UNAIDS:Good going but battle far from over

Palash Biswas
Contact: Palash C Biswas, C/O Mrs Arati Roy, Gosto Kanan, Sodepur, Kolkata- 700110, India. Phone: 91-033-25659551
Email: palashchandrabiswas@gmail.com
World Aids Day warning
Aljazeera.net - 6 hours ago
Experts and activists are using World Aids Day to press home the message that the world cannot relax in its work to treat the illness and slow its spread.
Leaders Claim Success on World AIDS Day Voice of America
No room for complacency on World AIDS Day AFP
As the world observes Saturday as World AIDS Day, India continues to be plagued by paradoxical and half-baked information on the 21st century's gravest health hazard, making the disease deadlier, says a new study. Paradoxical though it might appear, a new global study says: "While 79 per cent of Indians understand AIDS is always fatal, 59 per cent still wrongly believe there is a cure for it available today."
The study was conducted by the MAC AIDS Fund, the philanthropic arm of Estée Lauder-owned pharmaceutical major MAC Cosmetics in September 2007 in nine countries, including the US and Britain.
As per the study, although Indians generally recognise HIV/AIDS as the most serious health problem facing the country today, confusion and misperceptions about the disease reign here.
The study said that Indians generally complained of lack of access to information on various aspects of the disease, including how it is spread.
As per the study, 65 per cent of Indians attach a sense of shame and stigma with the disease, which contributes to the threat of it acquiring an epidemic proportion.
People in India are more uncomfortable in interacting intimately with HIV positive or AIDS victims than people elsewhere in the world, the study said, adding that 44 per cent are hesitant to share a physician with someone who has HIV or AIDS.
Thirty eight per cent of the Indians surveyed confessed that they feel uncomfortable working with a HIV positive person, while some said they do not want to live in the same house as someone who has the virus, the study added.
Presenting the finding of the study, MAC AIDS Fund chairman John Demsey said: "The survey results illustrate the urgent need for public access in India to information on HIV and AIDS."
"This is a wake-up call that not only do we need to improve basic education about the realities of the disease - including how it is contracted and how it is treated - we also need to do some serious on-the-ground work to alleviate the sense of shame and stigma that surrounds the disease and prevents people from being safe and seeking treatment," he added.

Good going but battle far from over
New Delhi: The year 2007 has been a good year for India, with new data backed by UNAIDS halving India’s HIV-infected population from 5.2 million last year to 2.5 million. The sharp drop in the India’s numbers led the United Nations to slash its global estimates from nearly 40 million to 33 million in its 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update.
The report gives two reasons for the downward revisions –better data and an actual decrease in the number of new HIV infections. The likely number of new infections peaked in the 1990s at 3 million but fell to 2.5 million for 2007. People with HIV are also living longer, with a person living up to 11 years after getting infected without being treated, up from the earlier 9 years.
The revised numbers, say UN experts, are a combination of natural trends in the epidemic and HIV prevention efforts. “Of the total difference in the estimates published in 2006 and 2007, 70 per cent are due to changes in six countries: Angola, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe,” the report says. Africa remains the hardest hit by AIDS, with 22.5 million people infected with HIV.
“The estimates for India is more reliable than before because the data base has been expanded to include 1,122 sentinel surveillance sites – up from 702 in 2005 – and the National Family Health Survey-III surveys,” says NACO’s director general Sujatha Rao. The prevalence in the adult Indian population also dropped from 0.9 at the end of 2005 to 0.36 at the end of 2006.
While the AIDS epidemic showed an overall decline, prevalence in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland remained above 1 per cent. Mizoram had a prevalence of 1 per cent, while it dropped to less than 1 per cent in Tamil Nadu and Maharasthra for the first time ever.
Prevalence is 6 per cent in Dharwad in Karnataka, which is the highest in the country.
Currently there are an estimated 3.6 million people living with HIV in the South-East Asia Region; unsafe sex and injecting drug use are the two main drivers of the epidemic. India, with its large population, has 2.5 million infected with the AIDS virus, while Bhutan, Maldives and Timor-Leste have fewer than 500 each.
Experts, however, say it is too early to hang up one’s gloves. “These improved data present us with a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities.
But with more than 6,800 new infections, and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS, we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide,” says UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot.
'Red Ribbon Express' carrying HIV/AIDS messages flagged off
New Delhi: A specially-designed seven coach train which will travel across the country carrying HIV/AIDS prevention messages was on Saturday flagged off by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi who termed the campaign against the dreaded disease as a "battle which can and must be won".
"The Red Ribbon Express" which was launched on Saturday on the occasion of World AIDS Day will aim at spreading awareness about HIV, promoting safe behavioural practises and fighting the stigma and discrimination against AIDS.
Emphasising on the urgent need of fighting social discrimination against those affected with AIDS, Gandhi said, "It is a battle which can and must be won".
This project will help in bringing to the mainstream the fight against the disease, she added.
"It continues to be a major public health concern. No single thing has had such an impact in the world. Men and women in the prime of their youth have been lost to this disease," she said.
Over its year-long journey, the train will traverse over 27,000 km covering 180 stations holding programmes and activities in over 50,000 villages.
Travelling with the train will be two exhibition buses and cycle caravans that will cover the peripheries of the districts reaching out to crores of people.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was also present on the occasion, announced that the government will make available another train for the same purpose.
'Tamil Nadu has done the maximum AIDS tests'

A Ganesh Nadar
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/01inter.htm
The fight against Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome is a worldwide effort. In India, till recently considered to be in the eye of the raging storm, the battle has been equally hard-fought. Among the states, Tamil Nadu is known to have the best AIDS control model.
There is a lot to admire in the model on the ground. There are 760 testing and counselling centers across the state. Every district has NGOs working to help HIV+ patients. Every district has care centres for AIDS patients.
While in most states HIV+ patients are counseled to have nutritious food, Tamil Nadu gives them free additional nutrients. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) drugs are available free in many hospitals in the state.
ART drugs are given for a month so that the patient does not have to go to hospital too often. HIV awareness campaigns are undertaken to target different groups throughout the year.
NGOs receiving government aid and those that don't are brought together on a common platform by the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society regularly to share their learning. The government has earmarked areas for individual NGOs, thus they complement each other's efforts and not replicate them.
On the occasion of World AIDS Day, Special Correspondent A Ganesh Nadar spoke to Supriya Sahu, managing director, TANSAC, which is in the forefront of the battle against this killer disease.
What new initiatives are you carrying out for HIV patients?
We are creating awareness about HIV/AIDS with a storybook, the story of Veeralakshmi. This is a story for school children in the ninth standard and eleventh standard in every school in Tamil Nadu. We also cover dropouts through the Arivoli Iyakkam volunteers. <P> We tell them everything about hygiene, body organs, HIV awareness and prevention through Veeralakshmi. After reading this book more people go for HIV testing. We also tell them about our services.
Once we know that a person is HIV+ we take them to the community care centre. They are given counselling about what they should do.
We have special counseling for pregnant positive women. We also provide nutrition.
Till last year we had tested six lakh people. Last year alone we tested more than 10 lakh people. Some 6.5 lakh pregnant women are being tested this year. Last year we found 2,600 pregnant women positive.
Tamil Nadu has tested the maximum number of people.
Some 51,000 HIV+ people are registered with us, 22,000 are taking ART drugs. Three kg of nutrition every month, running 30 community centres, 760 ICTC centres in the state, all connected through the Internet. They give us data in real time.
We are planning to open community centres near the local general hospitals. Now they are far and sometime inaccessible. Out of a budget of Rs 65 crores we spend Rs 5 crores on awareness publicity.
To prevent mother-to-child infection all you need is one dose of medicine. And this is not always done. Why?
The problem is keeping track of the pregnant woman. The medicine has to be given after labour pains start. So we have told our workers in all the 385 blocks of the state to keep track of the pregnant women in their area. We have all the data on all the pregnant women. Her address, her mothers address and in-laws' address.
A Caesarean section is a must for HIV+ pregnant mothers. This is also not done. Why?
This is because this is not government policy. Sometimes the required surgeons are not available. The government leaves it to the discretion of the doctor. The mother's health should also be good enough for surgery.
Many NGOs are said to compete with each other instead of complementing each other.
I know that. We are having a meeting of all concerned NGOs. In two months we will make sure that each NGO is working in a different area.
Many AIDS affected widows do not get pension because of the rule that pension is meant only for women over 35.
This rule can be relaxed by the district collector.
There are 93 widows in Tuticorin that the collector has not helped.
I will speak to the collector personally and get it done.
Is the money you get sufficient for your work?
The idea is not how much money you get but how you use the available money. We find it sufficient.
How important are the NGOs in your fight against AIDS?
The NGO is just one component. We use them to reach the patients. This year we have terminated 18 NGOs for not doing good work. The Positive Peoples Network is a community based programme. The NGOs are more professional.
How many HIV+ patients have you identified in Tamil Nadu, and how many are on ART drugs?
144,000 people have the HIV virus in the state. Some 22,000 people are on ART drugs.
Is it true there are many widows affected by AIDS in the state?
That is a very sensitive issue. In Namakkal alone there are 1000 HIV+ widows. We do not have figures for this. We know how many women are registered in our centres and how many are widows. From that you can get a conservative figure.
How many children have been orphaned because of the HIV virus?
Approximately 1,500 to 2,000. There are no exact figures because, again, this is a sensitive issue.
We cannot ask orphans how their parents died. Secondly, when anyone knows that a child's parents died of AIDS, they boycott the child suspecting that he or she would also be infected.
In your budget how much money is used for looking after the HIV patients?
The entire budget is for them.
Many NGOs use government money to pay salaries and buy vehicles.
They are not allowed to buy vehicles with public money. They can hire vehicles.
Why can't you make it mandatory for NGOs using public money to employ only HIV+ people on the staff?
We are making it mandatory now; in fact we have two programmes we recently initiated. They employ HIV+ patients. A programme to prevent mother-to-child infection where the pregnant mother is HIV+. For this we need out reach workers. Most of them are HIV+.
How many NGOs in Tamil Nadu are funded by you?
We are working with 75 to 80 NGOs.