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

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Dear reader

One of the big issues at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August of this year was the development of so-called microbicides. Microbicides can be applied vaginally or rectally prior to every sexual intercourse in the form of a transparent gel, liquid or foam.

The decisive thing about microbicides is that they can be used by the women themselves. Women can thus actively do something to protect themselves against an HIV-infection. This fact is very important in view of the increasing rate of new infections of women and girls, particularly in the countries of the South. Most of the women and girls do not have the power in politics and society to be able to negotiate and push through „Safe Sex“ in their relationships.

In the lives of HIV-positive women, microbicides would also represent a relevant and required product to protect their health. In addition, these women are given a tool to live a happy and risk-free sexuality. This is the reason why women are among the most important advocates of microbicides.

At present, various products are examined in different stages of clinical tests – it may well be that the first products will be introduced in the market in 2010. Whether all women and girls will have world-wide access to microbicides will also depend on the rich countries’ and pharmaceutical industry’s intention to invest in these initiatives.

Hence, this issue of aidsfocus.news does not feature a project but information on the development and administration of microbicides. And as usual you will also find the latest news and information from all over the world.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

NEWS FROM SWISS COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE - AISFOCUS.CH TOOLKIT MEMORY WORK - AS NOVARTIS CHLLENGS INIDA’S PATENT LAW, MSF WARNS ACCESS TO MEDICINES IS UNDER THREAT - TEARFUND: FAITH UNTAPPED. WHY CHURCHES CAN PLAY A CRUCIAL ROLE IN TACKLING HIV AND AIDS IN AFRICA - ROGER FEDERER IS UNICEF'S GOODWILL AMBASSADOT FOR CHILDREN INFECTED WITH HIV

BRIEFS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD - SPECIAL COVERAGE: XVI INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE 13-18 AUGUST 2006, TORONTO, CANADA - FIVE NATIONS TO TAX AIRFARE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR AIDS DRUGS - SOUTH AFRICA: POSSIBILITY OF QUARANTINE MEASURES TO COUNTER XDR TB - SOUTH AFRICA: GLOBAL EFFORT TO FIGHT DEADLY TB STRAIN

NEW DOCUMENTS AND RESOURCES - PREVENTING HIV/AIDS IN YOUNG PEOPLE: EVIDENCE FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ON WHAT WORKS - ENHANCING THE GREATER INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS (GIPA) - GUIDE TO THE COMMUNITY-BASED TREATMENT OF HIV IN RESOURCE-POOR SETTINGS

Microbicides were the pulse of AIDS 2006 - the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto, Canada - 13-18 August 2006. Below, you can find a summary of media coverage, links for more information and a few key presentations.

http://www.global-campaign.org

The search for a microbicide which empowers women to control sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, goes on. Many products are at various stages of clinical trials and the efficacy and acceptability of different products with end-users are being tested worldwide.

Microbicides allow women to control preventive measures which aid safe sexual intercourse. The most widely used method of practicing safe sex till date,is the condom – however this is a male-directed practice and the decision to use or not to use a condom rests exclusively with men. In situations where women lack the power and the status to negotiate the use of condoms with their partners for safe sex, they are highly vulnerable to HIV infection and this is one of the main causes of the rapid feminization of the epidemic. The existing strategies for prevention — abstinence, mutual monogamy among HIV-negative partners, condom use, and treatment of STIs — are not feasible for many women.

http://www.path.org

The word "microbicides" refers to a range of different products that share one common characteristic: the ability to prevent the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) when applied topically. A microbicide could be produced in many forms, including gels, creams, suppositories, films, or as a sponge or ring that releases the active ingredient over time. Scientists are currently testing many substances to see whether they help protect against HIV and/or other STDs, but no safe and effective microbicide is currently available to the public.

http://www.global-campaign.org

HIV-positive women are some of the most vocal advocates for microbicides. By protecting health and promoting healthy sexuality, microbicides would offer an important and welcome tool in positive women's lives. Women living with HIV face the challenges of the epidemic daily, and offer a unique perspective on the broad impact microbicides could have in their lives.

Microbicides could help protect women from sexually transmitted and vaginal infections other than HIV, which can pose an even larger danger when one's immune system is challenged. Microbicides are likely to protect both partners, giving HIV-positive women another option for helping protect their partners who may not use condoms. Some microbicides may be contraceptive and others may not. This will give positive women who want to have children the ability to do so with less risk to an HIV-negative partner. Contraceptive microbicides would give women another way to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.

http://www.global-campaign.org

This Blueprint is a comprehensive strategy to stop the HIV/AIDS epidemic among women and girls (including transgendered women) globally that requires adequately funded, sustained and ongoing response from all stakeholders. In the context of prevention, women demand development of women- and girls-initiated forms of HIV/AIDS prevention, particularly microbicides, including a dissemination plan which will allow affordable, free and unlimited access to these methods.

http://www.athenanetwork.org

In cooperation with terre des hommes schweiz, aidsfocus.ch developed and produced a toolkit on memory work. Memory work is an innovative psychosocial approach, assisting children and adults to overcome their painful experiences and elaorate new outlooks on life. This toolkit has been put together for the staff of international cooperation organizations, relief organizations and other institutions that work with children and adults affected by HIV and AIDS. The toolkit contains the following instruments: a memory book, hero book and tracing book, the DVD “Strength from Remembering” and a CD-Rom on Memory Work with relevant information, resources and manuals on memory work in electronic form. To order: info@aidsfocus.ch

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

New Delhi/Geneva - A challenge against India's patent law filed by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis will be heard in the Chennai High Court in India today. The international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that this case may have serious implications for future access to essential drugs worldwide.

Novartis is challenging a crucial part of the Indian law that protects patients from the patenting of trivial improvements of known molecules. Novartis is also seeking to have the January 2006 decision to reject its patent application for the cancer drug Gleevec reversed and is seeking review by the Chennai High Court.

"If Novartis' challenge against the Indian patent law is successful, a key safeguard that can protect the production of affordable medicines will be lost," said Ellen 't Hoen, Policy Director at MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines. "People the world over who rely on India as a source of their medicines may be affected if Novartis gets its way."

http://www.msf.org

A new report from Tearfund reveals that a hidden army of millions of church volunteers is tackling Africa’s AIDS crisis head on. But they lack the international support and funding which could turn the continent’s one million churches into one of the single most effective weapons for halting the pandemic.

The report, Faith untapped estimates the value of the churches’ care for orphans, the sick and elderly at over £2.5 billion annually – yet the churches doing this work barely rate a mention in global strategies for tackling AIDS in Africa, where 24 million people are infected in sub-Saharan Africa alone. (August 6, 2006)

http://www.tearfund.org

Top-ranked tennis player Roger Federer is a spokesperson for UNICEF's UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS global campaign. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Federer has spoken about AIDS in a film where he talks about the terrible impact of HIV/AIDS on children. Federer became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in April 2006. “I am honoured to join the ranks of UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassadors,” he said at his appointment ceremony. In 2003, he established the Roger Federer Foundation to help children in need, primarily in South Africa. And in 2005, he helped organize an exhibition tournament to raise relief funds for UNICEF in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

http://www.unicef.org
http://www.rogerfederer.com

Archived, online coverage of AIDS 2006: XVI International AIDS Conference is available from kaisernetwork.org in partnership with the International AIDS Society. Kaisernetwork.org_s coverage includes Webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions, including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other sessions and press conferences; Interviews with newsmakers and journalists summarizing conference developments; and special coverage of select sessions as well as news summaries from international media in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report.

http://www.kaisernetwork.org

New York, September 19, 2006 - A group of countries led by France plan to raise at least $300 million next year, mostly through taxes on airline tickets, to help pay for the treatment of children with AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, a senior French official said yesterday.

The countries, acting through a new Geneva-based organization called UNITAID, plan to pool their buying power and have asked former President Bill Clintons foundation to negotiate with drug companies for volume discounts.

The countries France, Brazil, Britain, Norway and Chile will announce the new undertaking today at the United Nations. In all, they say, the plan can help pay for the treatment of 100,000 children with AIDS, and another 100,000 people who have become resistant to antiretroviral AIDS drugs, as well as the treatment of 150,000 children with tuberculosis and 28 million with malaria.

http://www.unitaid.eu

Johannesburg, 13 Sep 2006 - South Africa's government is deeply concerned after warnings by medical experts that an outbreak of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) may have a severe impact on mortality in a country where health professionals are struggling to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.

The new and virulent third-generation strain of TB is reported to have claimed lives of 52 people in KwaZulu-Natal Province, all of whom were confirmed to be co-infected with XDR TB and HIV. XDR-TB's ability to kill people with HIV - usually within 16 days of being diagnosed - has also forced some members of the medical fraternity to consider quarantining as a preventative measure. (IRIN PLUSNEWS)

http://www.plusnews.org

Johannesburg, 28 Sep 2006 - The World Health Organisation (WHO) will convene a "global task force" in Geneva in October to thrash out a battle plan against extremely drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), a deadly, drug-resistant disease that has already killed 60 people in South Africa and is threatening to spread across the region.

Experts fear that South Africa's high rates of HIV/AIDS - about one in nine of the country's 45 million people are HIV positive, making them acutely susceptible to tuberculosis - could fast-track XDR-TB into a global epidemic. HIV infection rates are similarly high in the neighbouring countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe, which have yet to report any XDR-TB cases.

South Africa's health minister, attacked by critics for her slow and confusing response to the HIV/AIDS crisis, which includes promoting nutrition as an effective HIV treatment, has been faster to respond to the threat posed by XDR-TB. (PLUSNEWS)

http://www.plusnews.org

Young people are particularly vulnerable to HIV: 15-24 year old account for 50% of new cases. This report provides evidence based recommendations for policy-makers, programme managers and researchers to guide efforts towards meeting the UN goals on HIV/AIDS and young people. These goals aim to decrease prevalence and vulnerability; and to increase access to information, skills and services. (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNAIDS, LSHTM 2006)

http://www.unfpa.org

... in NGOs/CBOs in India. This handbook has been developed because research-based evidence shows that NGOs in India may have a limited understanding of what GIPA is and of how to plan and implement it, even if they are aware of the need to involve PLHA. The handbook is a resource collection of information sheets and participatory activities for NGOs working on HIV/AIDS who want to work towards a greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) in their work. (International HIV/AIDS Alliance in India 2006)

http://www.aidsalliance.org

Partners In Health has published an updated and expanded second edition of The PIH Guide to the Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource-Poor Settings. Drawing on PIH's experience since 1998 treating HIV patients in rural Haiti, the guide includes clinical protocols and guidelines for managing HIV-positive patients, as well as information about how to initiate a comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment program. (2006)

http://topics.developmentgateway.org