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

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

„The benefits of involving men in HIV programmes“ – this was the title of an article on IRIN Plus News that pricked up my ears and caught my attention, also because it talked about the so-called „Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission, PMTCT“ in Zimbabwe.

Great, I thought to myself, something is moving here, because so far giving birth had been considered to be mainly a woman’s matter. By using the common term Mother to Child Transmission, only the mother got the blame if her baby was infected with HIV at birth.

It is important that the Zimbabwean NGO demanded men be included into prevention and treatment of pregnant women. Their experience in this connection is very valuable. How could an expectant mother in labour take the necessary drug (Nevirapine) – which reduces the transmission risk by half – without her husband and family knowing about it? How could mothers get regularly antiretroviral drugs, if necessary? How can the matter of breast-feeding be solved best?

The aidsfocus.ch Conference of April 26, 2007 will focus on questions in relation to pregnant women and positive mothers – and the vertical way of HIV-transfer. We aim at taking a comprehensive look at this issue and we will tackle both medical and socio-cultural as well as political questions. Representatives of six partner organizations have formed an advisory group and are supporting us in the planning process for a strong programme. Detailed information will follow as soon as possible.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

INFORMATION FROM THE SWISS COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE - AIDSFOCUS.CH: ANNUAL REPORT 2005/06 - AIDSFOCUS.CH: POSITION PAPER ON HIV PREVENTION - AIDSFOCUS.CH: POSITION PAPER ON HIV AND AIDS TREATMENT AND CARE - AIDSFOCUS.CH: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT - NOVARTIS DENIES ACCESS TO GENERIC MEDICINES TO POOR COUNTRIES

NEW DOCUMENTS AND RECOURCES - 2006 AIDS EPIDEMIC UPDATE: GLOBAL AIDS EPIDEMIC CONTINUES TO GROW - PATENTS VERSUS PATIENTS: FIVE YEARS AFTER THE DOHA DECLARATION - UNHEARD VOICES, HIDDEN LIVES: EXHIBITION AND BOOK - ZERO TOLERANCE: STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN, STOP HIV/AIDS - ALL TOGETHER NOW: COMMUNITY MOBILISATION FOR HIV/AIDS - UNESCO GUIDELINES ON LANGUAGE AND CONTENT IN HIV-AND AIDS-RELATED MATERIALS

BRIEFS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD - ZIMBABWE: THE BENEFITS OF INVOLVING MEN IN HIV PROGRAMMES - ARAB LEADERS STRESS NEED TO DISCUSS HIV - MANAGING MASCULINITY IN ECUADOR - ASK POPE BENEDICT XVI TO LIFT THE BAN ON CONDOMS! - VIETNAM: ELDERLY WOMEN BEAR BURDEN OF AIDS - ZIMBABWE: AIDS ACTIVISTS PLAN "DIE IN" OVER ARVS - SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT ENDS AIDS DENIAL

EVENTS (IN ENGLISH) 04.12.2006 | CONFERENCE ON THE OCCACION OF 25 YEARS MSF SWITZERLAND 08.01.2007 | AIDSFOCUS.CH: PEER REVIEW GROUP MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS 30.04.2007 | LIVE AND WORK IN A CONTEXT MARKED BY AIDS 06.06.2007 | MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS IN PRACTICE

Worldwide | The theme for World AIDS Day 2006 is accountability. It was developed by the World AIDS Campaign support team based on their ongoing work around World AIDS Day. The most significant aspect of this World AIDS Day is the degree to which it has been based around the inputs of a wide range of civil society partners.

During World AIDS Day 2006, we hope to achieve the following objectives: • Enhanced accountability from political leaders on their promises on AIDS. • Supporting a broad movement of civil society organisations campaigning to develop their sense of joint identity and common purpose. • Generating a greater public awareness of, and engagement with, the problem of AIDS worldwide.

http://www.worldaidscampaign.info

Message on World AIDS Day: “Accountability

the theme of this World AIDS Day -- requires every President and Prime Minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that “AIDS stops with me”. It requires them to strengthen protection for all vulnerable groups -- whether people living with HIV, young people, sex workers, injecting drug users, or men who have sex with men. It requires them to work hand in hand with civil society groups, who are so crucial to the struggle. It requires them to work for real, positive change that will give more power and confidence to women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at all levels of society…”

http://www.unaids.org

World AIDS Day message by Anders Nordström, Acting Director-General WHO: “The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to grow. Effectively tackling this epidemic remains one of the world's most pressing public health challenges. In August this year, at the XVI International AIDS Conference, 30 000 of us came together in Toronto in reply to the Conference's call to action. That action, we agreed, must reflect a balanced mix of prevention, treatment and care. This year's World AIDS Day theme "Accountability" reminds us again of our responsibility for making the right choices. In Toronto, I spoke on the three areas in which we had to take action: the three "Ms" of Money, Medicines and a Motivated workforce…”

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Report of the activities of the Swiss platform on HIV/AIDS and international cooperation, aidsfocus.ch: “Common positions serve partner organizations “as reference points for internal and external purposes, while providing a more distinctive profile to the Swiss activities” – this is one of the core messages of the new strategic orientation of the platform for the period between 2006 and 2008. Simultaneously, defining a common understanding of advocacy and lobbying efforts remains one of the major challenges for cooperation and the effectiveness with which the platform works.”

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

adopted by aidsfocus.ch, the Swiss platform on HIV/AIDS and international cooperation, at the annual meeting, November 15, 2006.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

adopted by aidsfocus.ch, the Swiss platform on HIV/AIDS and international cooperation, at the annual meeting, November 15, 2006.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Young People have the Right to Knowledge and Services. 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.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

1. November 2006 - Berne Declaration and Oxfam International campaigners organized a stunt in front of Novartis Headquarter in Basel to denounce the company's attempt to prevent poor people in India and in other developing countries accessing affordable generic medicines. The Novartis case against the Indian government will have huge impact on poor people in developing countries.

According to the WHO, 30% of the world's population still do not have regular access to essential medicines. 74% of AIDS medicines are still under monopoly (under patents) and 77% of Africans still have no access to AIDS treatment. There are many reasons for this, however generic competition is essential in bringing the prices down and ensuring access to medicines for all. “Access to medicines in developing countries relies primarily on affordable generic versions of patented medicines. Novartis' court action directly threatens the ability for developing countries to access these medicines for their people” said Julien Reinhard, director of the Health Campaign at Berne Declaration.

http://www.evb.ch

Geneva, 21 November 2006 – The global AIDS epidemic continues to grow and there is concerning evidence that some countries are seeing a resurgence in new HIV infection rates which were previously stable or declining. However, declines in infection rates are also being observed in some countries, as well as positive trends in young people's sexual behaviours.

According to the latest figures published in the UNAIDS/WHO 2006 AIDS Epidemic Update, an estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 2.8 million (65%) of these occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and important increases in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where there are some indications that infection rates have risen by more than 50% since 2004. In 2006, 2.9 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

http://www.unaids.org

Five years ago, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) signed a ministerial agreement to ensure that intellectual property rules would no longer obstruct developing countries’ efforts to protect public health. Since then, however, little has changed. Patented medicines continue to be priced out of reach for the world’s poorest people. Trade rules remain a major barrier to accessing affordable versions of patented medicines (generic medicines). The prevalence of debilitating and life-threatening diseases in poor countries is growing, but medicines are simply not available. (Oxfam Report 2006)

http://www.oxfam.org

In their own words and images, individuals affected by HIV and AIDS in Cambodia, Ecuador and India invite us into their lives to share their experiences, hopes and fears, through an online exhibition live on this site now. The individuals in this project – people living with HIV, men who have sex with men, and sex workers – invite us to share, in their own images and words, their experiences, hopes, and fears of living in a world irreversibly touched by HIV. (2006)

http://www.aidsalliance.org

This Global AIDS Alliance document describes a framework for a comprehensive response to violence against women and children, including the resources that would be needed, political and financial, for full implementation. It discusses the various arenas and circumstances in which women and children are vulnerable to violence and to infection with HIV, using direct quotes and case studies of women and children’s experiences. It then discusses effective strategies and programmes that are needed to address violence in each situation, illustrating with a series of case studies from South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Egypt, Liberia and Nicaragua. (2006)

http://www.globalaidsalliance.org

Building capacity in community HIV/AIDS initiatives - a toolkit produced by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. It describes the process of community mobilisation: a capacity-building process through which individuals, groups or organisations plan, carry out and evaluate activities on a participatory and sustained basis to improve their health and other needs. The guide has been designed to be used alongside "Tools Together Now! 100 participatory tools to mobilise communities for HIV/AIDS".

http://www.eldis.org

This document by the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) argues for a harmonised use of language and content that reflects an approach to the HIV and AIDS pandemic that is comprehensive and inclusive, sensitive to the needs and issues of the whole population, but with attention focused especially on key populations vulnerable to HIV.

The objective is to deal with the stigma attached to AIDS, "which is the real impediment to prevention". E.g. “Even though the term HIV/AIDS is widely used and accepted, recent UNAIDS guidelines are promoting the use of HIV where appropriate and AIDS where appropriate. HIV and AIDS are two different issues. The terms HIV and AIDS should be used only when both HIV and AIDS are relevant.” (2006)

http://unesdoc.unesco.org

Harare, 10 November 2006 - Prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes need to involve men in care and support services, says a Zimbabwean HIV/AIDS organisation. Peter Iliff, medical director of Zvitambo, said his organisation had stepped up efforts to draw men into PMTCT programmes after recognising the benefits of having them on board. When men do play a role, both parties benefit: HIV-positive women are more likely to receive anti-AIDS medication during follow-up visits, avoid breastfeeding their infants, and use condoms; men are more likely to access antiretroviral treatment sooner. (PLUSNEWS)

http://www.plusnews.org

Cairo, 8 November 2006 - Hundreds of religious and political leaders in the Arab world on Tuesday called for the region to "break the silence" on HIV, amid reports that cases of the deadly disease are on the rise. The 300 Muslim and Christian leaders from 20 Arab states gathered in Cairo at the Arab League to find ways of breaking the taboo that the disease has in the conservative Arab world. There were more than 67,000 new HIV cases in the Arab world last year. Silence about HIV and AIDS remains the norm in the Arab world, where conservative traditions frown upon discussing sex publicly, and people with the disease are often stigmatized and discriminated.

http://www.cbsnews.com

A project in rural Ecuador worked with a youth group to reduce gender-based power imbalances. Drawings, role plays and focus group discussions helped group members cope with complex issues in innovative and transformative ways. At the participants' request, alcoholism was tackled first. The young men acted out a role play showing how they pressurise each other into drinking in order to maintain a show of appropriate masculinity. They then discussed the implications. In a later session the men used a similar approach to explore the social environment that can lead to casual sex.

http://www.id21.org

Catholics for a Free Choice's Condoms4Life campaign is spearheading an effort to ask Pope Benedict XVI to lift the ban on condoms. In April of this year, sources close to the new pope indicated he had requested that senior theologians and scientists prepare a document on condom use as a means of preventing HIV transmission. Although some Vatican insiders—including Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council on the Family, who claims condoms have minute holes through which the virus is transmitted have insisted there will be no relaxing of the ban, Catholics and non-Catholics around the world remain hopeful that the church will change this policy. Call for action and letter:

http://www.catholicsforchoice.org

According to UNAIDS, approximately 90% of HIV/AIDS victims are cared for at their homes by elderly people. They also enlist in various HIV/AIDS programmes where their close contact with this issue makes their words more persuasive. To help ease the burden of these elderly care-givers, the Viet Nam Women's Union, with sponsorship from the International Elderly Association has carried out the project The Elderly Sympathy Clubs. These clubs aim to improve the health care of elderly people afflicted with HIV/AIDS as well as the patients in their families, through weekly activities like consultation and health care service.

http://english.vietnamnet.vn

Angry activists living with HIV and AIDS, plan to stage a "die in" in Harare if the government fails to provide them with life-prolonging ARVs in a week's time. Led by the self-styled "General Gunpowder", the group told The Standard in Harare last week they planned to launch what they called a "chimurenga" to force the government to provide ARVs to thousands of mostly poor people living with HIV and Aids. The activists, all with HIV and full-blown Aids, allege the drugs are benefiting mostly "corrupt" government officials and their relatives.

The group belongs to the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV and Aids (ZNPP+). They said they planned to stage their "die in" at the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare head office in Harare.

http://allafrica.com

1. October 2006 - The South African Government yesterday announced a dramatic reversal of its approach to the country's Aids crisis, promising increased availability of drugs and endorsing the efforts of civic groups battling the disease. "We must take our fight against Aids to a much higher level," the deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, told a conference of Aids activists, who until recently had been ignored and even denounced by the government.

Several factors convinced the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, to change his policies. Official statistics show an alarming rise in deaths among South Africans in their 20s, 30s and 40s. Supporters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) such as trade unions have criticised his policies and the resulting shortages of antiretroviral drugs. Civic groups were joined by 81 leading scientists in demanding the sacking of the health minister who suggested eating beetroot as a cure. And South Africa has fallen behind its neighbours in cutting the infection rate. (The Guardian 28th October 2006)

http://www.healthdev.org

Geneva | Medical Day, December 4, 2006Humanitarian medicine: An enemy of public health? Often accused of working on a short-term basis and perturbing the public health systems, is the humanitarian action developing itself at the expense of the public health systems of developing countries? Patient-oriented versus System-oriented Approach: Contradiction or Complements? HIV/AIDS: Free Access to Treatment, a Public Health Necessity or an Economic Heresy? Humanitarian Medical Activities through the lens of Organizational ethics.

Humaniarian Day, December 5, 2006: Humanitarian action is considered by States, their armies and the United Nations, as one tool amongst others to reach their objectives. Is it still relevant and useful to fight for the independence of humanitarian action in the name of one goal: to answer the needs of vulnerable people?

http://www.msf.ch

Zürich | Sharing of experiences and learning from each other is an effective way in the process to mainstream HIV into one’s own organisation. 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?

The Terre des Hommes Foundation is inviting partners of aidsfocus.ch to the next meeting. Participants preferably have participated in the SDC training module or studied one of the toolkits.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Bienne | This Workshop by cinfo aims at providing capacity and skills for people working in international cooperation in the field to face the challenges.

Course language: English

http://www.cinfo.ch

Ausserholligen | The course offered by SDC 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, and understand the concept of “mainstreaming HIV/AIDS” and its multisectoral dimension.

Target group: Collaborators of SDC; programme officers at SDC (headquarters and Coofs) and in NGOs, consultants and interested professionals in the field of international cooperation.

http://www.deza.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, 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.