INVITATION  AIDS ASIA e FORUM.

Hi,

If you are already a member of this FOURM please forward this message to your
colleagues who may find this FORUM useful.

[AIDS ASIA eFORUM] is an e- forum committed to the development of an Asian
perspective on AIDS prevention and care issues. HIV/AIDS does not recognize
national boundaries. As Asia- pacific countries are increasingly interconnected
through migration and trade, it is imperative to generate a regional perspective
on HIV/AIDS related issues.

A forum for critical analysis of issues, events and programs, which has
implications on, our ability to address HIV/AIDS prevention and care issues
across the region. More than 7,600 subscribers are using this FORUM.

Strategic HIV information and communication support to promote the capacity of
Asian leaders, activists and people living with HIV/AIDS, to facilitate their
engagement and networking, to highlight their experiences and the solutions they
are offering to address HIV/AIDS issues in this region.

A cross cultural discourse on issues and concerns of Asia- Pacific countries
(regions): Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China,
East Timor, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Marshall
Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea,
Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon
Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and
Viet Nam will be presented and promoted on this forum.

Please review the archived messages on the following url

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/

Dr. Joe Thomas
Editor
AIDS ASIA e FORUM
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/

[Editors note follows the text of the message]

Asian Development Bank Manual Aims To Reduce Spread of HIV in Workplace [Jul 29,
2008]

The Asian Development Bank recently released a manual that aims to reduce the
spread of HIV/AIDS in infrastructure project workplaces by providing project
developers with information and hands-on tools, the Thai News Service reports.
The manual, titled "More Safety: A Resource Manual for Health and Safety in
Infrastructure," highlights four steps to increase HIV prevention messages and
reduce HIV risk factors in workplaces.

According to the manual, the first step is to establish an HIV prevention
management team composed of three to four part-time workers. The team will be
responsible for fueling HIV prevention activities in the workplace and local
communities. The second step requires the team to assess workers' knowledge of
HIV and risky behavior among workers that puts them at increased risk of the
virus. After assessing knowledge and risk, the team can then develop an HIV
prevention plan, according to the manual.

The third step involves training managers to be HIV/AIDS advocates, provide HIV
education to workers and the community, and provide condoms at work sites. The
final step in the manual involves monitoring and evaluating workplace HIV
prevention strategies.

The manual was developed with a grant from the Poverty Reduction Cooperation
Fund and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, the Thai
News Service reports (Thai News Service, 7/28).

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=53557
_______________________

Editors note: More Safety: A Resource Manual for Health and Safety in
Infrastructure is a practical easy to use guidebook for preventing HIV/AIDS in
infrastructure projects.

This manual gives straightforward HIV prevention tools and skills to project
managers, occupational health and safety officers, worksite health workers, and
other managers on the worksite responsible for the health and well being of
workers.

A pdf version of the document is available on the following url.

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Manuals/Health-Safety-Resource-Manual/Health-Safety\
-Resource-Manual.pdf

The wrong way to fight AIDS

By Laurie Garrett
Published: July 30, 2008

In a few days some 20,000 people who work in various capacities on
the AIDS pandemic will gather in Mexico City for the International
AIDS Conference. I will not be there: This will mark the first AIDS
Conference I have deliberately missed since 1985, when a cluster of
scientists convened the first such gathering in Atlanta.

Many of the leading lights in the battle against AIDS from all over
the world are similarly disinclined to attend, saying they are not
able to join in celebrating the creation of a vast, multibillion
dollar AIDS treatment industry, employing hundreds of thousands of
individuals worldwide that serve as a vested lobby on behalf of a
prolonged medical approach to a virus that ought to be eliminated
entirely from the pantheon of threats to Humanity.

Do not misunderstand - there is genuine joy among us every day that
millions of people are kept alive because of the 1996 invention of
combination drug treatment for HIV. All HIV-positive people the world
over should be able to share in the benefits of those treatments, and
the U.S. Congress is to be congratulated for recently passing a $48
billion reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief, or  Pepfar.

But it is troubling that formerly militant activists, United Nations
agency leaders, government health officials, the American foreign
policy establishment, religious leaders, scientists and physicians
fail to see AIDS treatment for what it is: A stop-gap measure to tide
humanity over until we can collectively reach what ought to be our
real goal - stopping HIV's spread, entirely. On an individual basis
living with AIDS is a proper goal; on a population basis it is
catastrophic.

The slogan of the first 15 years of the pandemic was, "Until there is
a cure!" Today it seems the global health leadership of the world is
satisfied with, "Until there is lifelong drug therapy for everybody,
and no prevention strategy!" A dangerous sentiment is sweeping over
the AIDS establishment, calling for elimination of all funding for
HIV vaccine research and prevention programs, shifting those dollars,
euros and yen to expanding HIV treatment.

It is inconceivable that children coming of age in 2021 - 40 years
after the recognized start of this epidemic - will feel gratitude
toward today's leaders for saddling them with a still widely
circulating virus. If today's HIV-treatment model is viewed as an
interim step - keeping people alive until a cure and vaccine are
discovered - its funding and expansion make sense not only morally,
but also as a practical matter of economics and foreign policy - but
only if a massive commitment to funding searches for both a vaccine
and cure for HIV are sustained for years to come. (Even the cancer
lobby recognizes the needs for both oncology treatment access and
ongoing curative research.)

Yes, recent news from the HIV-research front is demoralizing. The
best-funded HIV vaccine trials have all failed over recent months, or
been halted due to serious safety concerns. The vaginal microbicide
trials have fared even worse, with the compounds actually increasing
the likelihood of women becoming infected.

As for "cures" - no leading figure in HIV research has publicly
uttered the word cure since the early 1990s. Most of the multibillion
dollar HIV research enterprise focuses on improving the treatment
model that is already in place, finding new, consistently more
expensive drugs to add to the existing cocktails. The global price of
this giant treatment exercise will inexorably increase.

The economist Mead Over of the Center for Global Development warns
that with Pepfar, "the United States has unwittingly created a new
global "entitlement" to U.S.-funded AIDS treatment that currently
costs about $2 billion a year and could grow to as much as $12
billion a year by 2016- more than half of what the United States
spent on total overseas development assistance in 2006. And the AIDS
treatment entitlement would continue to grow, squeezing out spending
on HIV prevention measures or on other critical development needs,
all of which would be considered "discretionary" by comparison."

By 2016, meanwhile, Americans may find themselves fed up with
generosity. If we cannot find a way to reform the U.S. health care
system, we will likely by then have some 80 million citizens without
health insurance, including HIV-positive people, and medical costs
will devour $1 out of every $4 of America's GDP. We will be servicing
a national debt in the trillions of dollars while struggling with
everything from global climate change to catastrophic disparities in
access to food, energy and water. Our dreams require a dose of
realism.

At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation there is much talk
of "aspirational goals" in health, such as dreaming of eradicating
malaria. What is the aspirational goal for AIDS?

Shout it loud in Mexico City: "Until there is a cure!"

Laurie Garrett is a senior fellow for global health at the Council on
Foreign Relations.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/opinion/edgarrett.php?page=1

Greetings,

Re: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/message/1311

This is in reponse to the comments made by Mr. David Gisselquist and Ms.
Mariette Correa which states, the Commission ignores the role of   Nosocomial
HIV infection.

I have to say that I don't fully agree, or should I say "fully understand", some
parts of the Asian AIDS Commission report. However, I'm afraid I have to
disagree with this gentleman's comments on this
report.

I really think that we need to start building the response based on data
available. What you were stating mostly based on speculations and assumptions.
"India's recent National Family Health Survey III found that 39% of married
HIV-positive women had HIV-negative
husbands  or about 200,000 women. Very few would be IDUs."

Do you have any supporting data that could support this data? Because from my
perspectives, this data is not saying anything clear. Yes, it is saying that 39%
of married HIV women have negative husband. Then what? How could you say "very
few would be IDUs"?

And I can't see the part where it is racial prejudice. It is only stating the
fact that there is a significant different of sexual behavior pattern of people
in Africa and in Asia. Isn't it true?

I do agree with you that the report could lead to misunderstanding, create a new
stigma towards women, etc. But I don't think the target audience of the report
is the general population - it's for those who are working in this field and
already have understanding about the HIV it self.

And I also believe that UNAIDS needs to reconsider their estimation
number and match it with WHO.

For me, the strongest part of this report are the recommendations. It is very
important recommendations and since it comes with UNAIDS in the background, the
report could be useful for advocacy tools.

I wonder if there will there be  any activities rolled-out after this
report or is this just another UNAIDS' money spending report?

Warm regards,

Rajiv Khanna
e-mail: <khannarajiv@...>

Voices: Finding the Strength to Survive
July 2008

Kundrakpam Pradipkumar lives and lifts weights in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, a high HIV prevalence region on the border with Myanmar and near the heroin-producing Golden Triangle. Pradipkumar has been called "the Body of Hope" by the Indian press, and Manipur has anointed him the state's HIV ambassador.

I was not surprised when I was diagnosed as HIV positive in 2000. As an injection drug user, I took health risks, including sharing injecting equipment. I was well aware of HIV, but I couldn't practice prevention because of my craving for heroin.

Kundrakpam Pradipkumar, Mr. Manipur 2007, fights HIV/AIDS by staying strong.

I soon discovered that the physical and mental stress I was drowning in was slowly fading away. The gym is my temple; I find peace of mind there, a wholeness and contentment. When people give me a pat on the back and compliment my good health and hard work, it gives me the energy to go on. Nothing nourished my zeal for bodybuilding more than the idea of challenging people's perceptions of PLWHA [people living with HIV/AIDS].

I started thinking of how to defeat the stigma and discrimination attached to positive people by promoting health and fitness, and I realized I could be a role model. I had the earnest desire to defeat the myths and show that HIV is manageable through healthy living. For two years, I prepared with firm determination for the Mr. Manipur title in the 60 kilogram category. In 2006, I won the silver medal. Being named the runner-up gave me the confidence to aim for the Mr. Manipur title again in 2007.

The six-hour daily training was not as difficult as managing the financial demands of increased dietary supplements. My two older sisters were very supportive. I also receive help from several NGOs, individuals, and health authorities working on HIV/AIDS issues.

I went on to win the coveted title of Mr. Manipur 2007. In June, I competed in the Mr. India competition, and won fourth place in the 55 kilogram category. Now I want to open a gym for PLWHA that will improve their quality of life through healthy living. I also want to open an orphanage for HIV-positive children.

A good number of people have been moved by my motivation. Gaining their respect and regard is a good sign of reduced stigma and a change in their perception of PLWHA. Some parents have turned to me for guidance for their children who are interested in fitness and bodybuilding.

All human beings are equal, and that's what I would like to preach and practice. Sometimes I even forget that I am HIV positive because of the engagement and the growth that I've achieved toward a meaningful life. It's not about winning titles, but finding a healthy life by fighting and managing the virus.

To read more about Pradipkumar's story, and see additional photos, click here.

http://www.khamnam.com/2008/01/11/pradipkumar-an-icon-of-inspiration-hiv-positive-bodybuilder/

http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/asia/news/index.html?record=149&tr=y&auid=3854881

Dear all,

On behalf of Community Advocacy & Monitoring of Follow-up to the Commission on
AIDS in Asia (CAA), I would like to invite you to the series of events regarding
the CAA report & follow-up in International AIDS Conference - Mexico , 4th ­ 8th
of August 2008. Please find schedule below for the events:


Leading the AIDS Response in Asia: Recommendations from the Commission on AIDS
in Asia. Panel Discussion

Tuesday, August 5th, 18:30 ­ 20:30

Chairperson:

* JVR Prasada Rao, Director UNAIDS Regional Support Team, Asia Pacific

* Dr. Nafsiah M¹boi, Secretary National AIDS Commission, Indonesia
Panelist

* Tim Brown, Member of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, Senior Research
Fellow at the East West Centre, Hawaii, ³The Nature of Asia¹s epidemics and
programme and policy implications (20 minutes)

* Anand Grover, Executive Director, Lawyers¹ Collective, ³Legal impediments to
scaling up prevention services² (10 minutes)

* Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director, Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and
Malaria, ³Resource allocation for an effective response in Asia (10 minutes, to
be confirmed)

* Ashok Alexander, Director, Gates Foundation, ³Prevention in Asia ­
addressing drivers and implications for programmes and policy² (10 minutes)

* Frika Chia Iskandar, Member of the AIDS Commission, Asia-Pacific Network of
People Living with HIV and AIDS (APN+) (10 minutes)

* Nafsiah M¹boi, Secretary, National AIDS Commission, Indonesia,
³Coordination of the national response ­ lessons from Asia² (10 minutes)

* Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary General¹s Special Envoy on HIV and AIDS in Asia and
Pacific Region, ³Summary of key advocacy issues² (10 minutes)


Redefining AIDS in Asia - Women Perspectives

Open Discussion
Publication Launching ³When Asked, Community Answer²
Screening Film ³Women in the Frontline²
Wednesday, August 6th, 10:45 ­ 12:00 at Women Networking Zone booth, Global
Village

Moderator:
Anandi Yuvaraj, Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator, ICW, Thailand
Resource Person:
* Suksma Ratri, Core Group member, WAPN+, Malaysia
* Jaya Nair, UDAAN Trust, India
* Rico Gustav,  Community Advocacy & Monitoring of Follow-up to the
Commission on AIDS in Asia, Thailand
* Stafan Hildebrand, film maker ­ Face of AIDS Foundation


Redefining AIDS in Asia ­ Community Perspective
Open Discussion
Thrusday, August 7th, 15:00 ­ 17:00 at Asian Networking Zone booth, Global
Village

Resource Person:
* Rico Gustav, Community Advocacy & Monitoring of Follow-up to the
Commission on AIDS in Asia, Thailand
* Anandi Yuvaraj, Asia Pacific Regional Coordinator, ICW, Thailand
* Stafan Hildebrand, film maker ­ Face of AIDS Foundation
* Suksma Ratri, Core Group member, WAPN+, Malaysia



Regional Session on Asia-Pacific
Panel Discussion. Monday, August 4th, 16.30 ­ 18.00

Chairperson:
* JVR Prasada Rao, Director UNAIDS Regional Support Team, Asia Pacific
* Myung-Hwan Cho, AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific (ASAP) and Korean
Federation for AIDS Prevention, South Korea

Panelist
* Aikichi Iwamoto, Institute of Medical Science - The University of Tokyo, Japan
* Sujatha Samarakoon, National STD AIDS Control Programme in the Ministry of
Health, Sri Lanka
* Maura Mea, Igat Hope-PLWHA, Papua New Guinea
* Vincent Crisostomo, 7 Sisters Coordinator, Thailand

Thank you and see you in Mexico!


Regards,

Rico Gustav
Community Advocacy & Monitoring of Follow-up to the Commission on AIDS in Asia

Asia Pacific Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS
176/22 Sukhumvit soi 16, Klongtoey,
Bangkok 10110. Thailand
Telp: +66 22591908-09. Fax: +66 22591906
webiste: www.apnplus.org <http://www.apnplus.org>

³Redefining AIDS in Asia ­ Crafting an Effective Response²
Download the full report
http://www.apnplus.org/document/AIDS%20Commission%20Report%20Asia.pdf

Position Posting (July 2008):

Executive Director

International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO)
(Applicants should send a resume and cover letter, in English , to Brown
Consulting Group by email to jobs@... no later than August 25,
2008).

The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) is a
global network of non-governmental and community-based organizations
with secretariats in five geographic regions and a secretariat based in Canada.
ICASO plays a leading role in convening, consulting and
communicating the issues of community-based organisations for HIV and
AIDS advocacy, especially with communities most affected by the
epidemic. ICASO supports community members to provide their own voice in such
global policy forums as the UN General Assembly Special Session on AIDS
(UNGASS); the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and other
initiatives.

The international secretariat based in Toronto is currently seeking an
Executive Director.

The Executive Director has overall accountability for providing high
level strategic analysis to the Board and staff within the ICASO
Strategic Framework. The Executive Director also provides leadership and
management aligned with the organization's mission and vision to ensure that
goals and objectives are achieved.

In addition, the Executive Director's key responsibilities include:

* Undertaking and leading the representation, advocacy,
negotiation and liaison tasks with the organization's key external
stakeholders in the global response to HIV and AIDS.

* Postering and providing linkages to funders, partners and other
key stakeholders.

* Ensuring the development and management of a resources
development strategy that underpins the organization's on-going
viability and growth.

* Liaising regularly with ICASO's partner organisations.

* Ensuring that ICASO abides by ethical operating standards in all
agency affairs, including financial, and that agency by-laws are adhered to.

* Reporting to the international Board of Directors and
participating as a member of the Board to support the Board in its
governance responsibilities, including providing regular, high-level
strategic analysis and advice in its direction-setting role.

* Working synergistically with agency staff and constituents.

QUALIFICATIONS

* A graduate degree (would consider a combination of an
undergraduate degree with significant relevant experience).

* Five or more years of experience as an executive director or
senior management experience preferably in a non-profit/charitable
organization.

* An excellent understanding of international development issues
and of HIV and AIDS.

* Experience in working in a global environment and capacity to
work in a wide range of cultural, social and political settings.

* Sound knowledge of resource development, program management
(development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation), human
resources and financial management.

* Effective communication skills in English and the ability to
speak other languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese and/or Russian
preferred).

* Experience, sensitivity and comfort working with diverse
communities.

* Excellent advocacy, negotiation, facilitation and presentation
skills.

* Outstanding analytical and negotiation skills and high-level
skills in problem solving, diplomacy, and interpersonal skills.

* Demonstrated capacity to lead the management of an expanding,
multi-program, team-based organisation operating in a global context.

* Demonstrated ability to be flexible and work both independently
and as a member of a team.

* Ability to handle multiple concurrent tasks and effective time
management skills with the ability to meet deadlines under pressure.

* Able to work occasional evenings and weekends; able to undertake
duty travel within and outside of Canada for 1-2 days/weeks at a time.

ICASO welcomes applicants from diverse communities and particularly
encourages qualified people living with HIV to apply for this position.

Candidates should meet eligibility requirements to legally work in
Canada. Assistance will be provided to candidates to obtain appropriate work
visas where necessary.

ICASO is an equal opportunity employer and proud of its diverse
workforce. For more information about ICASO, please see
http://www.icaso.org.

Applicants should send a resume and cover letter, in English, to Brown
Consulting Group by email to jobs@... - no later than
August 25, 2008.

Although we thank all applicants who apply, only those chosen for an
interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.

"ICASO General Mailbox"
e-mail: <icaso@...>

XIVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico.

Satellite Meeting on "Leading the AIDS Response in Asia:
Recommendations from the Commission on AIDS in Asia"

Satellite Programme

The independent Commission on AIDS in Asia was established in 2006
with support from UNAIDS to look at the socio-economic dimensions of AIDS  in
the Asia region, assess the dynamics of the epidemics and provide
recommendations for an effective strategy in the region. Chaired by Dr
Chakravarthi Rangarajan, the Chief Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of
India, the Commission comprises eminent epidemiologists, AIDS specialists,
economists, civil society
and policy makers from the region. The Report of the Commission was presented to
the UN Secretary General on 26 March 2008.

The objective of this Satellite is to highlight and disseminate the
key recommendations of the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia
to representatives of government, National AIDS Commissions, inter-
governmental organizations, bilateral donors, UNAIDS agencies and
civil society, who are attending the high level meeting.
Discussions will focus on how to implement key recommendations and
follow-up at the country level.


"Let us be clear: AIDS will challenge Asia for years to come. But if
we invest early and judiciously enough, we can achieve an effective response.
Our  response to AIDS is not only about money. It's above all about  people." UN
Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon at the Report Hand-over Ceremony on 26 March
2008 in New York

Panelists:

Tim Brown, Member of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, Senior Research
Fellow at the East West Centre, Hawaii, "The Nature of Asia's
epidemics and programme and policy implications (20 minutes)

Anand Grover, Executive Director, Lawyers' Collective, "Legal
impediments to scaling up prevention services" (10 minutes)

Ashok Alexander, Director, Gates Foundation, "Prevention in Asia –
addressing drivers and implications for programmes and policy" (10
minutes)

Frika Chia Iskandar, Member of the AIDS Commission, Asia-Pacific
Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (APN+) (10 minutes)

Nafsiah M'boi, Secretary, National AIDS Commission,
Indonesia, "Coordination of the national response – lessons from
Asia" (10 minutes)

Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director, Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB
and Malaria, "Resource allocation for an effective response in Asia
(10 minutes)

Nafis Sadik, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy on HIV and AIDS in
Asia and Pacific Region, "Summary of key advocacy issues" (10 minutes)


Panel Chair's:

Mr. JVR Prasada Rao, Director UNAIDS Regional Support Team, Asia
Pacific
Dr. Nafsiah M'boi Secretary, National AIDS Commission, Indonesia

Mexico City, Mexico
18:30-20:30, 5 August 2008,

Venue: Session Room 8

Refreshments and snacks will be served at 20:30 hrs.

Organized by: UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific,
Bangkok, Thailand

For more information: please contact Cho Kah Sin, +66 2 288 2179;
choks@...

To

Prof. Myung-Hwan Cho
President,
AIDS Society of Asia Pacific (ASAP)
e-mail: <mcho@...>
 
Sub: e Consultation: Please comment on ASAP role in Promoting Accountability in
HIV response in Asia .
 
Dear Prof .  Myung-Hwan Cho,
 
As the president of AIDS Society of Asia Pacific, we would like  to invite you
to take part in the e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission Report: Redefining
AIDS in Asia  Crafting an effective response.

On behalf of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific, AIDS
ASIA eFORUM is hosting an e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission Report:
Redefining AIDS in Asia “Crafting an effective response.

An independent Commission on AIDS in Asia was established in June 2006 with
support from UNAIDS to review the HIV situation in Asia from a wide
socioeconomic perspective reaching beyond the public health context.  The
commission presented its report to Mr. Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary General on 26th
March 2008.
 
Many of the recommendations of the commission have far reaching implications.
For instance the commission recommends the need for civil society adopting the
NGO code of conduct and a AIDS Watch is being created in each countries by the
civil society.
 
As a key stakeholder of HIV response in this region, we would like you  to
comment on the role of ASAP role in Promoting Accountability in HIV response in
Asia.
 
We would like to know, AIDS Society of Asia Pacific (ASA)P) as an Australian NGO
based in Sydney- how would  promote Accountability in HIV response?.
 
How can ASAP promote accountability by government, donors, international
community, the NGOs and community organizations?

In the context of the Commission report what are ASAP’s specific plan to
promote grater accountability in HIV response in Asia?
 
Please suggest practical AIDS watch mechanisms which can ensure follow-up to
internationally or regionally agreed frameworks for scaling up access to
prevention and treatment?
 
A free electronic version of the report is available form the following url
 
http://data.unaids.org/pub/Report/2008/20080326_report_commission_aids_en.pdf
 
The consultation will be open from June 30th  to September 30th. At the end of
the consultation a detailed report of the out come of the consultation with the
list of participants will be submitted to the UNAIDS regional office.
 
PLEASE SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO <joe_thomas123@...> or post directly on
the FORUM by visiting the following url
 
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/
 
For further details of this consultation please contact the facilitator of the
consultation Dr. Joe Thomas by  e-mail: joe_thomas123@... or by Skype 
<joethomas123>
 
 
Thank you for your attention

Joe Thomas

AIDS ASIA e FORUM
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/

Dear group members,
 
I would like to draw your attention towards the upcoming international training
programme on 'Food and nutrition security in the context of HIV/AIDS' in
Wageningen, the Netherlands.

A limited number of fellowships are available from the Netherlands Fellowship
Programme (NFP). The fellowship will cover a.o. travel costs, course fees, and
accommodation costs. For more information, please visit the NFP website:

http://www.nuffic.nl/international-students/scholarships/asia-africa-latin-ameri\
ca-and-eastern-europe/the-netherlands-fellowship-programmes/the-netherlands-fell\
owship-programmes .
 
Please read the text below for more information about the content and procedure
to apply for this course!!
  
 
Food and nutrition security in the context of HIV/AIDS: a rights based approach
 
4 May – 22 May or 25 May – 12 June, Wageningen, the
Netherlands                              

HIV/AIDS and food and nutrition security are entwined in a vicious circle.
HIV/AIDS by being an infectious disease is a ‘drain’ to the human body’s
nutritional reserves. An adequate nutritional situation is important to maintain
quality of life and limit the occurrence of opportunistic infections. On the
other hand, HIV/AIDS increases the risk of food (and nutrition) insecurity,
mainly through loss of labour.

Researchers have revealed many of the interactions between food and nutrition
security and HIV/AIDS. The translation of this into practical policies and
programmes is the necessary next step.

This course aims to provide professionals working in food and nutrition security
with the knowledge, skills and creativity, to incorporate the specific effects
of HIV/AIDS on food and nutrition security in the design and implementation of
programmes and interventions directed to improving food and nutrition security,
with the specific aim to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the livelihood of
affected households.

Requirements for admission

Applicants should meet the following requirements:
·         BSc. (as a minimum) or its equivalent in the field of food and
nutrition, food science, home economics, agriculture, medicine or a related
field of study professional position with tasks related to the theme of the
course
·         At least three years of professional experience related to the theme
of the course
·         Competence in the English language.
 
Application and further information

The course is part of the 11 weeks’ training programme Food and nutrition
security.  The programme is a combination of various courses, which can also be
followed as ‘stand alone’ certificate courses.

The deadlines for application are:
·         4 April 2009 for the course from 4 May – 22 May
·         25 April 2008 for the course from25 May – 12 June

For online application and for downloading the course brochure please visit the
website:

http://www.cdic.wur.nl/UK/newsagenda/agenda/Food_and_nutrition_security.htm.

For additional information on the content of the course please contact us by
mail at fannie.deboer@... training.wi@... by fax *31 317 486 801..


Regards,

Bianca van Dam
e-mail: <vandambianca@...>

AIDS. DARC continent

Jul 17th 2008. From The Economist print edition

A tiny genetic change may help explain why AIDS is so common in Africa

Reuters. Facing an unpleasant truth

WHY is AIDS so much more prevalent in Africa than in other parts of
the world? The question is both important and controversial. It is
important because two-thirds of those infected with HIV, the virus
that causes the disease, live on that continent. It is controversial
because some of the explanations are behavioural, and are seen by
many as racist slurs.

Broadly, there are three proposed explanations. One is that because
AIDS started in Africa, it has had more time to spread there. The
second—the behavioural one—is that both formal and informal polygamy
are more common in Africa than elsewhere. The third is that African
physiology is unusually susceptible to the disease.

All three probably play a part. But a paper just published in Cell
Host & Microbe suggests that a significant part of the answer may
indeed be physiological. Weijing He of the University of Texas Health
Science Centre, in San Antonio, and his colleagues have discovered
that a genetic variation which is common in Africa both makes people
more susceptible to infection and keeps them in a symptom-free state
for longer, allowing them to pass the disease on.

Surface tension

This variation involves the flipping of a single genetic "letter" in
a gene called DARC (the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines). This
gene, as its name suggests, encodes a protein that regulates the
level in the bloodstream of inflammation-causing chemicals called
chemokines. That protein sits, among other places, on the surfaces of
red blood cells. Or, rather, in the variant, it doesn't. The mutation
means that Duffy receptor proteins are not made in red cells.

Since other chemokine receptors are known to be involved in AIDS, and
since two-thirds of sub-Saharan Africans lack the Duffy receptor on
their red blood cells although such a lack is rare in other groups of
people, it seemed an obvious candidate for investigation.

Unfortunately, the team did not have a suitable group of Africans
available for study. They did, however, have access to a group of
American airmen, some of whom are of African descent. America is good
at looking after its servicemen's health and, in exchange, many of
those airmen have agreed to be part of a long-term medical study that
looks at all sorts of health-related questions. Indeed, some have
participated in this study for 22 years.

Dr He and his colleagues looked at the genes of airmen who classified
themselves as black and found that the ones infected with HIV were
more likely to lack red cells bearing the Duffy receptor than chance
would suggest. Moreover, and more unexpectedly, such people took two
years longer to progress from the point where they were infected with
the virus to the one where they began to show the first symptoms of
AIDS. That is two years when a man ignorant of his infection would be
less likely to take precautions to stop it spreading. The upshot,
when the team crunched the numbers, was that the variant form of DARC
may be responsible for 11% of the African epidemic.

The mystery is why the variant of DARC that leaves red blood cells
without receptors should be so harmful. The team also did some
laboratory experiments, which showed that HIV binds to the receptor.

Although that mops up HIV from the bloodstream, the virus then passes
from the red blood cells to the white immune-system cells most
susceptible to infection. An absence of receptors should therefore be
a good thing, because it closes off a shortcut to infection. Clearly
it is not, nor do the team know why their absence prolongs the period
that the disease is latent.

That is an important lesson about the difficulty of extrapolating
laboratory results into the real world. Had the two arms of the study
not been carried out in parallel, future researchers might have
travelled up an expensive and time-consuming blind alley.

Another question is why such a disastrous mutation should have spread
so widely in Africa. The answer is probably that it once protected
against another disease, malaria. Indeed, it still does, to a certain
extent. The variant form of DARC stops the growth of Plasmodium
vivax, one of the four parasites that can cause malaria. This
parasite is not, however, as deadly as Plasmodium falciparum, the
main cause of malarial mortality. Nor is it as widespread in Africa.

But it is not just people who evolve to evade pathogens. Pathogens
evolve to evade the evasions. And that is what Robin Weiss of
University College, London, another member of the team, suspects has
happened. He reckons falciparum was once controlled by variant DARC.

But no longer. It has managed to escape that control, and left
humanity with a genetic weakness that another pathogen, HIV, has
exploited.

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11745521

Dear colleagues,

GTZ International Services is currently preparing for two tenders for the Punjab
AIDS Control Program. One program is related to services to Injecting Drug Users
(IDU). The second one delivers services for Female Sex Workers (FSW). The
activities will be implemented in cooperation with local NGOs.

For each program GTZ IS is looking for a program coordinator.
I am enclosing the vacancy announcement for your information.
Looking forward to candidacies of interested experts in these fields!
All kind regards,


HIV/AIDS Prevention Services for IDU and FSW in selected Cities of Punjab,
Pakistan.

GTZ International Services participates on two tenders of the Punjab AIDS
Control Program. One program is related to services to Injecting Drug Users
(IDU). The second one delivers services for Female Sex Workers (FSW). The
activities will be implemented in cooperation with local NGOs.

For each program GTZ IS is looking for a program coordinator.

HIV/AIDS Project Coordinator (2 positions)

Duration of assignment: Up to 4 years; start fourth quarter of 2008;

Place of assignment: Lahore, Pakistan

Tasks:
- Conceptional design and management of the project.
- General project coordination and steering of activities with the implementing
local partner NGOs.
- Monitoring and quality management of services provided.
- Development and implementation of training methodologies and capacity building
among project partners in cooperation with GTZ and intl. short term consultants
.
- Advice to project personnel and project partners on harm reduction and
HIV/AIDS prevention measures.

Profile:
- International or Pakistani expert with master degree and relevant professional
qualifications.
-Professional experience of least seven years in the relevant fields (in
general: behavior change communication, peer-to-peer approach, STI prevention,
capacity building, collaboration and with NGOs ; esp. regarding IDU: harm
reduction including needle exchange and referral service, drug detoxification).
- Excellent skills in project planning, management and implementation in
development cooperation context.
- Knowledge of international organizations working in the field of HIV/AIDS and
drug demand reduction, UN organizations and other multi-lateral agencies
- Experience in working with people from different professional backgrounds and
levels of authority (experience in working with government organizations is
desirable)
-Excellent language and writing skills in English (knowledge of Urdu is
desirable)

Please apply online on our website:

http://www.gtz.de/de/karriere/stellenmarkt/detail_regionen.asp?region=Asien+und+\
Pazifik&anzeige=60083602

Or contact
Jutta Hein
Personnel Officer
GTZ International Services
Human Resources Unit

Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH
P.O Box  5180
D-65726 Eschborn

Phone:  ++49 (0)6196 / 79-3114
Fax:      ++49 (0)6196 / 79-7450
E-mail:   jutta.hein@...

Dear colleagues,


The Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) and the Global Network of
People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) supported by the International
Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) would like to invite
you to attend and participate in the Positive Drug User Affiliated
Event as part of the pre-conference activities at the International
AIDS Conference in Mexico City on Saturday, August 2, 2008.

Modeled on the Drug User Congress held annually at the International
Harm Reduction Conference, this Affiliated Event seeks to bring
together people who use drugs and are living with or affected by HIV
to coordinate their efforts throughout the conference and beyond.

As all around the world many drug users are living with HIV, the
International AIDS Conference is a critical platform for positive
drug user engagement and advocacy and offers an opportunity for
progress on ensuring meaningful user involvement and participation in
the global response to HIV/AIDS.

As such, the objectives of the Affiliated Event will include:

1-Providing participants with guidance on conference logistics
and access to methadone in Mexico;

2- Identifying key advocacy issues to be raised and promoted
throughout the Conference;

3- Reviewing the 2004 Leadership Statement and the 2006
Declaration of Unity and revise commitments through a new joint
statement;

4- Linking key stakeholders together through networking.

Note that lunch and refreshments will be provided to participants.

Saturday, 2 August 2008

10:00 – 15:30

Event location:

Fiesta Americana Reforma Hotel
Avenida Paseo de la Reforma 80
Colonia Juárez, Mexico City 06600
Mexico

Please confirm participation before Friday July 25 to K. Jean at
wathanees@....

For more information about the Affiliated Event, please contact Tanne
de Goei (tdegoei@...) and Pascal Tanguay (pascal@...).

We look forward to seeing you there!


Pascal Tanguay

Communications Manager
Asian Harm Reduction Network
e-mail: <hopeofperth@...>

UNAIDS's Redefining AIDS in Asia: A dangerously misleading and stigmatizing
document

Redefining AIDS in Asia has many good points  particularly its calls for more
aggressive promotion of generic medicines and for creating enabling environments
for marginalised groups.

However, the document fails miserably in many ways in its primary focus on HIV
prevention among Asians who are not injection drug users (IDUs) or men who have
sex with men (MSMs).

In this note, we discuss four points: The document

(1) stigmatizes HIV-positive people (which is especially dangerous for Asian
women),

(2) is divorced from facts, ignoring important evidence that does not fit its
distorted view of what is happening in Asia. Its recommendations overlook
crucial interventions

(3) to prevent HIV transmission among non-IDUs and non-MSMs, and

(4) to stop stigma.

1. The document states that HIV-positive women in Asia were either injection
drug users (IDUs), sex workers, or had partners who were HIV-positive.

Hmmm, is that so? India's recent National Family Health Survey III found that
39% of married HIV-positive women had HIV-negative husbands  or about 200,000
women. Very few would be IDUs.

Thus, the message going out here to their husbands, to their families, to the
community, to their HIV/AIDS counselors is that they must have been sex workers,
or had extramarital sex.

That message is dangerous to women who may be beaten, killed, abandoned,
shunned, lose their children, etc. Voices of people (men and women) who are
infected with HIV through unsafe blood exposures continue to be ignored.

2. The document is divorced from facts. It ignores published evidence that
health care workers accidentally infected circa 100,000 blood and plasma donors
in China, hundreds of blood and plasma donors in India, children in a nursing
home in Mumbai, etc.

The document ignores WHO's own model-based estimates that unsafe injections
account for more than 20% of HIV infections in India.

As noted above: the document does not acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of
married HIV-positive Indian women with HIV-negative husbands.

The document ignores studies, such as the AIIMS study on injection practices in
India (supported by the World Bank), which show common unsafe practices in heath
care that are risks to transmit HIV.

What are the reasons for these oversights in the report?

Is it conflict of interest on the part of health policy planners in WHO, UNAIDS,
NACO, and other organizations, who do not want to acknowledge that unsafe health
care procedures account for an important but unknown proportion of HIV
infections?

The document, in effect, blames HIV infections on HIV-positive individuals (due
to their own risk behaviour). Does this absolve the State and international
agencies of their responsibility to openly and honestly admit and together with
an informed public “ to address difficult problems with unsafe health care?

3. The document misses key recommendations to stop HIV in Asia.

(a) Because infection control is unreliable in health care in India and some
other countries in Asia, the public must be warned about risks and encouraged to
ask providers if instruments are sterile.

(b) Investigations of unexplained HIV infections are crucial. It is difficult if
not impossible to stop nosocomial transmission without investigating unexplained
infections“ to find where people with unexplained infections received invasive
procedures, and to test
others treated at suspected facilities.

In recent years, governments of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have discovered,
respectively, more than 140 and 70 children infected with HIV through hospital
procedures (mostly through reused, unsterile instruments).

No South or Southeast Asian government has similarly investigated unexplained
infections in children, tracing and testing others who
might have been exposed to find the extent of the  damage.

(c) Wherever infection control is unreliable in health care, it is
especially unreliable for stigmatized sex workers and clients seeking treatment
for sexually transmitted infections. An intervention that is long overdue is to
ensure that clinics treating sexually transmitted infections do not transmit
HIV.

This means warning sex workers and clients about risks; ensuring exclusive use
of auto-destruct instruments to inject medicines and to draw blood and exclusive
use of single-dose vials; and reliable sterilization (boiling or autoclaving) of
reused gloves and instruments.

4. To fight stigma related to HIV, the Asian public needs to know that HIV
infections are not a reliable sign of morally stigmatized behaviors (IDU, MSM,
or extramarital sex) - ie, that an unknown but significant proportion of HIV
infection comes from socially acceptable behaviors, such as seeking health or
dental care.

Finally, the document also spreads racial stereotypes, stating as fact that
Africa  HIV epidemics are due to African sexual behavior.

That is a theory that fits racial prejudices but does not fit facts.

Studies of sexual behavior across countries overwhelmingly show African sexual
behavior to be not more risky than European or American behavior -- and for that
matter sexual behavior
varies across Africa without any relation to HIV prevalence.

It is unfortunate that the UN and its allies continue to ignore nosocomial
infections, and to indulge in blame games and racial stereotypes, in their
efforts to "educate" the public about how to stop HIV epidemics in Asia.

Who will protect the public against such dangerous distortions? HIV risk is a
two-way street: people can get hit with HIV from sex and from blood.

Telling people to look one way only when crossing a two-way street is
inexcusable.

David Gisselquist
Mariette Correa

David Gisselquist <david_gisselquist@...>
"Mariette Correa" <mariettec@...>

Director, Technical Support Facility for HIV and AIDS
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) is a global
network of 149 Member Associations working in 182 countries, and the
world?s foremost voluntary, non-governmental provider and advocate of
sexual and reproductive health and rights.

The East & South East Asia and Oceania Region (ESEAOR) is one of the
6 Regions of IPPF, working in 26 Countries and based in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.

IPPF ESEAOR is seeking a dynamic and motivated individual for the
position of:

Director, Technical Support Facility for HIV and AIDS - Based in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

IPPF ESEAOR has established a Technical Support Facility (TSF) in
Kuala Lumpur for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS
(UNAIDS).

The TSF will collaborate with country and regional partners in the
provision of high quality technical assistance to support the scaling
up of national HIV programmes in countries of the South East Asia and
Pacific region.

The TSF aims to (1) improve country partner access to timely and
quality assured technical assistance for HIV programming; (2)
strengthen the capacity of country partners to manage technical
assistance effectively; (3) assist in the professional development of
national and regional consultants; and (4) encourage a harmonized and
collaborative approach to the delivery of technical assistance.

We are currently seeking to appoint a TSF Director who will be
responsible for the overall management for the TSF for South East
Asia and the Pacific and for the provision of timely, effective and
quality assured services through specialized consultancies. Key
responsibilities will include:

1. Ensure smooth and effective Planning and Management Systems are in
place
2. Overall Planning, Operationalizing and Management of the TSF
3. Promotion and Marketing of the TSF Services to potential clients
and country partners
4. Ensure effective systems for assessing and monitoring the quality
of technical support services provided.
5. Ensure objectives of the TSF and deliverables as effectively
fulfilled.

Requirements

1. At least 10 years of relevant experience, preferably with regional
or international organizations in the areas of AIDS and/or development

2. Extensive management experience

3. Working knowledge, especially of the HIV epidemic in South East
Asia and the Pacific Region

4. Experience and understanding of consultancy management and
marketing

5. High level interpersonal and negotiation skills, ability to work
in cross cultural settings and ability to lead a team.

The Post of TSF Director will initially be offered for a two year
period, Salary is negotiable depending on experience and
qualifications.

Applicants should submit their resume stating details of experience
and qualifications and a cover letter indicating interest in this
position, current and expected salary and contact details, to the
address below by 8 August 2008.

Only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Contact:

Regional Director
International Planned Parenthood Federation
East & South East Asia & Oceania Region (IPPF ESEAOR)
246, Lorong Enau off Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Fax: +603-42566386
Email: rkarim@...
Website: www.ippfeseaor.org

http://www.ippfeseaor.org/en/About/Jobs/TSF+Director.htm

Does HIV/AIDS still require an exceptional response?

The Lancet Infectious Diseases 2008; 8:457
DOI:10.1016/S1473-3099(08)70158-0

Several issues will be hotly debated at the XVII International AIDS
conference in Mexico this year (August 3–8), not least the ongoing
debate around HIV exceptionalism: does HIV/AIDS still deserve the
substantial extra resources it receives compared with other health
issues, the extra political commitment, and even its own UN agency—
UNAIDS?

HIV programmes consume around a quarter of international health-care
aid, leading some to caution that the discrepancies in donor
responses are now too wide when you consider global burden of disease
rates, in which HIV/AIDS accounts for around 4% of deaths. And UNAIDS
are asking for even more—US$33 billion more—by 2010.

Some critics—most notably Roger England (Health Systems Workshop,
Grenada)—say this disease-specific approach is at best outdated and,
at worse, doing more harm than good. Giving resource-poor countries
substantial sums of money ring-fenced for HIV/AIDS, he argues,
weakens health systems because it creates parallel systems for
financing and employment, and this in turn disincentivises countries
that should be working towards sustainable health systems.

Bringing HIV into mainstream primary health care would mean a
stronger system overall, enabling countries to prioritise other key
diseases—pneumonia for example—which would ultimately save more
lives. He concludes: "We have created a monster with too many vested
interests and reputations at stake, too many single issue NGOs, too
many relatively well paid HIV staff in affected countries, and too
many rock stars with AIDS support as a fashion accessory".

Others argue that because HIV/AIDS remains a leading cause of death
in high-prevalence settings and represents a global health and
development emergency, it rightly deserves to be prioritised.

At a recent meeting hosted by the Institute of Tropical Medicine at
WHO (Geneva, Switzerland; May 28) experts concluded that although
there have been some negative effects of the global AIDS response on
health systems—for example, parallel HIV programmes have in some
instances diverted physicians from key primary care services because
of salary disparities—criticisms that it has substantially harmed
primary health care are unfounded. Indeed, they concluded that the
overall effect on health systems has been a positive one.

According to Médecins Sans Frontières, the expansion of HIV treatment
has done much to improve national laboratory services, drug-supply
chains, and general health-care infrastructure, as well as reducing
the burden on local hospitals.

Furthermore, don't forget that it was AIDS activists that put global
health on the map in the first place, with some spectacular successes
that changed the international context as we know it.

We need to take the many lessons learned from the HIV/AIDS story and
apply them to other diseases, and work towards maximising the
positive effects of HIV funding to date.

Acknowledging that, fundamentally, it is chronic global underfunding
of health care at the core of this debate would be a good place to
start; HIV is certainly a long way off being considered overfunded. A
Newsdesk article in this issue identifies a key role for donors here,
and finds that attitudes may well already be changing.

Donors are showing signs that they are committed to a new approach,
which ensures that disease-specific funding and broader health-
service strengthening in hard-hit countries are better aligned.

WHO will be launching its HIV "positive synergies" campaign in Mexico
this month.

We fully support calls for increased health-care funding and action
on global health across the board, yet we consider HIV to be a
challenge still deserving of an exceptional response. HIV/AIDS is a
complex disaster and despite best efforts almost 7000 people still
contract HIV every day.

Prevention measures are still too ineffective and treatment coverage
remains unacceptably low—25 years on and 70% of individuals in need
of antiretroviral treatment still don't get it. In worst hit
countries like Malawi, where AIDS represents over half of all clinic
consultations, discussions about whether to focus on HIV or primary
care are a meaningless dichotomy.

Care must therefore be taken to ensure that any new approaches do not
divert funds away from HIV nor place too many demands on existing HIV
programmes. Ensuring that HIV-specific initiatives identify up front
their broader impact on health systems, and that these impacts are
quantified, is essential, as is exploring opportunities for greater
synergy between AIDS and other services, for example tuberculosis
services.

Ultimately HIV activism needs now to be broadened out to global
health in general—although we may lose a few rock stars along the way.

Dear Colleagues,

On 26-28 August 2008, the Philippines will host the 2nd Regional
Consultative Meeting on Universal Access to Prevention, Treatment,
Care and Support in Low Prevalence Countries. The event has the
following objectives:

1.    To review progress of countries and identify steps to address
gaps in the operationalization of the Ulaanbaatar 2006 Call for Action.
2.     To identify emerging issues in scaling up comprehensive
national AIDS responses towards universal access in the background of
the recommendations of the Commission on AIDS in Asia, and measures to
implement them; and

3.    To reaffirm political commitment among governments, civil
society and international agencies by adopting concrete ways forward
towards universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support.

Representatives of governments [Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Laos,
Mongolia, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri
Lanka, Timor Leste], civil society and international organizations
from twelve (12) countries are expected to participate in this Meeting
that will be held at the Heritage Hotel, Manila. (* South Korea and
Singapore have declined as of date.)

The participation of young people as part of country delegation and
representative of civil societies is one of the highlights of this
meeting. In this regard, there is one (1) available slot for one (1)
young person representing any of the following countries is now being
solicited:

Bangladesh, Fiji, Malaysia, Maldives South Korea, Singapore, Sri
Lanka, and Timor Leste

The National Organizing Committee of the said Meeting, particularly,
the Department of Health, will provide for the airfare and
accommodation of the young person delegate.

To facilitate the search, nomination and final selection of the young
persons, the following should be considered:

1. Female or male within the age of 18 to 24 years old regardless
of HIV status and sexual orientation.

2. Is actively engaged in the HIV and AIDS work for at least the
past three years

3. Has been nominated by her/his peers

4. Have adequate working knowledge on the HIV and AIDS concerns of
the country

5. Most importantly, can very well articulate the concerns of the
sector in English.

In this regard, your nominations together with: (1) A brief or her/his
profile outlining the above, and (2) Commitment of Support from the
organization she/he belongs to or part of  to enable the nominee, once
selected,  to pursue agreements and commitments made during the Meeting.

Please send these on or before 31 July 2008 to the undersigned via
post or email:


E-mail addresses:

kkkandit@... or pnac_sec@... attention: IFF

Post

IRENE V. FONACIER-FELLIZAR
LPC Technical Consultant
Philippine National AIDS Council
3rd Floor Building 15
San Lazaro Compound
Department of Health
Sta Cruz, Manila 1003
Philippines

Facsimile: (63 2) 743-8301 local 2552

Lastly, attached with this are relevant documents for referral in the
process of identifying nominees and for the latter to agree on the
nomination i.e. Concept Notes on the Meeting, Ulaanbaatar Call for
Action, Recommendations of the Commission on AIDS and the Matrix for
progress report writing.

On behalf of the children and young people most vulnerable to and at
risk of HIV infection and infected with HIV, I am enjoining everyone
to support the ethical and meaningful participation of children and
young people in this development concern.


With you always in children and young people's cause


Irene V. Fonacier-Fellizar, RSW

Technical Consultant
Low Prevalence Consultation Meeting 2008
Transitional Chair
National Committee on Children and HIV
Council for the Welfare of Children
NGO Representative
Philippine National AIDS Council
East Asia and Pacific Regional Representative
NGO Advisory Council to the Follow up recommendations of the UN Study
on VAC www.crin.org
President, Chief Mentor
Center for the Promotion, Advocacy and  Protection of the Rights of
the Child
17 - 17 A Casmer Apartments, Del Pilar corner Don Jose Streets
San Roque, Cubao, Quezon City 1109 PHILIPPINES
Telephone: +632 9133464
Telefax:  + 632 9117867
Email: Lunduyan@..., kkkandit@...

Respected Sir/Madam,

Greeting from ADAB Chittagong Chapter!

Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh (ADAB) is the national apex
body has been serving as a coordinating body for NGOs verses GOB, NGO-donors and
NGO-CSOs.

We are hereby pays your kind attention that, as you know many irregularities,
syndication, corruption to select NGOs in many government projects in last
4-party alliance Government resume.

As a result many development partners withdraw their fund from Government
channel projects. The Government officials and ruling party minister and leaders
collected huge amount of money to select NGOs for many projects.

We are sorry to say, these also till now continue with broader shape during the
Non Partisan Caretaker Government. This is mentioned in the Comprehensive
Disaster Management Project (CDMP) under MoFDM, National Nutrition Programme
(NNP), Malarial Control Programme, GFATM-6th round under ministry of health &
family welfare, Vulnerable Group Development Proagrmme (VGD) under MoWCA, Basic
Education for Hrad to Reach Urban Working Children (BEHRUWC) of PMED.

These projects are supported by WHO, World Bank, WFP, UNICEE, EU etc. So that,
we trying to makes your kind noticed what happened during NGOs selection.
 
For GFATM Malaria Control Programme, we have enclosed a list of selected NGOs
those are selected by the BRAC and most of them are from Dhaka based business
NGOs, who treated it as contractor for profit came to work in Chittagong , Cox¢s
Bazar and Chittagong hilltract far from the working location.

Earlier BRAC has no invited any EOI, they selected this through their allies
members. Later they have invited EOI and circulate at 23 January 2008 at daily
star. Copy of the EOI invitation and list enclosed for your information. We know
BRAC has big force and they have a capacity to control the UN and multinational
donors also.

As you are well known. BRAC is now leader of business NGOs and they have
dominates the entire funding channel in Bangladesh and also in Government
system.

As a result most of fund hold by the BRAC & their selected allies.

There was balance in NGO sector, BRAC and PROSHIKA and later small NGOs. During
the tenure of last ruling  government, Bangladeshi NGOs divided and created FNB
a pocket platform and it engaged to protect BRAC' rights.

ADAB always fights for the rights of local NGOs & their concern. The Government
blacklists Proshika and some other rights based NGOs and created barrier to
received overseas fund, force to inactivate ADAB as real platform of local NGOs.
So, there is no body to protect the rights of small and local NGOs.   
 
What we have seen in NNP project, they have invited EOI and showing NGOs
selection procedure maintaining transference and credibility.

After end of the selection process, the current NGOs who are selected in last
4-party ruling government resume. Are the same NGOs to be selected why NNP goes
for EOI invitation? or it needs to maintain procedures?

VGD programme under MOWCA also same procedure, NGO selection also making same
business. The CDMP under MoFDM select the NGOs for Cox¢s Bazar from Dhaka and
other parts of country, who have no programmatic structure, NGOs treated as
business and just completing tender.

For BEHRUWC project under PMED supported by UNICEF also recruit 4 NGOs who have
no previous working based in Chittagong City.

There are so many NGOs who have capacity and past working experience to carryout
the said project. But do to continue the unfair business they select those
business NGOs. After end the project they will quit the set up and submit
another tender to other areas.

NGO selection now maintaining Public Procurement Act 2003, which is treated NGOs
as business party and NGOs will select through analyzing asset, fund and liaison
basis. As a result many local and small NGOs become helpless, not able to
support local community.

If any project implement by the local NGOs and through local people, the result
will sustain and cost will minimize and they have social responsibility to the
local people. 

At present the following systems are maintaining NGOs selection by the
Government project;

NGOs based in Dhaka or have set up Dhaka
NGO have multistoried building, asset, modern equipment & communication
facilities
NGOs have good contact & liaison with ruling government parties
NGOs have capacity to handling cash money or have partnership with PKSF, bank
NGOs have liaison with government officials, who making unfair business.
Many projects required Bank draft/DD to discourage small NGOs
Some big NGOs making syndicates and control whole NGO oriented projects.
Continue unfair business, same NGOs selected many projects in many places and it
maintaining a  chain who deal making money
No real NGO representative in project selection committees,
Business NGOs awarded, instead of humanitarian or right based NGOs
 
Finally we would like to say, the present system & criteria is promoting NGOs to
doing business and dis-encourage those NGOs who are not doing business or not
working in micro-credit to participate this bidding. Besides it also very much
familiar with large NGOs who has multistoried building & maintained unfair
business from Dhaka . Few selected NGOs who have close contact with PMU will get
priority and make syndicate.
 
We feel proud, our development partners promoted NGOs culture as humanitarian
services for the hardcore & vulnerable people.

This is our earnest request please kindly promote the professional local NGOs
and you have to interfere the present system of tender, business in the name of
bidding and NGOs selection from Dhaka and big business NGOs.

If you promote these, some big NGOs and business NGOs handle and control the
entire funds and that will be encourage the unfair business.

As per point of local NGOs and CBOs, ADAB would like to express our anxiety to
reconstitute this present system and NGOs must be selected through open biding
process and capacity, skill and local NGOs based in the working location will be
given preference.
     
As an apex body of NGOs in Chittagong we are soliciting your cooperation to
survive Bangladeshi NGO sector.

As our trusted development partners, we believe you must with us in our crisis
period. Therefore we are requesting to please kindly be stand with local small
NGOs and please kindly re-visit the NGO selection process of the above-mentioned
project and please ensure the right, local & committed NGOs.
 
Thank you very much for your continuous cooperation and support.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
 
S M Nazer Hossain
Chairperson
ADAB Chittagong Chapter

Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh(ADAB)
Chittagong Chapter
House # 11 Road # 01, Block-B Chandgaon R/A, Chittagong-4212
Tel: 880-31-670302, 01713-110054 (chair)
E-mail: adab.chittagong@...

Examining links between AIDS and climate change

7 July 2008

The AIDS epidemic and the climate change phenomenon are two of the
most important "long wave" global issues of the recent past, present
and future. They share similarities, interactions, and present
possibilities for a more united response. Yet, these links have
received little analysis so far.

For that reason, several UN agencies, research institutes from
Switzerland, India, South Africa and Canada as well as the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
gathered to analyse the existing links between AIDS and climate
change in a technical meeting held in Nyon, Switzerland, on 20 May
2008.

Furthermore, a joint position paper on AIDS and climate change was
commissioned by UNEP and UNAIDS from the Australian National
University in February 2008. This paper, whose findings where also
discussed at the Nyon meeting, focuses on scientific issues,
identifying major, minor, and speculative pathways by which HIV and
climate change are likely to interact.

Summary report from the Joint UNEP-UNAIDS meeting to review a
position paper on HIV and AIDS and Climate Change

A joint position paper on HIV and AIDS and Climate Change was
commissioned by UNEP and UNAIDS in February 2008. The draft paper
prepared by three consultants from the Australian National
University, Professor Tony McMichael, Dr. Colin Butler and Dr. Haylee
Weaver, was reviewed in a technical meeting held in Nyon,
Switzerland, on 20 May, 2008.

Several UN agencies, research institutes from Switzerland, India,
South Africa and Canada as well as the International Federation of
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies were represented at the meeting.

Described below are highlights of the main findings from the paper as
well as resulting consensus on the way forward.

HIV and AIDS and Climate Change are two of the most important "long
wave" global issues of the recent past, the present and the future.
They share similarities, interactions, and present possibilities for
a more united response. Yet, these links have received little
analysis. This paper seeks to address that gap. It first focuses on
scientific issues, identifying major, minor, and speculative pathways
by which HIV and climate change are likely to interact. These
interactions are, here, called the HIV and Climate Change Complex
(HACC).

The maximum impact of Climate Change is in the future, likely to
occur decades after the peak incidence of HIV. The severity of the
HACC will largely be determined by the temporal overlap of these
ranges. The HACC will also have an uneven spatial distribution,
modified by the regional impact of Climate Change and the regional
epidemiology of HIV, each of which varies by physical and social
elements.

Populations with currently high rates of HIV are the most vulnerable
to a worsening or prolongation of the epidemic due to climate change.
This places the people of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) at the greatest
risk of the HACC, though outside Africa populations, in north east
India and New Guinea may also be significantly impacted.

There is agreement that the most important pathway in the HACC will
be further deterioration of regional and global food security. At the
individual level, nutrition is vital for good immune function, to
reduce the risk of acquiring HIV if viral exposure does occur, and to
slow the progression of HIV to AIDS, and of AIDS to death.

At larger scales, population nutrition is important for good
governance, by helping to nurture and stimulate the "effective"
demand populations need to reduce corruption and to more evenly
distribute available resources. Any substantial decline in the
availability and intake of calories or micronutrients brought about
by Climate Change is likely to increase poverty, impair learning and
expand the number of migrants. The current decline in global food
security, partly attributable to

Climate Change, is already causing disproportionate nutritional harm
to migrants and otherwise impoverished populations, some of whom
experience HIV and AIDS.

There is agreement that the second major pathway of the HACC is the
Climate Change related alteration in the distribution of infectious
diseases, which interact with HIV. Of these, malaria is the most
important, due to its high burden of disease. Climate Change is
projected to reduce malaria transmission in some regions, which
experience a comparatively low rate of HIV, both now and in the
future.

This will reduce the beneficial impact to the burden of disease of
HIV for these populations. On the other hand, a large population with
a high rate of HIV lives on the plateaus of SSA, an area as yet
little affected by malaria. If the climatic, eco-systemic and other
factors for malaria transmission alter sufficiently in these plateau
cities, then the HIV burden of this population is likely to be
substantially higher, and will also be worsened by increased poverty
and greater food insecurity.

There are several other plausible biological pathways in the HACC. Of
these, the relationship between Climate Change, air pollution and
immunity, and Climate Change, heat stress and immunity are likely to
be the most important

More speculative is the possibility that Climate Change will harm
infrastructure and governance on a scale sufficient to aggravate and
prolong the burden of disease of HIV.

Again, the population of SSA is judged to be at the highest risk.
This mechanism is plausible by interlinked pathways including more
extreme weather events and "natural" disasters, increased mobility
and additional migrants and refugees.

These factors are also likely to aggravate gender inequalities,
increasing the frequency of transactional and coercive sex — pathways
likely to increase the burden of disease of HIV among women and
girls, via increased viral transmission and reduced access to
treatment and prevention. At the global level, Climate Change may
exert an immense opportunity cost, diverting resources of the
international community away from public health, including from HIV,
poverty alleviation, and the other Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).

Suggestions for a future research agenda include the more accurate
assessment of the pathways within the HACC, and an improved
conceptual understanding of the linkages between conflict, behaviour,
governance and values, environmental factors including climate, and
food production, and between each of these macro-elements and sea
level rise. This would be best done by an interdisciplinary working
group.

Another research gap is the effect of Climate Change on human
behavior, including behavior related directly to HIV risk.

From science, the paper moves to strategies and policies. The
struggle to address HIV and Climate Change has generated two vigorous
global social movements, with, as yet, little formal interaction or
collaboration.

We suggest this gap is a microcosm of a separation between two even
larger communities – those concerned with the environment and those
concerned with social justice.
Of course, this is a simplification, but on the whole our perception
is that the environmental movement is insufficiently aware of
poverty, while the social justice movement is still poorly informed
about the environment. The work, advocacy and activism of the leaders
and actors within each community who do recognise these linkages will
be strengthened by this report.

HIV has already killed tens of millions of people, while Climate
Change may dwarf this number. Those concerned to reduce Climate
Change can apply many lessons learned by the HIV community.

These include the need to challenge conventions and to seek benefit
for the poorest and most marginalised; and to widen the Climate
Change movement's emerging engagement with entrepreneurs,
philanthropists and prominent personalities: tools instrumental in
the growth of support for those with HIV. The HIV constituency can
benefit from the experience of humanitarian programmes, some of which
already see HIV and Climate Change as cross-cutting issues.

Several actions to reduce the impact of Climate Change on HIV and
AIDS are proposed.

These include the integration of HIV prevention and management into
disaster management plans, particularly for populations in SSA, some
of whom have already experienced extreme weather events.

Means to enhance global and regional food security, especially in
SSA, are vital, and much more can be done. A quarter of the world's
population is over-nourished, and a more equitable distribution of
global food production will go far to defusing any future food
crisis, and is likely to improve health for both over and under-fed
people. Malaria treatment and prevention in SSA can also be improved.

The Climate Change community might also consider strengthening the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
including formal links with agriculture, health and security.

Finally, a risk is perceived whereby a relatively privileged stratum
of people and interests argue that issues of global health and global
social justice must be put aside in the effort to pursue partial
Climate Change adaptation.

  This approach is highly dangerous for global health and global
social cohesion. It would also likely to generate profound longer-
term risks for currently privileged populations pursuing this
strategy. A stronger alliance between the HIV and AIDS and Climate
Change communities will help thwart the emergence of such a policy.

A focus on the interconnections between Climate Change, food
security, HIV, health in general and the links between these and the
MDGs is key to breaking out of this "either or" myopia.

UNEP and UNAIDS are committed to carrying forward recommendations
resulting from the above.

The draft position paper is currently being finalized, after which it
will be subjected to wider consultation to both encourage civil
society engagement and expand the partnership between HIV and AIDS
and Climate Change constituencies. In concurring that there is a link
between Climate Change and HIV and AIDS, participants at the Nyon
meeting clearly pointed out that this link needs to be understood
better.

They also concurred that this process of taking forward the research
agenda should be spearheaded by the Health Economics and HIV and AIDS
Research Division (HEARD) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa, supported by the partnering Department of Geography and
Environmental Studies, Carleton University, Canada, and the National
Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National
University.

The UN will continue to play an integral role in all of this through
partnership development and by participation in various forums
related to the research agenda.

For further information please contact:

Dr. Erasmus Morah, Country Coordinator, UNAIDS Kenya, Representative
to UNEP and
UN-Habitat: morahe@...

Dr. Jian Liu, Chief, Climate Adaptation Unit, UNEP Headquarters,
Kenya: jian.liu@...

http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/arch
ive/2008/20080607_Examining_links_between_AIDS_and_climate_change.asp

Dear all,

A new call for proposals from the Staying Alive Foundation for grants that will
be given out on World AIDS Day. The deadline to apply is 15th of September.

For more information please go to:

http://www.staying-alive.org/en/foundation/other_links/apply_award_0

This is for Youth Organizations.

Regards,
Frika


Frika Chia
e-mail: <frikachia@...>

Iran Detains Two Leading HIV/AIDS Experts

Dr. Kamiar Alaei, one of two brothers who have worked closely with
the Asia Society on HIV/AIDS programmes and are now being detained in
Iran.

  UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 16 July 2008 --  Asia
Society today expressed its deep concern regarding confirmed reports
that two Iranian nationals who are part of Asia Society's Young
Leaders Program have been detained in Iran by Iranian authorities;
Drs. Arash and Kamiar Alaei are leading Iranian experts on HIV/AIDS
who have pioneered HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment activities in
Iran.

Both Alaei brothers have worked closely with Asia Society on HIV/AIDS
awareness activities throughout the Asia-Pacific region for years,
and both are participants in Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders
Program.

Dr. Kamiar Alaei was selected by Asia Society among leaders from
across the Asia-Pacific as a 2008-2009 Asia 21 Fellow.

"Asia Society is deeply concerned about the apparent detention by
Iranian authorities of Drs. Arash and Kamiar Alaei, who are both
leading figures in the HIV/AIDS community and Asia Society Young
Leaders," said Asia Society Chairman Richard C. Holbrooke.

Asia Society Executive Vice President Jamie Metzl, who has worked
closely with the Alaei brothers, is actively pursuing this matter
with appropriate officials and partner organizations.

Dr. Kamiar Alaei is a doctoral candidate at the SUNY Albany School of
Public Health who is expected to resume his studies in Albany this
fall. He holds a Masters degree in International Health from Harvard
University.

His brother Arash is the former Director of the International
Education and Research Cooperation of the Iranian National Research
Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

Since 1998, Alaei and his brother, Kamiar, have been carrying out
programs dealing with HIV/AIDS and the Harm Reduction of Drugs in the
war-torn province of Kermanshah, on the West Coast of Iran.

Since 1986, the Alaei brothers have worked on an ongoing project that
seeks to integrate issues concerning the prevention and care of
HIV/AIDS, STI, and Drug-Related Harm Reduction into the National
Health Care system.

In addition to their work in Iran, the Alaei brothers hold training
courses for Afghan and Tajik medical workers and have worked to
encourage regional cooperation among 12 Middle Eastern and Central
Asian countries.

They have appeared widely in the international media, including on
the BBC, the Washington Post, Knight Ridder and other outlets.

About the Asia Society and the Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative
Asia Society is the leading Asia-Pacific organization working to
strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people,
leaders and institutions of the United States and Asia.

The Society seeks to increase knowledge and enhance dialogue,
encourage creative expression, and generate new ideas across the
fields of policy, business, education, arts and culture.

Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a
nonprofit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston,
Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco,
Seoul, Shanghai and Washington, D.C. More about Asia Society can be
found on the organization's web site at www.AsiaSociety.org.

Asia Society's Asia 21 Young Leaders Initiative is the leading cross-
sectoral leadership development program in the Asia-Pacific region.
The program brings together the most dynamic emerging leaders from
across the Asia-Pacific region to develop shared, innovative
approaches to the region's greatest challenges. For more information,
see http://www.asiasociety.org/asia21/.

http://www.maximsnews.com/news20080716asiasocietyfellowsiran1080716010
4.htm

Inviting Women Living with HIV/AIDS from Asia Pacific region to participate in
the Asia Regional Dialogues on Wednesday
August 6th from 10:45-12:30 at the Global Village in AIDS 2008 Mexico
Conference

Women Networking Zone

International Community of Women living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) in
collaboration with Local Mexican women network coordinators and other partners
has created Regional dialogue space in Women
Networking Zone (WNZ) within the Global Village for women living and
affected by HIV/AIDS with the following objectives.

•    To foster and invite diverse global participation in the programming and
development of the WNZ
•    To foster and facilitate cross-regional networking, information exchange,
and alliance building Each region develops a programme around the situation of
women and emerging priorities in the region in the form of presentations of
research, cultural events and debates etc. It is a great opportunity for women
living with HIV/AIDS to air their voices about the epidemic in their region in
their own words and share their community and country experiences.

The Asia Regional Dialogue Space:  Redefining the AIDS Epidemic
in Asia

The Asia Regional Dialogue space is being organized by ICW
and WAPN+ (Women Working Group of Asia Pacific Network of PLHIV) on Wednesday
August 6th from 10:45-12:30 and invite the Asia  Pacific women living and
affected by HIV/AIDS to present an update on the situation of women in the
region and how the visibility of women contributes to the responses of the
epidemic, the gaps between the international agreements (MDG, UNGASS etc),
women's experience in
accessing prevention and treatment services and sexual and reproductive rights
and health in terms of emerging challenges and good practices.

The dialogue space will be moderated by ICW regional Coordinator for Asia
Pacific and WAPN+ Coordinator.

The space has been created for women who have already had plans
to attend the Mexico International AIDS Conference in August. So Women living
with HIV/AIDS from Asia Pacific region who have got conference scholarships and
sponsored by other agencies are encouraged to take part in this dialogue.

We are also inviting women around the world to bring artwork, posters, and
pictures of women leaders etc to decorate the zone.
A tentative programme has been put together by the organizers.

The discussion will be informal in nature to facilitate a dialogue around
challenges and good practices towards the AIDS responses. We would like to
increase the visibility of Asian women's participation during this programme,
therefore, if you are wiling to contribute and interested in making any
presentation or sharing your personal stories, please send your suggestions and
ideas and along with your willingness to contribute in this space before July
20th to frika@...

Tentative programme

Panel Discussion on Commission on AIDS in Asia: How do we redefine
the epidemic in Asia? (45 mins)
Resource persons:
Miss.Suksma Ratri, Core
Group member, WAPN+, Malaysia
Miss.Jaya Nair, UDAAN Trust, India

Screening film: "Women in the frontline" by Face of AIDS
Foundation (45 mins) Topic: Women Living with HIV/AIDS & their response in the
fight against HIV and AIDS
Moderator: Miss Anandi Yuvaraj, Asia Pacific Regional
Coordinator, ICW, Thailand

Regards,
Frika
e-mail: <frikachia@...>

Indian PM's address at the release of the report of the Commission on
AIDS in Asia

Re: e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia
–Crafting an effective response",

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/message/1292

The Indian The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh has released the
report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia entitled "Redefining AIDS in
Asia: Crafting an Effective Response" in New Delhi. Following is the
text of the Prime Minister's speech on the occasion:

"I am indeed very pleased to launch this very important Report of the
Commission on AIDS in Asia. I compliment my esteemed friend, Dr. C.
Rangarajan, and his colleagues on the Commission for producing an
extremely important and thought provoking report. It is a well-
researched document that puts together information and analysis that
can help us evolve more effective strategies for reversing the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in the countries of Asia.

It is heartening to note that the report validates the basic
strategic framework that has been adopted in India. It reiterates and
reconfirms our understanding of the epidemic. It shows that the
measures that we have adopted in India to reverse the pandemic have a
sound basis but there is no scope for complacency and Dr. Rangarajan
has just now reminded us. We need to do more, we must do more and all
segment of the national thinking community must be actively involve
in this gigantic struggle against this menace of AIDS.

The report has underlined clearly the importance of a public health
approach to the problem if we want truly sustainable gains. The
public health approach places emphasis on strategies that focus on
vulnerable population groups, among whom the virus is primarily
lodged, and goes to the root of the problem with the objective of
arresting its onward transmission.

It is a matter of some satisfaction that the situation in India is
not as alarming as it was portrayed to be some years ago. While it
used to be claimed that India may have up to 5 million persons
affected by HIV, more recent estimates suggest that the number could
be between 2 to 3 million, mainly in the States of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. But there is no scope for
complacency, as I said. We must regularly review strategies and the
programme contained for increased enhanced effectiveness.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has brought into focus many of our prevalent
social prejudices. The overwhelming number of cases are due to
transmission through the sexual route. Strategies for tackling it,
therefore, require more inclusive and less judgmental social
approaches to questions of public health and personal hygiene.

This must begin by addressing the issue of the social stigma that
attaches to those who carry the AIDS virus. I do believe that growing
consciousness about HIV/AIDS is forcing us to address these issues
but the speed of the response need to be greatly accelerated.

The government should play a leading role in this and I commend our
Government to do precisely it. We seek your enlightened guidance how
to strengthen our programme. We should work to remove legislative
barriers that hinder access of high-risk groups to services. There is
a proposal for a law which would penalize anyone discriminating
against an AIDS infected person from access to employment, property
or other services. This should be given serious consideration.

The fact that many of the vulnerable social groups, be they sex
workers or homosexuals or drug users, face great social prejudice has
made the task of identifying AIDS victims and treating them very
difficult.

If we have to win this fight against HIV/AIDS we have, therefore, to
create a more tolerant social environment. One need not condone
socially unacceptable or medically inadvisable sexual practices in
seeking a more tolerant approach to the problem. It is in the
interests of the entire society that everyone afflicted by AIDS wins
the battle against it. They deserve and have the right to live lives
of dignity and self respect.

The target intervention projects that have been taken up with a focus
on vulnerable populations are useful and necessary. This should be
accompanied by more broad based educational programmes. Modern sex
education at the appropriate school stages can be of great value.

The report has highlighted the importance of political engagement and
leadership as a key part of national responses to HIV and AIDS. Law
enforcement agencies and the judiciary need to be co-opted to support
progressive policies that address the problem and in this context, I
wish to commend the good work that is being done by our
parliamentarian under the guidance of my esteemed colleague and
friend Sh. Oscar Fernandes to mobilize the political will of our
nation as an effective instrument of dealing of this massive societal
problem.

The importance of community and civil society involvement at all
stages of policy needs to be emphasized and it has been done in the
Report. It is only with their help that public awareness regarding
healthy sexual practices, including the use of condoms, can be widely
propagated and social prejudices ended.

We need to understand the vulnerabilities that force some to resort
to risky behaviour patterns and give them access to reliable and
relevant information and basic services. We must give them adequate
support to make their own choices in full awareness and
responsibility. We need to encourage behaviour change and mould
social attitudes, while shedding our inhibitions regarding matters
related to sexual choices.

Our Government is fully committed to supporting the strategies and
work being done by the National AIDS Control Organisation. It is
heartening to see the strides that have been made in the last two
years in scaling up access to services keeping in view the balance
between prevention and treatment. I compliment the Union Health
Ministry and NACO for the leadership they have shown in tackling this
very difficult problem and containing the disease. But as I said
earlier we must be ever more vigilant. We can not be satisfied with
the status quo and you must therefore strive to improve the
effectiveness of prevalent strategies as well as the Programme
content.

I appeal to all medical practitioners, hospitals and blood banks
across the country to adopt zero risk and best practice methods for
blood collection and blood transfusion. Every citizen must have
complete confidence in our blood safety practices. I am therefore,
happy that an initiative has been taken to establish a national blood
transfusion authority.

The problem of HIV/AIDS, and other pandemics like SARS and Avian Flu,
demonstrate clearly the wisdom of that ancient Indian
saying, "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". That "THE WHOLE WORLD IS ONE LARGE
FAMILY". Like all phenomenon in nature, diseases do not respect
national boundaries. Hence societal response to pandemics cannot be
limited to national response mechanism alone.

Of course, every country and every government must have a strategy to
deal with such threats to human safety and health. We need preventive
and curative strategies at the national and local level. But, such
national effort must be part of a wider regional and global effort. I
am therefore, happy to see that my friend Dr. Rangaranjan chaired
this commission which takes a wider view of the problem at the Asian
level.

We live in an increasingly integrated world. There are few problems
today that humankind faces which can be solved effectively within
national boundaries by individual governments. Be it the problem of
pandemics, be it the problem of food security, be it the problem of
rising energy prices, be it the problem of water scarcity and water
utilization, be it the problem of climate change and global warming,
be it the problem of terrorism, be it the problem of drug peddling
and arms proliferation, be it the threat of the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction - all of them require effective
cooperative action at the global level.

Each and every challenge that we face has transnational dimensions
and transnational implications. The world in which national
governments have to deal with the challenges they face on their own,
on the premise of national sovereignty and national self-interest, no
longer exists. We live in the era of increasing global
interdependence of nations.

I am encouraged by the fact that the global response to HIV/AIDS has
been constructive and has yielded positive results. But there is
scope for much more involvement of the global community. I hope this
will show us the way forward in dealing with other similar
challenges. I hope this valuable report adds to the available wisdom
on the subject and will help us in shaping a more effective response
at home. I compliment the authors of this report."

Australian Development Research Awards - 2008 Funding Round
Call for Applications

CLOSING DATE: 5pm AEST Friday 29th August 2008.
Sub-theme: HIV

This research will support efforts in the Asia Pacific region to achieve the
Millennium Development Goal (MDG 6) of halting and reversing the spread of HIV
by 2015. AusAID has identified three priority foci in relation to HIV:

i) Community based prevention: New challenges arising for HIV prevention, and
lessons learned from prevention among populations at greatest risk in Asia
Pacific. Research should increase our understanding of innovative approaches to
prevention (e.g. by considering factors relevant to risk and vulnerability) and
inform the design of effective responses

ii) Gender: Improving understanding of the relevance of gender to causes and
consequences of the HIV epidemic in Asia Pacific; and

iii) National response models: Research on factors affecting national responses
in Asia Pacific that have constrained or supported effective leadership,
policies and programs.
 
Fundamental to reversing the spread of HIV is a sustained prevention response
and AusAID considers prevention to be the cornerstone of our International HIV
Strategy. We are therefore interested in research that supports an intensified
prevention response including analysis of HIV risks and vulnerabilities within a
community context and frameworks for developing community based prevention.
 
Gender remains one of the under-explored dimensions of the epidemic. In their
early stages, HIV epidemics often primarily affect men, particularly male
injecting drug users, men who have sex with men and clients of sex workers. But
women and girls are increasingly affected as epidemics progress. Prevention and
care responses need to be better informed by gender analysis.
 
Finally, to reverse the epidemic requires a clearly defined national response
that provides leadership and coordinates the efforts of the key players
including donors, multilateral agencies, NGOs and relevant Ministries.
Understanding better ways in which to organize national responses to ensure
leadership on the issue and to achieve more effective policies and programs
remains a key challenge in the region.

The three priority foci under the HIV sub-theme are:
 
1. Community based prevention.
2. Improving understanding of the relevance of gender to causes and consequences
of the HIV epidemic in Asia Pacific.
3. National response models.

Documentation applicants should be aware of:
Meeting the Challenge: Australia ’s International HIV/AIDS Strategy, AusAID
2004
Helping Health Systems Deliver, a Policy for Australian Development Assistance
in Health, AusAID 2006.
Relevant national HIV/AIDS policies, strategies and/or plans.
 
Eligibility Criteria under the HIV sub-theme
 
Proposals must focus on one or more of the following: PNG, Indonesia , Pacific
island nations, Vietnam , Cambodia , Lao PDR, Burma , China (particularly
Guangxi and Yunnan ), and East Timor .
 
Selection criteria under the HIV sub-theme
Research proposals will be assessed against whether the research:
 
has broad strategic implications and relevance for AusAID’s HIV engagement in
the Asia Pacific region;
 
has links with ongoing delivery of AusAID funded activities or potential to
inform the design of new AusAID activities; and
 
is aligned with the research priorities of the national HIV strategy/plan of a
partner country.
 
Where partner country institutions are involved in the research, proposals
should specify how the capacity of local researchers will be built as a result
of the proposed project. Multi-country comparative studies, interdisciplinary
studies and studies that adopt approaches that build the capacity of local
researchers will be given preference.

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/research/awards.cfm

Number Of New HIV Cases Reported In Afghanistan Increasing, Health
Ministry Says

1 Jul 2008 - 11:00 PDT

Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health on Wednesday reported that
more than 400 new HIV cases have been recorded in the country,
Xinhuanet reports. Although the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is relatively
low in Afghanistan, the ministry said there are many potential risk
factors that could spread the virus.

In a statement, the ministry said, "So far, 435 HIV-positive cases
have been reported from different sources," adding that there are an
estimated 2,000 to 2,500 cases nationwide. The ministry said that the
potential risk factors for the spread of HIV include 30 years of war,
high levels of poverty and illiteracy, displacement, poppy
cultivation, drug trafficking and use, commercial and unsafe sex, and
unsafe injection and blood transfusion practices, Xinhuanet reports.

The ministry noted that the World Bank has granted $10 million to the
health ministry to raise public awareness about HIV/AIDS in the
country (Xinhuanet, 7/9).

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/114671.php

AIDS Commission Report fails to recognize gender bias

Re: e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia –
Crafting an effective response",
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/message/1292


The report by an independent Commission on AIDS in Asia, supported by
UNAIDS and chaired by Dr. Chakravarthi Rangarajan, addresses a need to
look at the pattern of the pandemic from a different perspective,
taking into account the social, economic, and cultural differences
that make the region unique. Although it outlines several important
and immediate issues, it fails to acknowledge the underlying urgency
of one particular truth: that HIV/AIDS infection rates are on the
increase among women worldwide (half of new HIV infections worldwide
are among women), and this is because women face violence and gender
discrimination in their own daily lives, regardless of region.

Although the report details the region's particular trends in HIV
infection rates quite accurately, its singular conclusion that the
"best way to protect women in Asia is to prevent their husbands from
becoming infected," (51) dismisses other female-based initiatives and
target points for intervention.

Unprotected commercial sex, injecting drug use, and men who engage in
sex with other men (MSM) are outlined as the three primary drivers of
the AIDS epidemic in Asia.

The commission believes that the increasing number of infections in Asian women
comes from men who engage in casual and unprotected commercial sex, or men who
inject drugs, or men who engage in unprotected commercial sex with women who
inject drugs.

These men then return to steady relationships with other uninfected
women, who are exposed to the risk. And although this is a disturbing
and documented trend in the region, a narrow outlook on prevention
programs that targets only these "carrier men" would ignore the gender
discrimination that exists already on the continent.

By doing so, the report also gives credence to a male-centered model that paints
women as passive recipients, and it enforces the gender bias which already
streaks HIV/Aids prevention systems in work today, thus sidelining other
possibilities and opportunities for empowerment.

What must not be pushed aside is a method aimed to protect Asian
women, which centers on Asian women. That is, to invest more in
female-based initiatives which give women the power to choose who
their partners will be, and how they are treated within their
relationships.

This translates to a commitment on a local, regional, national, and
international level to protect youth health and rights (as young girls are
usually engaged to marry men their senior, and because this age bias exposes
them to risk of domestic and sexual violence), to promote and protect sexual
rights and gender equality, and the commitment of governments and international
groups to intervene and invest more in female-based prevention initiatives.

The report's strengths are that it supports more liberal leanings
towards sexual rights programs (particularly regarding premarital
sex), sexual education, and an emphasis on the need to study further
women's sexual behavior. It also highlights the poignancy of the
moment to act now, and specifically encourages and recognizes the need
to encourage condom use, and in particular, female condom use.

The paper outlines that female condoms should particularly be encouraged among
commercial sex workers; however, it stops short of encouraging educational and
empowerment programs that would encourage female condom use even among committed
couples.

The report also supports a general movement to decriminalize sex workers, drug
users, and MSM, and raises the idea of creating a larger network of
accountability among governments and Civil Society.

The commission writes, "The future of Asia's epidemics still depends
on whether opportunities for HIV transmission during paid sex can be
reduced," (59) surely this is a call to engage with sex workers and to
address the conditions under which they work? The commission does not
go into enough depth about the rights of the sex workers, and how
pivotal effective intervention on their part would affect other
groups.

It ignores that across the region, women face violence, stigma, discrimination,
and the burden of care as a result of HIV/AIDS. By addressing a heterosexually
driven infection momentum, we must also recognize the role that sexual bias and
gender inequality play, and at the same time we must support actions against the
violations of women's sexual rights and human rights within this arena.

Jayne Chu
e-mail: <jayne.chu@...>

Preventing HIV, preserving the environment   01 July 2008

The use of condoms in Brazil is preventing the spread of HIV and it
might also be helping to save the rainforest thanks to a condom factory opened
in April in the Amazon region. This unique factory uses natural latex collected
by local rubber tappers and it will be able to supply the Brazilian government
with 100 million condoms a year.

The company which runs the factory – Natex - is a joint venture
between the local state of Acre, the Ministry of the Environment and the
Ministry of Health. It represents Acre's new vision for the Amazon -
"Florestania" - which seeks to increase the living standards of its inhabitants
whilst also preserving the rain forest, through
increasing the value of the products extracted from it.

The factory is located in Xapuri, made famous by the environmentalist
and rubber tapper Chico Mendes who was assassinated there twenty years
ago, and it is a direct legacy of his life's work. Threatened with
the destruction of their livelihood by the cattle ranchers who were
clearing the forest, Mendes's great achievement was to forge an
alliance between the interests of the rubber tappers and the
environmentalists. Mendes saw the rubber tappers as the natural
custodians of the forest.

The factory provides employment for around 100 people and the latex is
supplied by around 700 rubber tappers. As well as payment for the latex, the
rubber tappers receive a fee for "environmental services",
recognising their importance in safeguarding the forest. This has
greatly improved the living conditions of rubber tappers such as Chico
Mendes's cousin Sebastiao Teixeira Mendes who gets a guaranteed
income for his latex which is higher than he could get elsewhere. He
sees the rubber tappers as the "soldiers of the forest –
patrolling and managing the forest".

At the opening of Natex, the then Minister of Environment Marina Silva - the
daughter of rubber tappers herself – was in no doubt of the significance of the
factory: "This is a project where high
technology will help to preserve the soul of the forest". Adding,
"The forest will remain the forest and the rubber tappers will
remain rubber tappers through a new way of working and producing".

As well as the environmental and social aspects of the factory, the
other main driver of the project has been the Government's need for
an increasing supply of good quality condoms. The distribution of free
condoms coupled with a national campaign for their usage has been at the core of
the Brazilian Governments AIDS prevention strategy.

Since 1994, 1.5 billion free condoms have been distributed and it is
projected that 557 million will be distributed this year reaching out to 52% of
the population. The change in people's attitudes can be seen
from a national study, which showed that the percentage of those who
used condoms during their first sexual encounter rose from 10% in 1986
to 47.8% in 1998 and 65.8% in 2005. In another study in 2004 showed that 96% of
the adult population cited the use of condoms as the best method of preventing
HIV transmission.

In 2007, the Government of Brazil imported one billion condoms and plans to
purchase an additional 1.2 billion by the end of the year.

It is expected that the factory will eventually increase its annual production
from 100 to 200 million condoms and diversify into female condoms, therefore
greatly reducing the Government's reliance on importing condoms.

Whilst the condoms will be slightly more expensive to produce than
importing from Asia, it is a cost that the director of the National AIDS
Programme Dr Mariangela Simao believes is well worth paying as it
"reflects the social benefits of increasing the income of the
autochthonous population and a sustainable way of managing the native
rubber trees".

UNAIDS Country Director Mr Pedro Chequer, who was previously the
National AIDS Director and as such was involved in the planning stages
for the factory believes that it "represents the Government's
high level political commitment to maintain HIV as a priority agenda for the
Country". The world, he notes, faces a huge shortage of condoms.

"As far as male condoms are concerned the annual deficit would be
around 30 billion if we consider half of the world male population using a
condom once a week. Of course the initial production of 100 million condoms will
not have much affect on the world scenario, but it will help the country have
guaranteed access to the production of
condoms".

It is a model that he believes Brazil could export through joint
ventures with other Latin American Countries.

Sebastiao Mendes and the local community have a name for Natex that sums up how
they feel about the factory - "The love factory". It is
easy to see why there is such enthusiasm for the factory - a factory
that is helping in the response to AIDS, but also helping to improve the living
conditions of the local population whilst at the same time
preserving the endangered rain forest.

http://www.unaids.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/Resources/FeatureStories/archiv\
e/2008/20080701_Preventing_HIV_preserving_environment.asp

Dear FORUM,

Re: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/AIDS_ASIA/message/1293
 
What an alarming load of nonsense this gentleman has written. I take one
quote...it was not until 2002 that PEPFAR programs began aggressively funding
and insisting on "abstinence only" programs in Uganda. Then infection rates
began to climb.

This sounds like a typical republican strategy. Take the truth, invert it and
claim your own successes for programs on your philosophy for which there is not
a shred of evidence. Orwell couldn't have written a better puff piece, though
perhaps help was provided by Karl Rove.

I would just add part of my report on the recent UNGASS on HIV/AIDS:

By contrast, the United States was represented in a small meeting of the PEPFAR
program. I most unfortunately was unable to attend. However, I heard that it was
heavily represented by those who spread the worst of stigma and discrimination
represented by huge payments to religious communities that preach abstinence
only.

This approach has evidence that contradicts any benefit. Worse, when an African
representative raised the issue of the onerous paperwork and a query as to
whether this process could be streamlined, the head of the PEPFAR delegation is
reported to have said that he thought it was a cultural issue. He noted that the
individual came from an oralâ culture while the U.S. is a written culture (and
made that little writing on the hand gesture as if he were requesting the check
at a restaurant).

Could he have been any more racist or insulting?? It was the equivalent of
Natsios stating that it was pointless to give Africans
antivirals because they can't tell time.

George M. Carter
e-mail: <fiar@...>

Vacancy open: Executive Director, UNAIDS
Geneva, Switzerland

UNAIDS is seeking an Executive Director with vision and strategic
thinking, global experience, management strengths, solid experience
with the epidemic and proven ability to forge partnerships.

UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, brings
together the efforts and resources of ten UN system organizations
into one coordinated UN strategy in the global AIDS response.

Competencies sought by the UNAIDS Executive Director

Vision and strategic thinking, global experience, management
strengths, solid experience with the epidemic and proven ability to
forge partnerships. Candidates for this post should have the
following competencies and experience:

Leadership and strategic management -

Extensive experience – ideally more than ten years – of successful
management and leadership in complex public, private or international
organization(s);

Proven leadership, vision and strategic thinking, with clear
results in development at international or national level;

Clear vision on the current and future response to AIDS;

Political and cultural sensitivity, communication and external
representation skills, with the proven ability to relate and work
effectively and strategically with partners at all levels;

Strategic thinking on ownership and engagement of partners and
stakeholders on development issues;

Understanding of governance processes at the international or
national level;

Competence in the management of staff, teams, finances and processes
within international organizations, public or private sectors, NGOs
or private foundations;

Commitment to implementing the core principles of the Joint
Programme as articulated most recently through the 2006 UN General
Assembly Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, the 2007-2010 Strategic
Framework for UNAIDS Support to countries' efforts to move towards
universal access, and the 2008- 2009 Unified Budget and Workplan;

Vision, understanding and strategic thinking on the challenges and
opportunities that face UNAIDS;

Commitment to promote involvement of people living with, or
affected by, HIV;

Proven ability to identify and nurture talent, to encourage
diversity and foster team building;

Excellent inter-personal skills, cultural and gender sensitivity
and respect; and

Ability to manage change and innovation.

International experience with Health and Development -

Experience in working on global issues;

Excellent understanding of working in developing countries,
including implementation challenges;

Experience and knowledge related to public health and HIV/AIDS at
the international and national level;

Experience and knowledge of international development and public
policy processes;

Experience working with a multisectoral response, such as
international organizations, governments, NGOs, civil society and the
private sector;

Knowledge and appreciation of vulnerable groups and those affected
by the epidemic;

Proven experience of embracing a multisectoral response to AIDS;

Proven track record and commitment to the core values of UNAIDS
including promoting human rights, gender equality and GIPA principles.

Languages: Preferably, fluency in one working language (French,
English) of UNAIDS and another working or official language of the
United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Spanish); and ideally,
knowledge of an additional UN official language.

Conditions of employment: salary and benefits package, commensurate
with the level of a Chief Executive of a UN System organization.

Location is Geneva, Switzerland.

Applications should be in one of the working languages of the
Organization (English or French).

Applications and nominations should consist of a detailed CV and a
written statement describing the applicant's vision and suitability
for and interest in this position.

Applications should be submitted electronically to:
applicants@...

The deadline for applications is: 15 August 2008.

http://data.unaids.org/pub/BaseDocument/2008/20080630_exd_competencies_en.pdf