An end to AIDS is within our reach

via The Washington Post, by Desmond Tutu

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month has demonstrated that antiretroviral treatment can prevent the spread of HIV, in addition to saving those infected from sickness and death.

Armed with this new data, President Obama should lead the world in a massive effort to expand access to treatment and rid humanity of AIDS — the most devastating disease of our time.

But just as the end of AIDS has finally come within reach, we are witnessing an unprecedented drop in financial and political support for the cause.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in August that donor funding for HIV/AIDS leveled in 2009 and then declined — 10 percent — in 2010 for the first time ever. The United States, which accounts for more than half of global contributions to fight the disease, disbursed $700 million less in 2010 than in 2009. And projected U.S. funding in 2011 is roughly $28 million less than in 2010.

This is a great shame, as millions of people receiving treatment worldwide depend on these funds to stay alive.

Our support should be increasing. AIDS remains the leading cause of orphanhood and of death among women of reproductive age. It is a major driver of opportunistic infections — particularly tuberculosis — and keeps tens of millions of Africans mired in poverty.

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[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

“In it to save lives”

Via Science Speaks, by Meredith Mazzotta.

To the sound of a ticking metronome, Dr. Caroline Ryan of the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator gave an update on the scale up of voluntary medical male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa Wednesday morning at the premiere of the new short film “In It to Save Lives: Scaling Up Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention for Maximum Public Health Impact.”

The metronome was timed to tick once for each of the five new HIV infections that occur every minute worldwide, 3.5 of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa, Ryan said. During her ten-minute talk, fifty people around the world became infected, and of the 35 infections that would occur among those in sub-Saharan Africa, 12 could be averted through the scale up of voluntary medical male circumcision (MC), she said at the end of her presentation.

Clinical trials have shown MC to provide men 60 percent more protection from acquisition of HIV through vaginal sex than their uncircumcised counterparts. The one-time, relatively simple procedure is inexpensive and cost-effective, and governments in sub-Saharan Africa are encouraging men to get the procedure by offering it for free or very little cost with the help of funding from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other programs.

Dr. Caroline Ryan of the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator gives the opening remarks at Tuesday's premiere of the film "In It to Save Lives."

Dr. Ryan joined with other HIV/AIDS experts at the panel discussion and premiere of the film, produced by AIDSTAR-One with support from PEPFAR, which tells the story of how Kenya and Swaziland are turning the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic by embracing voluntary medical MC as prevention. Scale up was especially tricky in Kenya’s Nyanza province where Luo elders, the “custodians of culture” in the province, had to be convinced that the procedure was of benefit to its people. According to the film, assuring the elders that the procedure was voluntary was key to winning their approval.

Read the rest here.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

30 Years: Epidemic to Pandemic

by Aldona Martinka

This Sunday was the thirtieth anniversary of the CDC report that would become the first mention of HIV/AIDS. IRMA is commemorating this with a short series on AIDS history. It will explore where we began, where we are now, and where we are going as we continue to battle this disease with hope and determination. This is part three of five.

Today everyone realizes that AIDS is a global issue, from the First World to the Third World. In 1999, AIDS became the fourth most common cause of death in the world. To the average American, however, AIDS as a global issue did not seem so important until the turn of the century. The United Nations began to hold increasingly frequent meetings to discuss HIV/AIDS-related issues, and American politicians and activists began to turn their gaze outward.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was launched in 1996, and by 2000 the UN was a vital player in the global fight against the disease. In that year alone the UN, the WHO, and UNAIDS worked to negotiate pharmaceutical prices for HIV/AIDS drugs in the developing world, the UN Security Council met regarding AIDS and its effects on peace/security in Africa, and the UN announced its Millennium Development Goals. The same year the G8 met and announced a need for more resources to battle the pandemic. The UN would, in the next few years, hold its first Special Session on AIDS (reviewed in 2005), launch the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, and continue to reinforce its commitment to providing prevention and treatment options for HIV/AIDS worldwide.

The United States also began fighting AIDS on a global scale during this time. In 200 President Clinton announced his administration’s Millennium Vaccine Initiative, declared HIV a national security threat, and issued an executive order to aid developing countries in producing and importing generic treatments for HIV/AIDS. He and his legacy would continue to work to provide these drugs at a low cost to developing countries worldwide for years to come. In 2001, the Bush administration vowed to continue a commitment to fighting AIDS both nationally and globally. The CDC created a plan to halve US infections within five years. Early in 2003, President Bush announced the creation of the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a five year plan devoting $15 billion dollars to fight AIDS internationally. This was, and continues to be, the largest commitment by any country to combat HIV/AIDS. The first $350 million was authorized the next year.

The US, the UN, the G8, international projects such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, countless other organizations, have continued to fight for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and as the 31st year of AIDS begins there is a renewed energy to this battle.

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

Sex Work, Criminalization, and HIV: Lessons from Advocacy History

via San Francisco AIDS Foundation's BETA,  by Anna Forbes

Sex workers are frequently omitted from discussions about the links between criminalization, marginaliza­tion, and increased HIV transmission. We talk a lot about the effects of this dynamic on men who have sex with men, injection drug users, and peo­ple living with HIV—as we certainly should—but not about sex workers. Why is this group not like the others?

Read the rest.


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

World AIDS Day 2010 Universal Access & Human Rights - A Global Health Community Statement

 [IRMA is a signatory on this statement]

Open publication - Free publishing - More IRMA

[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]

PEPFAR and USAID Advance Support for Female Condoms

An update on advocacy successes from the Center for Health and Gender Equality (CHANGE)

PEPFAR’s recently released Fiscal Year 2011 Country Operational Plan Guidance includes female condoms in its guidance appendices, which are used in the field by U.S. embassies to guide program planning. This is the first time that female condoms have featured so prominently in any PEPFAR guidance document. This guidance is significant because it helps explain technical requirements, best practices, and what program managers should consider to align with U.S. Congressional and Administrative requirements and policies.

USAID has also shown signs of increased support for female condoms. USAID  is hiring for a new position: Senior Condom Programming Advisor. This person will be housed within the Office of HIV/AIDS and will serve as a focal point for female and male condom programming for HIV prevention within PEPFAR. This is great news, and again is a testament that our advocacy to increase U.S. support for female condoms and comprehensive prevention is paying off. For more information about female condoms and U.S. support for female condoms, see the Prevention Now Campaign’s fact sheet on female condoms.

Continuing our work to educate the U.S. and global advocacy communities, researchers, and donors about the importance of female condoms for prevention of HIV and unintended pregnancy and the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights, CHANGE joined with partners at AIDS Foundation of Chicago, PATH, and AVAC to hold a strategy call on future female condom products, such as the PATH Woman’s Condom that is undergoing clinical trials. “Female Condoms of Today and Tomorrow: Strategy Call on Products and Research and Development (R&D) Advocacy” drew an audience of about 70 NGO leaders, researchers, funders, and U.S. government officials, who contributed to a lively discussion on how to move this advocacy agenda forward.

Read the notes from the call


[If an item is not written by an IRMA member, it should not be construed that IRMA has taken a position on the article's content, whether in support or in opposition.]