epidemic
some people become severely ill and die while others remain unscathed.

During the great plagues of past centuries, like the Black Death, smallpox
and yellow fever, the answer was often cast in religious terms: survival was
a miracle and succumbing was a punishment. During this influenza pandemic of
H1N1, doctors and health officials invoke “underlying conditions.” This
phrase, now so ubiquitous in news reports, is rightly understood to mean
concurrent medical problems like diabetes and lung disease. But such
underlying conditions are only part of the mystery of why this flu is so
mild for some and so serious for others.

When faced with a new infectious outbreak, clinicians treat the sick while
epidemiologists collect data on their characteristics: their age, gender,
ethnic background, medical history, current medications and social factors
like where they traveled and whom they contacted. Early in the H1N1
epidemic, health experts had an advantage in identifying risk factors for
severe disease because past cases of seasonal influenza proved, in part, to
be prologue. Familiar predisposing conditions like chronic lung disease,
diabetes, heart trouble, immunosuppressive disorders and pregnancy were
present in many early deaths.

With that knowledge, health officials tried to help the public find the
midpoint between complacency and panic. But they were somewhat hamstrung in
providing details about individual deaths in order to protect the
confidentiality of patients and families; so in many instances, officials
resorted to using that general phrase underlying conditions as an
explanation. The result was that people who had such conditions
appropriately felt increased concern while those without them felt a greater
level of comfort.

But over the past weeks, the first scientific papers have been published in
prominent medical journals detailing the demographics and medical histories
of hundreds of patients who required hospitalization and, in many instances,
died. These reports came not only from the United States but also Mexico,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and expanded on the initial data released
by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization over
the summer.

According to these reports, many of the patients who became very ill with
H1N1 did, in fact, have the same underlying conditions as those who often
develop severe seasonal flu. But these reports pointed to some important
differences between the viruses.

First, the early impression of many clinicians was confirmed: seasonal flu
is typically harder on the elderly; H1N1 severely hits children and young
adults. What’s more, the W.H.O. suggests that H1N1 may be more contagious
than seasonal flu, infecting as many as 22 percent to 33 percent of contacts
as opposed to 5 percent to 15 percent for seasonal flu.

Epidemiologists also found unexpected correlations between severe H1N1 flu
and problems like obesity, hypertension and increased blood lipids. In
Australia and New Zealand, aboriginal and Maori peoples were
disproportionately stricken — as were Native American and Inuit populations
in Canada. These associations had not been prominent in past flu outbreaks.

We also learned that in the United States, more than 25 percent of all those
hospitalized seem to have had no major underlying conditions. According to a
C.D.C. report in September, 12 of the 36 American children who died of H1N1
by early August appear to have been completely healthy before contracting
the flu.

How, then, can we explain the striking differences in outcome after exposure
of apparently healthy people to the H1N1 virus, ranging from no infection to
a mild respiratory illness to death?

Insight may be gained from another recent and deadly outbreak, the H.I.V.
epidemic. We learned important lessons from AIDS by moving from bedside
observation to laboratory investigation, as epidemiologists and clinicians
worked closely with basic scientists. As the virus spread, individuals were
identified who did not become infected despite significant exposure to
H.I.V. Even more curious were so-called elite controllers, those who became
infected but remained healthy for decades with no evidence of decline in
immunity.

H.I.V., like many other viruses, has proteins and sugars on its surface that
allow it to attach to human cells at specific docking sites called
receptors. Harnessing the power of modern molecular biology, researchers
found that some people who were amply exposed to H.I.V. yet did not become
infected had a genetic difference in their receptors that prevented the
virus from effectively attaching and entering their cells.

This discovery led to a new drug to treat those with AIDS who did not have
this genetic advantage, protecting yet uninfected cells from the virus. And
those who have carried H.I.V. for years with no apparent effects are still
being intensively studied by scientists; these elite controllers may have
cadres of certain immune cells that restrain the deadly pathogen. Unraveling
the mysteries of the unscathed could lead to still more novel therapies.

A similar strategy of studying the genetics, receptors and immune response
of people who appear to resist infection versus those who rapidly succumb is
being applied to other deadly pathogens like hepatitis C, and is clearly
applicable to influenza as well. There are, in fact, initial findings from
researchers in Europe and Japan showing that the new virus can attach not
only to receptors that bind seasonal flu, but also to other receptors deep
in the lungs. Genetic differences in these other receptors could account for
severe respiratory illness in some H1N1 cases.

In an epidemic, each one of us wants to know our personal risk for illness.
The current definition of underlying conditions communicates only a level of
increased risk, not individual susceptibility. For the first time in
history, though, scientists are poised to redefine underlying conditions in
a more profound way based on individual immune response. Deep in our genes,
there may very well be another underlying condition that determines in part
whether a virus will cause us mild or no disease, or severe illness and
death.

Jerome Groopman, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and Pamela Hartzband are
attending physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and professors
at Harvard Medical School.

*A version of this article appeared in print on November 27, 2009, on page
A39 of the New York edition.*

*3*

*Timely and Continuous HIV Care Extends Survival**
**ABC News*

26/11/2009

By Megan Brooks

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In people infected with human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV), the virus that causes AIDS, high-risk behavior, HIV infection
itself, as well as late initiation and early discontinuation of anti-HIV
therapy all contribute to substantial decreases in life expectancy, United
States researchers report.

Using a comprehensive computer model of HIV disease, the researchers
simulated cohorts of HIV-infected individuals and compared them with
uninfected individuals who had similar demographic characteristics.

"We estimated that for people in the United States living without HIV, life
expectancy beginning at age 33 is an additional 43 years," first author Dr.
Elena Losina, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, told Reuters
Health."High risk behavior, such as substance abuse, on average, accounts
for an 8 year reduction in life expectancy," Losina added.HIV infection
itself reduces life expectancy by an additional 12 years and a late start or
premature discontinuation of HIV treatment further reduces life expectancy
to a total of 23 years, she and colleagues report in the journal Clinical
Infectious Diseases.

"The current therapy for HIV is very effective," Losina commented, "but
unless HIV-infected patients initiate treatment on time and stay on
treatment, the treatment benefits would be truncated substantially."

Minorities, especially minority women, tend to initiate therapy later and
are more likely to drop off from care, and this "leads to disproportional
losses in life expectancy in these population groups," she said.

"There is a critical need for people with HIV to begin care in a timely way
and to remain in care," senior investigator Dr. Kenneth A. Freedberg, also
from the Massachusetts General Hospital, said in a statement. "HIV testing
for all adults in the United States, as currently recommended, with
effective linkage to care, will have important survival benefits."

*SOURCE: Clinical Infectious Diseases, November 15, 2009.*

*5*

*Commonwealth leaders gather amid uproar over human rights, AIDS**
**Ottawa Citizen*

26/11/2009

By Chris Cobb

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago — Prime Minister Patrick Manning of
Trinidad and Tobago, who plays host to a meeting of Commonwealth leader
beginning here Friday, drew furious criticism Thursday when he dismissed
human rights as domestic issues that have no place on the summit agenda.

At meetings ahead of the summit, human rights groups have been urging the
leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, to pressure Uganda to drop
proposed legislation that calls for the execution of HIV-infected gays and
lesbians and to sanction President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia for threatening to
kill human-rights activists in his country.

"Individual countries have their own positions on these matters," Manning
said, "but it doesn't form part of our agenda. It need not detain us."

The prime minister's statements were especially controversial because he
will be Commonwealth chairman for the next two years.

Canadian HIV-AIDS activist Stephen Lewis, who was in Port of Spain earlier
in the week to protest the Ugandan bill, called Manning's comments "a
terrible error in judgment." But he said he expects other Commonwealth
leaders, including Harper, to pressure President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda
to drop the bill.

"I fully expect this to be raised in the corridors outside the meeting," he
said, "but Manning has his own sodomy laws in place so he won't countenance
a discussion."

The proposed private member's bill, which opponents say has Museveni's tacit
approval, proposes execution for gays and lesbians who have sex and makes it
mandatory for all Ugandans, including family and friends, to report this
sexual activity to authorities within 24 hours.

Lewis calls the bill an Orwellian proposal that will demonize homosexuality,
intensify the stigma suffered by all AIDS sufferers in Africa and drive gay
men and women underground.

"It will diminish dramatically the prospect of counselling and testing to
establish HIV status," he added, "and to make it virtually impossible to
reach homosexuals with the knowledge and education and condoms that prevent
the spread of AIDS."

Gambia's Jammeh has pulled out of the Trinidad summit, apparently because of
the controversy surrounding his recent threats to kill human rights
activists.

Maja Daruwala, executive director of the Commonwealth Human Rights
Initiative, said Manning's dismissal of the Ugandan and Gambian complaints
was misguided.

"It's a great pity that the leader of a country with a good record on human
rights would miss the opportunity to show real leadership," she said. "As
the new chairman of the Commonwealth, he has failed an early test. It is not
only disappointing but against all Commonwealth principles. He is dismissing
the cries of ordinary citizens who are asking their leaders for basic human
rights."

Royal Commonwealth Society director Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, who released
a critical report about the Commonwealth's effectiveness here on Thursday,
said he was shocked to hear Manning's remarks.

"The Commonwealth is about shared values and principles everyone has signed
on to," he said, "so if they can't be discussed here, then where? If a
member state falls short you either help them or sanction them in some way.
If the Commonwealth stops being about that, we've lost another leg of the
Commonwealth stool."

Manning made his comments during a brief 20-minute news conference with
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, who interjected in a clear
attempt to soften the prime minister's remarks.

"A lot of Commonwealth voices (on these issues) have been raised," said
Sharma. "But one point is clear: Respect for human rights is a core value.
We are in discussion with the Gambian side. As far as Uganda is concerned,
this is . . . before their parliament and I'm hopeful that the various
voices raised when this is debated will bring forward all the issues of
discrimination and vulnerability. We must show our faith that this process
will deliver the appropriate result."

Harper arrived here Thursday evening ahead of Friday's opening ceremony at
Trinidad's new National Academy for the Performing Arts. He will have a
short, private audience with Queen Elizabeth before heading into a special
closed-door leaders' meeting on climate change.

Meanwhile the Harper government continues to anger climate change activists
with Greenpeace and other members of a coalition now demanding Canada's
suspension from the Commonwealth.

The group said Thursday that although Harper has now decided to attend a
major climate change Copenhagen conference next month, "he has made it quite
clear that Canada will not be a leader on climate change."
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