THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION May 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Reader

Which is the beer they drink in Iran? Which is the music they listen to in Ghana? How many goals must Mexico score to qualify for the World Cup? How many children are born to each woman in the Ukraine? „What do you all have to know about the countries participating in the World Cup“ – that is the title of the „international football game“ of a quartet published in the NZZ-Folio, the weekend supplement of the renowned daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung. This quartet compiled details worth knowing about the countries that are going to compete in the World Cup.

How can I get AIDS? Can I get infected if I share the eating utensils of a meal? Does the condom keep away the infection? Is a shower „after“ of any use? How long does it take to get sick if infected? How can you tell from someone’s looks whether the person is HIV-positive or not? Can I say „no“? Where can I get tested? These are the questions that concern many young people, questions that they want to have answered – and they need to know about.

Too often, they do not receive an answer or are palmed off with half-truths. While sex education and easy access to condoms is taken for granted in Switzerland, in developing countries young people face considerable difficulties in getting sex education and prevention from sexually transmitted diseases. And yet, the access to comprehensive prevention is a human right. This is why the approx. 50 participants of the aidsfocus-conference adopted a commitment: They want to guarantee young people the access to comprehensive information and to the necessary services.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

IN FOCUS - DECLARATION OF COMITTMENT: YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOWLEDGE AND SERVICES

UNGASS - GLOBAL AIDS WEEK OF ACTION 20-26 MAY 2006 - STOP AIDS! KEEP THE PROMISE! - UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV/AIDS (UNGASS) - CIVIL SOCIETY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE POLITICAL DECLARATION ON AIDS

INTERNATIONAL NEWS - IAVI MARKS WORLD AIDS VACCINE DAY, MAY 18, 2006 - MSF SUPPORTS OPPOSITION TO GILEAD'S TENOFOVIR PATENT APPLICATION IN INDIA - NEW HIV INFECTIONS IN INDIA ALMOST TRIPLED IN 2005 - WORLD AIDS ORPHANS DAY, MAY 7, 2006 - VATICAN PREPARING STATEMENT ON CONDOMS AND AIDS - CHRISTIAN AID REPLACES ABC WITH SAVE IN ITS HIV PROGRAMMES - NAMIBIA: INHERITANCE RIGHTS STILL A THORNY ISSUE

NEW RESOURCES AND LINKS - PRIORITISING CHILDREN IN THE GLOBAL REPSONSE TO HIV AND AIDS - FOCUS ON HIV/AIDS I/2006 - MICROBICIDES - PROMOTING MORE GENDER-EQUTABLE NORMS AND BEHAVIOURS AMONG YOUNG MEN - AIDS-CONTROVERSIES IN UGANDA FURTHER ANALYSED - SPENDING REQUIREMENT PRESENTS CHALLENGES FOR ALLOCATING PREVENTION FUNDING - PROGRESS ON GLOBAL ACCESS TO HIV ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

EVENTS (IN ENGLISH) 12.06.2006 | AIDSFOCUS.CH: PEER COACHING MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS 22.06.2006 | SDC: MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS IN PRACTICE 13.08.2006 | XVI INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE

Adopting a human rights approach, the organisations participating in the aidsfocus.ch Conference (21 April 2006 in Berne) commit themselves to fully respect the right of young people to comprehensive HIV/AIDS-information and prevention and to address inequality, injustice and gender discrimination. They will continue to advocate with governments and other institutional actors so that human rights are respected in the context of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care. This includes open dialogue about the broad range of subjects related to sexuality and reproductive health as well as access to effective prevention methods.

Their basic understanding includes three major issues: • that children, adolescents, young women and men have the right to knowledge and skills to protect themselves and others from HIV, and the right to determine over their sexuality and reproductive life; • that young people living with HIV and AIDS have the right to appropriate counselling, treatment and care to mitigate the impact of the epidemic on their lives and give them a perspective to become productive members of their society; • that young people are to be involved and empowered to meaningful participation in the conceptualization and implementation of prevention programmes and in policy development, making these efforts more effective and reducing discrimination and stigma.

Access to comprehensive health-related information including sexual education and HIV/AIDS prevention without discrimination is not simply a public health imperative—it is a human right. The Committee on the Rights of the Child states that children have the right to access adequate information related to HIV/AIDS prevention. The United Nations International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights call on the responsibility of States to ensure universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support by providing legal and regulatory frameworks. This implies that all services and goods (such as advice and support, condoms, antiretroviral drugs, laboratory and medical services) need to be within physical reach and affordable for all, with special attention to the poor, young and female who are more likely to be vulnerable and to be denied this right.

Read full text and documentation of the conference:

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

--------------------------------------------------------------- UNGASS

This week offers a key opportunity to express collective alarm at the lack of progress our governments have made in tackling the AIDS epidemic. Because this week spans the World Health Assembly, the HIV/AIDS UNGASS+5 review and the forthcoming G8 summit, it sets the stage for civil society-led demands/ actions in each country, and mobilising a wider coalition against HIV/AIDS.

See what’s happening in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Malawi, Nepal, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Syria, Tanzania, The Gambia, The United Kingdom, and elsewhere in the lead-up to the UNGASS+5 review:

http://www.ungasshiv.org

Civil society has played an especially valuable role in making sure the Declaration of Commitment is used to greatest effect – both as an advocacy tool and to monitor the world’s progress in following through on commitments made at the 2001 Special Session. Below are ways in which each sector of civil society – from NGOs to business, labour to faith-based organizations – can become and remain involved in keeping the Declaration’s promises.

http://www.ungasshiv.org

The enclosed document includes proposed language for 60 priority issues for the Political Declaration that reflects the work, discussions and consultations of a broad and diverse group of thousands of civil society organizations. The document can be used by anyone in negotiations with governments over the political declaration that they will agree to at the forthcoming High Level meeting on AIDS (2006 UNGASS Review).

http://www.icaso.org

The 2006 follow-up meeting on the outcome of the twenty-sixth special session: implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS will take place from 31 May – 2 June at the United Nations in New York, USA. This year, the Secretary-General will present a report to the General Assembly on progress made until the end of 2005, a year when targets in the Declaration are due. The main focus of the meeting is to review progress achieved in realizing the commitments set out in the Declaration of Commitment and to:

• Review progress in implementing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, focusing on both constraints and opportunities to full implementation; - consider recommendations on how the targets set in the Declaration may be reached, including through the “towards universal access processes”; and to - renew political commitment. Official UNAIDS website:

http://www.unaids.org

May 18, 2006 - Along with the rest of the global community, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) commemorates today, May 18, World AIDS Vaccine Day - a day to renew commitments to the research and development of new preventive technologies to halt the HIV/AIDS epidemic. On this day nine years ago, U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton challenged the world to battle the “global killer” by developing an AIDS vaccine.

http://www.iavi.org

May 11, 2006 - The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has expressed its support for Indian civil society groups in their battle against a patent application by Gilead Sciences for the key AIDS drug tenofovir (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, TDF). People living with HIV/AIDS in India opposed the patent application yesterday on the grounds that the drug consists of a previously known compound.

http://www.msf.org

New HIV infections in India almost tripled in 2005 from the previous year, but were far below the half a million new cases seen in 2003. The report, which drew on samples from government hospitals nationwide, said "5.206 million adult people are HIV infected," India's National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) announced. The latest data shows that India has 72,000 new HIV cases, increasing the overall number infected by 1.4 percent. (AFP/Yahoo News, April 24, 2006)

http://topics.developmentgateway.org

The almost systematic loss of both parents because of AIDS is an unprecedented event in history. World AIDS Orphans’ Day (WAOD) focuses public attention on the distress of these children with the assistance of: Mayors and elected representatives, children and youth, and the Media. The World AIDS Orphans Day is an initiative of the Association Francois Xavier Bagnoud.

http://www.worldorphansday.org

Rome April 23, 2006 - The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS, an issue highlighted by a call from a leading cardinal to ease its ban on them, a Catholic Church official said. In his interview with the weekly L'Espresso, former archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini backed up his call for a change in condom policy by referring to cases where one partner in a marriage is infected with AIDS. "This person has an obligation to protect the other partner and the other partner also has to protect themselves," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com

Christian Aid partner ANERELA+ (the African Network of Religious Leaders Living with or personally affected by HIV and AIDS) has developed a new model for a comprehensive HIV response, called SAVE: Safer practices, Available medications, Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and Empowerment. In discussions with partners from around the world, Christian Aid has decided to adopt SAVE as the basis for a comprehensive approach to HIV. (March 2006)

http://www.christian-aid.org.uk

When Barakias Shangheta, 17, heard that his father had died at the local hospital in Okakarara, a village northeast of the Namibian capital, Windhoek, he ran to the cattle pastures and rounded up some of the herd for "safekeeping". "I knew that my father's relatives would target these and leave me and my mother with nothing," Shangheta told IRIN. With HIV/AIDS taking its toll in the country, Namibia is under pressure to come up with ways of protecting widows and orphans. (IRIN, March 2006).

http://www.plusnews.org

Children – the most vulnerable members of society – remain on the periphery of the world's response to HIV and AIDS. In the areas of prevention, care and treatment, children and youth are still at the bottom of the priority list or off the agenda entirely. In this edition of Global Future, the World Vision Journal of Human Development, the contributing writers bring into focus some critical aspects of “prioritising children”. Stephen Lewis compellingly links the widespread neglect of children with the gross inequality in our world. Benn, Toole and other contributors highlight the lack of diagnostic tests and anti-retroviral drugs for children. (2006)

http://www.globalfutureonline.org

This former "SDC’s HIV/AIDS newsletter" provides news in brief, such as "SDC internal" on mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in the BuCo in Burkina Faso and international news frim international conferences, from Asia, Eastrn Europe, Central Asia and Latin America. (April 2006). Back issues available online:

http://www.aidsfocus.ch
http://www.sdc-health.ch

HIV prevention options currently focus on the ABC model. However, these prevention methods are not always a possibility, especially for women: millions of women do not have the social or economic power to insist on condoms, fidelity or to abandon partnerships that put them at risk. While partner participation is required for condom use, microbicides would offer women a method that they can use on their own. This Eldis key issues guide provides an in-depth introduction to microbicides.

http://www.eldis.org

…as an HIV/AIDS prevention strategy. This report, produced by the Horizons Project and Instituto Promundo, examines how gender-equitable behaviour among young men can affect rates of HIV and STI (sexually-transmitted infections). Based on their study findings, the authors conclude that addressing inequitable gender norms, especially those that define masculinity, can be an important element of HIV prevention strategies. (Horizons 2006)

http://www.popcouncil.org

This report by the Share-Net Coordinator Rachel Ploem looks into the debate in Uganda around the issues of abstinence and faithfulness. The debate seemed to coincide with an influx of American support, mainly channelled through religious organizations. In addition, in 2005 a severe scarcity of condoms was felt in the country. Is there a shift in approach to fight HIV/AIDS in a country once known for its effective strategies to decrease the HIV prevalence? If so, what will be its impact?

http://www.share-net.nl

...under the President’s plan for AIDS relief. This report considers what effects the President’s Plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) restrictions on funding, including abstinence-only prevention requirements, have had on country teams’ ability to implement adequate prevention strategies. Country teams reported ambiguities in how to implement the prevention ABC model in accordance with funding requirements; and funding restrictions limit teams’ abilities to design and implement prevention programmes that are integrated and responsive to local prevention needs. (United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), April 2006)

http://www.genderhealth.org

A Report on "3 by 5" and Beyond: "Global access to HIV therapy tripled in past two years, but significant challenges remain", is the key statement of the new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Charting the final progress of the "3 by 5" strategy to expand access to HIV therapy in the developing world, the report also says that the lessons learned in the last two years provide a foundation for global efforts now underway to provide universal access to HIV treatment by 2010. (March 2006)

http://www.who.int

Dübendorf | What are the experiences in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS? How do others do it? Where in the process are they? Which are the open questions, the challenges, the successes, the lessons learned? Have there been any results yet? All these are questions that we would like to look at in more depth. At the first peer coaching event mainstreaming HIV/AIDS, World Vision will present the "Hope Initiative" of WV and related tools as well as address the above raised questions. This is followed by discussions about the presentation and about concerns or open questions of the participants.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Ausserholligen | This SDC course aims to provide information on and skills in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS. It aims to strengthen participants’ motivation and competence to mainstream HIV/AIDS as relevant for their work. At the end of the day, participants should know what is understood by the comprehensive approach and be able to apply the concept of risk/vulnerability reduction and impact mitigation. They have developed a basic understanding of how to apply the concept of mainstreaming in practice.

http://www.deza.ch

Toronto, Canada | AIDS 2006 is the conference for everyone involved in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic - researchers, healthcare workers, civil society, governments, UN organisations, activists, donors, industry, the media, and people living with HIV/AIDS. The Conference theme is Time to Deliver, reminding us of past and present commitments for action on HIV/AIDS and demanding accountability for those promises at every level of the response.

http://www.aids2006.org

aidsfocus.ch is a project set up by Medicus Mundi Switzerland. aidsfocus.ch is sponsored and shaped by 30 partner organizations who support the aims and activities of the platform through their financial contributions, expertise and commitment.

Partners: AIDS & Child, Bethlehem Mission Immensee, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, Doctors without Borders, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, International Federation of the Blue Cross, INTERTEAM, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, mission, 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 - Switzerland, World Vision Switzerland.