Source: UNAIDS
In middle-and lower-income countries there is a push to improve patient management and the monitoring and evaluation of HIV services. To do this, all information systems, either paper-based or electronic, need to allow for relatively easy access to information. To ensure that patient confidentially is not compromised in the process, new guidelines have been released.
The ‘Interim Guidelines on Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of HIV Information’ offer information on data transfer, guiding principles, even disposal of information all to help maintain patient confidentiality.
Developed through a special workshop supported by UNAIDS and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), international health professionals and people living with HIV reviewed existing materials that could then be adapted to middle- and lower-income countries.
The new guidelines provide definitions, guiding principles and technical recommendations for the maintenance of privacy, confidentiality and security in working with HIV-related information.
The "Interim Guidelines on Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of HIV Information" are available in the library and online.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
HIV test gives results in just 60 seconds
Source: The Globe & Mail
KEITH LESLIE - Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to offer HIV tests that provide results in just 60 seconds and will double the number of sites across the province where anonymous tests are available, Health Minister George Smitherman announced yesterday.
It will cost about $350,000 a year to have the HIV tests available at 50 sites, which Mr. Smitherman said is a small price to pay - especially when it eliminates the agonizing three-week wait patients currently endure for results.
"I'm a gay man, and I'm one of those that has experienced that gut wrenching three-week wait," he said. "Everybody remembers that wait, and accordingly, you can't put a price on it."
The entire process with the new tests, which involves taking a drop of blood along with pre- and post-test counselling, takes about 20 minutes.
The tests will be available at anonymous testing sites, sexually transmitted disease clinics and community health centres across the province, including 24 new sites in northern and rural Ontario, but not through family doctors. "This is an initiative that is linked to the anonymous testing sites," Mr. Smitherman said.
"If we look at the profile of HIV and AIDS, we really appropriately have to tailor our initiatives to reducing barriers for those at-risk communities."
With faster HIV-test results, patients who need treatment will get it faster, Mr. Smitherman said.
It's estimated that 30 per cent of people who are HIV positive are unaware of their status - up to 15,000 Canadians - and Mr. Smitherman said the 60-second point of care tests may help convince those reluctant to be tested to actually go to a clinic.
(...)
Click here to read the article
KEITH LESLIE - Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Ontario has become the first jurisdiction in North America to offer HIV tests that provide results in just 60 seconds and will double the number of sites across the province where anonymous tests are available, Health Minister George Smitherman announced yesterday.
It will cost about $350,000 a year to have the HIV tests available at 50 sites, which Mr. Smitherman said is a small price to pay - especially when it eliminates the agonizing three-week wait patients currently endure for results.
"I'm a gay man, and I'm one of those that has experienced that gut wrenching three-week wait," he said. "Everybody remembers that wait, and accordingly, you can't put a price on it."
The entire process with the new tests, which involves taking a drop of blood along with pre- and post-test counselling, takes about 20 minutes.
The tests will be available at anonymous testing sites, sexually transmitted disease clinics and community health centres across the province, including 24 new sites in northern and rural Ontario, but not through family doctors. "This is an initiative that is linked to the anonymous testing sites," Mr. Smitherman said.
"If we look at the profile of HIV and AIDS, we really appropriately have to tailor our initiatives to reducing barriers for those at-risk communities."
With faster HIV-test results, patients who need treatment will get it faster, Mr. Smitherman said.
It's estimated that 30 per cent of people who are HIV positive are unaware of their status - up to 15,000 Canadians - and Mr. Smitherman said the 60-second point of care tests may help convince those reluctant to be tested to actually go to a clinic.
(...)
Click here to read the article
Monday, June 25, 2007
New video: HIV Positive voices
HIV Positive Voices: An Inside Look at the AIDS Epidemic in Baltimore, Maryland, was produced by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs and Stuart Productions. It was awarded Best Documentary Under 30 Minutes at the Second Annual New York AIDS Film Festival.
This film is the story of four people who each represent a different form of HIV transmission. Their stories are gripping. Their lives difficult. But their outlook is positive.
HIV Positive Voices shows the devastating effect of what it is like to live with HIV and cope with the social stigma, rigorous treatment regimen and related health problems. It also shows that it is possible to live a productive and positive life even if you are HIV positive. The film is accompanied by a discussion guide that helps viewers understand and process the various aspects of the film. Each of the four people profiled in this Emmy Award winning documentary represents a different mode of HIV transmission. They have courageously chosen to speak out about their HIV status, and become positive voices for awareness, compassion and prevention.
Rickeena Free is a 15-year-old girl who contracted HIV perinatally from her mother. Rickeena maintains a positive, yet pragmatic, attitude about her infection as she and her mother educate others about HIV prevention and living with HIV.
David Waller contracted HIV/AIDS through injection drug use. This mode of transmission accounts for the majority of new HIV/AIDS cases in Baltimore. David served 20 years in prison for crimes related to his drug use. Now drug free, he has started a new life with a supportive family.
Kimberly Smolen learned she was HIV-positive when she donated blood following a successful run in the New York City marathon. She traces her infection back to a college boyfriend. Kimberly turned her life around after a self-destructive period that included drug addiction and homelessness.
Keith Barmer struggled to accept his HIV-positive status after his uncle raped him as a teenager. His life spiraled downward with drug Addiction and other risky behaviors. Now openly gay, Keith views his HIV status as an opportunity to help others either prevent HIV or live with HIV in a positive manner.
Contact the library to borrow this video.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
New Journal issue received: AIDS Education and Prevention, Vol. 19, no 3, June 2007
In this issue:Effectiveness of Antenatal Group HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services in Rural India
Authors: Deepti Gupta, Dekey Lhewa, R. Viswanath, S. Mini Jacob, S. Parameshwari, R. Radhakrishnan, Kristy Seidel, Lisa M. Frenkel, NM Samuel and Ann J. Melvin
Page start: 187
Abstract
Measurement of Stigma in People with HIV: A Reexamination of the HIV Stigma Scale
Authors: Janice Yanushka Bunn, Sondra E. Solomon, Carol Miller and Rex Forehand
Page start: 198
Abstract
Association Between Exposure to an HIV Story Line in The Bold and the Beautiful and HIV–Related Stigma in Botswana
Authors: Ann O'Leary, May Kennedy, Katina A. Pappas–DeLuca, Marlene Nkete, Vicki Beck and Christine Galavotti
Page start: 209
Abstract
The Relationship of Stigma to the Sexual Risk Behavior of Rural Men Who Have Sex with Men
Authors: Deborah Bray Preston, Anthony R. D'Augelli, Cathy D. Kassab and Michael T. Starks
Page start: 218
Abstract
Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of an HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Attitudinal Instrument
Authors: Carlos S. Zometa, Robert Dedrick, Michael D. Knox, Wayne Westhoff, Rodrigo Simán Siri and Ann Debaldo
Page start: 231
Abstract
Injection Drug Users' Strategies to Manage Perceptions of Personal Risk: How Do IDUs See HIV as Having Affected Them?
Authors: Katherine Clegg Smith, Tiffany Lefevre Lillie and Carl Latkin
Page start: 245
Abstract
Replicating a Teen HIV/STD Preventive Intervention in a Multicultural City
Authors: Diane M. Morrison, Marilyn J. Hoppe, Elizabeth A. Wells, Blair A. Beadnell, Anthony Wilsdon, Darrel Higa, Mary Rogers Gillmore and Erin A. Casey
Page start: 258
Abstract
Contact the library to request copies of articles.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Recent acquisitions
The library recently acquired the following titles. Contact us to borrow these books!
Epstein, Helen.
The invisible cure : Africa, the West, and the fight against AIDS
New York, NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007
C 510 EPS 2007
Epstein, a public health specialist and molecular biologist who has worked on AIDS vaccine research, overturns many of our received notions about why AIDS is rampant in Africa and what to do about it. She charges that Western governments and philanthropists, though well-meaning, have been wholly misguided, and that Africans themselves, who understand their own cultures, often know best how to address HIV in their communities. Most significant is Epstein's discussion of concurrent sexual relations in Africa. Africans often engage in two or three long-term concurrent relationships—which proves more conducive to the spread of AIDS than Western-style promiscuity. Persuade Africans to forgo concurrency for monogamy, and the infection rate plummets, as it did in Uganda in the mid-1990s. On the other hand, ad campaigns focused on condom use helped imply falsely that only prostitutes and truck drivers
get AIDS. In addition, Epstein examines what she calls the "African earthquake": social and economic upheaval that have also eased the spread of HIV. Epstein is a lucid writer, translating abstruse scientific concepts into language nonspecialists can easily grasp.
Provocative, passionate and incisive, this may be the most important book on AIDS published this year—indeed, it may even save lives.
(May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Fan, Hung Y.; Conner, Russ F.; Villarreal, Luis P.
AIDS : science and society
Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2007
C 200 FAN 2007
"The new Fifth Edition of AIDS: Science and Society provides readers with a firm overview of AIDS from both biomedical and psychosocial perspectives. The book covers the molecular and cellular aspects of the HIV virus and the immune system’s response to it, and then considers epidemiology and its role in understanding HIV/AIDS."
Kartikeyan, S.; Bharmal, R. N.; Tiwari, R. P.; Bisen, P. S.
HIV and AIDS : Basic elements and priorities
Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Springer, 2007
C 200 KAR 2007
In June 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first evidence of a new disease that would later become known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV and Aids: Basic Elements and Priorities is a concise collection of all aspects of this disease and a source of readily available knowledge. It examines all currently advocated preventive measures such as health education, condom use, safer sex practices, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
Coverage includes: up-to-date information on multiple dimensions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; a discussion on new anti–retroviral therapy/drugs, new drugs under clinical trials and preventive HIV vaccine; coverage of current ethical, legal and social issues related to HIV/AIDS; an evaluation of general public awareness about HIV/AIDS; a global perspective and information about HIV/AIDS.
Epstein, Helen. The invisible cure : Africa, the West, and the fight against AIDS
New York, NY, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007
C 510 EPS 2007
Epstein, a public health specialist and molecular biologist who has worked on AIDS vaccine research, overturns many of our received notions about why AIDS is rampant in Africa and what to do about it. She charges that Western governments and philanthropists, though well-meaning, have been wholly misguided, and that Africans themselves, who understand their own cultures, often know best how to address HIV in their communities. Most significant is Epstein's discussion of concurrent sexual relations in Africa. Africans often engage in two or three long-term concurrent relationships—which proves more conducive to the spread of AIDS than Western-style promiscuity. Persuade Africans to forgo concurrency for monogamy, and the infection rate plummets, as it did in Uganda in the mid-1990s. On the other hand, ad campaigns focused on condom use helped imply falsely that only prostitutes and truck drivers
get AIDS. In addition, Epstein examines what she calls the "African earthquake": social and economic upheaval that have also eased the spread of HIV. Epstein is a lucid writer, translating abstruse scientific concepts into language nonspecialists can easily grasp.
Provocative, passionate and incisive, this may be the most important book on AIDS published this year—indeed, it may even save lives.
(May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Fan, Hung Y.; Conner, Russ F.; Villarreal, Luis P. AIDS : science and society
Sudbury, MA, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2007
C 200 FAN 2007
"The new Fifth Edition of AIDS: Science and Society provides readers with a firm overview of AIDS from both biomedical and psychosocial perspectives. The book covers the molecular and cellular aspects of the HIV virus and the immune system’s response to it, and then considers epidemiology and its role in understanding HIV/AIDS."
Kartikeyan, S.; Bharmal, R. N.; Tiwari, R. P.; Bisen, P. S. HIV and AIDS : Basic elements and priorities
Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Springer, 2007
C 200 KAR 2007
In June 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first evidence of a new disease that would later become known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). HIV and Aids: Basic Elements and Priorities is a concise collection of all aspects of this disease and a source of readily available knowledge. It examines all currently advocated preventive measures such as health education, condom use, safer sex practices, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.
Coverage includes: up-to-date information on multiple dimensions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic; a discussion on new anti–retroviral therapy/drugs, new drugs under clinical trials and preventive HIV vaccine; coverage of current ethical, legal and social issues related to HIV/AIDS; an evaluation of general public awareness about HIV/AIDS; a global perspective and information about HIV/AIDS.
New Journal received: AIDS Care, Vol. 19, no 4, April 2007
AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIVContact the library to request copies of articles.
In this issue:
Time perspective and quality of life among HIV-infected patients in the context of HAART
pp. 449 – 458 Abstract
Estimating the impact of alcohol consumption on survival for HIV+ individuals
pp. 459 – 466 Abstract
Occupational therapy for advanced HIV patients at a home care facility: a pilot study
pp. 467 – 470 Abstract
Acceptability of male circumcision for prevention of HIV infection in Zambia
pp. 471 – 477 Abstract
Continuation with cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for the prevention of opportunistic infections in HIV-infected persons in rural Zimbabwe: feasibility, obstacles and opportunities
pp. 478 – 481 Abstract
Long-term follow-up of uninfected children born to HIV-infected women and exposed to antiretroviral therapy: survey of parents' and health professionals' views
pp. 482 – 486 Abstract
Late presentation for HIV care in central Haiti: factors limiting access to care
pp. 487 – 491 Abstract
Protease inhibitors and cardiovascular disease: analysis of the Los Angeles County adult spectrum of disease cohort
pp. 492 – 499 Abstract
Barriers to access to medical cannabis for Canadians living with HIV/AIDS
pp. 500 – 506 Abstract
A randomised control trial of structured interrupted generic antiretroviral therapy versus continuous therapy in HIV-infected individuals in Southern India
pp. 507 – 513 Abstract
Differences between HIV-positive gay men who 'frequently', 'sometimes' or 'never' engage in unprotected anal intercourse with serononconcordant casual partners: Positive Health cohort, Australia
pp. 514 – 522 Abstract
Differential improvement in survival among patients with AIDS after the introduction of HAART
pp. 523 – 531 Abstract
Oral health needs of HIV/AIDS orphans in Gauteng, South Africa
pp. 532 – 538 Abstract
The Evolution of HIV illness representation among marginally housed persons
pp. 539 – 545 Abstract
The effect of homelessness on hospitalisation among patients with HIV/AIDS
pp. 546 – 553 Abstract
Community perspectives on care options for HIV prevention trial participants
pp. 554 – 560 Abstract
Preliminary findings of an intervention integrating modified directly observed therapy and risk reduction counseling
pp. 561 – 564 Abstract
A study on burnout syndrome in healthcare providers to people living with HIV
pp. 565 – 571 Abstract
HIV testing and disclosure: a qualitative analysis of TB patients in South Africa
pp. 572 – 577 Abstract
Contact the library to request copies of articles
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Targeting HIV better than broad screening -study
Source: Reuters
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO, June 11 (Reuters) - A program targeting people most likely to be infected with HIV and offering counseling to prevent further infection would be far more effective than the government's recommendations for mass testing, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for widespread HIV testing of those aged 13 to 64, regardless of risk, would cost $864 million a year.
The CDC's recommendations for mass screening would not require counseling, and patients could opt out of testing if they chose.
A plan that targets those at high risk and offers counseling services could pick up more than three times as many people with HIV and could prevent four times as many new infections -- all for the same price, according to an analysis by David Holtgrave, an expert on HIV prevention at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
"It's really a question of which policy would be more effective," said Holtgrave, whose study appears in the June edition of the journal PLoS Medicine.
His analysis found that the CDC's new testing strategy -- announced in September -- could diagnose nearly 57,000 cases of HIV in a one-year period.
But a strategy that zeros in on likely targets of HIV infection -- by geography, health care setting or risky behavior -- would identify 188,000 people with the disease out of an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people in the United States living with HIV but not knowing they are infected.
(...)
Click here to read the complete article
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO, June 11 (Reuters) - A program targeting people most likely to be infected with HIV and offering counseling to prevent further infection would be far more effective than the government's recommendations for mass testing, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
They said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations for widespread HIV testing of those aged 13 to 64, regardless of risk, would cost $864 million a year.
The CDC's recommendations for mass screening would not require counseling, and patients could opt out of testing if they chose.
A plan that targets those at high risk and offers counseling services could pick up more than three times as many people with HIV and could prevent four times as many new infections -- all for the same price, according to an analysis by David Holtgrave, an expert on HIV prevention at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.
"It's really a question of which policy would be more effective," said Holtgrave, whose study appears in the June edition of the journal PLoS Medicine.
His analysis found that the CDC's new testing strategy -- announced in September -- could diagnose nearly 57,000 cases of HIV in a one-year period.
But a strategy that zeros in on likely targets of HIV infection -- by geography, health care setting or risky behavior -- would identify 188,000 people with the disease out of an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 people in the United States living with HIV but not knowing they are infected.
(...)
Click here to read the complete article
Africa's AIDS epidemic slowing - World Bank
Source: ReutersBy Arthur Asiimwe
KIGALI, June 13 (Reuters) - The pace of Africa's deadly AIDS epidemic is slowing as communities are empowered to help themselves in tandem with better delivery of condoms and live-saving treatments, a World Bank report said on Wednesday*.
Launched in the Rwandan capital Kigali, the study noted a marked increase in access to HIV prevention, care and treatment programmes on a continent where the disease killed more than 2 million people last year. Another 25 million became infected.
"AIDS stole into Africa like a thief in the night," Joy Phumaphi, a former Botswana health minister and senior World Bank official, said in a statement. "All these years later, we still must stay vigilant ... even when it seems that infections are starting to fall and more people are being saved with treatment."
The World Bank report said the epidemic was showing signs of slowing in Uganda, Kenya and Zimbabwe, as well as in urban Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and Zambia.
"The mobilisation of empowered 'grassroots' communities, along with delivering condoms and life-saving treatments, are beginning to slow the pace of the ... epidemic," the study said, without giving specific statistics for the decrease. Southern Africa, however, remains the epicentre of the disease with unprecedented infection rates, the report added. One recent household survey in Botswana's second biggest city, Francistown, showed a staggering 70 percent of women aged 30-34 and men aged 40-44 carried the HIV virus, it said.
The study assesses the results of the bank's six-year, $1.28 billion Multi-Country HIV/AIDS Program (MAP), set up in 2000 to increase access to prevention, care and treatment plans. The scheme tested almost seven million people in 25 countries, distributed nearly 1.3 billion condoms and set up some 1,500 new counselling centres, among other activities. It also financed civil society and youth groups and organisations for people living with HIV, as well as paying for anti-retroviral treatment for 26,699 people in 27 countries.
Global funding for HIV has more than quadrupled between 2001 and 2005 to over $8 billion a year, the Bank said. Last week, at the G8 summit in Germany, leaders announced a $60 billion commitment to fight the disease in Africa, although critics said the promised funding did not come with timelines. But the Bank said HIV/AIDS would remain an enormous economic, social and human challenge to sub-Saharan Africa for the foreseeable future.
"In sum, HIV/AIDS threatens the development goals in the region unlike anywhere else in the world," it said.
* The World Bank report, The Africa Multi-Country AIDS Program 2000–2006, is available in the library and online. Click here to access it.
New journal: Treatment update 161, March/April 2007
In this issue:
I ANTI-HIV AGENTS
A. Getting to know your co-receptors
B. Maraviroc—coming soon
C. Maraviroc—absorption and drug-interaction issues
D. Access to maraviroc
II SIDE EFFECTS AND COMPLICATIONS
A. Stimulating growth hormone
B. Tesamorelin—results from Phase III
C. Clinical trials of tesamorelin in Canada
This journal is available in the library and online, on CATIE's Website.
I ANTI-HIV AGENTS
A. Getting to know your co-receptors
B. Maraviroc—coming soon
C. Maraviroc—absorption and drug-interaction issues
D. Access to maraviroc
II SIDE EFFECTS AND COMPLICATIONS
A. Stimulating growth hormone
B. Tesamorelin—results from Phase III
C. Clinical trials of tesamorelin in Canada
This journal is available in the library and online, on CATIE's Website.
Monday, June 11, 2007
New journal issue: AIDS, Vol. 21, no 8, May 11, 2007
Here is a selection of articles from this issue:Early clinical and immune response to NNRTI-based antiretroviral therapy among women with prior exposure to single-dose nevirapine.
pp. 957-964
Abstract
Recent epidemic of acute hepatitis C virus in HIV-positive men who have sex with men linked to high-risk sexual behaviours.
pp. 983-991
Abstract
Twin pregnancy as a risk factor for mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1: trends over 20 years.
pp. 993-1002
Abstract
Trends in HIV prevalence in blood donations in Europe, 1990-2004.
pp. 1011-1018
Abstract
The complete table of contents is available here.
Contact the library if you need copies of articles
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
New book in the library - Body count : Fixing the blame for the global AIDS catastrophe
Gill, Peter. Body count : Fixing the blame for the global AIDS catastropheNew York, NY, Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006
C 500 GIL 2006
"In the last quarter of a century, 25 million people have died of AIDS-related infections and over 40 million have become HIV-positive. In this book, the author argues that many of these lives could have been saved and that many of these infections could have been averted, and criticizes those in positions of authority who have done nothing or actively hindered the fight to curb the spread of HIV. The book also includes interviews with politicians, church leaders, advocates and HIV-positive people."
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Zimbabwe to put 40,000 more on ARVs by year-end
Source: Reuters
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will put 40,000 more people on life saving anti-retroviral drugs by the end of the year despite an economic crisis that has hobbled the country's health care, state media reported on Tuesday.
The southern African country is among the worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, killing more than 3,000 people every week and accounting for 70 percent of hospital admissions.
But Zimbabwe, in the grips of a deep recession, has also become one of the few AIDS bright spots on the continent after its HIV prevalence rate declined to 18.1 percent last year from 25 percent six years ago.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said the number of people receiving the life-prolonging medicines has increased from 60,000 in December to 80,000 this month but that the government would add another 40,000 patients by the end of the year.
"Currently the number of people on ARVs has grown to 80,000 since December last year and we hope to achieve our target of getting 120,000 by the end of the year," Parirenyatwa told the official Herald newspaper.
Parirenyatwa said that at least 300,000 people living with HIV/AIDS were in urgent need of ARVs.
Zimbabwe's drive to increase access to ARVs has been hampered by a severe shortage of foreign currency, itself a sign of an economic crisis that has pushed inflation past 3,700 percent and increased poverty levels.
The crisis has been particularly felt in the health sector, where basic drugs are in short supply while strikes for better pay by doctors and nurses have worsened the situation.
President Robert Mugabe -- who says Zimbabwe is showing the way for Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS -- rejects charges of mismanagement and blames the West for sabotaging the economy as punishment for seizing white-owned farms to distribute to blacks.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will put 40,000 more people on life saving anti-retroviral drugs by the end of the year despite an economic crisis that has hobbled the country's health care, state media reported on Tuesday.
The southern African country is among the worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, killing more than 3,000 people every week and accounting for 70 percent of hospital admissions.
But Zimbabwe, in the grips of a deep recession, has also become one of the few AIDS bright spots on the continent after its HIV prevalence rate declined to 18.1 percent last year from 25 percent six years ago.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said the number of people receiving the life-prolonging medicines has increased from 60,000 in December to 80,000 this month but that the government would add another 40,000 patients by the end of the year.
"Currently the number of people on ARVs has grown to 80,000 since December last year and we hope to achieve our target of getting 120,000 by the end of the year," Parirenyatwa told the official Herald newspaper.
Parirenyatwa said that at least 300,000 people living with HIV/AIDS were in urgent need of ARVs.
Zimbabwe's drive to increase access to ARVs has been hampered by a severe shortage of foreign currency, itself a sign of an economic crisis that has pushed inflation past 3,700 percent and increased poverty levels.
The crisis has been particularly felt in the health sector, where basic drugs are in short supply while strikes for better pay by doctors and nurses have worsened the situation.
President Robert Mugabe -- who says Zimbabwe is showing the way for Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS -- rejects charges of mismanagement and blames the West for sabotaging the economy as punishment for seizing white-owned farms to distribute to blacks.
© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved
Monday, June 04, 2007
Bush Seeks $30b for HIV/Aids in Africa
Source: AllAfrica
Constance Ikokwu
Washington D.C.
President George W. Bush yesterday, announced his intention to double America's financial commitment to fighting HIV/Aids in Africa, from $15 billion to $30 billion, if the plan is approved by Congress. This will bring America's financial contribution to fighting the pandemic to $48.3 billion across 10 years, assuming Congress approves the President's request.
The additional aid will help provide treatment for HIV/Aids patients under Bush's Aids relief programme, the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PREPAR). The initial 5-year $15 billion authorizing legislation approved in 2003 for PREPARE expires at the end of Fiscal Year 2008. A reauthorization is thus needed to keep the programme afloat.
Bush thanked Congress for its "strong bipartisan support for PREPAR" while disclosing that through March 31, 2007, America would have supported treatment for 1.1 million people in the 15 focus countries, including more than 1 million in Africa. PREPAR hopes to continue treatment for 2.5 million people, prevention of more than 12 million new infections and care for more than 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
"PEPFAR's success is rooted in support for country-owned strategies and programs with commitment of resources and dedication to results, achieved through the power of partnerships with governments, non-governmental, faith- and community-based organizations and the private sector. With full implementation of a new "Partnership Compact" model, the next phase of the American people's commitment to those suffering from HIV/Aids will continue to expand life-saving treatment, comprehensive prevention programs and care for those in need, including orphans and vulnerable children, to support," said the President.
Constance Ikokwu
Washington D.C.
President George W. Bush yesterday, announced his intention to double America's financial commitment to fighting HIV/Aids in Africa, from $15 billion to $30 billion, if the plan is approved by Congress. This will bring America's financial contribution to fighting the pandemic to $48.3 billion across 10 years, assuming Congress approves the President's request.
The additional aid will help provide treatment for HIV/Aids patients under Bush's Aids relief programme, the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PREPAR). The initial 5-year $15 billion authorizing legislation approved in 2003 for PREPARE expires at the end of Fiscal Year 2008. A reauthorization is thus needed to keep the programme afloat.
Bush thanked Congress for its "strong bipartisan support for PREPAR" while disclosing that through March 31, 2007, America would have supported treatment for 1.1 million people in the 15 focus countries, including more than 1 million in Africa. PREPAR hopes to continue treatment for 2.5 million people, prevention of more than 12 million new infections and care for more than 12 million people, including 5 million orphans and vulnerable children.
"PEPFAR's success is rooted in support for country-owned strategies and programs with commitment of resources and dedication to results, achieved through the power of partnerships with governments, non-governmental, faith- and community-based organizations and the private sector. With full implementation of a new "Partnership Compact" model, the next phase of the American people's commitment to those suffering from HIV/Aids will continue to expand life-saving treatment, comprehensive prevention programs and care for those in need, including orphans and vulnerable children, to support," said the President.
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