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

Chronic diseases reach ‘epidemic’ proportions, warns the World Health Organization (WHO). Chronic diseases - especially cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory and heart diseases – kill twice as many people worldwide every year than do infectious diseases HIV, malaria and tuberculosis, combined. But despite their stealth ascent to epidemic proportions – mostly in poor countries – chronic diseases receive scant donor and government attention.

To outweigh one against the other does not serve anyone. HIV has become a chronic disease thanks to the availability of antiretroviral therapies. HIV like any other chronic disease demands a continuum of care and treatment and is challenging weakened health systems worldwide.

The issue of making exceptions for HIV patients over individuals with other chronic infections is ethically complex. On the one hand, ‘AIDS exceptionalism’ may contribute to worsening stigma of people living with HIV. On the other hand, it is necessary as the unique implications of HIV and AIDS on public health and society as a whole cannot be ignored. Non-treatment or sub-standard treatment may even contribute to the further spread of the epidemic. There is no easy answer.

However, much can be learned from the experiences and challenges of a continuous treatment of HIV-therapy in resource limited settings. „Chronic Disease Managment. Experiences from the HIV/AIDS epidemic“ is the topic, which Jochen Ehmer, SolidarMed, will discuss at the Swiss Health Cooperation Symposium on “Chronic diseases in developing and newly industrialized countries”, November 10, 2009, in Bâle.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

Bâle | Death rates caused by infectious diseases have been overtaken by chronic diseases in all parts of the world except southern Africa. Chronic diseases can no longer be regarded as a problem that is exclusive to the developed world. Many people in Switzerland regard chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer or cardiovascular illnesses as lifestyle diseases. The fact that they are becoming an increasing problem in developing and newly industrialized countries is a fact ignored not only by the public at large but also by development aid organizations.

The Swiss Health Cooperation Symposium organised by Medicus Mundi Switzerland will discuss the challenges that chronic diseases represent for developing and newly industrialized countries. Chronic diseases are already the commonest cause of death in Asia, Latin America, the European transition economies and urban Africa. They are affecting a growing number of young people, including children, who are afflicted by various chronic conditions caused by malnutrition and lack of exercise.

This presents major challenges not only for the affected countries, but also for international health policy and non-governmental organizations involved in health cooperation. This is reason enough to debate the subject with specialists from non-governmental development organizations, government and research and with representatives of international organizations. It also affords an opportunity to share experience and discover approaches to resolving the problems.

Program and registration:

http://www.medicusmundi.ch

Berne | The annual meeting of aidsfocus.ch, the Swiss platform on HIV/AIDS and international cooperation, is an important forum for the sharing of information and experiences. Besides the annual report and accounts, there will be a window open discussuion on solution focused approaches and sharing of information and experiences. Invitation with agenda will follow.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Geneva, 30 September 2009 - The cost of HIV medicines is rising all the time, meaning that many people with HIV will not be able to afford life-saving medicines. Unless…… There is a way to produce new drugs at affordable prices: The UNITAID patent pool for HIV medicines could change this. Join MSF in pushing drug companies to put their patents in the pool. This way drug companies share their drug patents with the pool, so they still get their royalties ….but at the same time other companies can get hold of these patents to make cheaper drugs.

http://www.msfaccess.org
http://www.msf.org

Culture is part of the solution in HIV prevention and the support of people living with HIV and AIDS. Many international reponses to HIV and AIDS fail because of lack of cultural sensitivity and understanding. The aidsfocus.ch conference in May 2009 looked at the complex inter-relationships of culture and HIV and AIDS. Based on experiences and knowledge of partner organisations and others, cultural sensitive approaches to prevention, treatment, care and support of were explored. The reader, the Bulletin of Medicus Mundi Switzerland No 113 reflects discussions and reflections on the issue. It may be assessed online or ordered from info@aidsfocus.ch

http://www.medicusmundi.ch

Johannesburg, 23 September 2009 - Multiple partnerships may not be as common in South Africa as previously thought, according to a study presented at the recent AIDS Research Symposium in Johannesburg. The reason may be that men tend to inflate their partner counts. Further probing revealed that most respondents - male and female - did not think having multiple partners was acceptable, but assumed that other people did. Mixed messages in the media might be responsible for this widely held misconception. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

1. September 2009 - AIDS activists around the world have welcomed a new UN General Assembly resolution to create a single agency to promote the rights and wellbeing of women, which they say is good news for women, who are bearing the brunt of the global AIDS pandemic. "We hope the new agency will help with advocacy around women's issues, and will lead to more grass-roots support for HIV-positive women," said Marion Natukunda, project director for the grass-roots Ugandan NGO, Mamas Club. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Busia, 14 September 2009 - Discussing the prospect of death is taboo in many African cultures, but a new Ugandan programme is encouraging people living with HIV to secure their families' futures by leaving wills. The programme, part of the Regional Outreach Addressing AIDS project of the NGO, Family Health International, involves teaching will-writing skills, as well as giving older children the skills to manage their parents' property in the event of their death. It also has a “memory book” component, where parents are encouraged to record information, thoughts and messages for their children to read after their death. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Johannesburg, 4 September 2009 - An attempt to help educators around the world develop sex-education programmes as a way to reduce unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among young people has become bogged down in controversy. Statements by UNESCO have defended it as an evidence-based strategy for reducing HIV infection in young people, and improving their sexual and reproductive health. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Nairobi, 3 September 2009 - AIDS activists have praised a decision by the Indian patent office to reject patent applications for two life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, allowing Indian manufacturers to keep on making and exporting generic versions. "This is fantastic news that will save countless lives in the developing world - we can now continue to access these two very effective ARVs at an affordable price," James Kamau, coordinator of the Kenya Treatment Access Movement, told. Many developing countries had held off ordering generic tenofovir from Indian companies in case the patent applications were approved. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

This issue of South Bulletin focuses on recent developments and controversies in the intellectual property rights area. The legitimacy and usefulness of the IP system depends on the correct balance between the public interest and the private privilege given to the IP holders as an incentive for innovation. The South Bulletin discusses IP Rights and Wrongs and has articles on the row over generic drug seizures, the recent controversies at the WIPO meeting on Patent Cooperation Treaty, the TRIPS-Plus enforcement agenda, and the move towards a "global IP infrastructure." (South Bulletin: Issue 41, 22 September 2009)

http://www.southcentre.org

This handbook has been produced by International HIV/AIDS Alliance Uganda to help network support agents and other community-based volunteers/providers to be more affective in disseminating standardised HIV and AIDS information at appropriate levels to their audiences. The handbook emphasises that knowledge, skills and the right attitude are needed to identify the psychosocial needs of people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS and address these needs by giving information, counselling and appropriate referrals. (2009)

http://www.aidsalliance.org

The report published by the AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative (ASCI) provides new evidence and outlines recommendation for actions on the links between security, conflict, peacebuilding and HIV. It is the result of a three year research programme lead by the ASCI. The study indicates that with good policy and appropriate programmes, challenges can be overcome. It recommends 10 ways in which efforts towards peacekeeping, peacebuilding and humanitarian response can integrate HIV issues. (September 2009)

http://www.unaids.org

September 2009: With an estimated 2.2 billion mobile phone users in the developing world (64 percent of the global market) mobile phone technology presents a great opportunity and potential to address and positively impact the many health challenges facing resource-poor countries. The mobile phone is accessible in even the most remote areas where often clean water, medical personnel or even health facilities do not exist. A tool remarkable in its simplicity, it has already dramatically changed how societies and communities interact on a personal and professional level and the promise it offers health care is no less remarkable.

http://www.eldis.org
http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Biel | cinfo: 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.

http://www.cinfo.ch

Bâle | The Swiss Health Cooperation Symposium organised by Medicus Mundi Switzerland will discuss the challenges that chronic diseases represent for developing and newly industrialized countries.

http://www.medicusmundi.ch

Berne | Besides the annual report and accounts, there will be a window open discussion on solution focused approaches and sharing of information and experiences.

http://www.aidsfocus.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. The AIDS 2010 conference theme 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. The right to dignity and self-determination for key affected populations, to equal access to health care and life-saving prevention and treatment programmes, and the right to evidence-based interventions driven by science, rather than politics, are all incorporated in this urgent demand for action. 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.