Kaisernetwork.org (Washington, DC)
12 December 2008
Global Challenges
Pope Discusses HIV, TB, Malaria in Annual Peace Address
[Dec 12, 2008]
Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday during his annual peace address discussed HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and said that the three diseases are a common cause of poverty, Agence France-Presse reports (Agence France-Presse, 12/11).
Benedict in his address, titled "Fighting Poverty To Build Peace," added that HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria are a "significant factor in the overall deterioration of conditions" in countries affected by the diseases and that efforts to address the diseases "do not always achieve significant results" (Pope Benedict XVI speech text, 12/11). Benedict criticized global efforts to address the three diseases, saying, "It happens that countries afflicted by some of these pandemics find themselves held hostage, when they try to address them, by those who make economic aid conditional upon the implementation of anti-life policies" (Agence France-Presse, 12/11).
The pope also said it will be hard to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS "unless the moral issues connected with the spread of the virus are also addressed." He called for education for young people and increased access to treatment for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria for low-income people (Pope Benedict XVI speech text, 12/11).
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Zimbabwe's Cholera Outbreak Puts HIV-Positive People At Risk, Health Officials Say
[Dec 12, 2008]
People living with HIV/AIDS are especially vulnerable to contracting cholera in Zimbabwe, which currently is experiencing an outbreak of the waterborne illness, Stanley Takaona, Deputy President of the Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Activist Union, said recently, IRIN/PlusNews reports. HIV-positive people with weakened immune systems have a more difficult time recovering from cholera and are at an increased risk of the illness, according to Takaona. He said, "This disease leaves people completely wasted; it is very hard for many [HIV-positive people] to recover," adding that other people living with HIV/AIDS "have not been so lucky, but documenting deaths in this section of the population is a major challenge for us." Douglas Gwatidzo, chair of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, said that the outbreak also has taken away attention from the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country, which, according to UNICEF, causes more than 400 adult deaths daily.
According to Tsitsi Singizi, a UNICEF communications officer, there is a lack of knowledge about cholera's specific symptoms, which has led some HIV-positive people to come to cholera treatment centers, mistaking diarrhea -- a common HIV-related opportunistic infection -- for cholera symptoms. As a result, many people living with the virus have been exposed to cholera. Singizi said, "UNICEF and its partners are doing the best they can to ensure that our treatment centers stay as clean as possible, so that the next person seeking treatment does not pick up infection."
IRIN/PlusNews reports that the cholera outbreak has been especially detrimental in Harare and other cities, where water cuts, poor garbage collection and unrepaired sewage systems are blamed for the illness' spread. Medecins Sans Frontieres reports that at least 1.4 million people are at risk of contracting cholera if the outbreak is not brought under control through improved sanitary conditions. The United Nations on Wednesday estimated that the cholera outbreak has resulted in 746 deaths, but other health groups estimate that the actual figure is much higher (IRIN/PlusNews, 12/10).
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Science & Medicine
Experimental Treatment Lengthens Lifespan of Monkeys With Simian Version of HIV, Study Says
[Dec 12, 2008]
Macaque monkeys with simian immunodeficiency virus -- the simian equivalent of HIV -- that received a single dose of an experimental treatment survived nearly twice as long as monkeys who did not receive the drug, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, BBC News reports. Immunodeficiency viruses typically function by signaling the body to suppress immune responses; however, the new treatment blocks this signaling system and thus boosts immune cell function, according to BBC News.
For the study, researchers injected a blocking antibody into nine monkeys who had developed AIDS from SIV. The study found that monkeys who received the experimental treatment survived an average of two times longer than monkeys who did not receive the drug. In addition, the treated monkeys showed evidence of more active immune systems and reduced viral loads, both indicators that the experimental treatment helped control SIV more efficiently. Although the treatment did not fully suppress SIV for any of the monkeys, the researchers said the treatment might prove more successful when administered in multiple doses or in conjunction with antiretroviral treatment.
Rama Amara of the Emory University Vaccine Center, who led the study, said that it is "important to note" that the experimental treatment "was effective without antiretroviral drugs and in monkeys with severe AIDS." She added that stimulating protective immune responses is "critical" to the development of a "successful immune therapy to control" HIV/AIDS. Thomas Lehner, an immunologist from King's College London, called the study's findings "very interesting," adding that although the "safety of the drug is a concern," the treatment potentially could be modified for treating HIV-positive humans. Lehner added that multiple doses of the treatment could suppress the virus, "although the present experiment has not shown that." Ade Fakoya of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance said that although the study is "an important avenue" to pursue, there could be a "long process of many years" before SIV research could be applied to humans "on a large enough scale for it to be another useful tool in HIV treatments" (BBC News, 12/10).
An abstract of the study is available online.
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Across The Nation
Alabama HIV/AIDS Clinic Awarded Nearly $1 Million in HUD Funding for Housing Program
[Dec 12, 2008]
The Anniston Star on Wednesday examined an almost $1 million Department of Housing and Urban Development grant awarded to the Health Services Center in Hobson City, Ala., which is the area's only HIV/AIDS clinic. The not-for-profit center has provided transitional housing for people living with HIV/AIDS and their families in 14 counties since 2005, and the $997,838 grant from the HUD's Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program will go toward purchasing permanent housing units and supporting the existing units already owned by the clinic, the Star reports. Rita Flegel, housing program coordinator for the center, said the clinic owns three units in nearby Oxford that will be used for permanent housing. She added that the center hopes to use the grant money to purchase two more units in Anniston and one in Gadsden for a total of six units. She said that housing "is health care" and is the "basis of everything. If you don't have a place to sleep at night, it doesn't really matter if you're taking your medications or not."
The clinic said it will also use the grant to continue funding its Permanent Housing Plus program, which helps clients pay short-term rent, mortgage and utility bills. Flegel said that the clinic has "many working clients who are struggling to pay for the typical housing costs and cost of daily living -- just like so many people today." She added that additional costs for HIV/AIDS medications and illness-related absences from work can cause them to "run into a financial crisis quickly." Flegel said the grant "will help those people with a month of rent or a utility bill to help them get through the crisis."
Prior to the new grant, the Health Services Center's housing program was funded through a separate HUD grant, which helped 21 clinic clients receive funding for short-term transitional housing. The Star reports that 77% of the clients who left the transitional housing had moved into stable housing arrangements. Cindy Yarbrough, director of HUD's Birmingham field office, said that the clinic was awarded the new grant based on this "impressive" success rate and its previous record of effectively using HUD grant money. She said the clinic "demonstrated a need ... [and] a good program. Their past funding has been carried out wisely, and they've been good stewards of that funding."
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