aids
aids
Nelson Mandela Foundation Not Silenced
The Nelson Mandela Foundation (NMF) says it has not been silenced on the 92-year-old former president's health condition.
NMF CEO, Achmat Dangor, points out that, "The foundation has not been silenced, if there is some rumour that Mandela has even passed away, we will go about as normal and not do anything differently."
Speaking at after a discussion on the book entitled ‘AIDS: Taking a Long Term View’, in Johannesburg, Dangor, argued that the only thing that has been formalised is that the Presidency will give media regular updates.
To read the article titled, “CEO: Nelson Mandela Foundation not silenced,” click here.
Source:Mail & GuardianHIV Testing: Practising What We Preach
Our staff recently underwent a process of counselling and voluntary testing for HIV, which served to illustrate a number of important points about practising what one teaches. Being an HIV prevention programme, one of our main goals is to raise awareness in our participants – especially the teenagers in our high school programme – of the importance of knowing their HIV status. We assume that having been given basic information about the virus and the AIDS epidemic, and some encouragement to test, our participants will eagerly rush to the nearest health centre to get tested. However, our experience with our own staff – the coaches and area coordinators who teach at our sites as well as their managers – has shown that testing for HIV can often be difficult even for those who know the benefits of it well.
The process of testing our staff, a service provided free of charge by a health services company, kicked off with an education session facilitated by a very capable educator. The session covered topics such as the structure of the HI virus, transmission, stigma and issues of testing and disclosure. So good was this session that some members of staff were inspired to go and test for HIV without even waiting for the group testing session that followed. When it came time for all staff to receive counselling and testing, 80% (32 out of 40) of staff members arrived. All 40 had previously confirmed they would be available. Of the 20% that were not able to attend, some had strong and understandable reasons not to, while others were less convincing. Of the 80% who tested, 13% (4 out of 32) opted not to test after having undergone counselling. This, of course, is quite acceptable as the testing is purely voluntary. However, both the decision not to test and avoiding the process altogether by some of our staff demonstrated that a significant level of discomfort with the process can exist even for those who know well why they need to undergo it.
On the other hand, conversations with those who did test pointed to the benefits of the exercise. In the first instance, staff members felt good or relieved to know their status. While they all knew they needed to, very few had actually bothered to get themselves tested. Many staff members also felt the exercise had equipped them with firsthand experience they could share during their education sessions. Others expressed the view that their own fears of going through the process had given them new insight into why people who know the benefits of testing for HIV, and the dangers of not testing, still failed to do so. One coach confided that she now had empathy with people in this position, whom she had previously judged to be reckless and irresponsible.
This entire experience presents some important lessons for those of us concerned with HIV/AIDS prevention, especially in South Africa:- The subject of HIV is still taboo and difficult to feel comfortable about;
- Knowledge of the need and benefits of testing alone is not enough to make people get tested - other factors like support and the right environment also count;
- People respond differently to the message of HIV testing, and may be ready to go ahead with it at different times;
- It is important for us educators to undergo the process ourselves first before we can seek to convince others to do so, so that we may better understand any issues they may have that make them resistant to testing. The old adage stays true – we must practise what we preach.
S’bongiseni Vilakazi,Managing Director
PeacePlayers International – South AfricaU.S. Government keeps promise to continue to strengthen HIV/AIDS programs across Africa
Pretoria -- The United States remains committed to saving lives in the developing world by strengthening critical health programs. Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. remains fully committed to the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa, and remains the largest funder and technical advisor of the global response.
As part of President Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), PEPFAR is continuing to grow.
- The President requested increases for PEPFAR in both his FY 2010 and FY 2011 budgets. The FY 2011 PEPFAR funding request is the largest request to date in a President’s Budget.
- The number of people directly supported on treatment increased in FY 2009 from approximately 1.6 million to nearly 2.5 million. The numbers of those treated in coming years will continue to grow toward the program’s stated goal under the GHI of treatment for more than 4 million.
- The PEPFAR program in South Africa is working closely with the South African government in its new HIV/AIDS national campaign. PEPFAR provides over 90 percent of all the outside funding invested in HIV treatment, care and prevention programs in South Africa.
- In South Africa, PEPFAR funding has increased nearly every year since the start of the program in 2004; the budget for 2009 was $551 million and the budget for 2010 is $564 million with an additional $120 million for ARVs in 2009-1010.
- In addition to its bilateral programs, the U.S. is the largest donor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a key multilateral vehicle for countries and the private sector to contribute to the fight.
For more information: US Embassy: Sharon Hudson-Dean 079-111-8276 or HudsonDeanS@state.gov
The U.S. Global Health Initiative – Fact Sheet
In 2009, President Obama launched the Global Health Initiative (GHI), of which PEPFAR is the cornerstone. The U.S. is investing $63 billion over six years to help partner countries improve the health of their people, including those affected by HIV/AIDS, through an integrated approach.
The key metric for success is lives saved. The GHI's comprehensive approach includes maternal and child health, strengthening health systems, isolating neglected tropical diseases, and increasing availability of antiretroviral treatment. The GHI will have a significant impact on the longevity and quality of life for millions of people now suffering from preventable and treatable diseases, and support sustainability by strengthening health systems, improving nutrition, and other long-term elements.
The GHI’s goals include the following:
- Save approximately 3 million children’s lives by reducing under-5 mortality rates by more than a third.
- Double the number of babies born HIV-free.
- Support the prevention of more than 12 million new HIV infections; provide direct support for more than 4 million people on treatment; and support care for more than 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
- Reduce the burden of malaria by 50 percent for 450 million people.
- Save approximately 1.3 million lives by reducing TB prevalence by 50 percent.
- Save approximately 360,000 women’s lives by reducing maternal mortality by 30 percent.
- Improve reproductive health and child nutrition.
- And reduce the prevalence of seven neglected tropical diseases by half among 70 percent of the affected population, including eliminating three diseases – including leprosy – entirely.
Sharon Hudson-Dean
Press Attaché
American Embassy Pretoria
27-12-431-4000, ext. 4659
27-12-342-2090 Fax
27-79-111-8276 Cell
HudsonDeanS@state.govDate published:17/06/2010Statement on Blockages to Condom Access During the World Cup
HIV/AIDS organisations who are members of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) welcomed the FIFA statement regarding access to FIFA controlled fan parks and stadia that appears to have been released on June 6th. However we would like to point out the following inconsistencies in the statement.
1. We welcome the efforts by FIFA through its Festival of Hope and its Centres of Hope in reaching vulnerable children and youth. However, the Festival of Hope is a once-off activity that will take place during a defined period of the tournament and outside of the FIFA controlled fan fests and stadia and will reach a relatively small number of people. It will not directly reach the millions of people within FIFA controlled spaces during the duration of the tournament itself.
2. We are happy to confirm that as of June 7th 2010 a process is underway to get the service provider accreditation to ensure that condoms are supplied to the stadia on an ongoing basis for the duration of the World Cup. But questions remain concerning delivery schedules; the frequency of the delivery and access to the controlled areas.
3. Concerns remain regarding the accessibility of condoms within the fan fests. We reiterate that in some instances City Health Departments (Cape Town and Durban) have been informed that no condoms or HIV-related information may be distributed within the Fan Fests. We are informed that a small number of NGOs that have been given space within the fan parks and fan fests but have been told that they may not disseminate socially relevant messages within the the fan fests and FIFA controlled environments.
4. Indeed two HIV and health promotion organisations have had to pay hundreds of thousands of rands to purchase space to have their public service announcements broadcast into the Fan Fest for the duration of the tournament. Owing to their budgetary constraints this is limited to one or two fan fests and not across all fan fests. In our view this is not acceptable.
5. While it is noted that the commercial supplier Durex will be flighting condom promotion messages within the fan parks the cost of Durex condoms is beyond the reach of many South Africans who will be frequenting the fan parks and its distribution is limited. In South Africa the governments CHOICE condoms are distributed freely and so to are socially marketed condoms (Trust and Lovers Plus) which are supplied at a lower cost than the Durex condoms. In our view condom promotion needs to be highly visible and cater for all markets as the fan fests will be freely accessable to all persons.
6. It is unfortunate that the statement by FIFA alludes to it having been in touch with the CEO of the SANAC as no official meetings have taken place between the CEO of SANAC, the concerned organisations, FIFA or the LOC to prepare for the World Cup. While a process of dialogue was undertaken prior to the World Cup there is still no confirmation that any of the SANAC approved partners will be allowed to distribute HIV-related materials within the fan fests.
Neither FIFA or the LOA have responded to our concerns other than through the media. So we reiterate our questions to FIFA and the LOC:
- Is there approval for condom and health information distribution at all FIFA controlled fan parks by the DOH and SANAC?
- Does this approval extend to all of SANAC’s civil society affiliates who are part of the SANAC Sports and Entertainment Sector?
- Is there going to be promotion of condoms and HIV testing, endorsed by FIFA and the LOC, during the world cup – in order to take advantage of millions of people who will be watching the football? How will this be done?
- Is there easy access to information about HIV/AIDS for fans, such as contact details for the AIDS Helpline?
We wish for the success of the World Cup. But we also wish for an HIV free generation and that FIFA would join hands with local AIDS organisations to exploit the opportunity that the World Cup presents to greatly strengthen and deepen our response to HIV/AIDS. It is not yet too late. But it soon will be.
Issued by:
AIDS Consortium, Community Media Trust , Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (Brothers for Life), National Religious Association for Social Development, Peri-Natal HIV Research Unit, Reproductive Health Research Unit (RHRU), Right to Care, SA HIV Clinicians Society, Section 27, Society for Family Health, Sonke Gender Justice Network (Sonke), Soul City, Treatment Action Campaign.
Endorsed by: Mark Heywood: Deputy Chairperson of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC)Date published:09/06/2010Donor Retreat Widens HIV/AIDS Treatment Gap in Africa
Backtracking by international donors in funding HIV/AIDS risks undermining years of positive achievements and will cause many more unnecessary deaths, warns humanitarian aid group Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in a new report.
Titled “No time to quit: HIV/AIDS treatment gap widening in Africa”, the report builds on analyses made in eight sub-Saharan countries to illustrate how major international funding institutions such as PEPFAR, the World Bank, UNITAID, and donors to the Global Fund have decided to cap, reduce or withdraw their spending on HIV treatment and antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) over the past year and a half.
“How can we give up the fight halfway and pretend that the crisis is over? Nine million people worldwide in need of urgent treatment still lack access to this lifesaving care - two thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa alone. There is a real risk that many of them will die within the next few years if necessary steps are not taken now. Also, the current donor retreat will prevent more people from accessing treatment and will threaten to undermine all the progress made since the introduction of ARVs” says Dr. Mit Philips, Health Policy Analyst for MSF and one of the authors of the report.
The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief, PEPFAR, reduced its budget for the purchase of ARVs in 2009 and 2010, and also introduced a freeze on its overall HIV/AIDS budget. Other donors, such as UNITAID and the World Bank, have announced reductions over the coming years in the funding for antiretroviral drugs in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Global Fund, the largest funding institution in the fight against HIV/AIDS, faces a major funding shortfall. The US, the Netherlands and Ireland have already announced that they will be providing lower contributions to the Global Fund. In 2009-2010, contributions to already approved country grants were reduced by 8-12%.
Overall funding cuts have translated into a reduction in the number of people able to start their ARV treatment, as seen in South Africa and Uganda, and in DRC – where the number of new patients able to start ARV treatment has been cut six-fold. Already fragile health systems will become increasingly strained by an increasing patient load requiring more intensive care.
Drug stock-outs and disruptions in drug supply are already a reality, and will become more frequent if sufficient funding is not made available. MSF has recently been requested by the government and other actors to assist with emergency drug supplies in Malawi, Zimbabwe, DRC, Kenya and Uganda.
“If there is reduced funding, then it will mean more people will die, and we will have more orphans. The ones that are positive often need to assist others, like their children. People will lose hope and die. It will be the end. If there are no drugs there is no future” says Catherine Mango, an HIV patient from Kenya.
ARV treatment is lifesaving but also lifelong. This means that the number of patients under treatment increases cumulatively each year, thus requiring incrementally growing and sustainable funding.
“The HIV / AIDS crisis remains a massive emergency that still requires an exceptional response. MSF calls for a sustained and renewed commitment by donors and national governments in the fight against HIV/AIDS, so that this disastrous public health crisis can be addressed appropriately,” concludes Dr. Philips.Date published:27/05/2010TAC, SAHIVCS, MSF, ARASA, i-TEACH and partners call on South African government to implement full TB/HIV integration at all facilities as soon as possible
"One health care worker, one facility, one patient, two diseases. Stop the ping-pong: a lack of TB/HIV integration kills”
Civil Society groups are demanding that full TB/HIV integration to become a national reality in all primary healthcare facilities. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society (SAHIVCS), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) and iTeach are calling for the National Department of Health to draw up new guidelines and implementation plans for full TB/HIV integration at all health facilities in South Africa.
TB and HIV care was supposed to have been provided under one roof as from the beginning of April this year, according to the new anti-retroviral guidelines announced in President Jacob Zuma’s 2009 World AIDS Day speech in December. There are still no signs of new TB/HIV integration guidelines, implementation plans or nurse training programmes more than six months later. At national level, the TB and HIV programmes are reluctant to come together to provide this internationally recognised model of HIV and TB care in South Africa where more than 70% of South Africa’s TB patients are co-infected with HIV.
Full TB/HIV Integration:
Full TB/HIV integration is needed for optimum health outcomes in TB and HIV patients. It calls for the health care system to mobilize a response that is based on the reality of one patient having two inter related diseases that need the care of one health care worker at a single point of care, rather than the patient having to fit into the mould of an ineffectively designed system.
Full TB/HIV integration is where all aspects of TB and HIV care are performed by the same staff (administrative and clinical) at the same facility, as a one-stop service, which yields the most successful results in terms of efficient use of scarce human resources and quality of patient care. This model is more efficient in comparison to TB/HIV juxtaposition or collaboration, where clinical records are shared but administrative and clinical management remained separate, or managerial integration, where the same administrative systems are used but consultations for HIV and TB remain separate.
Full TB and HIV integration calls for all primary health care workers currently seeing HIV patients to screen and test for TB, provide TB treatment and monitor progress where necessary, and conversely for all health care workers seeing TB patients to test for HIV, monitor progress and to initiate ARVs where necessary, with a single and unified filing and patient-administration system.
TB is the greatest cause of death among people living with HIV, despite TB being a curable disease. Treatment for TB and ARVs have shared side effects. TB immune reconstitution syndrome is a common complication of ART in patients on TB treatment. Earlier initiation of TB treatment and ART prevent mortality. This makes it essential for clinicians to have information on both treatments in one folder.
As Dr Nono Simelele, CEO of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) stated at the opeining plenary of the 2nd SA TB Conference in Durban yesterday, “By continuing to approach HIV and TB in vertical manner, we are denying patients the best benefit of our collective knowledge”.
The advantages of full TB/HIV integration include providing:- Increased and earlier detection of both TB and HIV, hence improving treatment outcomes
- Better uptake of ARVs in patients with TB
- Information on individual patient treatment for both diseases is available in one place, allowing for better clinical management of co-infected patients
- A single approach to treatment readiness, adherence support and drug dispensing for TB and HIV
- Services can be organised to limit the number of appointments for TB/HIV co-infected patients
- Coherency in the monitoring of both TB and HIV
Cebisamadoda Nxumalo from the Swaziland Ex-Miners Cooperative Union, which is working with ARASA to push for an enhanced response from governments and the South African mining sector to excessively high rates of HIV and TB in the mining sector, explained that lack of integration creates barriers to continuity in treatment across borders. “There are two separate patient referrals for miners returning home with TB/HIV – one for TB and one for HIV – and then you face double transportation and time costs in order to access treatment and care for each of these. Some travel long distances to different towns just to avoid the stigma associated with entering an HIV-only treatment facility in their community.”
Dr Francios Venter, President of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, calls on the National Department of Health to take the lead in brining TB and HIV programmes together. “We have been delaying full TB/HIV integration by more than a decade, to the detriment of patient’s lives and health. We are all talking about it, but nothing is happening. The ARV programme provides the ideal platform to integrate services and to treat patients holistically,” says Venter.
Concerns regarding the potential increased risk of TB transmission (including drug-resistant TB) to HIV-positive people should not be a barrier to implementing full TB and HIV integration. “TB infection control measures should be implemented at all of our health facilities in all areas, not only in the TB section. South Africa has high levels of undetected TB and this means that our patients are potentially infecting people with TB in all our facilities and we have very high levels of TB/HIV infection so the TB patients are in the HIV sections regardless. To prevent nosocomial transmission of TB we need to detect and treat TB earlier and start ARVs for those who need it as soon as necessary and implement proper TB infection control,” said Sr Andiswa Vasi, a MSF nurse in Khayelitsha.
“There is no reason why all our primary health care facilities should not be integrating TB and HIV fully. It has been outlined in policy, but there are no implementation plans. We call on the Department of Health to draw up integration plans within the next three months and to begin implementation without delay,” said Lihle Dlamini, Deputy Secretary General of the Treatment Action Campaign.Date published:02/06/2010SA NGO Delivers Aid to Haiti
South African charity, Gift of the Givers, has stepped up its drive to bring humanitarian aid directly to desperate, starving Haitians as red tape hampers international relief efforts.
The organisation’s Imtiaz Sooliman, points out that the charity is negotiating the passage of 100 tons of high-nutrition food parcels and medical supplies to be distributed independently.
The move could speed up delivery to areas poorly serviced by United Nations (UN)-led agencies.
"We want to save lives. We want to get food and medicine and the best doctors to the people who need it most," says Sooliman.
To read the article titled, “Aid Agencies frustrated by UN 'demands',” click here.
Source:All AfricaMotlanthe Pleased With G20 Outcomes
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe says the G20 summit has agreed to protect financing for developing countries, and pledged to conclude talks on a new global trade deal.
"There's a recognition that the developing countries offer an opportunity for growth... There's a commitment to ensure that developing countries receive finances particularly in infrastructure," explains Motlanthe.
To read the article titled, “SA pleased with G20 deal,” click here.Source:<br /> Fin24
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
