E-BULLETIN OF AIDSFOCUS.CH SWISS PLATFORM ON HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

September 2012

As the second chamber after the National Council, the Council of States has also adopted the new Message on International Cooperation 2013-2016 and thus agreed to increase technical cooperation and financial aid for developing countries (ODA). aidsfocus.ch is pleased with this decision for the sake of international solidarity. The new Message recognizes the relevance of health for global development and the necessity of increasing Switzerland’s commitment. The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is mentioned as one of the 13 priority organisations of SDC’s multilateral cooperation. The annex to the Message says that „in the period of 2013–2016, it is planned to substantially increase the contribution“.

It is desperately needed that Switzerland strengthens its commitment in the field of international health and combatting AIDS. Switzerland is lagging behind in terms of international health cooperation and AIDS response in relation to other European countries. In the year 2012, Switzerland paid the modest sum of 8,7 million US dollars for the Global Fund programs. On a European scale: Denmark promised to pay the Global Fund 29,3 million US$ this year, the Netherlands 31,4 million US$, Germany 254,9 million US$ and France 452,8 million US$. This does not give a good impression of wealthy Switzerland largely been spared by the economic crisis. aidsfocus.ch will try and do everything to have Switzerland pay its fair share and to indeed substantially increase its contribution next year.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland

Bern, 11 September 2012 - Switzerland will unlock SFr11.35 billion over the next four years for development aid Switzerland will unlock SFr11.35 billion over the next four years for development aid. The Senate on Tuesday followed the House of Representatives which had approved the increase back in June, by voting 28 to 15 to approve the new development budget. Under the new plan, 61 per cent of the funds – around SFr6.92 billion – will be dispersed under the auspices of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and another 17.8 per cent or about SFr2.03 billion will dedicated to humanitarian relief effort.

http://www.swissinfo.ch

The Bulletin of Medicus Mundi Switzerland, the reader of the aidsfocus.ch conference 2012, publishes recent and inspiring stories of local level advocacy as well as advocacy on an international level. We can learn from our Southern partners from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzansia and India. Young people living with HIV who were trained in leadership and advocacy now dialogue with the government, and whenever necessary, also demonstrate in front of the respective offices in order to get the medication and what is due to them. Advocacy is a key component in the struggle towards an AIDSfree future and the fulfilment of the right to health for all. The aidsfocus.ch conference was an inspiring first act towards a stronger commitment and advocacy for health for all and social justice – precondition and guarantee for a future without AIDS. (MMS Bulletin 125, September 2012).

http://www.medicusmundi.ch

The recent electronic Newsletter by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) publishes “internal news” as well as international news on HIV, AIDS and sexual and reproductive health. SDC internals: The revised SDC Toolkit “Mainstreaming HIV in Practice” is out now. It is available free of charge in French and English as hard or electronic copy. The international news focus on the Resolution adopted by the Commission on Population and Development (CPD) 2012, the International AIDS conference 2012 in Washington, and the aidsfocus.ch Conference 2012 on HIV, AIDS and Advocacy. (July 2012)

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

--------------------------------------------------------------- NOVARTIS ARGUES FOR GLIVEC PATENT AT INDIA'S TOP COURT

New Delhi, 11 September 2012 - Swiss drugmaker Novartis told India's top court it had demonstrated the improved efficacy of its cancer drug Glivec as the final hearing began on Tuesday of a patent case that could change the rules for the country's healthcare sector. A patent would recognize Novartis' property rights, in a blow to generic drugmakers who supply medicines to 1.2 billion Indians and to poorer nations across the world. A loss for Novartis in the case would not have a big financial impact, since India is never likely to account for more than a small fraction of Glivec's global sales, which totaled $4.7 billion last year. The real concern for the industry is that a rebuff would confirm India as a country where patents are exceptionally hard to secure. (Reuters)

http://www.reuters.com

New Delhi/Geneva 11 September 2012 – Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis heads to the Indian Supreme Court today in New Delhi, in a final bid to undermine a key public health safeguard in Indian patent law specifically designed to prevent drug companies from abusive patenting practices which keep medicine prices high. If successful, the move would have a devastating impact on access to essential medicines across the developing world, according to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which relies on affordable generic drugs produced in India to carry out its work in 68 countries. “For six years, Novartis has been trying to browbeat India into changing a part of its patent law that protects people’s access to affordable medicines, not corporate profits”, said Leena Menghaney, Manager of MSF’s Access Campaign in India.

http://www.msfaccess.org

Kampala, Kinshasa, Mbabane, Nairobi, 19 August 2012- Doctors, nurses, activists and policy makers have all been vital to Africa's HIV programmes, but supporting them every step of the way has been an army of dedicated community health workers and volunteers who care for people living with the disease. Swaziland's deepening financial crisis has taken its toll on the healthcare system, with nurses embarking on intermittent strikes to protest unsafe working conditions and low pay. As the public health sector declines, Swazis are increasingly relying on community volunteers to fill the gap. Studies show that while task-shifting offers high-quality, cost-effective care and is a viable response to Africa's lack of health workers, it faces several challenges, including adequate and sustainable training and funding for community health workers. (IRIN)

http://www.irinnews.org

Geneva, 8 August 2012 - When in January 2008, staff from the International Community of Women living with HIV (ICW) initiated a series of focus group discussions with women living with HIV in Namibia about their experiences they were far from imagining what they would uncover. Of the 230 women interviewed, most reported some form of discrimination in health services and nearly 20% stated that they had been coerced or forced into sterilization. Several women reported being required to sign consent forms while in severe pain during or after labour and not having been properly informed prior to sterilisation. “We were shocked by what we heard” said Jenifer Gatsi-Mallet of the ICW and Director of Namibia Women’s Health Network. “The ability to reproduce plays a major role in women’s status and position in society”.

http://www.unaids.org

In November 2012, the „African Gender and Media Initiative“ (AGMI) interviewed forty women living with HIV (WLHIV) who reported having undergone unwanted sterilization procedures in Kenyan health facilities. The analysis of data from those interviews resented here illustrates a preliminary snapshot of what may be a country-wide problem of non-consensual sterilization of WLHIV in Kenya. For the purposes of this study, coerced sterilization is defined as the use of financial or other incentives, misinformation or lack of information about the procedure and its consequences, or fear of bodily harm or denial of medical services deployed to influence an individual to undertake the procedure or permit the procedure to occur.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Washington DC, 26 July 2012 - It's hard enough dealing with the aches and pains that usually come with getting older, but when you're HIV-positive, ageing brings more chronic illnesses and even more medication; many health systems are not ready to cope with this relatively new phenomenon. An estimated 3 million people in sub-Saharan Africa aged 50 and older are HIV-positive - 14 percent of all infected adults. A higher number of bone fractures and osteoporosis, a dramatic rise in the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, as well as higher levels of depression, suicide and frailty are some of the long list of ailments that confront older adults living with the virus. (PlusNews)

http://www.irinnews.org

The new UNAIDS report contains the latest data on numbers of new HIV infections, numbers of people receiving antiretroviral treatment, AIDS-related deaths and HIV among children. It highlights new scientific opportunities and social progress which are bringing the world closer to UNAIDS vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. The report also gives an overview of international and domestic HIV investments and the need for greater value for money and sustainability. Calling for global solidarity and shared responsibility, the UNAIDS report contains commentaries from global and community leaders as well as people living with and affected by HIV. (July 2012)

http://www.unaids.org

The MSF report maps progress across 23 countries on HIV treatment strategies, tools and policies needed to increase treatment scale-up. The results show that governments have made improvements to get better antiretroviral treatment (ART) to more people, but implementation of innovative community-based strategies is lagging in some countries. The study, a collaboration with UNAIDS, looked at 25 indicators in each country, ranging from coverage of ART and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), to whether nurses instead of doctors can start patients on HIV and TB treatment—critical to relieving the burden on health systems and to getting treatment further into communities—and how many health facilities in each country offer ART.

http://www.msfaccess.org

Geneva, 15 August 2012 - The cancellation of Round 11 by the Global Fund has had a significant impact on programmes to fight AIDS, TB and malaria including, in particular, programmes being implemented by civil society organisations (CSOs). Programme scale-up and even some essential life-saving interventions that were planned by countries were halted. Countries like Swaziland, Malawi and Zimbabwe are concentrating on safeguarding supplies of medical commodities. In the process, they are shifting budgets away from human rights programming, community mobilisation, community programme design and delivery, politically sensitive programmes for most-at-risk populations (MARPS), and community systems strengthening (CSS) - with adverse effects on civil society organisations (CSOs).

http://www.osisa.org

Partners: Afro-European Medical and Research Network, AIDS & Child, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, Elisabethenwerk, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, Kindernothilfe Schweiz, 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