Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
7 November 2008
Global Challenges
Zimbabwe Returns $7.3M in Misused Grant Money to Global Fund
[Nov 07, 2008]
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has returned $7.3 million in misused grant money to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said Friday, Reuters reports (Williams, Reuters [1], 11/7).
The money, which was part of last year's $12.3 million grant, was not returned sooner, because officials in Zimbabwe said they lacked foreign currency. Although John Parsons, the Global Fund inspector general, did not speculate on how the $7.3 million of the grant was spent, he said it had not been used for its intended purpose (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/3). Local media in Zimbabwe reported that the Reserve Bank dispersed the Global Fund money to purchase tractors and televisions. However, the bank denied the allegation, and Kazatchkine said Global Fund officials have "no evidence of fraud" (Reuters [1], 11/7).
The Global Fund on Thursday had said it would not grant new funding to Zimbabwe until the misused funds were returned, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The Global Fund's board on Friday was expected to consider Zimbabwe's request for $400 million in Round 8 funding (Sharma, AP/Boston Globe, 11/7). The Global Fund's Technical Review Panel recently had recommended the funding be approved (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/3). Kazatchkine on Friday said the Global Fund "greatly appreciates" the return of the funds, adding that it will "accelerate the life-saving activities of the malaria, TB and HIV programs in Zimbabwe" (AP/Boston Globe, 11/7). According to Reuters, Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates worldwide and has received $88 million in Global Fund grants since 2002 (Reuters [1], 11/7).
Link to this story.
Botswana To Begin HIV Prevention Campaign That Focuses on Male Circumcision
[Nov 07, 2008]
Male circumcision will be a primary focus of Botswana's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, the Sunday Standard reports. The decision to focus on male circumcision as part of a boost in prevention efforts was announced at the annual planning conference of the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships, which was held recently in Francistown. Presenters at the conference -- themed "Refocusing HIV Prevention: Using Evidence to Inform Future Programming" -- agreed that Botswana must focus on prevention, as well as treatment, care, behavior change and HIV testing. The conference marked the close of Botswana's national strategic HIV/AIDS framework for 2003 to 2009 and brought the country into a new national strategic framework through 2016, the Standard reports.
Mabel Kejelepula, a representative of the HIV/AIDS prevention and care department at the Ministry of Health, said that the department already has begun developing strategies to increase male circumcision and made negotiations with medical providers and physicians. The health ministry also is aiming to find partners to share the costs of a circumcision program, the Standard reports. An unnamed private physician in Francistown said, "In the face of conclusive evidence that uncircumcised men are at a much greater risk of becoming infected with HIV, it should be conclusive that male circumcision should be seriously considered as an additional means of preventing HIV."
Although research shows few men have been circumcised in Botswana, it is an accepted practice throughout the country (Ganetsang, Sunday Standard, 11/5).
Link to this story.
Health Officials in Scotland Uphold Ban on Blood Donations From MSM
[Nov 07, 2008]
Scottish health officials Tuesday rejected calls to allow men who have sex with men to donate blood, citing concerns about the number of HIV cases in the population, The Scotsman reports. National Director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service Keith Thompson said the lifetime ban against MSM is in place to ensure the safety of blood donations, but advocates have said that the restrictions are discriminatory and that the ban hinders efforts to alleviate blood shortages in the country. The Scotsman reports that 86% of new HIV cases in Scotland are recorded among MSM.
Thompson said that approximately one-third of blood donations that were found to contain HIV were traced to MSM and that it is not possible at this time for blood service staff to safely differentiate between MSM whose behavior would put them at high risk for HIV and those whose behavior would not. Careful donor selection is the only defense against this and any issues surrounding the screening of blood donations, SNBTS officials said, adding that other groups that are prevented from donating blood include people who have had sex with a commercial sex worker, injection drug user or in a country with a high HIV burden in the past year.
The announcement was in response to a petition submitted to the Scottish Parliament calling for a review on donation rules to allow certain MSM to give blood. The petition was supported by groups such as Stonewall Scotland, the National Union of Students and Bloodban, which called the restrictions "outdated, stereotypical and discriminatory towards healthy" MSM. Calum Irving, director of Stonewall Scotland, said the group believes the "blood ban is discriminatory and should be lifted," adding that SNBTS is "applying one rule for gay people and another for straight people." A Scottish government spokesperson said that officials "recognize that many [MSM] sincerely wish to help patients by giving blood and may be frustrated as a result of this rule. Advances in blood transfusion safety procedures may allow gay and bisexual men to donate in the future, but, until then, priority has to be given to securing the safety of the blood supply" (Moss, The Scotsman, 11/5).
Link to this story.
Science & Medicine
Effectiveness of Bone Marrow Transplant in Suppressing HIV Creates Hope for Gene-Therapy Strategies in Treating Virus, Wall Street Journal Reports
[Nov 07, 2008]
The Wall Street Journal on Friday examined the case of an HIV-positive person who underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia and who has had undetectable HIV viral loads for almost two years. The procedure -- performed by German hematologist Gero Hutter of Berlin's Charite Medical University on a 42-year-old American living in the city -- "is stirring new hope that gene-therapy strategies on the far edges of AIDS research might someday cure the disease," the Journal reports.
For the procedure, Hutter, who is not an HIV/AIDS specialist, replaced the patient's bone marrow cells with those from a donor with a naturally occurring gene mutation that provides immunity to almost all strains of HIV by preventing the CCR5 molecule from appearing on the surface of cells. According to the Journal, about 1% of Europeans, and even more in northern Europe, inherit the CCR5 mutation from both parents, and people of African, Asian and South American descent almost never carry it. Of 80 compatible blood donors living in Germany, Hutter's colleague Daniel Nowak found one who had inherited the mutation from both parents on the 61st sample he tested. According to the Journal, because immune-system cells are created in bone marrow, "transplanting mutant bone-marrow cells would render the patient immune to HIV into perpetuity, at least in theory."
The Journal reports that prior to the transplant, Hutter administered a standard regimen of powerful drugs and radiation to kill the patient's bone marrow cells and many immune-system cells, which may have helped the treatment succeed because the procedure killed many cells that harbor HIV. Transplant specialists then ordered the patient to stop taking his antiretroviral drugs when they transfused the donor cells because they were concerned that the drugs might undermine the cells' ability to survive in their new host. Although the plan was to resume the antiretroviral regimen once HIV re-emerged in the patient's blood, more than 600 days later, standard tests have not detected HIV in his blood, or in brain and rectal tissues where the virus often hides.
David Baltimore, who won a Nobel prize for his research on tumor viruses, said the case is "a very good sign" and a virtual "proof of principle" for gene-therapy approaches, but he cautioned that it could be a fluke. However, researchers who recently have reviewed the case believe that although it is likely that some HIV remains in the patient, it cannot "ignite a raging infection, most likely because its target cells are invulnerable mutants." According to the Journal, the researchers agreed that the patient is "functionally cured." Nevertheless, research has shown that blocking CCR5 can have fatal consequences, and bone-marrow transplants, which are given only to later-stage cancer patients, can result in death among 30% of patients. The Journal reports that although "scientists are drawing up research protocols to try this approach on other leukemia and lymphoma patients, they know it will never be widely used to treat AIDS because of the mortality risk."
Read comments. Write your own.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
I am not surprised by these findings, specifically regarding the continued increase of HIV infection amongst gay men. Within the gay community, especially with gay youth, the contraction of HIV/AIDS is no longer a frightening concept. That, and with the growing popularity of crystal meth use at clubs like the one *BisexualMingle dotcom*, the practice of safe sex has dramatically decreased. For this problem to end, young gay men need to wake up and become more preoccupied with their health rather than the insignificant and superficial things.