This joint UNAIDS/WHO report outlines the most recent trends in the global AIDS epidemic. Women are increasingly affected by HIV and make up nearly half of the 37.2 million living with HIV world wide. In sub-Saharan Africa, almost 60 percent of adults living with HIV are women. The report identifies Southern Africa as the worst-hit region with HIV prevalence rates surpassing 25 percent. Although global AIDS spending has tripled since 2001 and access to services has improved significantly, the epidemic is still spreading.
Equity and HIV/AIDS
Aids epidemic update 2004
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV
AIDS Groups Worried About Backlash Against Nevirapine
Some HIV/AIDS treatment groups have expressed "alarm" about a possible backlash against the use of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine among pregnant women to reduce the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission because of a recent series of Associated Press articles concerning clinical trials of the drug, the New York Times reports. The articles concerned NIH's research on the use of nevirapine in single doses among HIV-positive pregnant women in Uganda to determine the drug's ability to reduce the risk of vertical HIV transmission.
Barriers to care of HIV/AIDS patients in developing countries
This British Medical Journal article examines the challenges faced in the World Health Organization's (WHO) '3 by 5' initiative, which aims to deliver anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to 3 million people by 2005. It highlights that the focus on delivering ARVs distracts resources and attention from a broader model of health care. They argue that the initiative must develop a chronic disease model of care through a strengthened public health infrastructure. The authors also point out the exclusionary power of stigma and outline the need for training programmes for health care workers on medical ethics and human rights.
European Parliament resolution on World AIDS Day
"The European Parliament ...Calls on the EU to continue to prioritise sexual and reproductive health issues through funding programmes on family planning, and in particular to influence sexual behaviour through risk-reduction strategies, to educate young people, and especially girls and young women, about STIs and HIV, and to encourage condom usage in combination with other contraceptive methods and combat any misinformation spread on the effectiveness of condoms..."
Further details: /newsletter/id/30736
Malawi NGO breaks silence around HIV/AIDS
In a small village in Kaswela in Karonga district in the northern region of Malawi, 35-year-old Lucy Banda has been critically ill for a year, and her neighbours suspect she is HIV-positive. Despite numerous visits to the hospital, Banda shows no signs of improvement and spends most of her time lying on her mat, unable to talk or eat properly. A community based NGO in the district, Chipulikano Orphan Care (COC), is trying to address the problem of caring for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as raising awareness about AIDS within families - traditionally a taboo subject.
SA NGO launches countrywide monitoring of ARV rollout
A new project by the South African NGO, Health Systems Trust (HST), will enable communities across the country to provide feedback on progress in the rollout of free anti-AIDS medication. HST, based in the east-coast city of Durban, is developing a monitoring and evaluation tool to screen communities' access to free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, and will also provide technical assistance in lobbying provincial and national government. The national treatment programme has come under fire from activists over the slow pace of delivery and problems with the procurement of ARVs.
Scaling up ARV treatment in Malawi
This International Food Policy Research Institute (IPFRI) discussion paper examines the scaling-up of the STEPS initiative (Scaling Up HIV/AIDS Interventions Through Expanded Partnerships) in Malawi, and the factors which interfere with this process. Topics explored in this paper include: Malawi's national response to HIV/AIDS; the pilot project and the development of the community mobilisation model (formerly known as COPE); the scaling up and progress of STEPS; and factors that effect the scaling up process, including the catalysts, institutional arrangements, and organisational capacities. The paper also looks at community-level factors and financing, as well as threats to scaling up, including HIV/AIDS and the ongoing food crisis in the context of widespread and deep poverty, and underdevelopment.
Aids epidemic update 2004
The annual AIDS epidemic update reports on the latest developments in the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. With maps and regional summaries, the 2004 edition provides the most recent estimates of the epidemic’s scope and human toll, explores new trends in the epidemic’s evolution, and features a special section on women and AIDS.
Barriers to better care for people with AIDS in developing countries
Access to good quality antiretroviral treatment has transformed the prognosis for people with AIDS in the developed world. Although it is feasible and desirable to deliver antiretroviral drugs in resource poor settings, few of the 95% of people with HIV and AIDS who live in developing countries receive them. The World Health Organization has launched a programme to deliver antiretroviral drugs to three million people with AIDS in the developing world by 2005, the "3 by 5" initiative. This article identifies some of the challenges faced by the initiative, focusing on delivery of care.
Book to mobilise politicians to fight HIV/AIDS in Lesotho
In an effort to mobilise leaders to fight HIV/AIDS, the parliament of Lesotho and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have launched a publication called "What Parliamentarians can do about HIV/AIDS Action for Children and Young People". The publication provides parliamentarians with guidelines for responding to the challenge of protecting children and young people through laws, policies, advocacy, education and providing these vulnerable groups with tools to empower them.