THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION June/July 2008

Who would have thought that summer finally arrived! And we don’t start to sweat only because of all the missed scoring opportunities.

Just prior to the start of the summer vacations, I send you a rather short Newsletter with the newest information from Switzerland and from all over the world focusing on the United Nations High Level Meeting in New York, which took place in June 2008. In addition, an article by R. England triggered off a hot debate as he demands the UN-Aids organisation (UNAIDS) to be abolished.

I wish you a good reading and in particular, a wonderfully relaxing summer time

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

1. High-Level Meeting on AIDS, New York, 9 June - Investments made in the AIDS response over the last 10 years are starting to bear fruit, according to a report by United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon which highlights decreases in new HIV infections and AIDS deaths over the past decade.

However, despite the advances and increase in resources for HIV, which totalled US$10 billion last year, the UN chief warned that the gap between available resources and actual need was hampering efforts to achieve universal access goals. “The world will fall short of achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the absence of a significant increase in the level of resources available for HIV programmes in low- and middle-income countries,” he stated.

http://data.unaids.org

June 2008 – In his report on the United Nations General Assembly High level meeting on HIV and AIDS in New York (10-11 June 2008), Farai P. Mahaso, Batanai HIV/AIDS Support Group, Zimbabwe highlights the civil society hearing. The informal civil society hearing, with the theme of Action for Universal Access 2010: Myths and realities took place on the 10th of June. The civil society speakers brought frontline experience to the session; they addressed the challenging issues underlying the spread of HIV/AIDS such as gender issues, criminalisation of HIV and stressed the importance of accountability and involvement as we near the targets set to fulfil the Declaration of commitment and universal access.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

1. June 2008 - As civil society participants to the 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS, we came here to review progress in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. We were disappointed that few heads of state chose to attend this meeting and many governments, from both resource-rich and resource-poor countries, failed to report the reality on the ground.

None of the UNGASS goals were achieved in 2003 or 2005, despite the efforts of some governments and key stakeholders. We are deeply concerned that given the current rate of progress, due to a lack of commitment and the ever-increasing funding gap, universal access will not be achieved by 2010, perpetuating the cycle of underdevelopment and poverty. (UNGASS)

http://www.ua2010.org

New York, 12 June 2008 - The 2008 United Nations High-level Meeting on AIDS concluded Wednesday evening, 11 June 2008. The meeting was attended by stakeholders from across the global AIDS response, including leaders from national governments, civil society groups and United Nations agencies.

The General Assembly gathering was held to review progress made in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. Discussions focused on the important progress made to date, the challenges that remain, and recommendations for ensuring a sustainable response for the future.

http://www.unaids.org

On 23 May 2008 the Swiss Minister of Economy, Mrs. Doris Leuthard, has sent a reply to our letter (also signed by aidsfocus.ch) from 17 April 2008. We had requested that Switzerland stop its pressures on the Thai Government against the issuing of compulsory licences. In the meantime the Thai Government of Prime Minister Samak Sundarajev, who took office on January 2008, finally has yielded to the pressures from Switzerland, the European Union and the United States.

http://www.evb.ch

Zürich | In July 2008 Aids & Child will be organizing a meeting for young people affected by HIV/AIDS. Young people who take part in this meeting will have the chance to get constructive support in coming to terms with their illness and will improve their ability to live with HIV/AIDS. Exchanging ideas with others will strengthen their personal resources and also help them perceive their responsibility in a social context.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

The Afro-European Medical and Research Network (AEMRN), a Non-Governmental and not for profit Organisation initiates projects in various resource-limited countries especially Sub-Saharan Africa. Its members strive to contribute to the medical, mental, social, educational and every sound well-being of mankind irrespective of race, creed, beliefs, faith and social affiliation. AEMRN serves as a platform wherein active professionals from such disciplines as education, medicine, engineering, nursing, faith-based etc can interact at various levels of self-initiated conferences, seminars, workshops, exchange programmes and voluntary workcamps including medical camps with mobile clinics.

http://www.aemrnetwork.ch

BMJ, 10 May 2008 – Article by Roger England, in which he triggered off a hot discussion about the role of UNAIDS: “The creation of UNAIDS, the joint United Nations programme on HIV and AIDS, was justified by the proposition that HIV is exceptional… The exceptionality argument was used to raise international political commitment and large sums of money for the fight against HIV….

It is no longer heresy to point out that far too much is spent on HIV relative to other needs and that this is damaging health systems. Although HIV causes 3.7% of mortality, it receives 25% of international healthcare aid and a big chunk of domestic expenditure. HIV aid often exceeds total domestic health budgets themselves, including their HIV spending. It has created parallel financing, employment, and organisational structures, weakening national health systems at a crucial time and sidelining needed structural reform…”

http://www.bmj.com

1. June 2008 - It is early Sunday morning but the auditorium at Beijing Modern Vocational and Technical College is already full. The local representative of Beijing Youth League opens the workshop energetically with a clapping exercise. Laughing and playing along the way, the students are learning about AIDS through a variety of games, presentations, quizzes and interactive question and answer sessions.

The training course is part of the volunteers’ preparation for service during the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. Around 7,500 volunteers will have participated in the course in 13 different universities, while 100,000 volunteers will receive a basic information package on HIV. The training is a unique opportunity to equip Chinese youth with important knowledge and skills on HIV prevention and how to counter discrimination.

http://www.unaids.org

Cape Town, 13 June 2008 - "Comrades, we won!" shouted Zackie Achmat, long-time HIV/AIDS activist and founder of South Africa's AIDS lobby group, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), outside the Cape High Court in Cape Town on Friday. In a landmark judgment, the Court ruled that clinical trials of multivitamins in the treatment of HIV/AIDS by controversial vitamin salesman Matthias Rath were unlawful, and banned them from continuing. The judgment also forbids Rath from publishing any more advertisements claiming that his product, VitaCell cures AIDS, pending further review by the Medicines Control Council (MCC), South Africa's drugs regulatory authority. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Bangalore, 19 June 2008 - In a historic initiative by Hindu religious groups, over 70 prominent faith leaders from across India came together to commit to incorporating HIV information into their religious education and training of future faith leaders as well as including AIDS in their discourses, rituals and festival celebrations. Senior Hindu religious leaders agreed to join the national effort to reverse the spread of HIV at the first meeting of “Faith in Action: Hindu Leaders Caucus on HIV/AIDS”, which took place 1-2 June 2008 at the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore, India.

Coming together to sign a joint declaration, the religious leaders committed to working with UNAIDS and the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) to increase HIV awareness among young people and to end stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV.

http://www.unaids.org

--------------------------------------------------------------- NEW AND INTERESTING RESOURCES

To effectively address what this year’s World Disasters Report calls a long-term and complex disaster, HIV should be given much higher priority in disaster management programmes, whether in preparedness and risk reduction, or during emergency response and recovery.

The Report, launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, highlights the need for humanitarian organisations, working in partnership with governments and local communities, to increase the scale and scope of programmes for HIV prevention, treatment and care, and for tackling the associated stigma and discrimination. According to UNAIDS, almost seven thousand people contract HIV every day – and without a major change in the epidemic’s trajectory, AIDS will claim millions more lives. Since 1981, more than 25 million people have died of AIDS, and some 33 million are currently living with HIV. (June 2008)

http://www.ifrc.org

1. June 2008 - Some 3 million people now have access to antiretroviral therapy according to a report issued today by WHO, UNAIDS and UNICEF. “Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector” was launched in Geneva by Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General. The report notes that one million people started on treatment last year alone which represents an increase of around 42% from the previous year.

The rapid scale-up of treatment has been attributed to a number of factors, including increased availability of drugs, in large part because of price reductions; improved delivery systems; and increased demand as the number of people who are tested and diagnosed with HIV rises.

http://www.unaids.org

The report of the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA) calls for serious “discussion and action” on cultural issues which many societies find uncomfortable and challenging, but which determine the spread of HIV and undermine the effectiveness of national response to the epidemic.

Citing the example of Zambia where the penal code has been amended to criminalize certain cultural practices such as widow cleansing, the report says many African countries had begun to reform their laws to address harmful cultural norms. (June 2008)

http://www.uneca.org

Women, Ink., a programme of the International Women’s Tribune Centre, has compiled a collection of materials entitled “HIV/AIDS and Women: Resources to Support Policy and Advocacy”. Comprising some 50 action-oriented tools as well as analyses, reports, and case studies, this resource pack was assembled to support informed participation on issues of women and HIV/AIDS at the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS 2008.

http://www.womenink.org

Malawi, like the rest of southern Africa, has a high adult HIV prevalence (estimated at about 12% in 2004) yet the country’s health sector is struggling, largely due to limited investment. This paper reports on a study to assess equity in uptake of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Malawi in 2005, especially according to age (children vs. adults), gender (men vs. women) and income. Particular reference is made to the scaling up of ART and the removal of fees for ART in 2004. (Eldis 2008)

http://www.equinetafrica.org

Mexico City | The International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) is the most important gathering for the release and discussion of scientific, programmatic and policy developments in the global response to HIV/AIDS. As the largest and most diverse international meeting devoted to a global health issue, the conference brings together the movement of people responding to the epidemic to share lessons and together stake out the road ahead. (3-8 August 2008)

The AIDS 2008 theme, Universal Action Now, emphasizes the need for continued urgency in the worldwide response to HIV/AIDS, and for action on the part of all stakeholders.

http://www.aids2008.org

Bern | The Afro-European Medical and Research Network (AEMRN) will be holding their first annual Strategic Planning Symposium on the theme: “Knowledge Management, Resource Mobilisation and sustained HIV/AIDS Research in Low-income Countries - Case of Sub-Saharan Africa”.

The programme include presentation of papers from selected speakers around the World as well as brain storming and plenary sessions on Knowledge Management, Resource Mobilisation and HIV/AIDS Research.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

aidsfocus.ch is a project set up by Medicus Mundi Switzerland. aidsfocus.ch is sponsored and shaped by 33 partner organizations who support the aims and activities of the platform through their financial contributions, expertise and commitment.

Partners: Afro-European Medical and Research Network, AIDS & Child, Bethlehem Mission Immensee, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, Doctors without Borders, Esperanza Medicines Foundation, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, International Federation of the Blue Cross, INTERTEAM, Kindernothilfe Schweiz, Kwa Wazee, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, missio, REPSSI, SolidarMed, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Aids Federation, missio, mission 21, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund, Swiss MIVA, Swiss Red Cross, Swiss Tropical Institute, Tear Fund, Terre des hommes Foundation, terre des hommes schweiz, and World Vision Switzerland.