Friday, January 16, 2009

• Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Will Not Publish Jan. 19-20

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Will Not Publish Jan. 19-20
[Jan 16, 2009]

      The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report will not publish from Jan. 19 to Jan. 20 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the presidential inauguration. The report resumes publication on Wednesday, Jan. 21.

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Former UNAIDS Executive Director Piot To Serve as Senior Fellow at Gates Foundation Until May
[Jan 16, 2009]

      Peter Piot, former executive director of UNAIDS and co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, will serve as a top adviser on global health strategy to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation until May, when he will launch a global health program at the Imperial College London, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. Piot said that his goal is to help the Gates Foundation assess how to take the next steps in advancing global health (Paulson, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1/15). "I am encouraged by the growing enthusiasm and support for improving health in the developing world," Piot said, adding, "The Gates Foundation has played a central role in making this progress possible, and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues at the foundation to build on this momentum." Calling Piot "a rigorous scientist and a passionate advocate for global health," Tachi Yamada, president of the foundation's Global Health Program, said, "The foundation and our partners will benefit greatly from his deep experience and his insight into the health challenges facing developing countries" (Gates Foundation release, 1/15).

According to the Post-Intelligencer, Piot sees bolstering developing countries' health systems as "the next challenge" in global health. Now the "main activity" of UNAIDS, health delivery improvement is "getting far more attention than it used to," Piot said. He also said that many are looking for funding from the Gates Foundation to strengthen health systems, but it is not always clear what needs to be done or if the problem is with the health care system. "One of the biggest scandals of our time is that half a million women still die every year giving birth," Piot said. He added many of these deaths are due to ignorance and a lack of basic information, as well as deficient health services (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1/15).

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Advocates Speak Out Against Senegal's Conviction of MSM Involved With HIV/AIDS Organizations
[Jan 16, 2009]

      Several HIV/AIDS and human rights organizations recently criticized Senegal for sentencing nine men who have sex with men to eight years in jail, AFP/Yahoo! Health News reports. The sentence is the "toughest such sentence to date in a country where homosexuality is outlawed," according to AFP/Yahoo! Health News (AFP/Yahoo! Health News, 1/15). The men were arrested in December 2008 and charged with "indecent conduct and unnatural acts and membership of a criminal organization." Consensual same-sex relations are illegal in Senegal and punishable by up to five years in jail. However, the judge increased each man's sentence to eight years because of their "membership of a criminal organization." Most of the men belonged to a group aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/8).

UNAIDS on Thursday criticized Senegal's actions, saying homophobia hinders efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS in the country. Michel Sidibe, executive director of the organization, said "Universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support must be accessible to all people in Senegal who are in need -- including men who have sex with men." Sidibe called on Senegal to release the men and undertake action "to rebuild trust with affected communities." Scott Long -- director of Human Rights Watch's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender program -- said the charges against the men "will have a chilling effect on AIDS programs." He added, "Outreach workers and people seeking HIV prevention or treatment should not have to worry about police persecution." According to Long, Senegal's statute banning homosexuality "invades privacy, criminalizes health work, justifies brutality and feeds fear." The African Meeting of Defense of Human Rights also criticized Senegal's "heavy" sentence. French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a cabinet meeting Wednesday said he is "emotional and preoccupied" about the Senegalese case. According to AFP/Independent Online , the French health ministry has asked the foreign ministry to lobby for the men's release (Vandal, AFP/Independent Online, 1/16). A coalition including the French and Swedish embassies also is working to secure the release of the men, according to UNAIDS (AFP/Yahoo! Health News, 1/15). The Senegalese government has declined to comment on the case, AFP/Independent Online reports.

According to Cheikh Ibrahima Niang, a social anthropology professor at University Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal's capital of Dakar, "homophobic currents" have always been present in Senegalese society, but they have "become more and more acute" in recent years. Many advocates also have expressed concern that Senegal's attitude about homosexuality will lead to an increase in HIV cases if MSM are reluctant to seek treatment that could identify them as gay. According to the French organization AIDES, Senegal's HIV prevalence among MSM is 21.5%, compared with 0.7% among the general population. According to AFP/Independent Online, Senegal is one of only seven African countries with a national HIV/AIDS prevention program that specifically focuses on MSM (AFP/Independent Online, 1/16).

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IRIN News Examines HIV/AIDS Stigma, Discrimination in Iraq
[Jan 16, 2009]

      IRIN News on Wednesday examined the stigma and discrimination faced by HIV-positive people in Iraq. According to Ihsan Jaafar, head of the Ministry of Health's public health directorate, Iraq has a relatively low HIV prevalence, and 44 people are confirmed to be living with the virus in the country. Wadah Hamed -- head of Iraq's national HIV/AIDS prevention program and the country's AIDS Research Center -- said HIV first entered Iraq in 1985 through the importation of contaminated blood. Since 1986, the country has detected 482 cases of the virus, of which 272 have occurred among Iraqis and the rest among foreigners. Treatment in the late 1980s was "tough and arbitrary," Hamed said, adding that those who tested HIV-positive often "were placed in segregated medical facilities."

According to IRIN News, people living with HIV in Iraq often face "social isolation and even death at the hands of religious extremists who believe the virus is proof that an HIV-positive person must have engaged in indecent acts." In addition, some Muslim extremists believe that people with HIV are "'sinners who should be killed," IRIN News reports. Iraqi officials do not have data on HIV-positive people gunmen have killed, according to IRIN News. Iraq's health ministry in response to the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS in the country is launching a campaign to raise awareness about the disease by working with local media outlets, distributing posters and holding workshops. Secondary school curricula also will include HIV/AIDS awareness programs, and officials have established a hotline for people seeking advice about the disease. According to Hamed, the campaign intends to stay "low-key, because our country is still not open to such subjects." He added that he does not want the campaign to "trigger panic and anxiety among the public."

According to IRIN News, Iraq's government currently provides the equivalent of about $85 monthly plus a clothing allowance for people in the country living with HIV. In addition, those who contracted the disease in 1985 receive an extra $200 monthly. The government also provides no-cost monthly checkups for all HIV-positive people, partner examinations every three months and additional examinations for other family members every six months. At least 11 medical centers in Baghdad provide these services, IRIN News reports. In addition, the health ministry in coordination with the World Health Organization provides no-cost antiretroviral drugs for HIV-positive people in the country (IRIN News, 1/14).

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Charges Announced Against Physicians Who Worked To Address HIV/AIDS in Iran
[Jan 16, 2009]

      Brothers Arash Alaei and Kamiar Alaei, two Iranian physicians who implemented the country's first HIV prevention and treatment program, are among four people charged with allegedly plotting to overthrow the Iranian government, the Albany Times Union reports. According to the Times Union, the brothers and two other individuals could receive life sentences if found guilty. A sentence in the case was expected on Thursday, the Times Union reports (Grondahl, Albany Times Union, 1/15).

On Wednesday, Iranian judiciary spokesperson Ali-Reza Jamshidi said that the government had broken up the four-person cell linked with the CIA and U.S. State Department. Jamshidi added that the group "recruited and trained people to work with different espionage networks to launch a velvet overthrow of the Iranian government." While the names of those charged were not released by Jamshidi, Physicians for Human Rights said it has information that the Alaei brothers were among those charged, according to the Globe. The State Department released a statement calling the charges "baseless," adding, "In the past, Iran has used similar charges to falsely accuse and detain civil society activists and Iranians working to enhance understanding between our two countries. We urge the government of Iran to adhere to international norms by ending its policy of arbitrarily detaining its citizens or using charges of violating national security as a pretext for targeting any Iranian citizen" (Stockman, Boston Globe, 1/15).

Sarah Kalloch, a spokesperson for PHR, said that the group is "deeply, deeply concerned about their health and safety." She added, "They've done so much to save lives, and now there's a possibility they could spend the rest of their lives in prison. We believe these charges are patently false. It appears that Iran is politicizing AIDS, and that's a terrible thing" (Albany Times Union, 1/15).

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Arkansas Group Launches $150,000 Grant Program for Community HIV/AIDS Advocacy Groups
[Jan 16, 2009]

      The Arkansas Minority Health Commission has designed a new grant program aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS among minority populations at a local level, the group announced Wednesday, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The commission will begin offering up to $150,000 in grants this year for community-based groups that work to educate people about HIV/AIDS, offer testing and services, or develop policies, Wynona Bryant-Williams, the commission's executive director, said. She added that commission officials "really want to be more proactive" in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Applications for individual grants -- which range from $15,000 to $50,000 -- are due by Feb. 6, and the awards will be announced in March. Creshelle Nash -- the commission's medical director who also is a professor with University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' College of Public Health and a physician at the UAMS Medical Center -- said the commission is "looking for partners, we are looking for collaborators because minority health is everyone's health."

The Democrat-Gazette reports that about 7,375 HIV/AIDS cases have been reported in Arkansas in the past 25 years, with 44% of them occurring among black and Hispanic populations. About 15.6% of the state's population is black and 5% is Hispanic. Nash said that the social disparities of minority groups in health care are "the most shocking and the most inhumane."

Bryant-Williams said the obstacles to preventing the spread of HIV among minority populations are "multilayered" and include issues like poverty, lack of health care access, social misconceptions and poor education. She added that people "have this facade that they're indestructible" and that many believe HIV/AIDS will not affect them because it was seen as only a "gay man's disease" when it was first discovered. Nash said conversations about prevention and the risks of HIV/AIDS need to occur within families, churches and schools. Rick Collins -- chair of the Arkansas HIV/AIDS Minority Task Force and co-executive director of Future Builders Inc., a not-for-profit HIV/AIDS awareness, counseling and testing group for local Arkansas communities -- said the group consistently finds people who do not understand the virus or how to prevent transmission. He added that many black men are hesitant to take precautions or be tested. "A lot of people still don't realize where the disease comes from," he said, adding, "People are engaging in sexual activity, and they're really not protecting themselves" (Park, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/15).

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Awareness Programs Needed Before Mass Male Circumcision Can Be Introduced in Uganda, Opinion Piece Says
[Jan 16, 2009]

      It is "important" that Uganda's Ministry of Health "conducts mass sensitization campaigns throughout the country to educate people about the benefits and limits of male circumcision" in preventing the spread of HIV, Joseph Matovu of Makerere University's School of Health writes in a New Vision opinion piece. According to Matovu, recent research about male circumcision is "good ground" to argue for widespread, "medically performed" adult male circumcision in Uganda, where the HIV prevalence has remained at about 6% since 2000 and the "percentage of circumcised men in traditionally non-circumcising communities ranges between" 8% and 40%. He continues, "The good news is most men and their partners favor circumcision, citing medical, hygiene and sexual-related reasons."

Matovu cites an assessment conducted by Family Health International and the health ministry, which found that between 40% and 62% of "uncircumcised men interviewed reported that they would be willing to accept male circumcision if it was offered to them." In addition, women interviewed "emphasized the role that male circumcision would play in improving men's penile hygiene as well as reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections." These findings "suggest that male circumcision is a welcome intervention in the fight against HIV in Uganda," Matovu continues. He writes that the promotion of male circumcision should "take into account the fears in the population that circumcised men might become more promiscuous than ever before," adding that both circumcised men and their partners should be "strongly encouraged to continue to protect themselves from the risk of HIV infection through available prevention strategies," including abstinence, fidelity, and "correct and consistent condom use."

Matovu continues that men must be educated on the need to abstain from sex for the recommended six weeks after circumcision, as research suggests that between 14% and 17% of newly circumcised men resume sex within two to three weeks after surgery. He writes that it also is "important to remember that medical male circumcision does not automatically protect women" from contracting HIV. He adds, "[I]n order for male circumcision to yield the desired protective effect, a significant portion of adult males would need to get circumcised. Circumcision of a scattered few individuals will not give us the change we need" (Matovu, New Vision, 1/14).

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UNICEF Report Examines Maternal, Child Health Worldwide, Including HIV/AIDS Issues
[Jan 16, 2009]

      "State of the World's Children 2009," UNICEF: The annual report from UNICEF focuses on maternal and newborn health worldwide and finds that women in developing countries face a much higher risk of dying from pregnancy complications than women in industrialized nations. The report also found some progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS among pregnant women. Among women ages 15 to 24 accessing prenatal clinics, HIV prevalence has decreased in 14 of 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa with adequate data since 2000 to 2001. In addition, 33% of HIV-positive pregnant women had access to antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in 2007, compared with 10% in 2004 ("State of the World's Children," UNICEF, 1/15).

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