HIV and AIDS
HIV and AIDS
Launch of the Rome Statement for an HIV Cure
Members of the Advisory Board for a global scientific strategy “Towards an HIV Cure” today launched the Rome Statement for an HIV Cure calling for an acceleration of HIV cure research. The announcement was made at the 6th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2011) currently being held in Rome.
Recent scientific advances in HIV research have led to a re-emergence of interest and optimism in prospects of at least a functional cure for HIV. The development of a functional cure which, without completely eliminating the virus from the body, would permanently suppress its replication and considerably diminish viral reservoirs, possibly leading to the long-term remission of patients.
Under the auspices of the International AIDS Society, a group of internationally recognized scientists and stakeholders is guiding the development of a global scientific strategy “Towards an HIV Cure”. The strategy aims at building a global consensus on the state of HIV reservoirs research and defining scientific priorities that need to be addressed by future research to tackle HIV persistence in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy. The strategy will be presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) which will be held in Washington DC from 22-27 July 2012. (1)
The International Scientific Working Group is co-chaired by Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, IAS President-Elect and 2008 Nobel Laureate for Medicine, and Professor Steve Deeks, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Positive Health Program (AIDS Program) at San Francisco General Hospital. The working group works closely with an advisory board composed of leading advocates and major research stakeholders in HIV cure, including representatives of people living with HIV and funders and clinicians from high prevalence settings. The Advisory Board is co-chaired by Prof. Barré-Sinoussi and Dr. Jack Whitescarver, Associate Director for AIDS Research and Director of the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health.
“While there is certainly a high level of interest being expressed about finding a functional HIV cure (2), it can only be achieved through an increased and concerted international effort engaging not only the scientific community but all stakeholders involved in the HIV/AIDS response and global health,” said Professor Barré-Sinoussi.
“Partnership and collaboration are critical to the efforts to find an HIV cure,” said Dr. Whitescarver. “We need not only the finest minds but the very best in scientific alliances.”
Today’s Rome Statement for an HIV Cure lists the following three key objectives:
- recognizing the importance of developing a safe, accessible and scalable HIV cure as a therapeutic and preventive strategy against HIV infection and to help control the AIDS epidemic.
- committing to stimulating international and multidisciplinary research collaborations in the field of HIV cure research.
- encouraging other stakeholders, international leaders and organizations to contribute to accelerating HIV cure research through their own initiatives and/or by endorsing this statement and supporting the alliance that the Advisory Board is building.
Individuals and organisations wishing to sign the statement can do so by clicking here.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
(1) For a complete list of Towards an HIV Cure Advisory Board and Working group members www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=559
(2) Functional cure some HIV genetic material remains in the body, but the patient’s immune defence fully controls any viral rebound, allowing patients to be free of antiretroviral treatment; Sterilizing cure no HIV genetic material can be found in the body, HIV infection is eradicated. Given the nature of HIV - a retrovirus infecting the host immune system – and current knowledge and tools, a functional cure is more likely to be achieved.
About the signatories:
amfAR:
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of sound AIDS-related public policy. Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $325 million in its programs and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide.
ANRS:
The Anrs (National Agency for Research on AIDS and Viral Hepatitis) is the leading organization for research on the HIV/AIDS and hepatitis epidemics in France, and a leader in the fight against these diseases in limited resource settings. In 2009, the Anrs had a budget of 44 million euros (62 million US dollars) from the French government, over 95% of which was allotted to research projects.
EATG:
EATG is a community organisation that promotes the interests of people living with HIV/AIDS. EATG’s mission is to achieve the fastest possible access to state of the art medical products, devices and diagnostic tests that prevent or treat HIV infection, and to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS in Europe.
IAS:
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, with 16,000 members from 196 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. Our members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The IAS is the host of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention held in Rome July 17-20, 2011. The IAS is also the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Washington D.C., USA, from 22 to 27 July 2012.
ITPC:
ITPC is the only international coalition of people living with HIV/AIDS and their supporters solely devoted to advocacy on HIV/AIDS treatment access. It is a broad coalition of people working in and for the community in their own countries and with strong expertise in HIV/AIDS treatment and related issues. As a community voice, it has been successful in communicating the concerns of people living with HIV/AIDS who need treatment to governments, United Nations agencies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other public and private bodies that influence the progress of the establishment, scale-up and sustainability of HIV/AIDS treatment programme.
NIH:
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical, behavioral and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
Sidaction:
Sidaction, a France-based NGO, is a diverse coalition of individuals and organizations from France and from developing countries. Dedicated to fundraising, advocacy, and technical assistance to fight HIV/AIDS in France and in 29 low and middle income countries, Sidaction raises private funds to promote cutting-edge scientific research and to improve access to prevention, care, treatment, and support programs.
TAG:
The Treatment Action Group is an independent AIDS research and policy think tank fighting for better treatment, a vaccine, and a cure for AIDS. TAG works to ensure that all people with hiv receive lifesaving treatment, care, and information.
Further information:
In Rome: Onsite Media Centre Landline No. +39 0680241 756
International media:
Lindsey Rodger
lindsey.rodger@iasociety.org
Michael Kessler
mkessler@ya.com
+39 348 686 8417
Italian media:
Andrea Tomasini
tomasini39@hotmail.com
+39 329 263 4619
To view other NGO press releases, visit: www.ngopulse.org/group/home-page/pressreleases
.Date published:18/07/2011Organisation:International AIDS SocietyMandatory Testing for HIV/AIDS: Treatment as Prevention - Two Sides of the Same Coin
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF), an international independent medical humanitarian organisation, and SHAWCO Health UCT, a dynamic, innovative and passionate student-run organisation based in CapeTown, have partnered to bring a high level debate that will engender critical thinking on health-related issues in and around the region.
Join in the discussion on 5 May 2011 (18h00 - 20h00) in Cape Town as the following panel engage on the issue of mandatory testing for HIV/AIDS:- Dr Gilles Van Custem, Medical Doctor at MSF working in Khayelitsha;
- Pholokgolo Ramothwala, Journalist, HIV/AIDS Activist and Director at Positive Conventions;
- Pofessor Leslie London, Director of School of Public Health and Family Medicine, UCT;
- Dr Janet Giddy, Medical Doctor.
Tel: 011 403 4440
Cell: 072 110 5406
E-mail: programme.officer@joburg.msf.org
www.msf.org.za
www.shawco.orgEvent type:SeminarEvent venue:New Learning Centre, Medical School, University of Cape Town, Cape TownEvent start date:05/05/2011Ugandan NGO Opposes AIDS Bill
Members of civil society and security organisations want the Ugandan Parliament to two sections of the controversial HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Bill, which seeks to criminalise a person who attempts or intentionally pass on HIV to another person.
The Northern Regional Prisons Commander, Alfred Okullu, warns that it will not be easy to prove that one has intentionally transmitted HIV/AIDS to another person.
"More resources should be invested in behavioural change in the fight against HIV/AIDS," explains Okullu.
To read the article titled, “Gulu NGOs oppose HIV bill,” click here.Source:All AfricaNGOs Slam People Who Steal ARVs
Stealing antiretrovirals (ARVs) is murder, according to the National Association of People Living with HIV and AIDS (NAPWA).
In a press statement, NAPWA secretary-general, Nkululeko Nxesi, points out that, “The lives of many people who are HIV positive depend on ARVs. Therefore those people who are selling ARVs... for recreational use are killing innocent people.”
Nxesi also called for better security in the public health system.
In the same vein, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), spokesperson, Caroline Nenguke, states that people who steal antiretrovirals are ‘very cruel’. “Stealing them is robbing people of their right to health care and life,” explains Nenguke.
To read the article titled, “Stealing ARVS is murder: NAPWA’” click here.
Source:The CitizenThreat of a Perfect Storm – AIDS and a Fresh Food Crisis
In November, the Food and Agriculture Organisation was just one of many voices warning that food prices have risen to levels last seen at the start of the 2007-2008 crisis. A majority of the countries most exposed to a repeat of that problem are in Africa, where vulnerability to food security is exacerbated by AIDS. “We are in a situation where generally food prices have gone down… but as the global recovery comes into place, we could as well see prices rise again,” says Scott Drimie, a research fellow with the International Food Policy Research Institute (FPRI). According to the World Food Programme, 22 of the 30 high risk countries in need of external food assistance are in sub-Saharan Africa, many of which struggling with serious AIDS epidemics. “When food prices are putting nutritious food out of reach of people living with HIV and AIDS, it becomes an immediate crisis,” adds Drimie. The AIDS pandemic confronts individuals, households and communities with multiple social, economic, environmental and health stresses that threaten their livelihoods. For ten years, IFPRI’s Regional Network on AIDS, Livelihoods and Food Security (RENEWAL) has been studying the vulnerability of people living with HIV and AIDS in East and Southern Africa. Sam Bota, RENEWAL coordinator in Malawi, says the first impact of AIDS is a direct loss of labour. “A national census report (in Malawi) clearly shows that a high percentage of farmers spend a lot of time nursing sick relatives. And after the death, they lose a lot of time – sometimes as long as 20 days for the funeral – all that is a loss of productive time.” Across the region, climatic changes are confronting stressed households with additional uncertainties over the timing and frequency of rain, often reducing yields or pushing farmers to switch to new and initially unfamiliar crops. AIDS is also claiming key people who could be part of easing these transitions, addressing labour shortages, and maintaining resilience in adverse conditions. Studies in Malawi and neighbouring Zambia have shown how agriculture extension services have been impacted by HIV; cascading to food security. In Malawi, there is a 46 percent vacancy rate of extension workers due to AIDS-related deaths. The loss of these knowledgeable people has huge implications for farmer productivity, says Bota. Members of households slipping into food and income insecurity risk entering a dangerous cycle. “Sudden increases in food insecurity can lead to distress migration as people search for food and work,” RENEWAL director Stuart Gillespie wrote during the 2008 food crisis. “Mobility is a marker of enhanced risk of HIV exposure, both for the person moving, and for adults who may remain at home.” Children may be taken out of school to work – at once put at higher risk of exposure to HIV in the work world, and missing out on an education that could lower their chances of eventually contracting AIDS. Food insecurity is also linked to higher levels of unprotected transactional sex for poor women. The recommended actions call for going beyond short-term food aid for example, to make meaningful connections between the agriculture and health sectors. The recommended actions call for going beyond short-term food aid for example, to make meaningful connections between the agriculture and health sectors. “We have people that have no access to resources to produce food,” says Robert Ochai of Uganda’s AIDS Support Organisation. “Those people should not be left there to suffer. We should access land and financial loans for them make a change in their lives. “We also need to change land policies which allow people to access land, so there is action for government, development partners and at individual level.” - Written by Davison Mudzingwa of the Inter Press Service (IPS). This article is republished here with the permission of IPS.Author(s):Davison Mudzingwa4.6m South Africans Took HIV Test – Motlanthe
More than 4.6 million South Africans took an HIV test since April, according to Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe.
Speaking at a World AIDS Day event in Mkhondo, Mpumalanga, Motlanthe pointed out that of this number, 800 000 (17 percent) tested positive for HIV.
He explains: "It means that friends, colleagues and families should talk about HIV in their workplaces, homes and communities, and take appropriate action to care for those infected and affected."
To read the article titled, “Motlanthe commemorates World AIDS Day,” click here.Source:Mail&GuardianUNICEF Report Focuses on Children and AIDS
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says a generation of babies could be born free of AIDS if the international community step up efforts to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and social protection.
In its report entitled ‘Children and AIDS: Fifth Stocktaking Report 2010’, UNICEF found that millions of women and children, particularly in poor countries, fall through the cracks of HIV services either due to their gender, social or economic status, location or education.
The organisation states that while children have benefited from substantial progress made in the fight against AIDS, more must be done to ensure all women and children get access to the medicines and health services designed to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission.
To read the article titled, “UNICEF says HIV-free generation achievable,” click here.Source:Mail&GuardianLove in the Time of AIDS
In some parts of South Africa, more than one in three people are HIV positive. ‘Love in the Time of AIDS’ explores transformations in notions of gender and intimacy to try to understand the roots of this virulent epidemic. By living in an informal settlement and collecting love letters, cell phone text messages, oral histories, and archival materials, Mark Hunter details the everyday social inequalities that have resulted in untimely deaths. Hunter shows how first apartheid and then chronic unemployment have become entangled with ideas about femininity, masculinity, love, and sex and have created an economy of exchange that perpetuates the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This sobering ethnography challenges conventional understandings of HIV/AIDS in South Africa.
For more information or to order the book at a cost of R220, click here.
Financing the Long-term Costs of HIV/AIDS in South Africa
“Now is the time to continue the expansion of the South African response to HIV/AIDS”
South Africa is facing a major and mounting financial challenge as it strives to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. South Africa has 5.7 million people currently infected with the HIV virus, the largest number in the world, and half a million adults and children are becoming newly infected each year (UNAIDS, 2009).
The South African government has made important strides in the expansion of the prevention efforts and the ARV treatment programme, with over 1 million people now on the public treatment programme. The government has progressively allocated new resources to fund the response to HIV/AIDS in the 2009/10–2011/12 medium term period through conditional grants and equitable share allocations. In addition, donors (external development partners) and certain businesses have made important contributions to the response.
Despite these achievements, the national HIV prevalence remains around 17% and new infections continue to occur. With expanded prevention efforts, including male circumcision, the National Strategic Plan (NSP) target of halving new infections can be achieved from 400,000 per annum currently to 200,000 new infections annually by 2020. The HIV prevalence rate should reduce to around 10%. However, this means increasing numbers of people will be requiring treatment in the coming years, between 2.5 and 3 million patients by 2020. A growing proportion of these patients will access ARVs through the private sector, but the largest portion will remain dependent upon the free public service.
Currently the country is spending close to R20 billion annually (including public, external and private sector contributions), in total on HIV/AIDS. This includes the social mitigation and research activities, as well as the treatment and prevention activities. It is estimated that the expanded response required for an impact on prevalence and new infections, will cost an increasing amount to almost double by 2020 per annum (R39billion) in total. The public antiretroviral therapy (ART)programme will increase from around R9 billion currently to R15 billion by 2020, or less with the recent reduced tender prices for ARVs. Other treatment services, such as palliative care and home based care will also need to be provided and these and others will cost another R7 billion in 2020, while mitigation efforts must also be maintained and could cost around R6 billion. The necessary prevention activities will require around R10 billion.
The good news is that if South Africa can continue to expand its response over the next 10 years, then all these efforts will reduce the new infections and prevalence rates, and after 2020 the costs will begin to reduce significantly. Considering also the productivity gains through reduced mortality and morbidity (sickness), the overall amount required for HIV/AIDS will become once again manageable within the public budget.
It is therefore imperative that the external partners and the business sector increase their contributions over the next 5 to 10 years to enable these successes. “We would argue that the donors really need to stay with this, and the next five years are absolutely critical,” said Robert Hecht, another of the report’s authors. In terms of finding alternative public funding sources, “the government needs to think outside the box”, states Teresa Guthrie of the Centre for Economic Governance and AIDS in Africa. She explains that these options include a mandatory contribution from business profits to HIV/AIDS activities, a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) such as the Robin Hood Tax being considered in Europe, a Currency Conversion Tax (for the purchase of Rands), a small AIDS levy on individuals and businesses, or other levies such as an airline or cell phone tax. Combined, these options could raise significant funds for the government, and could be removed once the impact of an expanded response is felt after 5 to 10 years.
Now is the critical time for the South African government, the external partners and the business sector to increase their commitments to HIV/AIDS, so as not to lose the ground that has been gained, and to ensure the necessary expanded response to HIV/AIDS while also strengthening the health care systems to cope with the additional demands.
Ends/
www.cegaa.org
About Centre for Economic Governance and AIDS in Africa (CEGAA):
CEGAA aims to contribute to improved economic governance, fiscal policy and financial management and accountability, with specific attention to improving the developmental response to HIV/AIDS. CEGAA undertakes research, capacity building and advocacy in the field of financing and budgeting for a multi-sectoral response to HIV/AIDS in Africa.
About Teresa Guthrie:
Teresa Guthrie is a health economist and is the founding Director of the Centre for Economic Governance and AIDS in Africa (CEGAA). Through CEGAA she has provided capacity building and undertaken research for several African countries' NACs, MoHs, parliamentarians and civil society organisations, with regard to improving financial management for health, HIV/AIDS and TB, including costings, budgeting and national AIDS spending assessments (NASAs). Prior to CEGAA, she co-ordinated multi-country projects involving the monitoring of public budgets for health and HIV/AIDS for the AIDS Budget Unit of Idasa.
Date published:23/11/2010Organisation:Centre for Economic Governance and AIDS in AfricaNew Twist in South Africa's AIDS War
Authorities and health experts say South Africans living with AIDS are being robbed of their lifesaving drugs so that they can be mixed with marijuana and smoked.
The concoction is called ‘whoonga’ -- less a word than an exclamation -- and it adds a bizarre twist to the war on HIV/AIDS in the world's worst-affected country just as it embarks on a massive distribution of antiretrovirals.
AIDS expert, Njabulo Mabaso, points out that there is no evidence that any ingredient of the AIDS drug cocktail is addictive or does anything to enhance the marijuana high.
Mabaso says that ‘whoonga’ smokers may be fooling themselves into believing the AIDS drugs are giving them a high, when it is really some other ingredient.
To read the article titled, “New twist in SA's AIDS war,” click here.Source:Mail&Guardian
Printer-friendly version
Vacancies
-
09/02/2012
-
09/02/2012
-
09/02/2012
-
10/02/2012
Events
-
Monday, February 13, 2012
-
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
-
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Opportunities
-
10/02/2012
-
10/02/2012
-
13/02/2012
-
14/02/2012
-
15/02/2012
