Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
11 June 2008
Global Challenges
U.N. Secretary-General Calls for End of Discrimination Against, Travel Restrictions on People Living With HIV/AIDS
[Jun 11, 2008]
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS on Tuesday called on the international community to end discrimination against HIV-positive people, including travel restrictions, describing such practices as "an affront to our common humanity," Xinhuanet reports. Ban also said that such discrimination "drives the virus underground, where it can spread in the dark; as important, it is an affront to our common humanity" (Xinhuanet, 6/10). Ban said that 60 years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "it is shocking that there should still be discrimination against those at high risk, such as men who have sex with men, or stigma attached to individuals living with HIV."
According to UNAIDS, 74 countries have travel restrictions in place for HIV-positive people, including a mention of the disease on their passports. Twelve countries -- Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, the U.S. and Yemen -- bar entry to people with HIV/AIDS, often citing public health concerns and the high cost of treatment. Three hundred forty-five nongovernmental organizations signed and sent a letter to worldwide leaders and ambassadors to urge countries that impose travel restrictions to lift them. President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador, who lifted travel restrictions in the country four years ago, said he supports the NGOs' petition. "I appeal to the international community and all governments for the scrapping of walls and barriers which restrict the free movement of people living with HIV," Saca said. Innocent Laison, a member of the Senegalese NGO AfriCASO, also denounced the travel restrictions, saying that countries that enforce them allow their own HIV-positive citizens to travel abroad (AFP/Yahoo! News, 6/10).
Also at the meeting, Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that more efforts should be made to develop and safe and effective HIV/AIDS vaccine following the cancellation of a Merck trial last year. "Such disappointments are not unusual,' Fauci said, adding, "Researchers normally experience numerous setbacks and disappointments, yet they persevere. Finding a safe and effective HIV vaccine requires the same kind of resolve" (Lauerman, Bloomberg, 6/10).
Archived webcasts of the sessions will be available after 5 p.m. ET on June 18 at kaisernetwork.org.
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UNAIDS Executive Director Piot To Step Down
[Jun 11, 2008]
UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot will step down from his position when his term is over at the end of the year, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Tuesday at the United Nations 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York, Reuters reports. Piot has served as UNAIDS executive director since the organization's inception in 1995.
Piot's replacement has not been named, according to Reuters (Bases, Reuters, 6/10). The next executive director will be chosen by the chair of the UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board, which currently is the U.S., according to UNAIDS spokesperson Mahesh Mahalingam. The final decision is up to Ban, he added. Piot said that he likely will take a job in academia.
Piot in April informed the UNAIDS board that he would step down. According to Bloomberg, Piot told the board that an ongoing five-year evaluation of UNAIDS, as well as the preparation of a new budget and plan, presented an "opportune time" to leave. "Both of these developments provide space for my successor to shape the program as they see fit and under your guidance," Piot said.
According to Piot, his largest accomplishments were increasing attention paid to HIV/AIDS at the United Nations and in governments worldwide. This contributed to larger amounts of funding being allocated for prevention and treatment programs, according to Bloomberg. "I had three goals when I took this job," Piot said, adding, "One was to put AIDS on the agenda, two was to form a broad coalition and three was to mobilize the money." Ban said that Piot's work has helped to increase the number of people in developing countries with access to antiretroviral drugs. Ban also said, "We need more leaders like Dr. Piot in every sector of society" (Lauerman, Bloomberg, 6/10).
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Public Health Agencies Call on G8 Leaders To Allocate Increased Resources to Health Programs Worldwide
[Jun 11, 2008]
The heads of several organizations involved in public health issues worldwide on Tuesday called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to invest more resources in health and disease programs, the AP/USA Today reports. In an open letter in the International Herald Tribune, the public health leaders said that G8 leaders should bolster long-term efforts to address HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases to build on progress made from previous commitments. The letter was signed by the heads of the World Health Organization; UNICEF; UNAIDS; the U.N. Population Fund; the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the GAVI Alliance; the World Bank; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (AP/USA Today, 6/9).
The letter was published ahead of the G8 summit next month in Hokkaido, Japan. According to the public health leaders, the previous summit hosted by Japan in Okinawa in 2000 prompted efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and other diseases. "Without doubt, the spirit of Okinawa drove efforts that improved the health of millions of people," they wrote, adding, "Now, the Hokkaido summit presents Japan and its fellow G8 leaders with an ideal opportunity to protect these achievements, to renew existing commitments to reproductive health and fight against HIV, TB and malaria, to finish polio eradication and to address the terrible gaps that remain in public health" (Kyodo News, 6/9).
The letter also says that new commitments at the summit next month could reduce child deaths, poor nutrition and global diseases. New commitment also could improve access to clean water and sanitation, according to the letter. Although previous G8 commitments helped to increase HIV/AIDS treatment access, reduce malaria deaths in parts of Africa and curb the spread of TB in some countries, some critics say that there has been little progress toward providing universal access to prevention, treatment and care and toward strengthening health systems. "Better health in the developing world is a vital contribution to our collective security," the letter says, adding, "A world that neglects the health of people is neither stable nor secure" (AP/USA Today, 6/9).
The letter is available online.
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HIV/TB Control Efforts in Uganda Lacking, Research Indicates
[Jun 11, 2008]
Efforts to control the spread of HIV/TB coninfections in Uganda are lacking, according to joint research conducted by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and the country's Ministry of Health, the New Vision/AllAfrica.com reports. The research was conducted to determine the services available for HIV/TB services and care, how collaborative services have been implemented and human resource capacity. It was carried out in 26 districts and showed that 40% of lower-level health care facilities do not have a worker trained to address HIV/TB cases. According to IUATLD delegate Anna Nakanwagi, a large number of health care facilities do not have HIV/TB diagnostic services, and most centers that provide treatment are run primarily by nongovernmental organizations or faith-based groups. She added that TB screenings among HIV-positive people are low and that 27% to 37% of lower-level centers conduct such tests. "Training in TB/HIV activities was generally poor, with only 20% medical officers, 42% clinical officers and 47% of the nurses trained," Nakanwagi said at the recent 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers' Meeting in Kampala, Uganda (Among, New Vision/AllAfrica.com, 6/10).
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