INVITATION  AIDS ASIA e FORUM.

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[AIDS ASIA eFORUM] is an e- forum committed to the development of an Asian
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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
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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,
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Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, North Korea,
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Please review the archived messages on the following url

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

Are we honest about HIV & AIDS response?

Asian People's Alliance for Combating HIV&AIDS (APACHA) Statement on
World AIDS Day, December 1, 2008

Asia is facing an unprecedented challenge of HIV&AIDS, with possibly
huge economic and social consequences. Despite series of claims and
commitments of the governments, donors and civil society in seriously
pursuing the epidemic, large number of people continue to face crisis
of existence.

The debilitating human rights condition, increasing democratic
deficit, unabated conflicts and increasing religious fundamentalism
in most of the countries of Asia, pose great challenges to address
the causes and consequences of HIV&AIDS.

To add, increasing inequalities, mass exodus and exacerbating
violence, particularly against women make the issue of HIV&AIDS
more complex.

Families, particularly poor families, with HIV cases have started to
face serious and multiple crises. They have not been able to meet
treatment costs and are compelled to sell their land and properties
hence trapped into the vicious circle of poverty and illness.

Children are compelled to drop out from schools. Stigma and
discrimination on the other hand is challenging people's right to
lead a dignified life. Women and children are under the hardest hit.

Weak Public Health Care systems in the region do not have capacity to
bear the burden of the disease. Governments are still reluctant to
allocate sufficient budgets in this sector. Most of the ongoing
programs are donor funded which constraints the liberty of national
institutions as well as this trend puts them under the fear
psychosis. In the mean time, most of the ongoing programs in the
region are not sustainable.

Governance is another serious area which needs immediate attention.

Money is not reaching the communities and this raises BIG and ethical
questions– Are there quality funding mechanisms? Are there effective
monitoring and evaluation systems? Are there enough and transparent
governance mechanisms at global to local levels?

It is true that global economy and globalization strategies,
structures and processes have directly and indirectly affected the
governance structures both at the global and the national levels.

Moreover, they operate through the networks of power which are
created to sustain the interests of the ruling class élites
consequently people at the bottom of society have been systematically
marginalized, excluded and treated badly.

In the specific context to Asia, the Asian civil society has a long
history of struggles for rights, justice and democracy. There are
also powerful political and social movements and campaigns going on
in the region.

However, political interests being the driving force, issues which do
not carry considerable political weight fail to arouse much interest
to Asian civil society and the politics. Issues that fester marginal
population having little political significance barely receive their
attention.

Both the civil society and the ongoing social movements in the region
are still reluctant to talk about HIV and AIDS. Time has come for
Asia to see democracy from the perspectives of the margin.

In June 2001, 189 Heads of State and government representatives
signed the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV& AIDS.
They promised to fight stigma and discrimination, promote prevention,
mobilize resources, advocate universal access to treatment and
promote accountability. At a time of economic crisis, this should not
be an excuse to reverse their promises.

Asian People's Alliance for Combating HIV & AIDS (APACHA) calls upon
all the key stakeholders of HIV response to carefully monitor the
implications of current Global Economic crisis and the worsened food
sovereignty crisis.

The global HIV leadership must carefully monitor the situation and
efforts should be taken to protect the poorest among the population
group who are vulnerable to HIV infection and made vulnerable by HIV
& AIDS.

We call upon The Governments to "Keep the Promise!" Financial crisis
should not be an excuse to turn away from the promises they have made.

At a time when the global HIV&AIDS programs are witnessing potential
funding gap we call upon the donors and the governments to fulfill
their commitments.

Similarly we call governments to immediately introduce humanitarian
relief programs for PLHA in poor families in Asia.

We call for just and democratic governance in all HIV&AIDS related
interventions from global to local levels.

Time has come for the leaders and citizens of Asia and the world to
honestly link what they preach with what they do.

APACHA calls for a wider collaboration of the governments, donors, UN
agencies, civil societies, social and political movement groups to
come together and take immediate action to respect human dignity and
save millions of lives on face of HIV&AIDS.

Besides series of commitments- the question remains- Are WE Honest
about It?


Issued from the International Secretariat of Asian People's Alliance
for Combating HIV&AIDS (APACHA)

APACHA, is the largest Asian multi-sectoral civil society formation
that brings together people affected and infected by HIV&AIDS, social
movements, trade unions, women's rights movements, youth movements,
faith based organizations, policy makers, and other progressive
peoples' associations who share a commitment to combat the causes and
consequences of HIV&AIDS.

APACHA has country chapters in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Vietnam,
with its International Secretariat in Nepal.

Media Contact: Prabodh Devkota

Asia Coordinator
secretariat.asia@...

www.apachanet.org

http://www.apachanet.org/knowledge/apacha/meeting.php

AIDS Day launched

By Lindsay Beck December 1, 2004 - 3:17PM

The world marked AIDS Day today, promising to eradicate ignorance and
prejudice about a disease that was at first dismissed by many as a
western evil confined to drug users, homosexuals and prostitutes.

China, criticised for its slow initial response to HIV/AIDS, put on a
public display of commitment to fighting a disease which the United
Nations fears could infect 10 million Chinese by 2010.

In the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, sex workers got AIDS day off
to an early start by tying red ribbons to the uniforms of policemen
yesterday to spread awareness.

China's battle against the spread of HIV had been hampered by
politics, but yesterday, President Hu Jintao shook hands with an AIDS
patient and Premier Wen Jiabao called for "unremitting efforts"
against the epidemic.

A picture of Hu wearing a red silk ribbon on his chest as he met the
patient at a Beijing hospital was splashed on the front pages of
major newspapers. He was accompanied by Vice Premier Wu Yi and
Beijing's Communist Party boss Liu Qi.

"During the visit to the Beijing You'an Hospital, Hu also urged the
whole society to phase out discrimination and estrangement towards
AIDS patients," the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Across the world, activists and governments were due to mark the day
with events drawing attention to the disease and promoting its
eradication.

Wen said China had made "remarkable progress" in HIV/AIDS prevention
and control, but acknowledged that the country "still faces a stark
situation in this field", according to Xinhua.

He urged governments at all levels to give priority to the issue
by "utilising all sorts of resources and conscientiously implementing
all prevention and control policies and measures".

Local Chinese officials have a mixed track record of acting on
national directives.

China is ranked alongside India and Russia as countries outside
Africa which are most at risk from AIDS.

Khalid Malik, resident representative of the UN Development Program
in Beijing, praised Chinese leaders today for their new-found zeal.
"With Chinese top leaders' strong commitment, laws and regulations
have been revised, free treatment is being provided to AIDS patients
in poverty and in rural areas and overall awareness of AIDS is being
raised through health education," Malik said in a statement to be
delivered later.

"This year's World AIDS Day is an occasion to recognise the burden
that women and girls bear in the age of HIV/AIDs but equally to
celebrate their achievements in the fight against the epidemic," he
quoted U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as saying.

Antonio Costa, executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime, said: "The world can no longer afford to ignore the enormity
of the HIV epidemic.

"The time has come to strike back at a killer that is transmitted by
drug use and sex, as well as by ignorance and denial," he said in
Beijing.

China estimates it has 840,000 people with HIV or AIDS, but some
experts say there may be that many alone in the central province of
Henan, where a blood-selling scandal in the mid-1990s led to
thousands of infections.

In India's Ahmedabad, members of voluntary groups working among AIDS
patients planned to tie ribbons made by HIV-positive women to people
to spread awareness against the deadly disease.

"Women will be at the centre of campaign this year. If they are
educated and prevented from contracting the diseases, it minimises
the risk in a family," said Laxman Malodia, an anti-AIDS activist.

India has over 5.1 million people infected with HIV, the second-
largest number after South Africa.

A joint assessment prepared by a UN team and experts from China's
State Council, or cabinet, said China was making progress with
actions such as promoting condoms, providing some free anti-
retroviral therapy and nearly doubling it budget for AIDS to 810
million yuan ($A127 million) for 2004.

But the report also said China's key challenge was implementing such
policies in the country's far-flung and often impoverished provinces.
- Reuters

http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/AIDS-Day-launched/2004/12/01/1101577539179.h\
tml

HIV prevention and care efforts must address women's vulnerability

Colombo, Dec 1: Existing AIDS prevention and care efforts need to be
substantially reoriented and the gender-empowerment efforts
intensified to address the increasing vulnerability of women to HIV
and reduce its disproportionate impact on them, suggests a new
publication from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Launched here today on World AIDS Day, the publication titled "Women
and HIV in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Development Practitioner's
Guide" suggests investment in gender-transformative interventions;
creation of an enabling environment; and large-scale involvement of
women, men and boys in areas ranging from prevention and treatment,
to gender-based violence and discrimination are essential for
addressing the vulnerability of women to HIV.

The issues covered by the Guide include women, HIV and prevention,
treatment, care, education, gender- based violence, reproductive and
sexual rights, inheritance and property rights, economic empowerment
and highly vulnerable populations.

  "The increasing HIV infection rates among women and the
disproportionate socio-economic impact of the epidemic that women
bear are two daunting human development challenges that call for
urgent attention in the Asia Pacific region," said Dr. Ajay Chhibber,
UN Assistant Secretary General and Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for
Asia and the Pacific.  Although the region has recorded some
impressive breakthroughs in HIV-prevention and care, it is extremely
disturbing that a large number of women – an estimated 50 million,
according to the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia - are at
risk of infection.  "This is an extraordinary challenge and we need
to break new ground," he added.

"Reducing the vulnerability of women to HIV and mitigating its impact
is crucial to limiting the spread of the epidemic as well as in
advancing the gender-empowerment agenda,"  Dr. Chhibber said. UNDP is
strongly committed to addressing the gender inequalities driving the
epidemic and is working closely with UNAIDS, UN agencies, civil
society partners, governments and most importantly, women living with
HIV. "This report, prepared through a long consultative process, is
aimed to guide development practitioners on how to address the
special vulnerabilities of women to HIV and to play a catalytic role
for intensified action," he added.

Dr. J.V.R. Prasada Rao, Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team for
Asia and the Pacific, said "the complexity of the situation is such
that many young women have been infected by long term partners and
spouses with whom they had little or no control to negotiate safe sex
and prevent their exposure to the virus.  Preventing spousal
transmission, or HIV in marriage, is a key priority for UNAIDS and
its cosponsors, he said.

Based on the recommendations of the Commission on AIDS in Asia,
efforts to mitigate the impact of HIV on women such as the removal of
obstacles to their access to inheritance and property rights, income
support to women in AIDS-affected households and extension of social
security schemes should be costed and funded under the  national
strategic plans,  said Dr. Rao.

"The purpose of this Guide is to stimulate thinking on the issues and
to act as a catalyst for further dialogue, consultation and context-
specific policy and programme development," said Ms. Caitlin Wiesen,
Regional HIV/AIDS Practice Leader, UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo.
The Guide covers specific ways in which gender imbalances and gender-
related injustices fuel the epidemic. It offers evidence-based
suggestions for policy and programmatic direction, and examples of
promising practices from around the region to inspire thinking and
trigger more effective HIV responses on the ground, she
added.  "There is no single magic bullet to this problem. We need a
multipronged strategy involving all development partners and
practitioners," she said, adding "the Guide offers various entry
points for the practitioners for effective engagement."

The Guide has been prepared jointly by UNDP Regional HIV and
Development Programme for Asia Pacific and the International Centre
for Research on Women (ICRW) in close partnership with UNAIDS and
UNIFEM, and with contributions from many institutions and
individuals. Numerous background papers, studies, guidance notes and
reports covering the work of gender, women and HIV in the region and
beyond, have informed this publication. It most significantly draws
on the Report of the Commission on AIDS in Asia "Redefining AIDS in
Asia", the UNAIDS guidance note on working with most at risk
populations and Global UNAIDS policy guidelines on gender.

Extensive consultations were held with other UN agencies including:
UNODC on working with injecting drug users, UNFPA on sex work, UNICEF
on care and support to orphans and vulnerable children and prevention
of parent to child transmission, and UNAIDS on information and
knowledge sharing, advocacy, and monitoring and evaluation. UNDP has
also worked in close collaboration with UNIFEM SARO on the
finalization of this guide.

For a copy of the report  and for more information, please contact:
Revati Chawla (revati.chawla@...) or Tiruni Yasaratne
(tiruni.yasaratne@...) at the UNDP Regional Centre in Colombo

'Mobile men with money': the socio-cultural and politico-economic
context of 'high-risk' behaviour among wealthy businessmen and
government officials in urban China

China's transition from an injection drug-driven HIV epidemic to one
primarily transmitted through sexual contact has triggered concern
over the potential for HIV to move into the non-drug-injecting
population.

Much discussion has focused on the migrant men of China's
vast 'floating population' who are considered a high-risk group. As a
result, many men who frequently engage in high-risk behaviour but are
not included in this especially vulnerable group are evading HIV
prevention messages.

This paper highlights the socio-cultural and politico-economic
factors that motivate many of China's wealthy businessmen and
government officials, sometimes referred to as 'mobile men with
money', to engage in such behaviour.

Examination of the activities related to the work of these men
reveals a situation where the confluence of a market-oriented economy
operating within a socialist-style political system under the
influence of traditional networking practices has engendered a unique
mode of patron-clientelism that brings them together over shared
social rituals including feasting, drinking and female-centered
entertainment that is often coupled with sexual services.

As a result, consideration of the socio-cultural factors influencing
these men's sexual practices is important for responding to the newly
emerging stage of China's HIV epidemic.

Author: Elanah Uretsky
Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, USA
DOI: 10.1080/13691050802380966
Publication Frequency: 8 issues per year
Published in:  Culture, Health & Sexuality, Volume 10, Issue 8
November 2008 , pages 801 - 814

Papuans with HIV/AIDS to get microchips

Angel Flassy ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Papua   |  Sat, 11/22/2008 9:00

Amid protests from Papuans and NGOs, the Papua provincial legislative
council is set to pass a bylaw on HIV/AIDS that includes a
controversial article requiring certain people living with the
disease to be implanted with a microchip.

"If the draft bylaw is passed, it will violate the rights of people
living with HIV/AIDS because they will be implanted with microchips,"
said Constan Karma, executive director of the Papua AIDS Commission
(KPAD).

Councilor John Manangsang said the microchips would only be implanted
in people living with HIV/AIDS who were deemed to be "aggressive".
"Aggressive means actively seeking sexual intercourse. This is one
way to protect healthy people," he said.

"Do not misunderstand human rights; if we respect the rights of the
people living with HIV/AIDS, then we must also respect the rights of
healthy people."

He said the public should judge the bylaw draft as a whole rather
than by is constituent articles.

"The draft, for example, requires everyone to take HIV/AIDS tests so
that preventative measures can be taken early on," he said.

"I am a doctor, saving lives is my profession. If we want to save the
only limited number of Papuans, we have to take real action because
47 percent of (the country's) HIV/AIDS (cases) are in Papua."

The 40-article-long bylaw also stipulates that the KPAD executive
director should be a physician who understands epidemiology, the
roles of religious institutions and audit the accreditation of NGOs
working in the field of HIV/AIDS.

A liaison officer of the West Papua chapter of Save Papua, Gunawan,
said he disagreed with the bylaw.

"People with HIV/AIDS do not always have sex, especially those with
AIDS. They can no longer perform sexual intercourse," he said,
perhaps referring to the moral obligation of people living with
HIV/AIDS to not risk spreading the disease.

"And how do you measure aggressiveness?" he added.

Indonesia would be the worst human rights violator if people living
with HIV/AIDS in the country were implanted with microchips, Gunawan
said.

"Let's see how the Papuans respond to the bylaw. It will suffer the
same fate as the pornography law," he said.

Enita T. Rouw, coordinator of the Papua branch of the Indonesian
Network of People Infected with HIV, said incidences of
discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS had declined.

"However, the stigmatization is still there," she said. "So please
don't use microchips. We're humans, not animals."

The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Papua is increasing,
with 319 new cases reported so far this year as of October, taking
the total to 4,114 reported cases, Constan said earlier this month.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/22/papuans-with-hivaids-get-microchip\
s.html

Request for Proposals: Announcement HIV CF South Asia, 4th Grant Cycle

Dear Friends,

The HIV Collaborative Fund for South Asia is now requesting proposals for the
2009-2010 cycle of funding from organisations seeking support for
community-based HIV treatments advocacy and education programs. Funding is
geographically limited to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Any nongovernmental organisation from these countries working on HIV treatments
education and advocacy and related issues is invited to apply for a grant.
Grants are provided for up to one year, with a minimum amount of 5,000 US
dollars and a maximum amount of 10 000 US dollars for individual organisations.
The total grant program amount to be distributed is 200 000 US dollars.

The overall objective of this program is to improve access to HIV treatment for
those who need it through treatment literacy and advocacy.

The priority objectives for projects are:

*Treatment advocacy including advocacy for treatment for vulnerable populations
(Injecting Drug Users, Men who have Sex with Men, Transgenders, Sex workers,
Women and Children)

*Treatment education – for PLHIV and service providers

*Establishing and strengthening of new or less-established PLHIV groups and
networks including needs assessments in order for them to improve treatment
access.

*Overcoming stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS and/or
vulnerable populations as related to treatment access
 
The inclusion of people living with HIV and/or of people at risk of HIV
infection in project development and implementation is an essential criterion
for funding.

In South Asia, the group managing the process is the South Asian Regional
Advisory Committee (RAC). Country Review Panels will review applications at the
country level assisted by a regional Technical Review Panel.

The project can last for up to one year starting 20 May 2009, but shorter
projects will also be considered. If you are interested in the Collaborative
Fund, you will need to consider the following documents:

CFSA Request for Proposals – Announcement
CFSA Request for Proposals – Proposal Form
CFSA Proposal Budget Template
CFSA Request for Proposals – Application Guide
 
If you would like to receive these documents, please send an e-mail to the
Technical Review Panel (TRP) member in YOUR country:
 
Bangladesh: Shale Ahmed: shale@... 
India: Dr Tokugha: Tokuyepthomi@...
Nepal: Ekta Mahat: ektamahat@...
 
For applications from Sri Lanka and Pakistan:
Send them to: Loon Gangte: loon_gangte@...
 
Since the Collaborative Fund began its work in South Asia in 2005, it has now
supported 57 grantees in 5 countries with a total of almost USD 530,000 in
grants in 3 rounds.

About the HIV Collaborative Fund: www.hivcollaborativefund.org
About ITPC: www.itpcglobal.org

About the Tides Network: www.tides.org

We are looking forward to hearing from you. Please contact me if you need any
further information or clarifications.
 
Loon Gangte
Regional Coordinator
ITPC-HIV Collaborative Fund
South Asia
loon_gangte@...

Dear Forum Members,

You are cordially invited to participate at AIDS Society of India  Conference -
ASICON 2009  scheduled between 27th February to 1st March2009 , at  Birla
Conference Centre, Jaipur, India. We assure you standard quality scientific
sessions of interactive type.

You may please submit your abstract to Dr. I.S.Gilada, Secretary General of AIDS
Society of India on his email gilada@... and contact him for further
information regarding registration, accommodation and junior scholarship.

Pleaase visit the following web link for additional details

http://www.aidssocietyofindia.com/

Looking forward to see you in Jaipur.

Sincerely,

Dr. J.K.Maniar,
President, AIDS Society of India
e-mail: <jkmaniar@...>

Interpol Seizes $6.65 Million in Counterfeit Drugs (Update2)
By Simeon Bennett

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Interpol seized more than $6.65 million of
counterfeit medicines against malaria, HIV and tuberculosis in
Southeast Asia and made 27 arrests, disrupting the region's fake drug
trade for the second time in three years.

The haul, part of a five-month investigation called Operation Storm
across Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam, involved almost 200 raids, Aline Plancon, an officer
involved in the action, said today by e-mail from Phnom Penh,
Cambodia.

Global sales of fake drugs may reach $75 billion in 2010, an increase
of more than 90 percent from 2005, the Geneva-based World Health
Organization said on its Web site, citing the New York-based Center
for Medicine in the Public Interest.

Under Operation Storm, which ran from April 15 to Sept. 15, police
seized more than 16 million pills, including fake antibiotics for
pneumonia and child-related illnesses, Plancon said.

Asia is the world's biggest producer of all counterfeit products, the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a
report last year. About 40 percent of 1,047 arrests related to fake
drugs worldwide last year were made in Asia, according to the
Washington-based Pharmaceutical Security Institute.

Counterfeits account for as much as 30 percent of all drugs in
developing nations and less than 1 percent of all medicines in
developed nations such as the U.S., according to the WHO.

Malaria Drugs

Of particular concern to health officials are copies of a class of
malaria drugs called artemisinins that are the basis of the most
effective treatments against the disease, including Novartis AG's
Coartem.

Counterfeit artemisinin-based treatments containing small amounts of
the medicine are helping the parasite responsible for malaria to
evade authentic drugs in patients near Cambodia's border with
Thailand, a recent study showed.

As a result, genuine artemisinin-based treatments are starting to
fail, raising the risk the resistant parasite will spread, leaving
millions of people defenseless against a disease that already kills
about 2,400 people every day.

Operation Storm was a joint effort between Lyon, France- based
Interpol, the WHO and the World Customs Organization. It's the first
time police, customs, drug regulators and health authorities from
different nations have worked together to combat counterfeit
medicines, Plancon said.

It followed Operation Jupiter, which led to drug seizures and arrests
in China and Myanmar.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at
sbennett9@....

Last Updated: November 17, 2008 03:34 EST

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?
pid=20601080&sid=ajuZjQ3DmPwU&refer=asia

Nepal's highest court confirms full rights for LGBT people

By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.uk • November 17, 2008 - 14:43
 
A Nepali MP has said his "eyes were filled with tears" when he read the full
written decision of the country's Supreme Court on a writ petition from four
organisations representing lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people.

A summary decision was issued in December 2007, when the court issued directive
orders to the Nepal government to ensure the right to life according to their
own identities and introduce laws providing equal rights to LGBTIs and amend all
the discriminatory laws.

The final judgement was issued today.

It reiterates that all LGBTIs are defined as a "natural person" and their
physical growth as well as sexual orientation, gender identity, expression are
all part of natural growing process. Thus equal rights, identity and expression
must be ensured regardless of their sex at birth.

The writ petition was filed by Blue Diamond Society and other 3 LGBTI
organisations in Nepal demanding the protection and defence of the equal rights
of sexual and gender minorities.

"Reading this decision my eyes were filled with tears and I felt we are the most
proud LGBTI citizens of Nepal in the world," said Sunit Pant, Nepal's only gay
MP.

"A legal note of point has been raised for the new constitution of Nepal while
ensuring the equal rights to individuals, like the bill of tights from South
Africa, and non-discrimination provisions on the grounds of sexual orientations
and gender identities must be introduced."

The Court has also issued a directive order to form a seven-member committee,
with a doctor appointed by Health Ministry, one representative from National
Human rights commission, the Law Ministry, one socialist appointed by government
of Nepal, a representative from the Nepal police, a representative from Ministry
of Population and Environment and one advocate as a representative from the
LGBTI community, to conduct a study into the other countries' practice on
same-sex marriage.

Based on its recommendation the government will introduce a same-sex marriage
bill.

Mr Pant, founder of Blue Diamond Society, was named in May as one of five
representatives of the Communist Party of Nepal-United in the 601 member new
constituent assembly.

The Maoists are the largest party with 220 seats.

Maoist insurgents, who fought a ten-year guerrilla war against monarchist forces
at a cost of over 12,000 lives, finally signed a peace agreement with the new
democratic government in November 2006.
LGBT people joined the Maoist rebels and others to protest in a democracy
movement against the king, demanding a freely elected, secular government.

King Gyanendra eventually relinquished sovereign power to the civilian
government and elections were finally held for a new assembly on 10th April.

Gays and lesbians in the Himalayan kingdom previously suffered persistent
persecution from security forces during the absolutist rule of King Gyanendra.
The harassment of lesbian, gay and trans people continued at the hands of Maoist
rebels.

The assembly will draft a new constitution, decide the fate of the monarchy and
govern Nepal for the next two years.

Mr Pant is a hero to many gay activists across the world. On a visit to India
last week he said:

“We have moved from being a marginalised and persecuted lot who were thrown out
of homes, schools and jobs to people who have human rights and are now protected
by the police, the same people who once harassed us.

"In Nepal, the LGBTI communities were part of the campaign for garnering votes
for the Communist Party of Nepal.

"They approached me to campaign and I managed to secure 15,500 votes.

It makes a statement that LGBTI people are interested in matters of politics and
governance and not just sex.

"The campaign not only gave LGBTI issues visibility but a platform to negotiate
for rights.

"It is one thing to clean up the city and stop transgenders from begging but one
must provide them with alternative means of living.
"India is a very big country and a single strategy may not work. However, I’m
sure it won’t be long before a political party will tap the LGBTI vote
bank¯there are millions of untapped votes.”

In May 2007 the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission gave its
Celebration of Courage award to Mr Pant.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9597.html

INDIAN OCEAN: Climbing HIV figures show a changing picture

The Indian Ocean region has been much less affected by HIV/AIDS than
countries in neighbouring Africa

PORT LOUIS, 14 November 2008 (PlusNews) - Over 500 people from
Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion Island, the Comoros and Seychelles
attended the seventh conference on AIDS in Indian Ocean, and shared
their growing concern over the impact of AIDS in their respective
countries.

The Indian Ocean region has been much less affected by the HIV/AIDS
epidemic than countries in neighbouring Africa, but this could be
changing, delegates at the conference in Mauritius from 10 to 12
November heard.

The main problem shared by all five the island nations was stigma
towards people living with the virus; otherwise, although the islands
are not far from each other, their problems are different.

In Comoros - a three-island archipelago with a population of 700,000 -
UNAIDS estimated that in 2007 fewer than 200 people were living with
HIV. Although Comoros has low HIV prevalence, it faces considerable
poverty, low condom use, poor levels of HIV knowledge and a high
incidence of sexually transmitted infections.

Madagascar, the biggest island in the Indian Ocean and also one of
the poorest countries in the region, still has a low prevalence of
0.1 percent, with 14,000 people living with HIV at the end of 2007,
according to UNAIDS.

However, limited access to health and social services, multiple and
concurrent partnerships, and high rates of sexually transmitted
infections mean the Malagasy are becoming increasingly vulnerable to
HIV.

Mauritian Prime Minister Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam told delegates
that the island now has a prevalence rate of 1.8 percent, and called
for greater vigilance in curbing the spread of the epidemic.

Although the country has been providing free antiretroviral (ARV)
drugs since 2002, it has experienced an explosive growth in new HIV
infections, with a shift in the main mode of HIV transmission from
heterosexual sex to injecting drug use. In 2000 only 2 percent of
people living with HIV were injecting drug users; in 2006 this had
shot up to 85.9 percent.

The government has introduced a needle exchange programme to provide
injecting drugs users with clean equipment to prevent the spread of
infections, but the move was heavily criticised.

Dr Willy Rozenbaum, head of the French National AIDS Council and a
member of the team that first discovered the virus, hailed the
Mauritian Government for having taken this decision.

"We can eradicate this disease in 50 years with the facilities and
knowledge that we have at present. We do not need to invent new
things if we strictly apply what we have now. There must be strong
political commitment to this, and to stopping stigmatisation, which
is often more painful than the disease itself."

In the Seychelles archipelago, a lack of facilities and social care
were the main issues.

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81459

Criminalization of HIV transmission and exposure

HIV is a virus not a crime

The criminal law is a blunt instrument for HIV prevention. Yet from the UK to
the USA, Mali to Mozambique, Azerbaijan to Australia, criminal laws are
increasingly being used to prosecute HIV
transmission or exposure.

This undermines human rights and jeopardizes hard won gains in the
global response to HIV.

As we approach World AIDS Day, a new publication – Verdict on a
Virus: Public Health, Human Rights and Criminal Law – shows that a
simplistic `law-and-order' response to HIV and the way in which
individual court cases are reported in the media only serves to
intensify a climate of denial, secrecy and fear.

This creates a fertile breeding ground for the continued and rapid
spread of HIV.

While the United Kingdom provides global leadership on many HIV
related issues, it has not provided a shining example in relation to
criminalization.

The media coverage of HIV criminal prosecutions in the UK has
generated headlines such as "AIDS Assassin", undermining decades of
work to reduce the stigma associated with HIV.

A total of 16 prosecutions by the Crown Prosecution Service have
taken place in the UK since 2001 – disrupting lives and damaging
public health gains.

In fact, legal standards set by many European countries do not
provide models for imitation.

Since 2005 a wave of laws criminalizing HIV transmission has swept
across Africa. In Sierra Leone, for example, this approach led to the
approval of a law that explicitly criminalizes a mother living with
HIV who exposes her fetus to the virus.

In Egypt, merely living with HIV can lead to prosecution for crimes
of `debauchery'.

"For the foreseeable future we will never have an AIDS-free world,
but because of that we should find new ways to live and to love –
becoming wiser and richer. HIV must be embraced not feared!" - Dr
Nono Simelela of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in
London.

"Today one of the most pressing issues in the AIDS epidemic is the
use of criminal statutes and criminal prosecutions against HIV
transmission. Such laws are increasingly wide in their application
and frightening in their effects. HIV is a virus, not a crime. That
fact is elementary, and all-important. Too often law-makers and
prosecutors overlook it." - Edwin Cameron, Justice of the Supreme
Court, South Africa.

Verdict on a Virus was launched on November 13 2008 at the Foreign
Press Association, 11 Carlton House Terrace, London at 10.00am.

A pdf copy of the document Verdict on a Virus: Public Health, Human
Rights and Criminal Law – is available from the following web link

http://www.ippf.org/en/Resources/Guides-
toolkits/Verdict+on+a+virus.htm

Contact at IPPF: Paul Bell
+44 (0) 20 7939 8233 or
+44 (0) 7799 335533
e-mail: pbell@...

Masters of International Research Bioethics, 2009

We still have one or two  fully funded places for this program for students from
developing countries in the Asia Pacific region. We will only accept
applications from students with an IELTS of 7, or a previous degree from an
English speaking country.

Master of International Research Bioethics 2009
3 semesters full-time + 6 semesters part-time Study mode and course location
On-campus (Alfred Hospital, Melbourne)

Course description

This course, offered by the Department of Epidemiology and preventative
Medicine, is an interdisciplinary program covering comparative moral theory,
research bioethics in an international setting, quantitative and qualitative
research methodology, critical appraisal techniques and relevant law. Particular
emphasis is given to ethical issues associated with research in developing
countries in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Students will gain a strong theoretical framework, significant experience with
ethics committees and considerable involvement with local organisations
concerned with the development of bioethical policy and its implementation. This
course is currently funded by the Fogarty Institute of the US National
Institutes of Health.

Course objectives

The overall objectives for the course cover four main themes:

1. Basic moral theory, bioethics and the application of bioethical principles
and law to research in both domestic and international collaborative contexts
2. Quantitative and qualitative methodology for international health programme
planning and evaluation
3. Special issues in international health
4. Practical application of theory and knowledge Fees:

In recognition of the fact that people from both NGOs and from developing
countries may wish to undertake this program, we have a special fee policy for
this program.

Fees are AUS $19,785 for Australian students and AUS $22,650 for international
students.

In addition we have a small number of scholarships for people from the
Asia-“Pacific Region, which cover fees and provide a stipend.

Entrance to this course is dependent on IELTS band 7, with no band less than
6.5, or a degree obtained in an English speaking country.

www.med.monash.edu.au/epidemiology/pgrad

CONTACT

Dr Deborah Zion
e-mail: <deborah.zion@...>

`Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages: Evidence Review and Recommendations'

A brand new document `Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages: Evidence Review and Recommendations'  has been prepared and produced by IPPF, UNFPA, WHO, UNAIDS and the Cochrane Review Group at the University of California.

The importance of linking sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV is widely recognized. In order to gain a clear understanding of the effectiveness, optimal circumstances, and best practices for strengthening SRH and HIV linkages, IPPF, UNFPA, WHO and UNAIDS commissioned the Cochrane Review Group to conduct as systematic review of the literature.

Some of the review findings were as follows:

·         Linking SRH and HIV was considered beneficial and feasible, especially in family planning clinics, HIV counselling and testing centres, and HIV clinics

·        Despite diverse settings and clients, the majority of studies showed improvements in all outcomes measured, and only a few showed mixed results. Many studies reported an increase or improvement in:

o        access to and uptake of services, including HIV testing

o        health and behavioural outcomes

o        condom use

o        HIV and sexually transmitted infection knowledge

o        overall quality of service

·         Interventions which successfully implemented provider training resulted in improved provider knowledge and attitudes, leading to better SRH and HIV service provision.

The findings of the review also highlight the gaps that still remain and the work which still needs to be done to truly link SRH and HIV, such as:

·         Ensure that key SRH services (such as family planning, including preconception planning; maternal and child health; prevention and management of gender-based violence; and management of sexually transmitted infections) are integrated with other HIV services.

·         Direct research towards areas of integration that are currently understudied, notably integrating SRH services with HIV services for PLHIV, including clinical and psychosocial care, contraception and pre-conception planning if pregnancy is desired, gender-based violence reduction and linked services for men and boys.

Please feel free to use the findings of this study widely using the following citation:

Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Linkages: Evidence Review and Recommendations, prepared and published by IPPF, UCSF,  UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO, 2008

The document is available from the IPPF website at the following link: http://www.ippf.org/en/Resources/Reports-reviews/Linkages+Evidence+Review+and+Recommendations.htm

The forgotten victims of prostitution

By Jehane Sharah - posted Wednesday, 12 November 2008

The International Day of No Prostitution, held last month, came and
went with little fanfare. Unsurprisingly, it got almost no media
coverage. These days, prostitution is a given. Any debate that does
occur usually centres on the glamorisation of the sex industry or its
polar opposite, the seamy world of human trafficking.

While these conversations are important, there are victims of the
trade of prostitution who rarely get a mention: the partners of the
men who use them.

When a woman discovers that her partner has been using prostitutes,
she can experience trauma on a number of levels. Not only does she
have to deal with the grief and betrayal, but she also has to face
the possibility that she may have contracted a sexually transmitted
disease. Then there is the indignity of learning that the family
finances have been whittled away on her partner's sexual habit.

The psychological impact of discovering a partner is using a
prostitute can also be severe: a woman's confidence can be shattered
by such an experience and it is not uncommon for her to blame
herself. And she would not be alone in doing so. When such stories
emerge, some sections of society also like to point the finger at the
partners of "Johns".

Take the case of the former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who was
forced to resign after it was revealed he had a penchant for high-
class escorts.

In her column in the Canberra Times, Virginia Haussegger chastised
Spitzer's wife for standing by her man, only to then paint her as
complicit in the whole affair.

Haussegger wrote: "It is Silda who is the most humiliated party here.
Her husband's repeated expenditure on expensive prostitutes speaks
volumes about their marriage and their unfulfilling sex life as a
couple."

The implication was clear: Silda wasn't satisfying her man, so her
man strayed. Perhaps the ABC newsreader had an inside knowledge of
what goes on in the Spitzers' bedroom; although I would hazard a
guess that she was simply jumping to the sorts of conclusions that a
philandering man would want us to.

For all we know, Silda is a vixen between the sheets. Maybe her
husband just liked the power of paying for sex, or perhaps he wanted
to fornicate with someone young enough to be his daughter. We could
speculate on such unpleasant thoughts all day long, but we will never
know why he did what he did.

When so-called feminists such as Haussegger claim that women are
somehow to blame for their partners' infidelity, ultimately it sends
the message that the behaviour is acceptable.

Another member of the "sisterhood", British columnist Minette Marrin,
wrote in The Sunday Times that married men are justified in using
prostitutes, partly because they are generally more fun in bed:

Right up and down the scale, a man can rent a girl a great deal
better and more cooperative than the woman he lives with. She will be
probably be much more sexually experienced and more accomplished than
most wives too. In plain English, or so I am told by perfectly nice
men, prostitutes tend to be better at it.

Each year, sexual counsellor and Sydney University lecturer Brett
McCann sees between 20 and 30 couples because the woman has
discovered her partner pays for sex; making this a "common" problem.
He says it is misguided to blame anyone but the person who has
cheated.

"It's unfair. It's shifting the responsibility on to the wrong
person," he says.

There are several reasons why men visit prostitutes, according to
McCann. While dissatisfaction in a relationship is a possibility, it
can also stem from sexual compulsion, self-esteem problems, a man's
desire to pretend to be "someone else" or the simple fact that it
feels good and he can get away with it.

At least one study suggests that significantly more men, at least in
the UK, are now using prostitutes. A report in the British Medical
Journal in 2005 found that the proportion of British men paying for
sex nearly doubled from 5.6 to 9 per cent between 1990 and 2000.

Professor Sheila Jeffreys, an expert in sexual politics at the
University of Melbourne, says research suggests that society's
normalisation of prostitution, including its legalisation in
Australia, has led to an increase in its use.

"Prostitution behaviour in men is not natural. It is a learned
activity, learned through pornography and strip clubs. It is
immensely problematic for men's wives, daughters and [female]
colleagues," Jeffreys says.

Another common myth is that prostitutes can help save a marriage.

Marrin argues that it was better for Spitzer to cheat with escorts
than his wife's "best friends". Similarly, US academic and former sex
worker Jeannette Angell wrote in her book Callgirl: Confessions of a
Double Life that she would prefer her husband to be unfaithful with a
prostitute than someone he may become emotionally involved with.

Of course, some women may be perfectly happy for their partners to
use sex workers. Before entering politics, New South Wales MP Pru
Goward declared that her husband was welcome to if he ever became
bored (although she has since said she was joking). But in most
relationships, McCann says, monogamy is a central rule, making any
infidelity a breach of trust, regardless of who the third-party is.

While men have a tendency to separate sex from emotion, it is common
for them to experience guilt if they have been unfaithful. This tends
to create more problems in the relationship, even if his partner is
unaware of his activities.

"Generally, when men have sex outside the relationship, it creates a
border. When it becomes a routine thing, stopping them from feeling
the emotions of what they're doing, he may think `we're not close',
but it's his actions that are creating that wall," McCann says.

There are no specific support groups available to the wives or
girlfriends of men who use prostitutes, which is unfortunate because
some find it extremely difficult to talk about their experience.

Often the shame is too great.

"If women do disclose the fact [that their partner has been visiting
sex workers], they may fear that people will think badly of them. It
affects their identity," says McCann.

Discovering that your partner has been visiting bordellos is perhaps
no less painful than finding out he has been having an affair, but it
is quite a different matter to comprehend.

Society is used to infidelity to the point where it is often
romanticised - think Madame Bovary, Doctor Zhivago and Anna Karenina.

However, these and other famous fictional affairs involve various
degrees of passion and love.

For a woman in a seemingly intimate, caring and sexually satisfying
relationship, the discovery that her partner has a double life which
involves sex as a commercial transaction can come as a major shock.

Indeed, according to McCann, in many cases, both partners report that
they shared a "great" sex life.

McCann says that if a woman discovers her partner has been involved
in this type of behaviour, she should confront him about it (so long
as she is at no risk of violence) because otherwise it will eat away
at her. If there is still hope for the relationship, he recommends
professional couples counselling to re-establish the rules.

Otherwise, the woman may need to seek help individually.

Men who use prostitutes, and whose partners are still in the dark,
should make an appointment with a sex therapist, to work on enhancing
their relationship and dealing with their problem.

"And it is a sexual problem," McCann says.

So next time a former call girl publishes her diaries or a high
profile figure gets caught in bed with an escort (and there will be a
next time), spare a thought for the many women whose hearts have been
broken and lives changed forever as a result.

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=8147&page=0

Condom Week sets sights on youths

Agnes Winarti ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 11/05/2008
10:35 AM  |  City

National Condom Week, set to kick off in early December, will target
youths at universities, shopping centers and popular hangouts,
including caf*s, the campaign's organizer announced Monday.
In the run-up to the event, the National AIDS Commission, in
cooperation with other organizations, has opened competitions for
journalists to promote condom use and for university students to
design proposals for condom-use campaigns.

The journalists' competition will accept submissions from Nov. 3 to
Dec. 3, while the design competition, called the University
Challenge, will be open from Nov. 1 to 28.

The top three designers in the University Challenge will be awarded
money to carry out their campaign plans at their respective campuses
from Dec. 1 to 7.

Commission secretary Nafsiah Mboi emphasized the importance of
engaging the younger generation in the second National Condom Week to
be held in the country.

"Over 50 percent of our youths below the age of 30 are already
infected with sexually transmitted diseases," she said.

Some 2.3 million abortions were reported nationwide last year, with
no figure available for illegal or non-medical abortions, Health
Ministry data shows. National Family Planning Coordinating Board
(BKKBN) secretary Sudibyo Alimoeso said about a million of the
officially recorded abortions were done by teens.

Nafsiah called on all those under the age of 40 to abstain from free
sex and drugs, to be loyal to one partner, and if they still chose to
have sex, to take precautions by using a condom.

Campaigns during National Condom Week will be held at campuses,
malls, office buildings and hangouts frequented by young people.

One of the highlights of the week will be a music event at Ancol's
Segara Beach in North Jakarta, featuring popular bands. Called "MTV
Staying Alive", the Dec. 6 concert will draw an expected crowd of
150,000.

The commission will also organize a condom campaign at the Redboxx
Caf* in Surabaya on Nov. 26 and the Hard Rock Caf* in Jakarta and
Bali on Dec. 5.

The awareness week will also present a conference on condom use in
Jakarta on Dec. 2. The commission is aiming to draw a young audience
to the conference.

The week will end with Award Night on Dec. 9. On the evening, the
commission will recognize citizens who have made significant
contributions to the safe-sex campaign.

As of June this year, 6,277 people were reported as having HIV
nationwide, while 12,686 were reported as having AIDS.

Nafsiah said 49.1 percent of the infections were caused by injection
drug use and 46.2 percent by sexual intercourse -- 42.1 percent of it
heterosexual and the remaining 4.1 percent homosexual.

Although one of the week's slogans highlights "Celebrating Condom
Use", the committee said National Condom Week would still promote
abstinence from premarital sex as the best way of avoiding unwanted
pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Condom use is
considered the third best method of this, behind abstinence and
monogamy.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/11/05/condom-week-sets-sights-
youths.html

Global financial crisis and it's implications for HIV response

"A careful monitoring of the situation is needed and efforts should
be taken to protect, particularly the poorest among the population
groups who are vulnerable to HIV infection and made vulnerable by HIV
and AIDS" (Asian People's Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS)


Asian People's Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (APACHA) Statement on the
Global financial crisis and it's implications for HIV response.

Currently, global markets are experiencing severe economic turmoil,
characterised by dented faith in global economic regulatory
institutions, severe credit crunch, and depletion of asset values.
Many fear that the current crisis may lead to a synchronized economic
recession in the major world economies in the near future. Such a
scenario has wide reaching implications on all aspects of modern
human society. However, it has severe implications on health and well-
being of economically and socially vulnerable sections of society,
particularly individuals and communities vulnerable to HIV and made
vulnerable by HIV infection.

Asian People's Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (APACHA) call all the key
stakeholders to focus attention on the global financial crisis and
it's implications for HIV response in general and specially on
economically and social weaker sections of the society who are
infected, affected and made vulnerable by HIV.

The health-financing models in many developing countries rely heavily
on direct state support and individuals own resources for health care
and related support services. Even a slight financial downturn in
such countries may have implications on health and well being of
already vulnerable populations.

There are limited data and models available to predict the
trajectories of such impact on HIV response in general.

APACHA is concerned that a severe global financial crisis may have
implications on all major aspect of HIV response such as reduced
resources for conducting information, education and communication for
(IEC) efforts for prevention, care, treatment and stigma reduction.
Essential HIV support services may be cut as the direct result of any
massive economic downturn, such as what is happening in Zimbabwe.
Resource limitations may dampen advocacy for greater community
participation and the creation of supportive social environment,
which is an essential component of an effective HIV response.

Efforts to implement good governance practice is an area which has
achieved the least progress in the overall HIV response. Good
governance- transparency and accountability- could be one of early
casualty of  economic downturn as agencies may be tempted to cut
corners with service delivery.

When calls are being made "to know your epidemic", resource  crunch
may  slow the  efforts to create and manage localised HIV knowledge
and capacity development

In this context, the role of civil society will be crucial. Civil
society must be extra vigilant to monitor the level of inequity in
HIV response and to ensure that the most vulnerable populations,
particularly, economically vulnerable populations groups are not
further stressed under the weight of a failed global economic system.

In many countries, the HIV response is depends largely on Overseas
Development Assistance (ODA). HIV care and treatment programs in
several countries are completely dependant on the generosity of
global community. Continuing access to affordable HIV  testing,
counselling, care and treatment needs to be ensured. Investment in
HIV related skill and capacity development is essential for
continuing an effective HIV response

The victims of the economic downturn should not be the programs for
blood safety, access to clean needle and syringe programs, programs
for reducing mother to child transmission of HIV, access to condoms
and diagnostics facilities.

The economic cost of implementing non-discriminatory policies, which
reduce stigmatization and human rights violations, must not be used
as an excuse to scale down such programs.

Civil society must ensure that structural reforms continue, such as
the decriminalization of consensual sex, protection of the basic
human rights, and promotion of universal access to health care.

Any economic bailout package of the currently flawed market economy
must ensure the best interest of the economically poorest segment of
society.  They should not have to pay the price for the worst of the
past unregulated economies and excesses of a few, which preceded the
current crisis.

The food crisis, which preceded the current economic crisis, has
already made a severe dent on the food and nutritional security of
people infected and affected by HIV, particularly from the
economically weaker sections of the society. Unfortunately, even
before the global HIV civil society grappled with the implications of
a global food crisis, the economic crisis has hit, making the
situation further worse.

In June 2001, 189 Heads of State and government representatives
signed the United Nations Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. They
promised to fight stigma and discrimination, promoting prevention,
mobilizing resources, advocating universal access to treatment and
promoting accountability. An economic crisis should not be an excuse
to reverse their promises.

Asian People's Alliance to Combat HIV/AIDS (APACHA) call up on all
the key stakeholders of HIV response to carefully monitor the
implications of current Global Economic crisis and the worsened food
sovereignty crisis. The global HIV leadership must carefully monitor
the situation and efforts should be taken to protect the poorest
among the population group who are vulnerable to HIV infection and
made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.

We call up on:

1. Governments to "Keep the Promise!" A financial crisis should not
be an excuse to turn away from the promises they have made.

2. UNAIDS to develop a global advocacy strategy to address the impact
of the financial crisis on HIV response, with particular emphasis on
poor, marginalised and vulnerable population groups.

3. Global Fund to ensure a preferential option for the poor in all of
their future grant making.

4. Civil society to be vigilant and monitor the impact of the
economic crisis on HIV responses, particularly on poor, marginalised
and vulnerable population groups.

____________ _________ _________ _______

APACHA, is the largest Asian multi-sectoral civil society formation
that brings together people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, and
made vulnerable to by HIV/AIDS, social movements, trade unions,
women's rights movements, youth movements, faith based organizations,
policy makers, and other progressive peoples' associations who share
a commitment to combat the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS.

APACHA has country chapters in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam, with it's global
secretariat in Nepal.

Media contact:

Mr. Prabodh Devakota,
APACHA International Secretariat
Madhur Marg, Chun Devi
House no 23
P O Box : 7647
Kathmandu, Nepal
Phone : 00977-1-4721277, 4721278, 4720926
Email:secretariat.asia@...

http://apachanet.org/

ASEAN teams up to combat HIV/AIDS
November 5, 2008 8:46 pm by pna

HANOI, Nov. 5 - Officials of the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS (ATFOA)
adopted a programme to unite the 10-member countries in combating the
deadly HIV/AIDS pandemic at the end of their 16th meeting in Hanoi on
Nov. 5.

At the meeting, ATFOA officials reviewed follow-up activities
undertaken by member countries after their 15th meeting, saying those
activities have helped their policymakers, experts and civil society
organizations share practical experiences from the fight against the
disease.

The participants conserved with representatives of international
organizations which have provided ASEAN member countries with
HIV/AIDS technical and financial assistance in order to better their
national responsive programmes.

Since its inception in 1992, ATFOA has undertaken a wide range of
activities, including setting up a regional information system and
conducting scientific research on the impacts of the pandemic on
socio-economic development in the region. (PNA/VNA)

http://news.balita.ph/2008/11/05/asean-teams-up-to-combat-hivaids/

BARACK OBAMA AND JOE BIDEN: FIGHTING HIV/AIDS WORLDWIDE

"We are all sick because of AIDS - and we are all tested by this crisis. It is a test not only of our willingness to respond, but of our ability to look past the artificial divisions and debates that have often shaped that response. When you go to places like Africa and you see this problem up close, you realize that it's not a question of either treatment or prevention – or even what kind of prevention – it is all of the above. It is not an issue of either science or values – it is both. Yes, there must be more money spent on this disease. But there must also be a change in hearts and minds, in cultures and attitudes. Neither philanthropist nor scientist, neither government nor church, can solve this problem on their own - AIDS must be an all-hands-on-deck effort." [Barack Obama, World AIDS Day Speech, Lake Forest, CA, 12/1/06]

BARACK OBAMAAND JOE BIDEN'S PLAN TO COMBAT GLOBAL HIV/AIDSHIV/AIDS

There are an estimated 33 million people across the planet living with HIV/AIDS, including more than 1 million people in the U.S. Nearly 6,000 people die every day of AIDS. Despite advances in knowledge about HIV and effective treatment options, the rate of HIV infections has not fallen, and, in fact, is rising dramatically in certain racial and ethnic groups. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that we must do more to fight the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, as well as malaria and tuberculosis. In 2006, Barack Obama traveled to Kenya and, along with his wife Michelle, took an HIV/AIDS test to encourage African men and women to be tested for the disease. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe in working across party lines to combat this epidemic. Barack Obama has worked in both the Illinois and U.S. Senate to increase awareness and to promote greater investment for HIV/AIDS in America and abroad. As president, he will continue to be a global leader in the fight against AIDS.

HIV/AIDS IN AMERICA

Implement a National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Barack Obama has pledged that, in the first year of his presidency, he will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities.

His strategy will include measurable goals, timelines and accountability mechanisms. Obama passed legislation in Illinois to require public service announcements promoting

HIV/AIDS screening. As president, Obama will continue to increase awareness of the disease.

Fix the Nation's Health Care System: Nearly 46 million Americans are uninsured in this country. Barack Obama is committed to signing universal health care legislation by the end of his first term in office that ensures all Americans have high-quality, affordable health care coverage. The Obama-Biden health plan will save a typical American family up to $2,500 every year on medical expenditures by providing affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage for every American; modernizing the U.S. health care system to contain spiraling health care costs and improve the quality of patient care; and promoting prevention and strengthening public health to prevent disease and protect against natural and man-made disasters. The Obama- Biden plan will ensure that people living with HIV have access to lifesaving treatment and care.

Bring Medicaid Coverage to Low-Income, HIV-Positive Americans: Obama is a cosponsor of the Early Treatment for HIV Act, which would help provide Medicaid coverage to more low-income, HIV-positive Americans. The bill would also increase the number of people who receive the medications necessary to treat HIV infections.

Fight Disparities in Minority Communities: HIV/AIDS has hit some communities harder than others. For example, while African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, they make up 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS cases. AIDS is the leading cause of death of African American women aged 25-34, and the third leading cause of death of African American men in the same age group. In 2005, 64 percent of women living with HIV/AIDS were black. In our nation's capital alone, African Americans account for 81 percent of new reports of HIV cases and about 86 percent of people with AIDS. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are committed to targeting resources to promote innovative HIV/AIDS testing initiatives in minority communities and partnering with a wide-range of community leaders from churches to community organizations. But we must also tackle the scourge of poverty where HIV and AIDS proliferate. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will continue to fight poverty and homelessness, key drivers of this epidemic.

We need to better target care for people in communities of color, where the disease is moving most quickly. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will tackle the root causes of health disparities by addressing differences in access to health insurance coverage and promoting prevention and public health, both of which play a major role in addressing disparities.

They will also challenge the medical system to eliminate inequities in health care through quality measurement and reporting, implementation of effective interventions such as patient navigation programs and diversification of the health workforce.

Improve Quality of Life for Those Living with HIV/AIDS: Barack Obama is a strong supporter of the Ryan White Care Act (RWCA), which provides critical access to life-saving treatment and care for over half a million low-income Americans with HIV/AIDS. The RWCA is one of the largest sources of federal funds for primary health care and support services for patients with HIV/AIDS. The bill was named after Ryan White, an Indiana teenager whose courageous struggle with HIV/AIDS helped educate the nation.

Throughout the recent reauthorization of the RWCA, Obama worked closely with RWCA service providers, the Chicago Department of Public Health, and the Illinois Department of Public Health to analyze and find ways to improve the program for Illinois and for the nation. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will continue to protect the multifaceted care upon

which RWCA beneficiaries depend.

Promote AIDS Prevention: In addition to assuring access to treatment, Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we need to increase the focus on preventing new infections. We cannot keep pace with treatment needs if we don't also focus on prevention. This means pursuing a strategy that relies on sound science and builds on what works. Barack Obama and Joe Biden support comprehensive sex education that is age-appropriate. They support increasing federal appropriations for science-based HIV prevention programs.

They support the JUSTICE Act, which would prevent transmission of HIV within the incarcerated population. They also support legislation that would lift the ban on federal funding for needle exchange as a strategy to reduce HIV transmission among injection drug users and their partners and children.

Assure Adequate and Safe Housing for Those Living With HIV: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support increased funding for Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) and other pertinent housing programs. These programs aim to assure that adequate and safe housing is available for all disabled and lowincome people with HIV/AIDS in the U.S.

Expand Funding for Research: Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand funding for research, especially for prevention options including a vaccine and microbicides.

Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections. Barack Obama led an effort with Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and others to introduce the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses.

Expand Access to HIV/AIDS Testing for Pregnant Women: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that voluntary HIV screening be included in the routine panel of prenatal screening tests for all pregnant women. In the Illinois State Senate, Barack Obama sponsored the successful Prenatal HIV Prevention Act, which ensures that every health care professional who provides health care services to a pregnant woman will provide HIV counseling and offer HIV testing. He also passed legislation in Illinois requiring that insurance coverage under the Illinois Insurance Code, Health Maintenance Organization Act and the Voluntary Health Services Plans Act include coverage of prenatal HIV testing.

GLOBAL HIV/AIDS

Provide Universal Access for the Global Fight Against HIV/AIDS: Barack Obama and Joe Biden know that in the 21st century, progress must not just mean political freedom – it must mean freedom from fear and freedom from want. Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that a comprehensive, long-term approach to combating HIV/AIDS is an important investment in our common security and humanity.

They have pledged to provide at least $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV/AIDS, including our fair share of the Global Fund, in order to at least double the number of HIV-positive people on treatment and continue to provide treatments to one-third of all those who desperately need them. This funding will allow the U.S. to meet its commitments that have been flat-funded by the Bush Administration, which includes expanding existing programs to help the millions of children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS, increasing the number of health care workers by at least one million, preventing violence against women and girls, and improving health care systems so that U.S. assistance can be fully and effectively utilized.

Reauthorize and Revise PEPFAR: The U.S. has dramatically increased funding for global HIV and AIDS programs through the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), but the program has faced controversy. Barack Obama believes that our first priority should be to implement the recently signed President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), legislation Barack Obama long-supported, to ensure that best practices – not ideology – to drive funding for HIV/AIDS programs.

Strengthen Health Care Infrastructure: Barack Obama and Joe Biden are committed to increasing U.S. investments in the capacity building needed to ensure that poor countries are able to develop the health care infrastructure necessary to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, promote basic health care, reduce the spread of malaria and TB, and prevent and, if necessary, contain the spread of avian flu and other pandemics.

Increase Contribution to the Global Fund: Barack Obama and Joe Biden support increasing U.S. contributions to the Global Fund for AIDS, malaria, and TB so that our assistance is coordinated with aid provided by other governments and private donors and so that the burden on poor countries is reduced.

Increase Access to Affordable Drugs: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that people in developing countries living with HIV/AIDS should have access to safe, affordable generic drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. They will break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on these life-saving drugs.

They support the rights of sovereign nations to access quality-assured, low-cost generic medication to meet their pressing public health needs under the WTO's Declaration on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Barack Obama and Joe Biden also support the adoption of humanitarian licensing policies that ensure medications developed with U.S. taxpayer dollars are available off-patent in developing countries.

Invest in Clean Water: As more people have access to affordable drugs, the developed world must also invest in the clean water necessary to ensure that life saving drugs can be taken. More than 1 billion people lack access to clean water, and that number will increase with the impact of climate change. Through increasing funding by up to $1.3 billion annually and innovative programs like "play pumps," Barack Obama and Joe Biden will expand access to clean water and sanitation.

Close the Education Deficit: Worldwide, an estimated 100 million children – including nearly 60 million girls – are not attending school. By 2010, getting these children into school could cost $10 billion annually. To meet our share of that sum, Barack Obama and Joe Biden will invest at least $2 billion in a Global Education Fund.

Achieve the Millennium Development Goals: As president, Barack Obama will double U.S. foreign assistance from $25 billion per year to $50 billion per year to ensure the U.S. does its share to meet the Millennium Development Goals, including halving the number of people who die of tuberculosis and/or are affected by malaria.

In 2005, Obama cosponsored the International Cooperation to Meet the Millennium

Development Goals Act. Barack Obama will target this new spending toward strategic goals, including helping the world's weakest states to build healthy and educated communities, reduce poverty, develop markets, and generate wealth. He will also help weak states to fight terrorism, halt the spread of deadly weapons, and build the health care infrastructure needed to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS as well as detect and contain outbreaks of avian influenza.

Invest in Comprehensive Poverty Reduction to Help Fight All Deadly Disease: In addition to the havoc wreaked by HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria continue to kill millions and undercut economic productivity in the developing world. Investments in fighting HIV/AIDS cannot come at the expense of investments in other key development challenges like preventing disease and improving child health and survival. Barack Obama and Joe Biden will ensure the United States is committed to a comprehensive anti-poverty program.

Reduce Debt of Developing Nations: Developing nations are amassing tremendous amounts of foreign debt that limit their economic development and make investments in public health, education, and infrastructure extremely difficult. Debt in Sub-Saharan Africa stands at $235 billion, 44 percent of the region's gross domestic product and an increase of 33 percent since 1990.

Barack Obama and Joe Biden would work with other developed nations and multilateral institutions to cancel remaining onerous debt while pushing reforms to keep developing nations from slipping into fiscal ruin. Barack Obama and Joe Biden also would better

coordinate trade and development policies to use the full range of America's economic power to help developing nations reap the benefits of the global trading system. Obama cosponsored the Multilateral Debt Relief Act of 2005 to provide multilateral debt relief to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries.

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/FactSheetAIDS.pdf

HIV needs faster diagnosis

Friday, 31 October 2008

Around one-third of new infections come from gay men with undiagnosed
HIV.

HIV testing in Victoria should be changed to a single visit to
encourage those gay men who were avoiding the test, according to
research by Deakin University.

The research found that gay men who had unprotected sex were not
getting tested for HIV because they feared the result; did not have
any HIV-related symptoms; and felt there was no urgency to do so.

Ron Gold, an Associate Professor with Deakin's School of Psychology,
said it was important to improve the number of gay men being tested
for HIV because early detection led to a better prognosis.
Also, an estimated one-third of new infections were due to
transmission from gay men with undiagnosed HIV.

"Extensive testing for HIV is an important means of limiting the
epidemic," Associate Professor Gold said.

Gay men currently have to return to a clinic a week or a fortnight
later to receive the result of a HIV test.

"A single visit to a clinic would encourage more testing by lessening
the inconvenience involved and, more importantly, reducing the stress
of waiting for a result," Associate Professor Gold said.

The research involved a survey of 97 gay men at three Melbourne gay
bars who had not been tested for HIV for at least four years,
including 69 who had never been tested.

Associate Professor Gold said the results had important implications
for health educators.

"Public health campaigns need to focus more on the treatment benefits
of early detection," he said.

"Campaigns should also focus on `anticipated regret' – getting gay
men to focus on a time in the future when they might not be able to
reap the full benefits that early treatment may have offered."

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20083110-18383-2.html

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/

China AIDS patients dying because of "tragic stigma"

By Emma Graham-Harrison Emma Graham-harrison – Thu Oct 30, 5:07 am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese AIDS victims are dying needlessly because
a "tragic stigma" prevents them seeking help in a country where one
fifth of people think the disease can be passed on by sharing a
toilet, a top activist said on Thursday.

The government has promised to hand out free, Chinese-made drugs to
anyone infected with the disease and the country's leaders have met
those living with HIV/AIDS but there is still widespread ignorance
about how it is spread.

Two thirds of the 6,000 people questioned for a recent survey of six
cities said they would be unwilling to live with an infected person,
and a fifth said they would be unwilling to care even for a relative
with the illness.

Nearly 10 percent even thought working in a room with an infected
person would be enough to pass on HIV, according to the report
commissioned by UNAIDS and partners.

"Everywhere I have gone...they have reported to me the high levels of
stigma, ostracism and discrimination that people with HIV/AIDS
experience in China," said Edwin Cameron, a South African Supreme
Court judge who is HIV positive.

"This is a tragedy because the Chinese government has a very good
treatment program," he added during a visit to China to help raise
awareness.

Cameron said that while 35,000 to 40,000 people with AIDS were on
treatment, more than double that number needed drugs and were scared
to be tested, or even to pick up the results of blood tests because
of the result of being labeled HIV positive.

"People are sick and dying of AIDS and all of it is unnecessary," he
said.

Last year China officially had 700,000 people living with HIV/AIDS
and expected 50,000 new infections this year,

It is officially illegal to discriminate against those with the
disease but ignorance means signs banning victims from places like
gyms and bathhouses are common and blood tests sometimes required for
jobs or hospital operations.

The government has also sent out mixed messages, with sporadic
crackdowns on domestic activists and visa bans on most foreigners
infected with the disease.

But Wang Longde, head of the Chinese Preventative Medicine
Association, said he hoped the visa rule will go by the end of the
decade and overall things had improved from a few years ago when
police would wait outside his office to arrest patients on the
grounds that they must be infected if they were visiting him.

(Reporting by Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081030/hl_nm/us_china_aids_1

HKU receives $100,000 grant for AIDS vaccines study

www.chinaview.cn  2008-10-23 16:47:19

HONG KONG, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
announced Thursday that it has received a 100,000 U.S. dollars Grand
Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation to do research on AIDS vaccine.

The grant will support an innovative research project about a
study of a new type of AIDS vaccine conducted by Dr. Zhiwei Chen,
Director of the AIDS Institute at the university's Faculty of
Medicine. The institute was established with a mission to make
scientific discoveries and provide solutions to end the HIV/AIDS
pandemic.

Chen said that this is one of the most important research grants
they have received since the establishment of the institute in 2007.

The funding will allow them to conduct innovative research projects
on AIDS vaccine at HKU immediately.

The project aims to work on a new vaccine for AIDS which is
capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 sexual
transmission, the major risk factor of AIDS pandemic.

Chen's project is one of the 104 grants announced by the Gates
Foundation for the first funding round of Grand Challenges
Explorations.

Grand Challenges Explorations is a five-year 100 million U.S.
dollars initiative of the Gates Foundation to help scientists around
the world explore bold, new solutions for health challenges in
developing countries.

The Gates foundation was founded by Bill Gates, founder of
Microsoft Corporation, and his wife in year 2000

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-10/23/content_10240166.htm

10th Chinese National Conference on Drug Dependence

The National Conference on Drug Dependence and Sino-US Symposium in Drug Abuse
was held in Xi'an between October 22nd and 25th.  The conference, hosted by the
Chinese Society of Drug Dependence and the National Institute on Drug
Dependence, featured three days of panels covering a variety of topics including
advances in drug dependence, preclinical, clinical, epidemiological research,
and experiences from harm reduction implementers.

The event brought together over 200 participants from around the country,
including university-based researchers, compulsory detoxification leaders, CDC
personnel, NGO representatives, and people with drug use history, as well as
more than a dozen international addiction experts from the United States,
Malaysia, Germany, Switzerland, and other parts of the world.

The opening day morning plenary featured speakers on international best
practices in harm reduction and review of the medical literature on opiate abuse
treatment, while the afternoon focused on buprenorphine treatment for drug
addiction.

The second day's events highlighted cutting edge international research on
HIV/HCV co-morbidity and drug and alcohol impacts on the brain.  The third day
included full-day symposiums on harm reduction, clinical research and treatment
and epidemiology and sociology.

The harm reduction symposium discussions took place in the context of
China's recent implementation of new drug laws, which offer opportunities and
challenges to integrate harm reduction into other forms of drug treatment.

A number of presentations focused on improving services offered through the
country's methadone maintenance clinics, which provide medication to
approximately 100,000 individuals.   Integration of psycho-social support,
referral networks organized through compulsory detoxification centers, and group
counseling in the clinics were a few of the strategies discussed in relation to
improving retention and patient satisfaction at the clinics.

Presenters also emphasized the importance of needle exchange to continue to
reach and bring clients into drug treatment services.   Conference members who
had recovered from a history of heroin addiction talked about the importance of
grassroots drug user-run organizations in HIV prevention efforts and patient's
perspectives on the current range of drug treatment models available in China.

Moderators and participants remarked on the importance of having people with
drug use history actively engaged in future conferences of this nature.


Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch

Director, Global Drug Policy Program
Open Society Institute
c/o Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
ul. Zgoda 11, 00-018 Warszawa, Poland
tel. +48 22 556 44 57
e-mail: <kmalinowska@...>
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/drugpolicy

Dear members of AIDS ASIA,

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

This is to inform you all that a limited number of printed copies of
Asian AIDS Commission Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia is available.

Some of you have contributed to the e_Consultation on Asian AIDS
Commission Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia – Crafting an effective
response", requested for hard copies of the report for your review.

The UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific has
informed us that they are willing to  mail copies of report to the
subscribers of this FROUM so that they could contribute to the
ongoing e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission Report: "Redefining
AIDS in Asia – Crafting an effective response",

The details of the e_Consultation on Asian AIDS Commission
Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia – Crafting an effective response",
is available on the following web link

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

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

If you would like to receive a printed copy of the report Asian AIDS
Commission Report: "Redefining AIDS in Asia – Crafting an effective
response", please reply to this message with your mailing address.

Thank you for your attention

Joe Thomas

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

Legal provisions allowing HIV testing after accidental exposure

NEW YORK: Slip of Needle Could Cost a Life

Times Union (Albany, N.Y. 10.17.08: Cathleen F. Crowley

Concerned about the dangers of possible disease transmission via
accidental needlesticks, some first-responders and other health care
professionals are working to change a New York state law that
requires a patient's written consent prior to HIV testing after such
mishaps.

Dr. Michael Dailey, regional emergency medical services director,
said no one knows how many needlestick injuries occur or how often a
patient's blood may contaminate health care workers' eyes or mucous
membranes. He estimates there are two to three exposures per 1,000
hospital beds annually, and one to two exposures for a fire
department or ambulance service.

Patients who are able to give their consent rarely refuse to do so,
Dailey said, but New York state law does not allow HIV testing if the
patient cannot consent due to unconsciousness or death. Thirty-five
states have provisions allowing testing after accidental exposure,
and testing is automatic in Virginia and Alabama.

Lacking knowledge of the patient's HIV status, many potentially
exposed workers opt for an intense, month-long regimen of HIV drugs
that often causes debilitating side effects. "Our goal is to make
sure we are not giving toxic medicines to people who don't need them,
and we are sending health care workers back out into the world
knowing they are safe," Dailey said. He added that while legislation
to change New York's policy has failed in previous years, he remains
hopeful it will pass.

http://www.cdcnpin.org/scripts/listserv/prevention_news.asp.

Sex workers working within a legalised industry: their side of the
story

J Groves1, D C Newton2, M Y Chen3, J Hocking4, C S Bradshaw5, C K
Fairley6

Correspondence to: Professor C Fairley, Melbourne Sexual Health
Centre, 580 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria, Australia 3053;
cfairley@...

Objectives: To examine the characteristics and work attitudes of
female sex workers working in licensed brothels in Victoria,
Australia.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of sex workers working at
38 of the 92 licensed brothels operating in Victoria during 2006.

Results: Of the 108 women approached, 97 (90%) completed the
questionnaire. Women working in the legal sex industry in Victoria
were generally aged between 23 and 35 years (51%), had completed high
school (26%) and had worked in the industry for more than 5 years
(43%).

Half had dependent children and one third were in a relationship.
Women's primary motivation for working in the sex industry was
financial, whether this was the reason for their starting (56%), or
the barrier to their leaving (61%). Although women valued the higher
income and flexibility of this work, many were concerned about
sexually transmitted infections (STI) (55%), community attitudes
towards the industry (47%), their physical safety (38%) and
maintaining their anonymity (37%).

Over half of the women would like to leave the industry. The majority
(95%) supported the monthly STI checks that are part of the Victorian
regulations, with only one fifth reporting that the cost of these
tests was prohibitive.


Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that women working
in licensed Victorian brothels come from a diverse range of
backgrounds and circumstances and hold varying attitudes towards
working in the sex industry. It is hoped that these findings go some
way to redressing the assumptions commonly made about women working
in the sex industry and reducing the stigma associated with this
occupation.

HIV/AIDS spreading rapidly in Indonesian prisons: Officials

Updated October 17, 2008 13:50:58

Officials in Indonesia say the HIV/AIDS infection rate is exploding in
the country's prisons.

They say the problem is a result of intravenous drug users being kept
in the same overcrowded cells as other inmates.

The head of the National AIDS commission says there should be a
separation between people who have been convicted of drug-related
crimes and other types of crimes.

She says about 27,000 of the 136,000 prisoners in Indonesia are drug
users.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200810/s2393776.htm?
tab=asia