Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
7 May 2008
Global Challenges
U.N. Launches Workplace HIV Program
[May 07, 2008]
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday launched U.N. Cares, a new workplace HIV program that will provide such services as training, counseling and testing for U.N. staff and their families, Xinhua/China View reports. The program aims to meet 10 minimum standards -- such as insurance coverage and condom access -- by the end of 2011 by making staff, time and resources more available. U.N. Cares will work in conjunction with the organization's advocacy and support network for HIV-positive employees, as well as address workplace stigma and discrimination. Fifteen U.N. bodies to date have pledged about $1.3 million to U.N. Cares, and Ban on Tuesday said that the U.N. Secretariat will provide about $350,000 as part of an initial contribution.
"Since the early 1990s, the impact of the virus on our work and on the communities we serve has been historic in magnitude," Ban said, adding, "At the same time, our workplace, our staff and our families are profoundly affected." According to Ban, the launch of U.N. Cares represents a "milestone in the U.N. response to HIV." Ban also pledged to make the United Nations a model workplace in its response to HIV/AIDS, adding that the organization's "performance will be only as good as the commitment and contribution of every one of us." In addition, Ban called on U.N. staff to learn essential information about HIV, take measures to protect themselves from contracting the virus and participate in U.N. Cares programs (Xinhua/China View, 5/6).
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British Prime Minister Brown Holds Conference on Role of Businesses in Efforts To Meet MDGs
[May 07, 2008]
Multinational companies need to increase their efforts to address development issues worldwide, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday ahead of a conference on global businesses and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, AFP/Google.com reports. The MDGs include targets to curb the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. "This year must be a year of action if we are to tackle the development emergency we face," Brown said in a statement released ahead of the London conference, which will include the heads of more than 80 global businesses and leaders from countries such as Ghana and Rwanda.
The conference will highlight work being done by more than 12 companies, such as Citi, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Microsoft, Sumitomo Chemical, Thomson Reuters and Vodafone. Brown said that he hopes such work will inspire other businesses to help reach the MDG targets by the 2015 deadline. Kemal Dervis from the U.N. Development Programme said in a statement that the private sector is "one of the greatest untapped resources" to help meet MDG targets (AFP/Google.com, 5/5).
Brown in December 2007 called on at least 20 of the largest multinational companies to help global efforts aimed at meeting the MDGs. Brown said he will call for an MDG meeting during the U.N. General Assembly in September 2009 to galvanize efforts to accomplish the targets. Brown also will use a meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations in Japan this summer to provide incentives to meet the MDGs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/11/07).
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Government, Businesses Should Cooperate To Mitigate Effects of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea, Conference Delegate Says
[May 07, 2008]
The government and businesses in Papua New Guinea should work together to alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS and avoid a "catastrophic health burden," Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Duncan Kerr said Monday at the start of the 24th Papua New Guinea-Australia Business Forum, Papua New Guinea's Post-Courier reports.
Kerr acknowledged current efforts by the Business Council of Papua New Guinea, with help from the Australian government, to fight the spread of HIV but said that increased cooperation between the government and businesses is needed to effectively address the issue. "HIV/AIDS is a very significant threat to the strength of the economic future of Papua New Guinea," Kerr said, adding, "It's a very difficult territory. ... It is one of those areas that could significantly retract on the economic opportunities" for the country. According to Kerr, HIV/AIDS will pose an "unthinkable" health burden on Papua New Guinea, adding that the disease has already "penetrated" the country "quite widely" (Post-Courier, 5/6).
There are about 64,000 recorded HIV/AIDS cases in Papua New Guinea, but experts believe the actual number to be between 80,000 and 120,000. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said the number is expected to rise to at least 220,000 by 2025, even with increased HIV/AIDS education and prevention. According to experts, the number could rise to more than 500,000 by 2025 if increased efforts are not made (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 3/10).
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Science & Medicine
Appropriate Treatment Methods Can Prevent Nearly All Risk of Mother-To-Child HIV Transmission, Study Says
[May 07, 2008]
Providing appropriate treatment methods to HIV-positive women during pregnancy can prevent nearly all risk of mother-to-child transmission of the virus, according to a study published online Wednesday in the journal AIDS, the PA/Google.com reports (Kirby, PA/Google.com, 5/6).
For the study, Claire Townsend, research fellow at the University College London Institute of Child Health, and colleagues analyzed 5,151 pregnancies among HIV-positive women in the United Kingdom and Ireland between 2000 and 2006. The study found that the rate of MTCT decreased to 1.2% from 20% in the mid-1990s.
According to the researchers, the primary reason for the decline was the increase in prenatal HIV testing following the implementation of routine screening policies in the countries, BBC News reports. Routine screening increased diagnosis rates before delivery from about 70% in 2000 to about 95% in 2005, data showed (BBC News, 5/6). Routine screening policies were introduced in Ireland in 1999 and between 2000 and 2003 in the United Kingdom, the PA/Google.com reports.
Expanded access to antiretroviral treatment for HIV-positive pregnant women also was a factor, researchers said. The HIV transmission rate for women taking antiretroviral therapy for a minimum of two weeks prior to delivery was 0.8%, according to the study (PA/Google.com, 5/6). The rate was found regardless of the type of antiretrovirals the women received or whether they had vaginal births or cesarean sections, the study found.
It was the first time such low rates of MTCT have been found at a population level, researchers said (BBC News, 5/6). Townsend said, "Continuing to improve the offer and uptake of antenatal HIV testing could have a significant impact on further reducing MTCT, since most perinatally acquired infection is now in infants whose mothers are among the approximately 5% of infected women who remain undiagnosed at delivery" (PA/Google.com, 5/6). She also said, "This emphasizes the importance of achieving and maintaining a high uptake of antenatal HIV testing on a national scale."
Lisa Power of the Terrence Higgins Trust said, "With the right treatment and relevant support, the vast majority of women living with HIV can have healthy uninfected children," adding, "This is why testing for HIV in pregnancy is so important and why treatment for pregnant women living with HIV in the [United Kingdom] should always be free, whatever their immigration status" (BBC News, 5/6).
The study is available online.
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Public Health & Education
Urgent Action Needed To Address HIV/AIDS Among U.S. Minority Communities as Cases 'Skyrocket,' Expert Says
[May 07, 2008]
HIV/AIDS rates among blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. have reached alarming levels, and the U.S. urgently needs to establish new initiatives to address the spread of the disease among the groups, Beny Primm, executive director of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Addiction Research and Treatment, said at an event in Connecticut on Sunday, the Hartford Courant reports. Primm, who was a federal health official under President George H.W. Bush, spoke at the Greater Hartford chapter of The Links, a professional black women's group, where he was recognized for his work related to substance abuse, domestic violence and HIV/AIDS.
Primm said, "It's not on the radar screen. There are not enough voices being raised." Primm said the spread of HIV among black women in particular has not received the same media attention as other groups. He said HIV/AIDS cases among blacks and Hispanics "are skyrocketing," while cases "are at emergency numbers" in black women.
Primm's work has focused, in part, on the connection between the spread of HIV infection through injection drug use. He recently represented the U.S. at World Health Organization meetings and at an international conference on AIDS prevention in London, according to the Courant.
Sharon Steinle, a Links member and chair of the event, said, "Globally, underserved communities are being ravaged by this disease, and the effects on women have been particularly devastating." She added, "As a volunteer-based organization focused on the betterment of women and the community, we feel it is our duty to educate others about HIV/AIDS and its prevention" (Jones, Hartford Courant, 5/5).
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Opinion
Utah Law Requiring HIV Tests for Convicted Sex Workers, Solicitors Fails To Slow Spread of HIV Because It Is Not Enforced, Editorial Says
[May 07, 2008]
A Utah state law that requires convicted commercial sex workers and solicitors of commercial sex to be tested for HIV and makes sex work and solicitation a "felony offense for repeat offenders who were aware they had tested positive for HIV" could "deter" sex work, but it is "not happening" because the law is not enforced, a Salt Lake Tribune editorial says (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/5).
The state is one of six in the U.S. in which penalties for the two offenses increase if the convicted person previously tested positive for HIV, according to a 2002 CDC-funded study. A recent review of Utah court records and procedures found inconsistencies in the enforcement of the law. Court dockets and case files indicate that in almost 40% of solicitation and commercial sex work convictions processed in state courts in 2006 and 2007, there is no record of HIV tests being ordered, read by a judge or filed. In addition, even if test results are successfully transferred to police departments, other factors -- including various aliases and jurisdictional issues -- can impede their use in future cases (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/30).
The law, "if combined with education and counseling," could be an "effective deterrent to the spread" of HIV, the Tribune says, adding that a "lack of proper reporting, record-keeping and adherence" prevents the law from being effective. The editorial says that the "lack of a centralized database" to track HIV-positive sex workers and solicitors "for access by law enforcement agencies and prosecutors across the state" also is "discouraging." Utah courts should "establish a database and assure that the tests are conducted," the editorial says, concluding that the legislation is "a good law, but only if it's followed to the letter" (Salt Lake Tribune, 5/5).
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