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aidsfocus.news in EnglishJul 25, 2007 |
ELECTORNIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM ON HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION |
THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION July/ August 2007 Dear Reader Very often on a sunny summer day, the train station is crowded with elderly people gathering and ready to spend the day together travelling: grandmothers and grandfather in a good mood, enjoying their free time. They bear their years well, they are full of vigour, healthy and financially secured. What a differed picture is drawn on the photos of grandmothers and grandfathers at the exhibition on Africas grandmothers fighting HIV/AIDS. They are old and indispensable: they have to care for their sick and dying daughters and sons, and they raise the grandchildren on their own and support them emotionally and financially. They themselves, however, are left without any psychosocial support or financial security. aidsfocus.ch, in partnership with Kwa Wazee, is taking up the issue of older people in the era of HIV and AIDS. What are the new challenges that older people are faced with? Is paying pensions to older people in developing countries a promising and effective approach? What are the challenges for international development organisation that are faced with a growing number of older people left to themselves? Are the needs and interests of older people taken into consideration sufficiently when designing HIV support programmes? These are some of the questions that will be raised and discussed at the forum Die Zukunft ist grau. Alte Menschen in der Aidskrise: Opfer und HoffnungsträgerInnen on 23 November in Berne (in German only). These aidsfocus.news also put the focus on these issues. Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch CONTENT IN FOCUS - AIDSFOCUS.CH FORUM: DIE ZUKUNFT IST GRAU. ALTE MENSCHEN IN DER AIDSKRISE - OPFER UND HOFFNUNGSTRÄGERINNEN - KWA WAZEE: A SECURITY NET FOR OLD PEOPLE IN NEED - HELPAGE INTERNATIONAL: HIV AND OLDER PEOPLE - PENSIONS NOT POVERTY CAMPAIGN - FORGOTTEN FAMILIES: OLDER PEOPLE AS CARERS OF ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN - BUILDING BLOCKS: SUPPORTING OLDER CARERS - CARING AND CONTRIBUTING: THE ROLE OF OLDER WOMEN IN MULTIGENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE HIV/AIDS ERA - OLDER PERSONS' AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND WILLINGNESS TO PROVIDE CARE IN AN IMPOVERISHED NATION INTERNATIONAL NEWS - MEDICAL WORKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN HIV INFECTION CASE ARRIVE IN BULGARIA - SOUTH AFRICA: POSITIVE MOTHERS, CHILDREN NEED MORE TO REACH MDGS - IAS: WORLD MUST ACT TO ACHIEVE COMMITMENTS TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS - BOTSWANA: ANTI-AIDS MEASURE BACKFIRES IN AFRICA - AT THE CUTTING EDGE - MALE CIRCUMCISION AND HIV - WOMEN VOW TO LEAD CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO AIDS - GLOBAL FORUM FOR WOMEN WITH HIV - SRI LANKA: LOW AIDS FIGURES DESPITE YEARS OF CONFLICT - RETHINKING HIV TESTING POLICY - LEADING AIDS EXPERTS CALL FOR MAJOR SCALE-UP OF HIV PREVENTION PROGRAMS - PLANTING TREES FOR AIDS IN CHINA NEW RESOURCES - MSF: UNTANGLING THE WEB OF PRICE REDUCTIONS - HEALTH REPORTER: FOCUS ON LINKING TUBERCULOSIS AND HIV SERVICES - ENGAGING WITH THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA - A PRIMER FOR FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS EVENTS 27.08.2007 | AIDSFOCUS.CH: PEER REVIEW GROUP MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS 23.10.2007 | AIDSFOCUS.CH ANNUAL MEETING 01.12.2007 | WORLD AIDS DAY 2007: FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP IN FOCUS AIDSFOCUS.CH FORUM: DIE ZUKUNFT IST GRAU. ALTE MENSCHEN IN DER HIV/AIDS-KRISE. OPFER UND HOFFNUNGSTRÄGERINNEN The forum The future is gray. Old people in the AIDS crisis, taking place in Bern on 23 October 2007, is jointly organized by aidsfocus.ch and Kwa Wazee (only in German). The event is organized in the context of the photo exhibition Africas grandmothers fighting HIV/AIDS in the Kornhausforum in Bern. KWA WAZEE A SECURITY NET FOR OLD PEOPLE IN NEED In Tanzania there is no such thing as a state-guaranteed pension for old people. Instead, children have traditionally supported their parents when they get too old to provide for themselves. However, this social system has been shattered by the consequences of the ASIDS pandemic with its millions of casualities, wherein numerous old people have lost their children and with them their social security. To make matters worse, the elderly suddenly find themselves having to look after the orphans left behind by their own deceased children. Whats more, the precarious and often catastrophic plight of these old people has been practically unnoticed until now. Indeed an entire generation of grandmothers and grandfathers seem to have been largely forgotten, as the majority of international aid, which first targeted the AIDS crisis a decade ago quite understandably continues to focus on medication, prevention and maybe programs for orphans. Kwa Wazee started in November 2003 providing a small pension to old people. The experience on the ground is most encouraging, as feedback from the elderly beneficiaries, as well as by observers in their neighbourhoods, clearly shows that even the modest pension provided by Kwa Wazee makes a significant difference in the lives of the supported grandmothers as well as the children in their care. HELPAGE INTERNATIONAL: HIV AND OLDER PEOPLE HIV and AIDS are having devastating and under-reported economic, social, physical and psychological effects on older women and men. They are caring and providing for those who are ill and orphaned, and they are also susceptible to HIV infection themselves. HelpAge International undertakes a range of programmes to support older people who are affected by AIDS, whether as carers, educators or at risk of HIV infection themselves. Their interventions are community-based and take an intergenerational approach. BUILDING BLOCKS: AFRICA WIDE BRIEFING NOTES - SUPPORTING OLDER CARERS These briefing notes produced by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and HelpAge International explain why programmes designed to support orphans and vulnerable children need to pay more attention to the needs of the older people who care for them, and to find ways of supporting their efforts and improving their quality of life. The strategies in this briefing note include some that have already been implemented, as well as suggestions for other strategies based on the experience of people working with older people caring for children. (2004) PENSIONS NOT POVERTY CAMPAIGN The United Kingdom UK-based organisation Help the Aged launched an advocacy campaign using information and community technology (ICT) as a tool to engage citizens around the world in protecting the rights of ageing people to freedom from poverty. The purpose of Pensions Not Poverty is to get citizens involved by demanding that their world leaders give older people living in the economically poorest countries state pensions as a basic human right. FORGOTTEN FAMILIES: OLDER PEOPLE AS CARERS OF ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN Due to the spread of HIV, often the middle generation of families is completely absent, leaving the old and young to support each other. The case studies featured in this HelpAge International report describe innovative ways of dealing with some of the difficulties faced by older-headed households. These community-driven programmes demonstrate the impact that minimal additional resources and appropriate technical support can have. Case studies from South Africa, Zambia and Vietnam. (HelpAge International, 2003) CARING AND CONTRIBUTING: THE ROLE OF OLDER WOMEN IN MULTIGENERATIONAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE HIV/AIDS ERA This paper explores the coping strategies of households in rural South Africa, where HIV/AIDS morbidity and mortality are having profound effects on household resources. The paper focuses specifically on the potentially crucial role older women's pensions play in multi-generational households both during crises and day-to-day subsistence. Results are based on interviews with women between the ages of 60-75. (IBS 2005) OLDER PERSONS' AIDS KNOWLEDGE AND WILLINGNESS TO PROVIDE CARE IN AN IMPOVERISHED NATION In developing countries, older persons are often called upon to be primary caregivers for their children who contract HIV. Consequently, according to the authors, elderly people's understanding of the disease and willingness to provide care is critical for AIDS sufferers. In this resource, this issue is examined among men and women aged 60 or over in Cambodia, a country with pervasive poverty. The resource ends with a discussion on the implications for efforts to deal with the epidemic in Cambodia. (2007) INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDICAL WORKERS SENTENCED TO DEATH IN HIV INFECTION CASE ARRIVE IN BULGARIA
http://www.kaisernetwork.org IAS CONFERENCE: WORLD MUST ACT TO ACHIEVE COMMITMENTS TO PROVIDE UNIVERSAL ACCESS
SOUTH AFRICA: POSITIVE MOTHERS, CHILDREN NEED MORE TO REACH MDGS Johannesburg, 23 July 2007 - Paediatric AIDS and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) are still stumbling blocks as South Africa hits the halfway mark in its race to meet the 2015 deadline for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The National Consultative Health Forum, which concluded on Friday 20 July, in Johannesburg, brought members of civil society and various government departments together to review progress on the MDGs and discuss specific interventions for hitting the 2015 mark. (PlusNews) BOTSWANA: ANTI-AIDS MEASURE BACKFIRES IN AFRICA
AT THE CUTTING EDGE - MALE CIRCUMCISION AND HIV Johannesburg, 20 July 2007 - Is mass male circumcision the new big thing in HIV prevention, or is it a risky social experiment that threatens to divert funding from tried and tested interventions? UNAIDS is careful in its assessment: "Without question, we absolutely have to ensure that men and women are aware that male circumcision is not a WOMEN VOW TO LEAD CHANGE IN RESPONSE TO AIDS Nairobi, 11 July 2007 - Vowing that we can lead the change we wish to see in the world, participants at the World YWCAs International Womens Summit on HIV and AIDS concluded their meeting with a call to action demanding individual and collective responsibility. This call to action is not just words on paper Dr Musimbi Kanyoro, General Secretary of the World YWCA told. It is a personal pledge each of us at this summit is making in our hearts and with our hands Where one woman acts, more will be inspired, more will be committed, more will take action until there is no power that can stop us. GLOBAL FORUM FOR WOMEN WITH HIV Nairobi, 5 July 2007 AIDS does not only travel with truckers along African highways; it flies business class with men in dark suits, crawls into marriages and lurks in playgrounds. It smiles at you every day at work and, disproportionately, affects African women and girls because of gender inequalities. With these words activist Deborah Williams, from Tobago, opened the one-day Forum for Women Living with HIV and AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday - the largest gathering ever of HIV-positive women from all corners of the world. (PlusNews) SRI LANKA: LOW AIDS FIGURES DESPITE YEARS OF CONFLICT Colombo, 29 June 2007 - Asia's longest-running conflict has created the perfect environment for an AIDS epidemic to flourish in Sri Lanka, but surprisingly, decades of war have brought only a slow spread of the disease in vulnerable groups. Twenty years after the first case of the disease was detected here, the island still has a low HIV prevalence rate. AIDS affects less than 0.1 percent of the general population, and less than one percent of high-risk groups. (PlusNews) RETHINKING HIV TESTING POLICY
LEADING AIDS EXPERTS CALL FOR MAJOR SCALE-UP OF HIV PREVENTION PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE
PLANTING TREES FOR AIDS IN CHINA
NEW RESOURCES UNTANGLING THE WEB OF PRICE REDUCTIONS A new report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) shows dramatic price reductions for second-line antiretroviral treatment over the last year, largely stimulated by a compulsory license issued by Thailand. But the report also identifies a worrying trend: using the newer, less-toxic first-line combination, now recommended by the World Health Organization, raises the cost for patients by nearly 500 percent, from US$99 to up to US$487. HEALTH REPORTER: FOCUS ON LINKING TUBERCULOSIS AND HIV SERVICES Tuberculosis (TB) is the major cause of illness and death for people living with HIV, and in sub-Saharan Africa, the HIV epidemic is undermining attempts to control tuberculosis through the directly observed treatment strategy (DOTS). Given this, the World Health Organization (WHO) emphasises the importance of planning and managing collaborative TB and HIV activities. Linking these activities can facilitate quick diagnosis of dual TB-HIV infection, provide beneficial interventions and coordinate complex treatment issues that might arise. (Eldis Health Reporter 10 July 2007) ENGAGING WITH THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA - A PRIMER FOR FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS Three organisations have jointly launched a new manual on how faith-based organisations (FBOs) in developing countries can interact with the Global Fund. It was produced by Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; World Vision; and Christian Connections for International Health. Although FBOs have historically played a central role in the provision of healthcare in the developing world, including 40 percent of all health services in Africa, FBOs do not know enough about the Global Fund and have a hard time engaging with Fund structures. (2007) EVENTS 27.08.2007 | AIDSFOCUS.CH: PEER REVIEW GROUP MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS Bern | The Swiss Red Cross is inviting partners of aidsfocus.ch to the next peer group meeting. The focus will be on sharing of experiences and information on monitoring and evaluation of mainstreaming HIV and AIDS. Participants preferably have participated in the SDC training module or studied one of the toolkits in order to make sure that we share a common basic understanding of the concepts. 23.10.2007 | AIDSFOCUS.CH ANNUAL MEETING Bern | 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 for sharing of information and experiences. www.aidsfocus.ch 01.12.2007 | WORLD AIDS DAY 2007: FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP worldwide | The theme for World AIDS Day 2007 and 2008 is leadership. This theme will continue to be promoted with the campaigning slogan, Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise. Leadership as a theme follows and builds on the 2006 theme of accountability. http://www.worldaidscampaign.info www.aidsfocus.ch 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, Kindernothilfe Schweiz, 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. |
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