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

1. June 2011

Next week, from June 8 to 12, 2011, the UN member states will come together in New York for the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS in order to evaluate the progress made since the Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS in 2001 and in 2006 and to commit to new objectives in the AIDS response. The High Level Meeting is a key event for 33 Million people living with HIV and the whole world community: the outcomes will impact the strategies and programmes on HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the years to come.

In preparing for the conference, over 400 civil society activists gathered in New York and formulated a common Civil Society Declaration for the High Level Meeting on AIDS. The key messages of the Declaration are shared by aidsfocus.ch:

• Commitment: The governments are called for a renewed and urgent commitment to reach Universal Access to HIV treatment, prevention, care, and support by 2015. Bold decisions are needed on the way to a future generation without HIV and AIDS.
• Human rights: The UN High Level Meeting Outcome Document must commit the governments to the realization of the human rights to health and non-discrimination for all people, particularly key affected populations: people living with HIV, women and girls, young people, sex workers and their clients, transgender people, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, migrants and mobile populations, refugees, prisoners, and people with disabilities.
• Treatment and prevention: The governments must commit themselves to reach 100% of the projected 18.3 million people estimated by the World Health Organization as eligible for ART by 2015. They also have to expand effective, targeted evidence-based prevention to achieve a 50% reduction in HIV transmission by 2015 through the provision of an essential package of HIV and sexual and reproductive health services and education programmes for all communities and especially for youth.
• HIV as a catalyst to strengthen health systems: The HIV response needs to be integrated and addressed within strengthened health systems, prioritizing community based services. Efforts must be done to link and integrate HIV and TB responses into reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and to commit additional resources to support such engagement.
• Accountability: The governments must agree on a 2011 Outcome Document that includes a clear accountability mechanism to review and report on progress and address shortcomings in achieving it, including transparency of decision-making and the meaningful involvement of civil society, people living with HIV, and key affected populations in the design, implementation, allocation of resources, and monitoring and evaluation of policies and programs addressing HIV.

Official Switzerland will be present with a delegation under the leadership of Mr. Martin Dahinden, Director of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) – but without the participation of the Swiss Civil Society. In this regard, Switzerland lags behind others, for example Germany, where a member of the Action against AIDS (Aktionsbündnis gegen AIDS) will be part of the official German delegation. aidsfocus.ch will not be present in New York, but will follow up the activities of the Swiss delegation attentively and advocate for a effective and bold new Declaration of commitments.

Helena Zweifel Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world will come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

http://www.unaids.org

Over 400 civil society activists gathered in New York with UN Member States on progress toward reaching Universal Access to HIV treatment, prevention, care, and support. During the Hearing, civil society advocates stressed that in pursuing Universal Access goals the international community must prioritize public health over politics. They urged Member States to make available to their citizens the full complement of evidence-based HIV prevention, care, treatment, and support technologies and tools—regardless of possible objections on moral, legal, or political grounds—as a commitment to the human right to health. (April 2011)

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

We must take the bold decisions that will dramatically reshape the AIDS response to reach zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. (a) Champion a prevention revolution that harnesses the energy of young people. (b) Forge a revitalized framework for global solidarity to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2015. (c) Break the upward trajectory of costs and deliver more effective, efficient and sustainable programmes. (d) Ensure that our responses to HIV promote the health, human rights, security and dignity of women and girls. (e) Commit to forging robust mutual accountability mechanisms. (March 2011)

http://www.unaids.org

The main messages: 1. Violation of the sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls living with HIV is unacceptable and counterproductive. 2. Investment in Women and Girls living with HIV pays off. 3. Women and girls living with HIV require access to quality, gender-responsive, integrated HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights services. 4. The sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls are prioritized in development frameworks and fiscal policies. 5. Women and girls are essential participants in monitoring of and accountability for sexual and reproductive health and rights. (Meeting report 14 February 2011)

http://www.worldaidscampaign.org

Geneva, 23 May 2011 – The World Health Assembly unanimously adopted a new, comprehensive strategy to combat HIV. The Global Health Sector Strategy on HIV/AIDS, 2011-2015 will guide actions by WHO and governments around the world during this critical time for the future of the HIV response. At least 4.2 million new HIV infections would be averted and 2 million lives could be saved, if WHO's existing HIV treatment recommendations were fully implemented in 2011-2015. Under the new Strategy, WHO aims to promote even greater innovation in HIV prevention, treatment, testing and care services so that countries can achieve the goal of universal access.

http://www.who.int
http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Johannesburg, 19 May 2011 - The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), the international drug purchasing facility UNITAID and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) have negotiated reductions on key first- and second-line, and paediatric antiretrovirals (ARVs) that will help countries save at least US$600 million over the next three years. The deal expected to affect most of the 70 countries comprising CHAI’s Procurement Consortium, features notable reductions in the prices of tenofovir (TDF), efavirenz, and the second-line ritonavir-boosted atazanavir. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Geneva, 12 May 2011 — WHO and UNAIDS hail results from the HPTN 052 trial that show antiretroviral therapy to be 96% effective in reducing HIV transmission in couples where one partner has HIV. The trial, conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network, enrolled more than 1 700 sero-discordant couples (one partner who is HIV-positive and one who is HIV-negative) from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States of America. UNAIDS and WHO recommend that couples make evidence-informed decisions on which combination of HIV prevention options is best for them.

http://www.unaids.org

Nairobi, 13 May 2011 - The landmark study showing major reductions in HIV transmission among discordant couples due to early treatment may fail to have a significant impact on HIV prevention unless governments and donors are willing to turn the science into action, HIV advocates say. "HIV-positive people are the happiest - they now know if they start treatment early they are unlikely to infect their loved ones, and at the same time, they may stop being seen as people who are likely to infect others, which will hopefully reduce stigma," said Nelson Otwoma, Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, Kenya. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Kakmega, 12 May 2011 - The Kenyan government and rights groups have expressed outrage at a project in western Kenya that is paying HIV-positive women to undergo long-term contraception. Project Prevention, a US-based NGO, offers cash to drug addicts in the US and the UK to undergo long-term contraception or permanent sterilization. In 2010, the project started offering HIV-positive women in western Kenya US$40 to be fitted with intrauterine devices (IUDs), which can prevent pregnancy for over a decade. However, "All women, including women with HIV, have the right to make informed choices about their reproductive”, says Agnes Odhiambo of New York-based Human Rights Watch (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

AIDSPortal is a joint initiative of the UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. The global AIDSPortal website has brought the power of social networking to the largest online community in the HIV & AIDS sector. AIDSPortal maintains a global information hub for CBOs and those involved in the response to HIV, provides an open-source web platform, connects CBOs enabling them to better signal their effectiveness to others, and builds the ICT capacity of existing networks that link CBOs. (2011)

http://www.aidsportal.org

A rapid movement towards privatisation is taking place in much of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. There is, however, a dearth of published evidence about how this rapid privatisation actually affects the quality of health services, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health. While the developed world conducts its own debates about privatising health, the reality of private health care in low-income countries is very different. Small, privately owned clinics and nursing homes operating locally and with no oversight are a major feature. (May Issue 2011)

http://www.rhm-elsevier.com

The fact that nomads are hard-to-reach people makes it difficult for them to access health services. This is also compounded by the inhabitants’ itinerant lifestyle, poor road transport infrastructure and communication in general. Other factors contributing to poor reproductive health of the nomads include long distances to health services, insecurity, high illiteracy rates and local beliefs and practices, besides poor training of staff at the few available health facilities. (Exchange on HIV and AIDS, sexuality and gender, no 1, 2011)

http://www.kit.nl

The Youth Participation Guide seeks to increase the level of meaningful youth participation in reproductive health (RH) and HIV/AIDS programming at an institutional and programmatic level. The target audience of the training guides published by Family Health International includes senior and middle management, program managers, staff involved in implementing activities, and youth who may be engaged at all levels of an organization's work. (2011)

http://www.fhi.org

Biel | HIV and AIDS are a hard 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. Contents: Impact of HIV and AIDS on personal life; Impact of HIV and AIDS on professional life; HIV, AIDS and intercultural communication.

http://www.cinfo.ch

Bern | The Annual Meeting of aidsfocus.ch is a great opportunity for networking, information sharing and discussing the current and future activities and direction of aidsfocus.ch. Besides the formal part, there will be space for sharing knowledge and experience and discussing a specific topic. Please note the date!

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Partners: Afro-European Medical and Research Network, AIDS & Child, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Berne Declaration, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, INTERTEAM, Kwa Wazee, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, missio, 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 and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Tear Fund, Terre des hommes Foundation, terre des hommes schweiz, and World Vision Switzerland.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch