Values really matter. People want to make a difference and feel proud of who they work for. Aditya Birla example of corporate responsibility and community involvement. Increasing motivation, winning war for talent, staff and customer retention and stronger brand and corporate image. Work of AIDS charity ACET as expression of corporate responsibility. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.
Future of your Business, Family and Wider World by Dr Patrick Dixon, Futurist Speaker, Keynotes on Growth Strategies and Leadership, Lecture Slides, Articles and Videos from Conferences - 15 million unique visitors to MAIN Futurist site (articles / keynotes / videos) - link on right to www.globalchange.com
Showing posts with label AIDS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AIDS. Show all posts
April 07, 2008
How should global business reduce global poverty and ...
Example of social impact of AIDS foundation ACET. But business generates economic growth which can also have huge impact on poverty in poorest nations. Value of assets such as property grows. International trade benefit to emerging economies. Skills transfer and skills training. Positive impact of outsourcing in global well-being. Every job lost in America or Europe creates many new jobs directly and indirectly in Asia or Africa. Some of the wealth comes back to developed nations in demand for products and services. Globalisation can bring problems but also many benefits. But non-profit organisations and foundations also have vital role. Conference keynote speaker and Futurist Dr Patrick Dixon.
March 27, 2008
Future of the pharmaceutical industry -- conference ...
Generic competition and product recalls. Patent expiry and intellectual property protection. Legal challenges and research scandals. Biogenerics and large molecule therapeutics. Cellular mechanisms of disease. Unmet needs. Government purchasing policies and insurance cover. Online pharmacy price pressures. Search for new blockbusters. Chronic disease and orphan therapies. Rheumatoid and asthma. Antibiotics and multiple resistance problems. Search for powerful antiviral therapy. Future health funding and ageing populations. Contrast with emerging nations. Treatment access and justice issues. Pharmacogenomics and gene prophecy. Ethical issues. HIV and AIDS.
December 02, 2005
Europeans reject abstinence message in split with US on Aids
We continue to see a polarised debate about how to prevent HIV transmission between some of those in developed nations who tend to favour condoms above all else (sometimes perhaps to the exclusion of other options), and those in the poorest nations who often feel the case for abstinence and faithfulness is being ignored (and sometimes feel uncomfortable talking about condoms).
The dispute is confusing and in many ways unecessary.
We need a reality check: as the work of the AIDS foundation ACET (which I started in 1988) has found, the realities on the ground tend to impose their own solutions. Rhetoric and political posturing disappears when you are confronted by the magnitude of the disaster in countries with very few resources and health budgets of maybe only a couple of dollars per person a year.
Take for example the plight of Africa where at least 10% of the population in vast rural areas is already infected. Those that promote condoms as (virtually) the only way to halt spread don't seem to have worked out the logistical and economic challenge of applying a condom-dominated message across an entire low-income region.
The world AIDS budget is insufficient to supply every sexually active adult in Africa with as many condoms as they may need to protect every sexual encounter. Such a policy also assumes perfect distribution channels to villages which may be almost entirely cut off from Western-style supplies, and even date-checking of condom packets which deteriorate in tropical heat.
In any case, such an approach is deeply insulting to many in Africa since it ignores religious and other cultural values which in many places give honour to those who abstain before marriage and are faithful within it. There have been (totally false) widespread rumours that condom-dominated programmes are a front for secret Western attempts to stop babies being born in Africa. But these rumours have influenced many, and have come about because of mistrust of "imperialistic" wealthy nations.
And then there is the sensitive issue of youth. Even if one were to say that a condom-dominated message is the only right one for adults, and older teenagers, how about younger ones?
Is it right with a class of 11 year old girls to only talk about condoms, without raising the possibility that they might have an option to say no to sexual activity at such an age?
In practice, the pro-condom campaigners, and pro-abstinence activists tend to share common ground when tackling HIV education and prevention amongst those at such a young stage in life.
At the other extreme, most pro-abstinence activists also recognise that adults are determined to take a risk that could end their lives should be told about all the ways that such a risk can be reduced, including how to get hold of what they need eg condoms.
And between these two extremes, you will find the vast majority of HIV prevention programmes in Africa and Asia, looking to co-operate in doing all they can to educated people about risks, enabling them to take their decisions about how to stay healthy, in a culturally sensitive way, encouraging every avenue to save lives, whether condom use, refraining from risky sexual activity, not sharing needles and so on. And when it comes to avoiding sexual risk, as the World Health Organisation has always pointed out, there are two options: abstaining from penetrative sexual activity if the person could be infected (recognising you may never know), or being in a faithful relationship where both are known to be uninfected, and are both continuing to take every step to avoid becoming so.
We need every approach: sexual health clinics have a vital role to play in helping reduce other infections and an important co-factor for HIV spread; schools have a central task in informing young people about all health risks; parents have perhaps the greatest opportunity of all with young people growing up; the media, government, churches and other faith-based or community-based organisations likewise all have roles to play. Detached teams can target particular at-risk groups and so on.
This is not a time for disputes over how to put out the forest fire. We need everyone to pull together.
Unfortunately many people on every side of the debate tend to try to produce statistics to back their case. The trouble is that much of the science of prevention has been very weak. It is almost impossible to separate two different groups so that the only variable is your own programme. In almost all cases there are many other factors which could be operating to explain outcome differences. That is why so many of the studies show apparently conflicting results.
Rigorous studies are very hard to do and data that exists needs to be looked at very carefully.
However one thing is clear: advertisers have for years persuaded companies to spend huge amounts of money by proving that messages can change behaviour. Prevention programmes are an extension of the same process. They work.
We can debate about which approaches are most cost-effective, sustainable or culturally appropriate but as we have seen, when all parts of a community pull together, AIDS can be beaten.
Thursday December 1, 2005
The Guardian
Europe, led by the UK, last night signalled a major split with the United States over curbing the Aids pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.
The statement, released for World Aids Day today, emphasises the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services. "We are profoundly concerned about the resurgence of partial or incomplete messages on HIV prevention which are not grounded in evidence and have limited effectiveness," it says.
While the US is not named, there is widespread anxiety over the effect of its pro-abstinence agenda in countries such as Uganda, where statements by Janet Museveni, the president's wife, and alleged problems with supply have led to a serious shortage of condoms.
The US has pledged $15bn (?8.6bn) over five years to fight the disease, most of which is channelled through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). Pepfar grants come with conditions, however - two thirds of the money has to go to pro-abstinence programmes, and it is not available to any organisations with clinics that offer abortion services or even counselling. The US is also opposed to the provision of needles and syringes to drug users on the grounds that it could be construed as encouraging their habit.
But the statement from 22 EU member states, released at a meeting under the UK presidency in London yesterday, calls on developing world governments to use every prevention tool, from condoms to clean needles to sexual health clinics, in a bid to slow down ">Google Desktop Search: Europeans reject abstinence message in split with US on Aids: "Thursday December 1, 2005
The Guardian
Europe, led by the UK, last night signalled a major split with the United States over curbing the Aids pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.
The statement, released for World Aids Day today, emphasises the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services. 'We are profoundly concerned about the resurgence of partial or incomplete messages on HIV prevention which are not grounded in evidence and have limited effectiveness,' it says.
While the US is not named, there is widespread anxiety over the effect of its pro-abstinence agenda in countries such as Uganda, where statements by Janet Museveni, the president's wife, and alleged problems with supply have led to a serious shortage of condoms.
The US has pledged $15bn (?8.6bn) over five years to fight the disease, most of which is channelled through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). Pepfar grants come with conditions, however - two thirds of the money has to go to pro-abstinence programmes, and it is not available to any organisations with clinics that offer abortion services or even counselling. The US is also opposed to the provision of needles and syringes to drug users on the grounds that it could be construed as encouraging their habit.
But the statement from 22 EU member states, released at a meeting under the UK presidency in London yesterday, calls on developing world governments to use every prevention tool, from condoms to clean needles to sexual health clinics, in a bid to slow down "
The dispute is confusing and in many ways unecessary.
We need a reality check: as the work of the AIDS foundation ACET (which I started in 1988) has found, the realities on the ground tend to impose their own solutions. Rhetoric and political posturing disappears when you are confronted by the magnitude of the disaster in countries with very few resources and health budgets of maybe only a couple of dollars per person a year.
Take for example the plight of Africa where at least 10% of the population in vast rural areas is already infected. Those that promote condoms as (virtually) the only way to halt spread don't seem to have worked out the logistical and economic challenge of applying a condom-dominated message across an entire low-income region.
The world AIDS budget is insufficient to supply every sexually active adult in Africa with as many condoms as they may need to protect every sexual encounter. Such a policy also assumes perfect distribution channels to villages which may be almost entirely cut off from Western-style supplies, and even date-checking of condom packets which deteriorate in tropical heat.
In any case, such an approach is deeply insulting to many in Africa since it ignores religious and other cultural values which in many places give honour to those who abstain before marriage and are faithful within it. There have been (totally false) widespread rumours that condom-dominated programmes are a front for secret Western attempts to stop babies being born in Africa. But these rumours have influenced many, and have come about because of mistrust of "imperialistic" wealthy nations.
And then there is the sensitive issue of youth. Even if one were to say that a condom-dominated message is the only right one for adults, and older teenagers, how about younger ones?
Is it right with a class of 11 year old girls to only talk about condoms, without raising the possibility that they might have an option to say no to sexual activity at such an age?
In practice, the pro-condom campaigners, and pro-abstinence activists tend to share common ground when tackling HIV education and prevention amongst those at such a young stage in life.
At the other extreme, most pro-abstinence activists also recognise that adults are determined to take a risk that could end their lives should be told about all the ways that such a risk can be reduced, including how to get hold of what they need eg condoms.
And between these two extremes, you will find the vast majority of HIV prevention programmes in Africa and Asia, looking to co-operate in doing all they can to educated people about risks, enabling them to take their decisions about how to stay healthy, in a culturally sensitive way, encouraging every avenue to save lives, whether condom use, refraining from risky sexual activity, not sharing needles and so on. And when it comes to avoiding sexual risk, as the World Health Organisation has always pointed out, there are two options: abstaining from penetrative sexual activity if the person could be infected (recognising you may never know), or being in a faithful relationship where both are known to be uninfected, and are both continuing to take every step to avoid becoming so.
We need every approach: sexual health clinics have a vital role to play in helping reduce other infections and an important co-factor for HIV spread; schools have a central task in informing young people about all health risks; parents have perhaps the greatest opportunity of all with young people growing up; the media, government, churches and other faith-based or community-based organisations likewise all have roles to play. Detached teams can target particular at-risk groups and so on.
This is not a time for disputes over how to put out the forest fire. We need everyone to pull together.
Unfortunately many people on every side of the debate tend to try to produce statistics to back their case. The trouble is that much of the science of prevention has been very weak. It is almost impossible to separate two different groups so that the only variable is your own programme. In almost all cases there are many other factors which could be operating to explain outcome differences. That is why so many of the studies show apparently conflicting results.
Rigorous studies are very hard to do and data that exists needs to be looked at very carefully.
However one thing is clear: advertisers have for years persuaded companies to spend huge amounts of money by proving that messages can change behaviour. Prevention programmes are an extension of the same process. They work.
We can debate about which approaches are most cost-effective, sustainable or culturally appropriate but as we have seen, when all parts of a community pull together, AIDS can be beaten.
Thursday December 1, 2005
The Guardian
Europe, led by the UK, last night signalled a major split with the United States over curbing the Aids pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.
The statement, released for World Aids Day today, emphasises the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services. "We are profoundly concerned about the resurgence of partial or incomplete messages on HIV prevention which are not grounded in evidence and have limited effectiveness," it says.
While the US is not named, there is widespread anxiety over the effect of its pro-abstinence agenda in countries such as Uganda, where statements by Janet Museveni, the president's wife, and alleged problems with supply have led to a serious shortage of condoms.
The US has pledged $15bn (?8.6bn) over five years to fight the disease, most of which is channelled through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). Pepfar grants come with conditions, however - two thirds of the money has to go to pro-abstinence programmes, and it is not available to any organisations with clinics that offer abortion services or even counselling. The US is also opposed to the provision of needles and syringes to drug users on the grounds that it could be construed as encouraging their habit.
But the statement from 22 EU member states, released at a meeting under the UK presidency in London yesterday, calls on developing world governments to use every prevention tool, from condoms to clean needles to sexual health clinics, in a bid to slow down ">Google Desktop Search: Europeans reject abstinence message in split with US on Aids: "Thursday December 1, 2005
The Guardian
Europe, led by the UK, last night signalled a major split with the United States over curbing the Aids pandemic in a statement that tacitly urged African governments not to heed the abstinence-focused agenda of the Bush administration.
The statement, released for World Aids Day today, emphasises the fundamental importance of condoms, sex education and access to reproductive health services. 'We are profoundly concerned about the resurgence of partial or incomplete messages on HIV prevention which are not grounded in evidence and have limited effectiveness,' it says.
While the US is not named, there is widespread anxiety over the effect of its pro-abstinence agenda in countries such as Uganda, where statements by Janet Museveni, the president's wife, and alleged problems with supply have led to a serious shortage of condoms.
The US has pledged $15bn (?8.6bn) over five years to fight the disease, most of which is channelled through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). Pepfar grants come with conditions, however - two thirds of the money has to go to pro-abstinence programmes, and it is not available to any organisations with clinics that offer abortion services or even counselling. The US is also opposed to the provision of needles and syringes to drug users on the grounds that it could be construed as encouraging their habit.
But the statement from 22 EU member states, released at a meeting under the UK presidency in London yesterday, calls on developing world governments to use every prevention tool, from condoms to clean needles to sexual health clinics, in a bid to slow down "
November 23, 2005
AIDS pandemic is still out of control in many countries
Text of UNAIDS press release on World AIDS Day 2005..... Note: ACET International Alliance has been involved in the fight against AIDS for 17 years (I started ACET in 1988) and we have also seen signficant falls in HIV in places like Uganda. However we have also seen rapid spread recently in places like India and Russia.
Press Release:
HIV infection rates decreasing in SEVERAL COUNTRIES
but global number of people living with HIV
CONTINUES TO RISE
Increased HIV prevention and treatment efforts needed to slow and reverse AIDS epidemic, according to new UNAIDS/WHO report
GENEVA, 21 November 2005 ? There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection?such as increased use of condoms, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners?have played a key part in these declines. The new UN report also indicates, however, that overall trends in HIV transmission are still increasing, and that far greater HIV prevention efforts are needed to slow the epidemic.
Kenya, Zimbabwe and some countries in the Caribbean region all show declines in HIV prevalence over the past few years with overall adult infection rates decreasing in Kenya from a peak of 10% in the late 1990s to 7% in 2003 and evidence of drops in HIV rates among pregnant women in Zimbabwe from 26% in 2003 to 21% in 2004. In urban areas of Burkina Faso prevalence among young pregnant women declined from around 4% in 2001 to just under 2% in 2003.
These latest findings were published in AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, the annual report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint report, which this year focuses on HIV prevention, was released today in advance of World AIDS Day, marked worldwide on the first of December.
Several recent developments in the Caribbean region (in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti) give cause for guarded optimism?with some HIV prevalence declines evident among pregnant women, signs of increased condom use among sex workers and expansion of voluntary HIV testing and counselling.
Despite decreases in the rate of infection in certain countries, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world except the Caribbean. There were an additional five million new infections in 2005. The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003. More than three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005; of these, more than 500000 were children.
According to the report, the steepest increases in HIV infections have occurred in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25% increase to 1.6 million) and East Asia. But sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected globally? with 64% of new infections occurring here (over three million people).
?We are encouraged by the gains that have been made in some countries and by the fact that sustained HIV prevention programmes have played a key part in bringing down infections. But the reality is that the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global and national efforts to contain it,? said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot. ?It is clear that a rapid increase in the scale and scope of HIV prevention programmes is urgently needed. We must move from small projects with short-term horizons to long-term, comprehensive strategies,? he added.
Impact of HIV Treatment
The report recognizes that access to HIV treatment has improved markedly over the past two years. More than one million people in low-and middle-income countries are now living longer and better lives because they are on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 250 000 to 350 000 deaths were averted this year because of expanded access to HIV treatment.
Commenting on the potential enhanced impact of integrating prevention and treatment, the 2005 report emphasizes that a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS requires the simultaneous acceleration of treatment and prevention efforts with the ultimate goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care.
"We can now see the clear benefit of scaling up HIV treatment and prevention together and not as isolated interventions," said WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook. "Treatment availability provides a powerful incentive for governments to support, and individuals to seek out, HIV prevention information and voluntary counselling and testing. Effective prevention can also help reduce the number of individuals who will ultimately require care, making broad access to treatment more achievable and sustainable."
Future challenges for strengthening HIV prevention
New data show that in Latin America, Eastern Europe and particularly Asia, the combination of injecting drug use and sex work is fuelling epidemics, and prevention programmes are falling short of addressing this overlap. The report shows how sustained, intensive programmes in diverse settings have helped bring about decreases in HIV incidence?among young people in Uganda and Tanzania, among sex workers and their clients in Thailand and India, and among injecting drug users in Spain and Brazil.
The report notes that, without HIV prevention measures, about 35% of children born to HIV-positive women will contract the virus. While mother-to-child transmission has been virtually eliminated from industrialized countries and service coverage is improving in many other places, it still falls far short in most of sub-Saharan Africa. An accelerated scale-up of services is urgently needed to reduce this unacceptable toll.
Levels of knowledge of safe sex and HIV remain low in many countries ? even in countries with high and growing prevalence. In 24 sub-Saharan countries (including Cameroon, C�te d?Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda), two-thirds or more of young women (aged 15-24 years) lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission. According to a major survey carried out in the Philippines in 2003, more than 90% of respondents still believed that HIV could be transmitted by sharing a meal with an HIV-positive person.
Finally, weak HIV surveillance in several regions including in some countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa is hampering prevention efforts and often means that people at highest risk ? men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting dug users ? are not adequately covered or reached through HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
Press Release:
HIV infection rates decreasing in SEVERAL COUNTRIES
but global number of people living with HIV
CONTINUES TO RISE
Increased HIV prevention and treatment efforts needed to slow and reverse AIDS epidemic, according to new UNAIDS/WHO report
GENEVA, 21 November 2005 ? There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection?such as increased use of condoms, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners?have played a key part in these declines. The new UN report also indicates, however, that overall trends in HIV transmission are still increasing, and that far greater HIV prevention efforts are needed to slow the epidemic.
Kenya, Zimbabwe and some countries in the Caribbean region all show declines in HIV prevalence over the past few years with overall adult infection rates decreasing in Kenya from a peak of 10% in the late 1990s to 7% in 2003 and evidence of drops in HIV rates among pregnant women in Zimbabwe from 26% in 2003 to 21% in 2004. In urban areas of Burkina Faso prevalence among young pregnant women declined from around 4% in 2001 to just under 2% in 2003.
These latest findings were published in AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, the annual report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint report, which this year focuses on HIV prevention, was released today in advance of World AIDS Day, marked worldwide on the first of December.
Several recent developments in the Caribbean region (in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti) give cause for guarded optimism?with some HIV prevalence declines evident among pregnant women, signs of increased condom use among sex workers and expansion of voluntary HIV testing and counselling.
Despite decreases in the rate of infection in certain countries, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world except the Caribbean. There were an additional five million new infections in 2005. The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003. More than three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005; of these, more than 500000 were children.
According to the report, the steepest increases in HIV infections have occurred in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25% increase to 1.6 million) and East Asia. But sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected globally? with 64% of new infections occurring here (over three million people).
?We are encouraged by the gains that have been made in some countries and by the fact that sustained HIV prevention programmes have played a key part in bringing down infections. But the reality is that the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global and national efforts to contain it,? said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot. ?It is clear that a rapid increase in the scale and scope of HIV prevention programmes is urgently needed. We must move from small projects with short-term horizons to long-term, comprehensive strategies,? he added.
Impact of HIV Treatment
The report recognizes that access to HIV treatment has improved markedly over the past two years. More than one million people in low-and middle-income countries are now living longer and better lives because they are on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 250 000 to 350 000 deaths were averted this year because of expanded access to HIV treatment.
Commenting on the potential enhanced impact of integrating prevention and treatment, the 2005 report emphasizes that a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS requires the simultaneous acceleration of treatment and prevention efforts with the ultimate goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care.
"We can now see the clear benefit of scaling up HIV treatment and prevention together and not as isolated interventions," said WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook. "Treatment availability provides a powerful incentive for governments to support, and individuals to seek out, HIV prevention information and voluntary counselling and testing. Effective prevention can also help reduce the number of individuals who will ultimately require care, making broad access to treatment more achievable and sustainable."
Future challenges for strengthening HIV prevention
New data show that in Latin America, Eastern Europe and particularly Asia, the combination of injecting drug use and sex work is fuelling epidemics, and prevention programmes are falling short of addressing this overlap. The report shows how sustained, intensive programmes in diverse settings have helped bring about decreases in HIV incidence?among young people in Uganda and Tanzania, among sex workers and their clients in Thailand and India, and among injecting drug users in Spain and Brazil.
The report notes that, without HIV prevention measures, about 35% of children born to HIV-positive women will contract the virus. While mother-to-child transmission has been virtually eliminated from industrialized countries and service coverage is improving in many other places, it still falls far short in most of sub-Saharan Africa. An accelerated scale-up of services is urgently needed to reduce this unacceptable toll.
Levels of knowledge of safe sex and HIV remain low in many countries ? even in countries with high and growing prevalence. In 24 sub-Saharan countries (including Cameroon, C�te d?Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda), two-thirds or more of young women (aged 15-24 years) lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission. According to a major survey carried out in the Philippines in 2003, more than 90% of respondents still believed that HIV could be transmitted by sharing a meal with an HIV-positive person.
Finally, weak HIV surveillance in several regions including in some countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa is hampering prevention efforts and often means that people at highest risk ? men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting dug users ? are not adequately covered or reached through HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
AIDS pandemic is still out of control in many countries
Text of press release from UNAIDS:
Background: the AIDS foundation I have been part of for 17 years, and helped found, has also seen dramatic falls in HIV infection in Uganda and some other countries, while places like India and Russia have been losing ground.
UNAIDS Press Release World AIDS Day 2005
There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection?such as increased use of condoms, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners?have played a key part in these declines. The new UN report also indicates, however, that overall trends in HIV transmission are still increasing, and that far greater HIV prevention efforts are needed to slow the epidemic.
Kenya, Zimbabwe and some countries in the Caribbean region all show declines in HIV prevalence over the past few years with overall adult infection rates decreasing in Kenya from a peak of 10% in the late 1990s to 7% in 2003 and evidence of drops in HIV rates among pregnant women in Zimbabwe from 26% in 2003 to 21% in 2004. In urban areas of Burkina Faso prevalence among young pregnant women declined from around 4% in 2001 to just under 2% in 2003.
These latest findings were published in AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, the annual report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint report, which this year focuses on HIV prevention, was released today in advance of World AIDS Day, marked worldwide on the first of December.
Several recent developments in the Caribbean region (in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti) give cause for guarded optimism?with some HIV prevalence declines evident among pregnant women, signs of increased condom use among sex workers and expansion of voluntary HIV testing and counselling.
Despite decreases in the rate of infection in certain countries, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world except the Caribbean. There were an additional five million new infections in 2005. The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003. More than three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005; of these, more than 500000 were children.
According to the report, the steepest increases in HIV infections have occurred in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25% increase to 1.6 million) and East Asia. But sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected globally? with 64% of new infections occurring here (over three million people).
?We are encouraged by the gains that have been made in some countries and by the fact that sustained HIV prevention programmes have played a key part in bringing down infections. But the reality is that the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global and national efforts to contain it,? said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot. ?It is clear that a rapid increase in the scale and scope of HIV prevention programmes is urgently needed. We must move from small projects with short-term horizons to long-term, comprehensive strategies,? he added.
Impact of HIV Treatment
The report recognizes that access to HIV treatment has improved markedly over the past two years. More than one million people in low-and middle-income countries are now living longer and better lives because they are on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 250 000 to 350 000 deaths were averted this year because of expanded access to HIV treatment.
Commenting on the potential enhanced impact of integrating prevention and treatment, the 2005 report emphasizes that a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS requires the simultaneous acceleration of treatment and prevention efforts with the ultimate goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care.
"We can now see the clear benefit of scaling up HIV treatment and prevention together and not as isolated interventions," said WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook. "Treatment availability provides a powerful incentive for governments to support, and individuals to seek out, HIV prevention information and voluntary counselling and testing. Effective prevention can also help reduce the number of individuals who will ultimately require care, making broad access to treatment more achievable and sustainable."
Future challenges for strengthening HIV prevention
New data show that in Latin America, Eastern Europe and particularly Asia, the combination of injecting drug use and sex work is fuelling epidemics, and prevention programmes are falling short of addressing this overlap. The report shows how sustained, intensive programmes in diverse settings have helped bring about decreases in HIV incidence?among young people in Uganda and Tanzania, among sex workers and their clients in Thailand and India, and among injecting drug users in Spain and Brazil.
The report notes that, without HIV prevention measures, about 35% of children born to HIV-positive women will contract the virus. While mother-to-child transmission has been virtually eliminated from industrialized countries and service coverage is improving in many other places, it still falls far short in most of sub-Saharan Africa. An accelerated scale-up of services is urgently needed to reduce this unacceptable toll.
Levels of knowledge of safe sex and HIV remain low in many countries ? even in countries with high and growing prevalence. In 24 sub-Saharan countries (including Cameroon, C�te d?Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda), two-thirds or more of young women (aged 15-24 years) lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission. According to a major survey carried out in the Philippines in 2003, more than 90% of respondents still believed that HIV could be transmitted by sharing a meal with an HIV-positive person.
Finally, weak HIV surveillance in several regions including in some countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa is hampering prevention efforts and often means that people at highest risk ? men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting dug users ? are not adequately covered or reached through HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
Background: the AIDS foundation I have been part of for 17 years, and helped found, has also seen dramatic falls in HIV infection in Uganda and some other countries, while places like India and Russia have been losing ground.
UNAIDS Press Release World AIDS Day 2005
There is new evidence that adult HIV infection rates have decreased in certain countries and that changes in behaviour to prevent infection?such as increased use of condoms, delay of first sexual experience and fewer sexual partners?have played a key part in these declines. The new UN report also indicates, however, that overall trends in HIV transmission are still increasing, and that far greater HIV prevention efforts are needed to slow the epidemic.
Kenya, Zimbabwe and some countries in the Caribbean region all show declines in HIV prevalence over the past few years with overall adult infection rates decreasing in Kenya from a peak of 10% in the late 1990s to 7% in 2003 and evidence of drops in HIV rates among pregnant women in Zimbabwe from 26% in 2003 to 21% in 2004. In urban areas of Burkina Faso prevalence among young pregnant women declined from around 4% in 2001 to just under 2% in 2003.
These latest findings were published in AIDS Epidemic Update 2005, the annual report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The joint report, which this year focuses on HIV prevention, was released today in advance of World AIDS Day, marked worldwide on the first of December.
Several recent developments in the Caribbean region (in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Dominican Republic and Haiti) give cause for guarded optimism?with some HIV prevalence declines evident among pregnant women, signs of increased condom use among sex workers and expansion of voluntary HIV testing and counselling.
Despite decreases in the rate of infection in certain countries, the overall number of people living with HIV has continued to increase in all regions of the world except the Caribbean. There were an additional five million new infections in 2005. The number of people living with HIV globally has reached its highest level with an estimated 40.3 million people, up from an estimated 37.5 million in 2003. More than three million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2005; of these, more than 500000 were children.
According to the report, the steepest increases in HIV infections have occurred in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (25% increase to 1.6 million) and East Asia. But sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the most affected globally? with 64% of new infections occurring here (over three million people).
?We are encouraged by the gains that have been made in some countries and by the fact that sustained HIV prevention programmes have played a key part in bringing down infections. But the reality is that the AIDS epidemic continues to outstrip global and national efforts to contain it,? said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot. ?It is clear that a rapid increase in the scale and scope of HIV prevention programmes is urgently needed. We must move from small projects with short-term horizons to long-term, comprehensive strategies,? he added.
Impact of HIV Treatment
The report recognizes that access to HIV treatment has improved markedly over the past two years. More than one million people in low-and middle-income countries are now living longer and better lives because they are on antiretroviral treatment and an estimated 250 000 to 350 000 deaths were averted this year because of expanded access to HIV treatment.
Commenting on the potential enhanced impact of integrating prevention and treatment, the 2005 report emphasizes that a comprehensive response to HIV and AIDS requires the simultaneous acceleration of treatment and prevention efforts with the ultimate goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care.
"We can now see the clear benefit of scaling up HIV treatment and prevention together and not as isolated interventions," said WHO Director-General Dr LEE Jong-wook. "Treatment availability provides a powerful incentive for governments to support, and individuals to seek out, HIV prevention information and voluntary counselling and testing. Effective prevention can also help reduce the number of individuals who will ultimately require care, making broad access to treatment more achievable and sustainable."
Future challenges for strengthening HIV prevention
New data show that in Latin America, Eastern Europe and particularly Asia, the combination of injecting drug use and sex work is fuelling epidemics, and prevention programmes are falling short of addressing this overlap. The report shows how sustained, intensive programmes in diverse settings have helped bring about decreases in HIV incidence?among young people in Uganda and Tanzania, among sex workers and their clients in Thailand and India, and among injecting drug users in Spain and Brazil.
The report notes that, without HIV prevention measures, about 35% of children born to HIV-positive women will contract the virus. While mother-to-child transmission has been virtually eliminated from industrialized countries and service coverage is improving in many other places, it still falls far short in most of sub-Saharan Africa. An accelerated scale-up of services is urgently needed to reduce this unacceptable toll.
Levels of knowledge of safe sex and HIV remain low in many countries ? even in countries with high and growing prevalence. In 24 sub-Saharan countries (including Cameroon, C�te d?Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda), two-thirds or more of young women (aged 15-24 years) lacked comprehensive knowledge of HIV transmission. According to a major survey carried out in the Philippines in 2003, more than 90% of respondents still believed that HIV could be transmitted by sharing a meal with an HIV-positive person.
Finally, weak HIV surveillance in several regions including in some countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa is hampering prevention efforts and often means that people at highest risk ? men who have sex with men, sex workers, and injecting dug users ? are not adequately covered or reached through HIV prevention and treatment strategies.
November 15, 2005
Man cured of HIV infection? New information
Reports in the media today of a press statement from the hospital casting some doubt on the story. They say that the first tests were for antibodies only and imply that no direct tests were made for presence of the virus, that have been found to be positive at any stage. This raises the possibility, they say, that the person never had HIV infection. Once again they say they would like to conduct more tests.
In other words, the first test(s) might have given a false postive result - which can happen.
It is interesting that the media story only broke after the person concerned had talked about taking legal action against the hospital, for the distress caused by telling him he was infected and having to live with that thought for many months before being told he was not infected.
So as I have said all along, this is a complex story, broken in an unusual way - not in a reputable medical journal - from which many of the most important facts have been missing, and may be complicated still further if it turns out that the person was paid a large sum by the newspaper that broke the story to the world.
In other words, the first test(s) might have given a false postive result - which can happen.
It is interesting that the media story only broke after the person concerned had talked about taking legal action against the hospital, for the distress caused by telling him he was infected and having to live with that thought for many months before being told he was not infected.
So as I have said all along, this is a complex story, broken in an unusual way - not in a reputable medical journal - from which many of the most important facts have been missing, and may be complicated still further if it turns out that the person was paid a large sum by the newspaper that broke the story to the world.
November 14, 2005
Man cured from HIV infection?
Media continue to cover this story but the medical facts are still unclear. It will be some time perhaps before we know for certain one way or the other if he was infected in the first place or not, and whether if so he is now completely free of infection. And indeed we may not know, if he choses not to have further tests, or to keep the results confidential.
November 13, 2005
Man cured of HIV in London? Comment on recent press reports
Today has been a busy day with BBC Breakfast TV and other programmes / channels looking for comment on a story about a London man who tested positve for HIV who it is said has "cured" himself. Of course one can only comment in very general terms since so many of the facts have yet to emerge and the report was in a newspaper, not a peer-reviewed scientific research publication. I have been involved since 1987 in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and founded the international AIDS agency ACET in 1988, now a growing alliance of independent AIDS care and prevention programms in countries such as Uganda, India, Thailand, Russia and Ukraine. Over the years I have come across a number of anecdotal reports of people who appeared to be infected with HIV and then had no trace of infection, but it has not been possible to verify what has happened or recheck their results. We do know that some people have a genetic profile which gives them some protection against HIV infection.
Independent researchers will want to take a very close look at any case like this, firstly to be sure that there were no errors in the testing process, and if so, to make certain that there really is no HIV infection lurking in the background. If they are satisfied on both counts, they will try and work out what process the body has used to eliminate HIV. Antibody tests are the usual way to look for HIV infection, and measure the body's reaction to the virus. Direct tests for the virus particles themselves are more difficult and expensive, but it would be very significant if they also tested positive at first, and then negative. It is unclear from the first reports what kinds of HIV tests were positive or negative at each stage.
For more comment on this important story:
http://globalchange.com/hivcurereport.htm
Independent researchers will want to take a very close look at any case like this, firstly to be sure that there were no errors in the testing process, and if so, to make certain that there really is no HIV infection lurking in the background. If they are satisfied on both counts, they will try and work out what process the body has used to eliminate HIV. Antibody tests are the usual way to look for HIV infection, and measure the body's reaction to the virus. Direct tests for the virus particles themselves are more difficult and expensive, but it would be very significant if they also tested positive at first, and then negative. It is unclear from the first reports what kinds of HIV tests were positive or negative at each stage.
For more comment on this important story:
http://globalchange.com/hivcurereport.htm
July 20, 2005
ACET International Alliance - ASSET - AIDS prevention and care
ACET International Alliance - ASSET - AIDS prevention and care
See news on new countries covered by the ACET International Alliance family - a foundation which my wife and I started back in 1988 and is now active in many parts of the world, saving lives and caring for those affected by HIV.
See news on new countries covered by the ACET International Alliance family - a foundation which my wife and I started back in 1988 and is now active in many parts of the world, saving lives and caring for those affected by HIV.
March 15, 2005
books.htm: "Twelve Books by Dr Patrick Dixon
320,000 books printed in 19 languages (English, French, German, Polish, Chinese, Thai, Portugese, Estonian, Latvian, Russian, Czech, Hausa, Paite, Hindi, Urdu, Hungarian, Luganda, Nepalese and Swahili), plus a million chapters downloaded in just 15 months. Dr Dixon is often described in the world's media as Europe's leading Futurist, and has been ranked as one of the world's 50 most influential business thinkers.
NEWS: 'Building a Better Business' published in April 2005 with a $20,000 challenge - see below - also press reviews.
Free copies of 'AIDS and You' are available now in English, Spanish, French and Russian and many other languages listed above, in bulk, to organisations for distribution in developing countries - from ACET International Alliance website, in partnership with OM. The widely acclaimed handbook 'The Truth about AIDS' is available on the same basis. Save lives and care for those affected: donate to ACET online. $15 supports 10 AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe for a month; $130 supports a schools worker in Ukraine for a month; $50 pays for 150 books for project workers in India."
320,000 books printed in 19 languages (English, French, German, Polish, Chinese, Thai, Portugese, Estonian, Latvian, Russian, Czech, Hausa, Paite, Hindi, Urdu, Hungarian, Luganda, Nepalese and Swahili), plus a million chapters downloaded in just 15 months. Dr Dixon is often described in the world's media as Europe's leading Futurist, and has been ranked as one of the world's 50 most influential business thinkers.
NEWS: 'Building a Better Business' published in April 2005 with a $20,000 challenge - see below - also press reviews.
Free copies of 'AIDS and You' are available now in English, Spanish, French and Russian and many other languages listed above, in bulk, to organisations for distribution in developing countries - from ACET International Alliance website, in partnership with OM. The widely acclaimed handbook 'The Truth about AIDS' is available on the same basis. Save lives and care for those affected: donate to ACET online. $15 supports 10 AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe for a month; $130 supports a schools worker in Ukraine for a month; $50 pays for 150 books for project workers in India."
March 04, 2005
Acet International Network - ASSET - Christian response to AIDS - Church AIDS programmes: "ACET International Alliance members have:
* Given practical support to more than 3,500 people with AIDS
* Supported over 1,000 orphans
* Educated more than a million children in school lessons about sexual health and drug abuse
* Distributed 1.4 million educational resources to teenagers
* Provided 60,000 free books to workers in hard-hit nations
* Given access for a million free online book chapters
* Educated more than 100,000 health care professionals
* Provided technical support and advice to a large number of national and international agencies based in more than twenty nations, mostly in the poorest parts of the world
In addition, more than a million book chapters and AIDS resources have been downloaded from our website / resource area in the last 18 months.
ACET projects in many nations
ACET Member organisations are found in Uganda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Thailand, India, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Barbados and Guyana with a new Nigeria partnership about to begin. Work is growing most strongly in countries with low national income and high HIV incidence. "
* Given practical support to more than 3,500 people with AIDS
* Supported over 1,000 orphans
* Educated more than a million children in school lessons about sexual health and drug abuse
* Distributed 1.4 million educational resources to teenagers
* Provided 60,000 free books to workers in hard-hit nations
* Given access for a million free online book chapters
* Educated more than 100,000 health care professionals
* Provided technical support and advice to a large number of national and international agencies based in more than twenty nations, mostly in the poorest parts of the world
In addition, more than a million book chapters and AIDS resources have been downloaded from our website / resource area in the last 18 months.
ACET projects in many nations
ACET Member organisations are found in Uganda, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Thailand, India, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Jersey, Barbados and Guyana with a new Nigeria partnership about to begin. Work is growing most strongly in countries with low national income and high HIV incidence. "
March 16, 2004
Acet International Home
Just returned from week in India - Calcutta, Mumbai and Goa - 2nd visit in 4 months - visiting a number of projects connected with ACET International Alliance and Oasis. Very moving and also shocking at times, yet so much can be done to save lives and give people care as well as hope, even in the most desparate situations of extreme poverty and vunerability, street projects, slum projects, girls sold as sex industry slaves and so on.
Just returned from week in India - Calcutta, Mumbai and Goa - 2nd visit in 4 months - visiting a number of projects connected with ACET International Alliance and Oasis. Very moving and also shocking at times, yet so much can be done to save lives and give people care as well as hope, even in the most desparate situations of extreme poverty and vunerability, street projects, slum projects, girls sold as sex industry slaves and so on.
February 22, 2004
Free books
In partnership with ACET International Alliance and Operation Mobilisation, we have just authorised an additional printing of 55,000 copies of "AIDS and You" for free distribution to church leaders and project workers across Africa and Asia in countries worst hit by AIDS.
This book contains practical guidelines and information about how to start sustainable, community-based prevention and care programmes, as well as a rationale for sensitive, effective Christian action to save lives and support those affected by HIV and AIDS.
In partnership with ACET International Alliance and Operation Mobilisation, we have just authorised an additional printing of 55,000 copies of "AIDS and You" for free distribution to church leaders and project workers across Africa and Asia in countries worst hit by AIDS.
This book contains practical guidelines and information about how to start sustainable, community-based prevention and care programmes, as well as a rationale for sensitive, effective Christian action to save lives and support those affected by HIV and AIDS.
February 14, 2004
books.htm: "'Futurewise' has just been published in 3rd edition (English, Estonian and Latvian - with Russian to follow soon).
Free copies of 'AIDS and You' are available now in English, Spanish and Russian, in bulk, to organisations for distribution in developing countries - from ACET International Alliance website. French, Romanian, Czech, Turkish, Portugese, Swahili, Urdu and Hindi editions will also soon be available in bulk free of charge for organisations working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and former Eastern bloc countries, due to generous partnership with OM and other organisations. A new English edition of 'The Truth about AIDS' will also be available soon on the same basis."
Free copies of 'AIDS and You' are available now in English, Spanish and Russian, in bulk, to organisations for distribution in developing countries - from ACET International Alliance website. French, Romanian, Czech, Turkish, Portugese, Swahili, Urdu and Hindi editions will also soon be available in bulk free of charge for organisations working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and former Eastern bloc countries, due to generous partnership with OM and other organisations. A new English edition of 'The Truth about AIDS' will also be available soon on the same basis."
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