Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
21 August 2008
Global Challenges
Organization Spreads HIV/AIDS Awareness, Prevention Through Soccer in Africa, Boston Globe Reports
[Aug 21, 2008]
The Boston Globe on Thursday profiled Grassroot Soccer, a not-for-profit organization aimed at educating children in Africa about HIV/AIDS using professional soccer players as teachers. The organization was co-founded by Ethan Zohn, a former professional soccer player and winner of CBS's "Survivor: Africa." It sends professional African soccer players to middle schools to teach about HIV/AIDS "using a curriculum that combines soccer and academics," according to the Globe. Tommy Clark, a pediatrician and co-founder of Grassroot Soccer, said professional soccer players in Africa are "like role models, the gods of the community."
Zohn said that children participating in the program are given HIV/AIDS information "so they can possibly lead a healthy lifestyle" and that the dialogue generated through the program is "reducing the stigma of HIV and AIDS." About 250,000 children have been graduated from the program, and it is expanding into Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Zohn currently is participating in a 550-mile "dribble-a-thon," during which he will dribble a soccer ball from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., to Washington, D.C., to raise funds and awareness for Grassroot Soccer in the U.S. Along the way, Zohn will stop at high schools and colleges to lecture on HIV/AIDS, and he plans to end his tour in the district on World AIDS Day, which is Dec. 1. "We are really trying to create this generation of HIV-negative kids," Zohn said, adding, "We want everyone in America to know about Grassroot Soccer" (Diaz, Boston Globe, 8/21).
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Namibia Holds Workshop, Conducts Assessment To Examine Male Circumcision for HIV Prevention
[Aug 21, 2008]
In order for Namibia to increase access to male circumcision in an effort to curb the spread of HIV in the country, resources need to be mobilized and health facilities nationwide better prepared, Minister of Health and Social Services Richard Kamwi said recently, the New Era/AllAfrica.com reports. According to the New Era/AllAfrica.com, a two-day workshop to examine issues associated with rolling out a male circumcision campaign opened in Namibia on Tuesday. Speaking at the workshop, Kamwi said that health services are not ready "[a]t this stage" to increase circumcision efforts. Brian Pazvakavambwa -- United Nations AIDS team leader for the Inter-Country Support Team for Eastern and Southern Africa -- said that male "circumcision requires resources, hence the need for a well-calculated plan" (Sibeene, New Era/AllAfrica.com, 8/20).
According to the New Era/AllAfrica.com, a nationwide assessment recently was conducted in Namibia to examine attitudes, perceptions, potential effects and resource implications of a male circumcision campaign. According to the assessment, about 21% of adult men in the country are circumcised. It also found that although many respondents understood the potential health benefits of circumcision, they also reported being concerned about risks associated with the procedure. Physician Nelao Amagulu said that health experts are concerned that circumcised men might believe they are immune to HIV and engage in unsafe sex practices. She added that male circumcision should be viewed as "a tool within a comprehensive package" of HIV prevention measures. According to the New Era/AllAfrica.com, experts estimate that 80,000 new HIV cases can be prevented between 2008 and 2025 by strategically targeting male circumcision at adolescent and adult men. Discussions held during the two-day conference will help in the development of a national plan on male circumcision (Sibeene, New Era/AllAfrica.com, 8/19).
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HIV/AIDS Prevalence in Cambodia Decreasing; Health Officials Predict Further Declines
[Aug 21, 2008]
HIV/AIDS prevalence in Cambodia has decreased from its all-time high in the late 1990s and health officials predict further declines in the near future, national media reported on Wednesday, Xinhuanet reports. Recent data collected by the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in 22 provinces and municipalities in the country indicate that less than 1% of people in Cambodia are living with HIV, compared with a prevalence that reached 3.3% in 1997. The data also found that an estimated 14% of female commercial sex workers are living with HIV/AIDS, compared with 43% in 1998. In addition, 1.1% of pregnant women so far this year are estimated to be HIV-positive, compared with 2.1% in 1998, according to the data.
According to NCHADS officials, the declines can be attributed to increased condom use and high treatment rates among people living with HIV/AIDS. NCHADS Director Mean Chhi Vun said that the data show that health officials have "successfully slowed down or controlled the HIV epidemic through prevention, care and treatment" (Xinhuanet, 8/20).
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UNAIDS in Bangladesh, Standard Chartered Bank Sign Agreement To Form Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
[Aug 21, 2008]
Representatives from Standard Chartered Bank and UNAIDS in Bangladesh recently signed an agreement to create a business coalition on HIV/AIDS in the country, the New Nation reports. The coalition aims to encourage businesses and other institutions in Bangladesh to provide resources and skills, as well as to create an environment that promotes an effective response to the disease. Dan Odallo, line director of Bangladesh's National AIDS/STI Programme and UNAIDS county coordinator, said that the coalition is the "first of its kind" in the country and that the partnership aims to "generate broader engagement from the business community" to fight HIV/AIDS. Osman Morad, Standard Chartered Bangladesh's CEO, called the fight against HIV/AIDS a "commercial imperative," adding that the health and "well-being of our people and customers is vital for sustainable economic growth" (New Nation, 8/19).
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Toronto Star Profiles Work of Women's HIV/AIDS Advocacy Group in Namibia
[Aug 21, 2008]
The Toronto Star on Wednesday profiled the work of the International Community of Women Living With HIV/AIDS in Namibia, which aims to improve support, information and services available for HIV-positive women in the country. The group also works to increase HIV-positive women's influence and input on policy development in Namibia. According to the Star, stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and the "social realities of being a woman in a poverty-stricken and unequal society" underscore the fact that the "plight of an HIV-positive woman goes beyond already troubling issues of medication access and proper health care."
Jennifer Gatsi-Mallet, ICW Namibia's program coordinator, said that through the program, women and girls living with HIV/AIDS are allowed to "advocate for their own issues, be it rights issues, economic empowerment issues or sexual reproductive health issues." Gatsi-Mallet added, "Through support groups that they organize, meetings that they attend with ministry officials and training workshops that they attend, it's all in an effort to ultimately make them feel empowered, where at many times in their life they may feel powerless."
In 2005, ICW Namibia, under Gatsi-Mallet's leadership, began organizing training workshops in reaction to the growing problems experienced by HIV-positive women in previously isolated villages and communities, as well as the realization that women across the country had little or no access to health care facilities or reproductive and sexual health knowledge. At such a workshop in January, several HIV-positive women said they had been forcibly sterilized because of their HIV status. Although a few women knew the consequences of the procedure, they consented because they needed other services. Such cases have prompted ICW -- along with the Legal Assistance Centre in Namibia and ICW branches in London and Washington, D.C. -- to investigate the matter and support the affected women (Sidhu, Toronto Star, 8/20).
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Recent Releases in HIV/AIDS
Report Examines HIV Prevention Among At-Risk Groups
[Aug 21, 2008]
"HIV Prevention Among Vulnerable Populations: The Pathfinder International Approach" (.pdf), Pathfinder International: The report provides information about the risks faced by populations that are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, including commercial sex workers, injection drug users and men who have sex with men. It also examines effective prevention strategies aimed at such groups, including peer education, comprehensive health services and treatment, referral networks and other training (Pathfinder release, 8/20).
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