THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION May 2009

Influenza A(H1N1) dominates the 62 World Health Assembly taking place in Geneva from 18-22 May 2009. Influenza A(H1N1) pushed the issue of HIV and AIDS – as many other important topics – from the agenda. HIV and AIDS was neither an explicit topic at the Civil Society Health Forum "Equity, Justice and Health", organized by a group of civil society preceding the 62nd World Health Assembly.

The forum focused on very basic, fundamental issues, especially on the right to health for all and on global health equity. The participants expressed their concern about the impact of the global financial crisis and economic downturn, which will hit people living in the global South even harder than the flue. The present deep divide between the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the sick with access to medical care and those without it will grow much deeper between countries and within countries.

Equity and social justice is a matter of life and death. It affects the way people are living, how vulnerable they are, what the prospects of sick people are on getting healthy and healed, or if they will die an untimely death. A girl born today can expect to live for more than 80 years if she is born in some countries – but less than 45 years if she born in others. A child born in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 4000 people die of AIDS-related diseases every day is much more likely to be confronted with disease and death of the parents who did not have the possibility to get comprehensive treatment and care.

It is a question of social justice to tackle these huge – and preventable - inequalities in health. Health policies as well as economic and social policies have a determining impact on whether women, men and children will be able to live a healthy life and will receive medical treatment in case she or he falls sick. The participants of the 62 World Health Assembly in Geneva have the chance and the duty to commit themselves towards social justice and the right for all to comprehensive health care. This means to place the needs of poor people in the centre of health strategies, to renew the commitment to comprehensive primary health care and to tackle the social determinants of health.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

1. BRIEFS 2. NEW RESSOURCES 3. EVENTS

The aidsfocus.ch conference on “Culture and condoms. Integrating approaches to HIV and AIDS” looked at the complex inter-relationships of culture and HIV/AIDS. Based on experiences and knowledge of partner organisations and others, cultural sensitive approaches to prevention, treatment, care and support of were explored. The power point presentations of the conference are now put on-line. More extensive papers, complemented and enriched with stories, experiences, discussions and reflections on the issue will be published in the reader, the Bulletin of Medicus Mundi Switzerland No 113 in August 2009.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

The 62nd session of the World Health Assembly is scheduled to take place in Geneva during 18-22 May 2009. At this session, the Health Assembly will discuss a number of public health issues, including: pandemic influenza preparedness: sharing of influenza viruses and access to vaccines and other benefits; implementation of the International Health Regulations; primary health care, including health system strengthening; social determinants of health; and monitoring the achievement of the health-related Millennium Development Goals. (WHO)

http://www.who.int

Johannesburg, 29 April 2009 - A new World Bank report details the projected aftermath of the crisis and how it could place the treatment of more than 1.7 million at risk by year's end. Drug shortages, treatment interruptions and higher burdens of AIDS-related diseases are just some of the grim predictions for developing countries, laid out in a recently released report, Averting a Human Crisis During the Global Downturn: Policy Options from the World Bank's Human Development Network. A survey of countries representing about 60 percent of people on medication globally found that by the end of 2009, treatment programmes in more than a third would be directly affected by budget shortfalls due to the downturn. Prevention programmes are expected to fare even worse by funding being diverted to treatment programmes, where governments can more easily measure gains. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

1. April 2009 - “The ILO will not forget the millions of workers and workplaces affected by HIV/AIDS, and the fact that the impact of the economic crisis will be worse for them because of HIV/AIDS. As we take action to combat recession and build recovery, we will ensure that our response to the global crisis includes an intensification of efforts to address HIV/AIDS through the workplace”. (Sophia Kisting, Director, ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work) The International Labour Organisation ILO is well placed to demonstrate how the economic crisis has become a development crisis, and respond accordingly. (ILO)

http://www.ilo.org

1. May 2009 - There are many questions concerning the potential impact of emerging influenza A(H1N1) on people living with HIV, as they are more susceptible to opportunistic infections. There is no documented information on clinical interactions between HIV and influenza A(H1N1) virus, whose transmission, incubation period and clinical manifestations have generally been similar to those of seasonal influenza viruses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has prepared a guidance note to assist countries and health workers in understanding the relevant risks and taking appropriate measures: "Considerations on influenza A (H1N1) and HIV infection"

http://www.unaids.org

1. May 2009 - African countries are preparing for the possibility that the H1N1 flu virus could expand in the continent, which already is experiencing epidemics of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. There have been no confirmed cases of the flu virus in Africa, but some experts predict the disease could affect already unstable health systems and result in a high death toll. People living with HIV are considered to be at a heightened risk of the flu strain because of their potentially compromised immune systems. People in rural areas with limited or no access to health facilities also are considered vulnerable. (kaisernetwork)

http://www.kaisernetwork.org

Geneva, 15 May 2009 – Ahead of the International Day Against Homophobia (17 May), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are launching a plan to encourage new and better approaches to HIV, specifically focusing on men who have sex with men and on transgender populations. The UNAIDS Action Framework: “Universal Access for Men who have Sex with Men and Transgender People” outlines how UNAIDS will work towards achieving universal access through three main objectives: improving human rights; strengthening the evidence base through better data; and reinforcing capacity and promoting partnerships to ensure broader and better responses.

http://www.unaids.org

Karachi , 14 May 2009 - For the first time, female Pakistani sex workers have been given a chance to talk about the difficulties of protecting themselves from HIV, at a national meeting in the city of Karachi. Although Pakistan is a low-prevalence country, there are fears that a concentrated epidemic among injecting drug users could spread to female sex workers and other high-risk groups, such as men who have sex with men. Less than a quarter of the 4,639 female sex workers surveyed reported using condoms consistently.

http://www.plusnews.org

Witbank, 5 May 2009 - After a demanding training session on the soccer pitch, the entire Black Aces football team has squeezed into a small, stuffy room at the club's headquarters in Witbank, a town northeast of Johannesburg, South Africa, for training of a different kind. The men are in various states of repose, leaning back in their seats and resting long legs on chairs, but the air is buzzing with testosterone and the repressed energy of men who are more accustomed to expressing themselves with their feet. Ronny Londi, a former player with the Orlando Pirates, one of South Africa's most adored soccer teams, is leading a discussion on what it means to be a man. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

1. March 2009 - A recent youth festival aimed at raising awareness about health issues and HIV in India did something unique to draw visitors. Amid all the sobering talk of at-risk communities, safe sex, and health care, the festival invited bashful attendees to talk about pleasure. Because open conversations about sex remain taboo in the country, the debate about safe sex, has been conducted primarily in the context of fear, danger, disease, and death. The Pleasure Project, an international educational programme that promotes safe sex that "feels good", is teaming up with Indian health groups to "re-spin the safe-sex message".

http://www.comminit.com

Health reporter, 14 May 2009: Maternal health initiatives advocating around access to obstetric care have mushroomed as a result of the world’s poor progress on MDG 5. However, high profile grand partnerships tend not to focus on contested, complicated or stigmatised issues. Access to safe abortion is continually ‘invisibilised’ in maternal health advocacy, despite the fact that it is responsible for an estimated 15 percent of maternal deaths. Sexually transmitted infections are a major public health issue in many settings. Gender based violence is prevalent in all countries of the world but rarely afforded the attention it deserves.

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

The new campaign publication on tuberculosis of the Access to Essential Medicines Campaign of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) focuses on HIV/TB co-infection. The challenges of treating TB have multiplied with the rise of drug-resistant strains and the spread of the disease through populations already infected with HIV/AIDS. “People living with HIV/AIDS, whose immune systems are suppressed, are particularly susceptible to TB. Not only are they much more likely to develop active TB, but the disease also progresses much more rapidly in HIV positive patients. TB causes up to half of all deaths of people with HIV. This vulnerability caused by weakened immune systems explains why TB has been ripping through the populations in sub-Saharan Africa where there is a high prevalence of HIV.” (May 2009)

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

UNESCO has developed a best practice series on HIV and AIDS. The booklets in the series are broad in scope and highlight issues and lessons learned in a range of settings in developing countries. They examine policies, programmes and activities by a variety of actors and draw lessons from case studies and a review of literature. UNESCO hopes that a best practice in one educational institution, ministry, country or region can be adapted and used effectively elsewhere. This series is considered a tool, a stepping stone, to support the education sector’s full engagement in national responses to the AIDS epidemic. (2009)

http://hiv.developmentgateway.org

Basel | Hetero- and Homosexualities in South Africa in the context of HIV/AIDS is one of the topics discussed at the symposium, organised by the Centre Gender Studies in collaboration with the Centre of Competence on Africa at the University of Basel. “It is widely acknowledged that a gender analysis is key to understanding and addressing the challenges of HIV/AIDS in contemporary South Africa as it is globally. This paper argues that the focus on HIV/AIDS has served to highlight existing gender and other social inequalities, but in many ways social responses has also served to perpetuate and legitimate unequal and abusive power relations and practices.” Helena Zweifel, coordinator of aidsfocus.ch, will participate as a discussant.

http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de

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.