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

December 2011

As we approach the end of the year, let me summarize a few pieces of good news from the Community of Practice referring to HIV and AIDS.

We were very pleased to hear that Linus Jauslin, former general secretary of AIDS & Child and long-time active member of the aidsfocus.ch platform, was given the KANEBO-Award in recognition of his tireless commitment for AIDS-affected children and youth both here, in Eastern Europe and in Southern and Eastern Africa. We express our heartfelt congratulations for receiving this award.

There are also good news coming from the Dareda Hospital in Tanzania. In that institution, all expectant mothers can be tested for AIDS in the framework of prenatal examinations. Positively tested women will receive counselling and will be included into the program to prevent vertical HIV-transmission. Thanks to the support of SolidarMed, these women belong to the happy mothers who will give birth to a healthy baby despite their positive HIV-status.

Another pleasant experience is the Training of Trainers’s Workshop on solution-focused memory work that aidsfocus.ch conducted in Uganda at the end of September this year. The workshop was initiated by CO-OPERAID and financially supported by the Swiss League of Catholic Women and the Swiss AIDS Federation. I was deeply impressed by the commitment, seriousness and joy of the 28 participating women and men and by the annual plans they developed to implement the acquired know-how.

We were also very pleased by Hilary Clinton’s strong speech on „Gay Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Gay Rights“ she held in Geneva on December 6, 2011. Her speech has to be considered a milestone in the struggle for the recognition of sexual rights and against transmitting HIV and AIDS. Discriminating and stigmatising lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT’s) does not only constitute a violation of human rights in many countries but is also one the reasons why HIV and AIDS is further propagated. The government of Malawi announced a few days ago that it plans to introduce exemption of punishment for homosexuality – most likely due to the pressure of Malawi’s donor countries.

Last but not least: The message 2013-2016 on Switzerland’s international cooperation, which will be presented to the government and parliament next year, will feature health as global issue more prominently than in the past. Hence, the claims put forward by aidsfocus.ch and the network Medicus Mundi Switzerland have been heard and included; in addition, space and resources have been created to increase Switzerland’s commitment in the field of HIV and AIDS.

These are smaller and larger success stories transmitting time and again courage and energy in the joint commitment to realise the goal of creating an AIDS-free future.

On this note I wish you Happy Holidays and a good start into the New Year.

Helena Zweifel Coordinator aidsfocus.ch Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland

Solution-focused memory work recognises each individual as the expert of his or her own life. This gives them the self-confidence, assurance and courage to see one's own future in a new light, and to fashion one's own destiny. Helena Zweifel, Coordinator of aidsfocus.ch was invited by CO-OPERAID to facilitate a training-of-trainers workshop on solution-focused memory work with their partners in Uganda. The aim of the workshop was to experience the process of making a memory book yourself, creating a book of your own and getting to know the methods, tools and the approach practiced in solution-focused memory work. The most important aim, however, was for participants to be able to implement the knowledge acquired in the workshop in practice.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Geneva, 6 December 2011 - Recognizing that America’s own record on LGBT equality is “far from perfect,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on nations around the world to recognize that “gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights,” during a speech in Geneva, Switzerland. Clinton’s address builds on a memorandum President Obama issued earlier today directing all agencies to “promote and protect the human rights of LGBT persons.” Clinton also announced that the administration is launching a $3 million global equality fund to support the work of civil society organizations working on these issues around the world.

http://thinkprogress.org

1. December 2011 - Malawi’s Justice Minister has said he will “review a series of controversial laws, including a ban on homosexual acts” in the aftermath of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s call on nations around the world to treat gay rights as human rights. “In view of the sentiments from the general public and in response to public opinion regarding certain laws, the government wishes to announce to the Malawi nation that it is submitting the relevant laws and provisions of laws to the Law Commission for review,” he said. Last year, “a gay couple were sentenced to 14 years in prison for sodomy, after they held an engagement ceremony in the city of Blantyre.” U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron has also threatened to cut off aid to nations that criminalize gay behavior.

http://thinkprogress.org

To highlight the successes of the HIV response, and the need to continue a strong response, KHANA, the largest national NGO working with HIV in Cambodia, has prepared a photo story book featuring the challenges, joys and hopes of people living with or affected by HIV. The rate of HIV in Cambodia has been reversed thanks to a combination of leadership from the government, commitment from international donor agencies, and engagement from civil society organisations. A key element of the response has been the efforts of countless people in communities affected by HIV, working tirelessly to provide and promote HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

http://www.aidsalliance.org

Geneva, 15 December 2011 - The Global Fund has launched its Transitional Funding Mechanism (TFM) as a replacement for Round 11, which the Fund cancelled. Applicants are encouraged to re-programme existing grants where possible to help maintain essential services. Applicants can apply for funding for essential prevention, treatment and/or care services that meet all of the following three conditions: (a) the services are currently supported by the Global Fund; (b) the services face disruption because Round 11 was cancelled and because one or more existing grants will end soon; and (c) there are no alternative sources of funding for these services.

http://www.aidspan.org

Mbawane, 13 December 2011 - A new wave of HIV activism is rising in Swaziland as people living with HIV take to the streets in protest, many for the first time in their lives, over continued shortages of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. “The leaders of the HIV support groups are joining the marches because they know that government leadership lacks the political will to meet the needs of people living with HIV and AIDS,” said Thandi Nkambule, director of the Swaziland Network for People with HIV and AIDS (SWANEPHA). About a quarter of all adult Swazis are living with HIV and about 47,000 patients nationally were on ARVs at the end of 2009, according to UNAIDS.

http://www.irinnews.org

Addis Ababa, 8 December 2011 - When the Global Fund's Deputy Executive Director, Debrework Zewdie, was about to remind audience members that the Global Fund's commitment to treat Africa's HIV/AIDS population is not in demise, a column of nearly 100 activists silently marched through the plenary carrying signs pressuring African governments and donors to recognize ownership of the AIDS epidemic. The final plenary session of ICASA 2011 left the audience with a notion of hope and urgency that despite the Global Fund's cancellation of Round 11 disbursements, the organization will continue to campaign, raise funds and place pressure on governments in both the donor and recipient arenas.

http://www.icasa2011addis.org

Geneva, 2 December 2011 - UNAIDS has conducted a 15-country survey to understand the possible impact of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s recent decision to cancel its next funding round (Round 11). The UNAIDS country offices, who participated in the survey, have expressed serious concerns about the potential disruption of HIV treatment and prevention services starting from 2014. Findings also point towards long-term challenges in meeting the 2015 AIDS targets adopted by world leaders at the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS in June this year.

http://www.unaids.org

Johannesburg, 1 December 2011 - UNAIDS notes that the global economic crisis appears to have put an end to a decade of funding increases by donors - after flattening out in 2009 for the first time, international AIDS assistance fell by 10 percent in 2010. Activists agree that although some countries with high HIV prevalence rates still can’t afford to put a lot of money into their AIDS response, they cannot be completely absolved. “Sustainability depends on domestic funding. Even in this hard economic environment, countries can at least lay down the enabling instruments that will grow over time and take over from donor funds when these funds dry up,” Zimbabwe’s Madzorera acknowledged. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

New Haven, 28 November 2011 - "The collapse of the next round of Global Fund grants, known as Round 11, is the most serious, catastrophic setback in the Fund’s decade of existence... It’s terribly important to recognize the moral implications. It’s not just the fact that people will die; it’s the fact that those who have made the decision know that people will die… I’m not allowed to characterize the desolate sabotage of the Global Fund as murder, but in the private depths of my soul, I really believe it is murder…” (Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World, at a colloquium hosted by Yale University’s Global Health Leadership Institute and the Yale School of Public)

http://www.aidsfreeworld.org

Cape Town, 24 November 2011 – TAC will have to close - unless the Global Fund meets its contractual agreement. The TAC is an award winning South African social movement campaigning to save the lives of people living with HIV and TB. In the 12 years since it was established TAC has helped to save and better millions of people’s lives in South Africa. It has also contributed to the deepening of democracy in South Africa through its use of the courts, advocacy and promotion of human rights constitutionalism. Yet today TAC faces a real threat of imminent closure due to a dire funding crisis. TAC depends on a five year grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) for a large portion of its work.

http://www.tac.org.za

Rüschlikon | Swiss Re organises in collaboration with the Swiss AIDS Federation a conference on HIV 30 years on – the impact on society and the insurance industry. The conference will address the impact of HIV on society and the re/insurance industry, focusing on demographic research and modelling, the impact on insurance, medical advances in the fight against HIV, human rights, and current challenges in Europe. Speakers: Bernhard Hirschel, Wayne Koff, Ruth Dreifuss, Edwin Cameron, David Haerry etc.

http://cgd.swissre.com

Berne |Support groups of people living with HIV turn more and more into advocacy groups to stand up for their interests and rights. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in South Africa has held government accountable for health care service delivery, campaigned against official AIDS denialism, challenged the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies to make treatment more affordable and cultivated community leadership on HIV and AIDS. Advocacy is a key component in the struggle towards an AIDS-free future and the fulfilment of the right to health for all. The aidsfocus.ch conference 2012 will focus on advocacy and open a space for sharing, discussion and joint learning on experiences, visions and strategies to end the epidemic.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Washington DC | AIDS 2012 will bring together leading scientists, public health experts, policy-makers and the HIV-affected community to translate recent momentous scientific advances into action that will address means to end the epidemic, within the current context of significant global economic challenges. The conference theme, “Turning the Tide Together”, reflects a unique moment in time, emphasizing that the HIV epidemic has reached a defining moment. Washington DC, 22-27 July 2012

http://www.aids2012.org

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