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

March 2010

First it was the Federal Council – the executive body of Switzerland – that pulled out and now it is the National Council that refuses to stick to its promise to increase ODA to 0,5 percent of the GNP by 2015. Until the year 2013, no additional funds should be given to ODA is the official standpoint of one of the richest countries of the world. Especially in these times of a global economic crisis the term solidarity with the disadvantaged is thus turned into a hollow promise.

In Sep¬tember 2000, 189 heads of state and government adopted the UN-Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Switzerland was part of it. MDG 6 aims to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS by the year 2015. Every UN Member State pledged in 2005 to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for all who need it. Even the Federal Council has acknowledged the mere necessity to increase ODA in particular for the poorest countries in order to achieve the goals; also Switzerland must and needs to participate.

Yet, in order to achieve these goals, additional efforts and means are required. Today, over 4 million people have access to HIV treatment – which is a great achievement, due to which millions of young women and men stay alive, can care for their families and contribute to the economy of their country. A broad access to HIV treatment also reduces malnutrition, diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Thus, the spreading of the epidemic is going to slow down, because a person under treatment is much less likely transmit the virus. Four million are however only one third of those that urgently need treatment. Less than half of the pregnant women living with HIV receive the necessary treatment to keep them alive longer and to protect their children from an infection.

"Though it is behind schedule, the effort to provide universal access is one of the most successful public health undertakings in history," said Robin Gorna, executive director of the International AIDS Society (IAS). "Now we must double our efforts to build on recent success in increasing access to HIV treatment and prevention.”

Robin Gorna is one of the guest speakers of the aidsfocus.ch Conference on April 14, 2010 about the future of the global AIDS response. Representatives of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Médecins Sans Frontières, the AIDS support organisation TASO and others will constructively and controversially discuss today’s questions about the necessity of increasing efforts to achieve the Millennium Goals. One central question will be how to achieve universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care as well as to general health services in times of a weaker economy. Please be welcome to join in these current debates.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland

PLEASE REGISTER NOW: info@aidsfocus.ch or http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Geneva, 18 March 2010 - In 2005, every UN Member State pledged to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care for all who need it by 2010. Despite important progress in expanding access to lifesaving HIV services since then, the world still remains far short of meeting this central health and development goal. The International AIDS Society (IAS) has launched the global "Universal Access Now" campaign to focus world leaders' attention on the need to fulfil the universal access commitment without delay. (IAS)

http://www.iasociety.org

1. March 2010 - Donor countries meet in The Hague, Netherlands, on 24-25 March 2010 for the first of two replenishment meetings to discuss how much they might give to the Global Fund for the three years 2011-2013. Over the years, several formulae have been advanced for calculating what might constitute each country's "fair share" of the Global Fund's financial needs. An overview by the Global Fund Observer shows the amounts that countries might contribute to the Global Fund to meet the Resource Needs Scenario 2 target of $17 billion, according to five scenarios. (aidspan)

http://www.aidspan.org

Nairobi, 18 March 2010 - Nicodemus Manyala knows he is HIV-positive and needs life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART) to remain healthy, but fear of treatment interruptions has made him reluctant to start on the drugs. The Kenyan government has been grappling with drug shortages. Uncertainty remains about whether the government can provide ART to an estimated 7,000 new patients per month. Kenya is dealing with flat-lined funding from major donors. According to the Kenya National Aids Strategic Plan, Kenya will have a financing gap of about $1.7 billion for HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2013. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Johannesburg, 12 March 2010 - The executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Michel Kazatchkine, answered some hard questions by IRIN/PlusNews on what may be a turning point in HIV/AIDS funding. QUESTION: What would you say to arguments that we've invested too much in HIV and AIDS, to the detriment of other illnesses? ANSWER: You may think [this has been] unfair to the other diseases but… [the concept of AIDS as exceptional] has helped mobilize… resources that go to AIDS. I want everyone to understand they're not just buying condoms or antiretroviral drugs; these resources, in Africa, have allowed us to make progress when it comes to infrastructure, health worker training, to drug procurement ... Over a third of the overall funding of the Global Fund is actually going to strengthening health systems." (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

1. March 2010 - Pressure is building on governments of wealthy nations to make clear where they stand on funding their promises to achieve universal access to HIV treatment, care and prevention, following a meeting of ministers and civil society advocates from countries with high HIV burdens in London this week. A significant expansion of activity resulting in substantial progress towards the Millenium Development Goals on health would require $20 billion over the next three years, and $27 billion in the period 2014-2017, according to a resources scenario published this week by the Global Fund. (aidsmap)

http://www.aidsmap.com

The global economic crisis has induced cutbacks in the spending of Government and international donors. This also threatens efforts for an effective response to HIV and AIDS. In addition, a ‘backlash’ against disease-specific initiatives can be observed in the international arena. Which way to go? What are the implications for NGOS? Guest speakers: Dr Christoph Benn, Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria; Andreas Loebell, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); Robin Gorna, International AIDS Society (IAS); Florence Ajok Odoch, AIDS Support Organisation (TASO); Sharonann Lynch, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); and Dr. Stefan Germann, World Vision International.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Den Dolder, 23 March 2010 – High level religious and spiritual leaders from many of the world’s major religions pledged “stronger, more visible and practical leadership in the response to HIV” as the first global High Level Summit of Religious Leaders on HIV concluded today in The Netherlands. Some 40 Baha'í, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders met together. They affirmed in their concluding statement the “renewed sense of urgency” to prioritize and strengthen the response to HIV. Such response includes “holistic prevention” in addition to reaching universal access to treatment, care and support. (e-alliance)

http://www.e-alliance.ch
http://www.aidsfocus.ch

London, 17 March 2010 - Britain donates more than a thousand condoms a minute to the developing world. Last week, the UK Government announced that it would pay for 42 million condoms to be sent to South Africa as part of its preparations for the football World Cup. In 2007, Britain was the largest country donor of condoms to the developing world. For every occasion when the US preached abstinence, the British quietly upped their shipments of condoms. In this policy decision, it may have saved millions of lives. (The Times online)

http://women.timesonline.co.uk

Geneva, 15 March 2010 - The rapidly growing AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe, fuelled primarily by unsafe injecting drug use, will be a key focus of the XVIII International AIDS Conference. "To break the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe, we must stop new infections among injecting drug users and their partners," said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. "People using drugs have a right to access the best possible options for HIV prevention, care and treatment." Injecting drug users often have little or no access to evidence-informed comprehensive HIV services. (UNAIDS)

http://www.unaids.org

New Delhi, 12 March 2010 - Around 120 people living with HIV/AIDS protested in front of the Ministry of Commerce in New Delhi today to call on India not to sacrifice them on the altar of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU). At stake is access to affordable medicines, for them and for millions of others beyond India’s borders. The country is the source of 80 percent of the AIDS medicines used in all Médecins Sans Frontières projects, and is effectively the pharmacy of the developing world. But the signing of a free trade agreement could threaten this. (MSF)

http://www.msfaccess.org

1. March 2010 - In the aftermath of Haiti's quake, one of the Caribbean's largest antiretroviral (ARV) programmes is struggling to resurrect itself from the rubble. The Haitian government estimated that 24,000 Haitians were accessing ARVs before the quake, now, fewer than 40 percent of those on treatment have been able to access ARVs. Reports by UNAIDS, the World Health Organization and key ARV providers in Haiti paint a picture of uneven treatment access in the early recovery period, and fears of new infections and drug resistant HIV and tuberculosis (TB) are rising. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

New York, 2 March 2010 - Globally, women and girls continue to be affected disproportionately by HIV. UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé and artist and activist Annie Lennox launched the Agenda for Accelerated Country Action to bring global political attention to the well-being of women and girls. The Agenda aims to tie the women’s human rights movement with the global AIDS response and mobilize all constituencies, starting with UNAIDS and the United Nations Development Fund for Women, through increased political commitment, stronger capacity and increased resources. (UNAIDS)

http://www.unaids.org

March 2010 - The Tanzanian government in cooperation with the Tanzania Commission of AIDS (TACAIDS) is in the final stages of drafting an HIV Prevention Strategy for the Tanzania Mainland. This process was supported by the SCIH (Swiss Centre for International Health/Swiss TPH). The aim of the HIV Prevention Strategy for Tanzania is to guide comprehensive multi-sectoral HIV prevention efforts with a major emphasis on full scale proven and prioritised HIV prevention interventions that address the drivers of the epidemic, while ensuring that appropriate HIV prevention efforts are pursued in disproportionately affected population groups.

http://www.swisstph.ch

“Every day, programs supported by the Global Fund save at least 3,600 lives, prevent thousands of new infections and alleviate untold suffering,” states the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in its recent report 2010. Programs financed by the Global Fund were providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 2.5 million people. Programs have also distributed 1.8 billion male and female condoms and have provided 790,000 HIV-positive pregnant women with treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, as well as 4.5 million basic care and support services to orphans and other children made vulnerable by AIDS. (March 2010)

http://www.theglobalfund.org

Up to a quarter of people with tuberculosis in some regions can no longer be treated with standard drug regimens. This is the finding of a new World Health Organization report which estimates that 440,000 people had multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in 2008, a third of whom died. The 2010 Global Report also explores the relationship between HIV and MDR-TB and notes that drug resistant TB among people living with HIV has been widely documented in certain settings. HIV and TB are seen as so closely connected that they are often referred to as ‘co-epidemics’. (March 2010)

http://www.unaids.org

The World TB Day edition of HIV & AIDS Treatment in Practice 156 looks at recent research on how HIV care is delivered in TB services, and considers the need for closer integration of TB and HIV services following the recent WHO recommendations that all people with HIV diagnosed with TB should receive antiretroviral therapy. It looks at examples of successful integration, with a particular focus on the practical organisation of services and workforce to achieve higher rates of diagnosis, TB cure and retention in long-term HIV care. (March 2010)

http://www.aidsmap.com
http://www.aidsfocus.ch

When a crisis strikes, access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs can be among the first casualties, particularly in countries where many people are on treatment. The report by the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) on Southern Africa identified poor planning as the biggest weakness in responding to gaps in treatment access, and suggested that doctors and patients receive better training on what to do during disruptions. The region's weak health systems were often the cause of disruptions. (2010)

http://www.plusnews.org

This tool by Stop AIDS now! and the World Food Programme attempts to document the most importance evidence, in a way that is useful to organisations with limited time and resources, working in the day to day practice of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) education for young people. The tool looks at different approaches such as a theory and evidenced approach and a rights-based approach and then outlines six tools to support the following planning and implementation processes: involvement, needs assessment/ situation analysis, objectives, evidence-based intervention design, adoption and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. (2009)

http://www.wpf.org

Biel | HIV and AIDS are a sad reality in a number of countries involved in International Cooperation (IC). It affects not only every aspect of the lives of the people concerned, but also considerably impacts the life and work of IC expatriate personnel. This seminar has the objective of working with participants so that they can better manage this challenge. The participants will explore various levels of impact which the epidemic of HIV / AIDS can have on the life and the work of expatriate personnel and consider various social and professional situations linked to HIV / AIDS that they may need to address.

http://www.cinfo.ch

Wien | The International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV, as well as policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the pandemic. It is a chance to assess where we are, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward. "Rights Here, Right Now", the theme of the conference, emphasizes the central importance of protecting and promoting human rights, including the rights of women and girls, as a prerequisite to a successful response to HIV. Vienna, 18 to 23 July 2010.

http://www.aids2010.org

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, 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.

http://www.aidsfocus.c