SAATHII Electronic News Letter
HIV NEWS FROM INDIA

SOURCE: DrugNews Wire, Reuters, NDTV, Hindustan Times, News24,
Roman Catholic News, Zee News, Business Standard.

Posted on: 27/01/2007

COMPILED BY: B.Vilasini and L Ramakrishnan
SAATHII Chennai office.

Note: this compilation contains news items about HIV/AIDS
published in the Indian media, as well as articles relevant to
HIV/AIDS in India published internationally. Articles in this
and previous newsletters may also be accessed at
http://www.saathii.org/orc/elibrary
===============================================================

1. Three U.S. Organizations Unite to Fight HIV/AIDS in India
Drugnews Wire, January 10, 2007.
http://www.drugnewswire.com/11281/

2. Gere dances with Indian sex workers in AIDS fight
Reuters, January 10, 2007.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyI
D=2007-01-10T144219Z_01_SP201117_RTRUKOC_0_US-INDIA-SEX-GERE.xml

3. NRIs support AIDS cause
NDTV, January 13, 2007
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=aids&slug=NRIs+support+AI
DS+cause&id=99348&callid=1&category=National

4. AIDS funds to rise five times
Hindustan Times, January 16, 2007
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1902432,0050.htm

5. Bollywood plots Aids message
News24, January 23, 2007.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Abroad/0,9294,2-1225-1243_2058142
,00.html

6. Indian state plans mandatory HIV testing before marriage
Roman Catholic News, January 24 2007.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=48838

7. Mira slams B`wood stars for refusing AIDS awareness films
Zee News, January 25, 2005.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=349996&ssid=1&sid=ENT

8. Novartis to proceed with case against Indian patent law
Business Standard, January 27, 2007
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=272764&leftnm=1
&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

===============================================================
1. Three U.S. Organizations Unite to Fight HIV/AIDS in India
Drugnews Wire, January 10, 2007.
http://www.drugnewswire.com/11281/

NEW YORK: Three U.S.-based organizations have formed a coalition
to raise urgently needed funds for programs in India to address
the needs of women and families impacted by the surging HIV/AIDS
epidemic.

"A Night for India" was organized jointly by AIDS Project
Los Angeles (APLA), the American India Foundation (AIF) and
the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) to combine their fundraising
resources with their experience in India to fund important programs
designed to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS and support HIV-positive
people and their families. "A Night for India" includes a black-tie
dinner at Avery Fisher Hall tonight and a post-concert Champagne
reception. The centerpiece of the evening is a concert of the
New York Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta, also an honorary
co-chair of the benefit.

India's emerging status on the world stage and its 8% economic
growth have been well documented, but this story could be
derailed by an epidemic that increasingly threatens the country's
most vulnerable populations. India has the highest number of HIV
infections in the world, with 5.7 million people living with
HIV/AIDS, according to estimates by the UNAIDS.

By joining forces, these organizations combine international
experience in advancing social and public health programs with
the management capabilities and resources of the global business
community. Proceeds from the gala will benefit innovative,
effective programs throughout India.

"India stands at a critical point in this epidemic, with HIV/AIDS
poised to expand, but large-scale prevention and other interventions
today could help contain a more serious epidemic in the future,"
said Rema Nanda, Director Public Health of AIF, a non-profit
foundation formed to accelerate social and economic change in
India.

Currently, less than 10% of those needing the antiretroviral
medication to fight HIV/AIDS are receiving treatment through
the Indian government, according to the country's National AIDS
Control Organization. Scaling up successful programs like those
created by AIF and APLA and combining them with additional dedication
from socially-conscious business leaders will improve India's
capacity to care for people with HIV/AIDS.

"Testing, treatment and care urgently need to be expanded and
improved, while infrastructure and human resources must be deployed
in areas that present significant challenges," said Craig E. Thompson,
executive director of APLA, one of the largest AIDS service
organizations in the United States.

The management capabilities and resources of the business
community make it a powerful ally in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Business leaders are learning they must increase their roles in
public-private partnerships to fight HIV/AIDS, because beyond
the tragic human toll, the disease also impacts India's burgeoning
economy. The epidemic is predicted to reduce India's average
annual growth rate by 1% during the next 14 years, according to
the country's National Council of Applied Economic Research.

"AIDS is a critical challenge that could jeopardize India's progress,"
said Ron Somers, President of USIBC, the premier advocacy organization
representing the largest U.S. companies trading and investing
in India. "Our member-companies recognize that taking a proactive
role in socially responsible programs will benefit their employees,
customers and communities."

Maestro Mehta, whose father was the founding conductor of the
Bombay Symphony Orchestra, was honored last year by the Kennedy
Center. This evening's performance reunites him with the orchestra
he conducted for 13 years until 1991.

===============================================================
2. Gere dances with Indian sex workers in AIDS fight
Reuters, January 10, 2007.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyI
D=2007-01-10T144219Z_01_SP201117_RTRUKOC_0_US-INDIA-SEX-GERE.xml

MUMBAI: Hollywood star Richard Gere cheered on thousands of
Indian prostitutes dancing to raunchy Bollywood songs on Wednesday
and urged them to refuse sex without condoms to prevent the
spread of HIV/AIDS.

"No condom, no sex. No condom, no sex. No condom, no sex," Gere
hollered into a microphone as about 10,000 prostitutes gathered
at a dusty Mumbai fairground joined him in chorus.

The actor, dressed in a brown jacket and black trousers, presented
awards to sex workers in recognition of their work on various
HIV/AIDS intervention programs.

"You're unique. This is amazing, an unbelievable experience,"
said the star of the hit movie "Pretty Woman", also known for
his support to the people of Tibet.

"This is unfathomable. This will not happen in the U.S. or
Europe, or even in Asia."

The United Nations says 5.7 million Indians are living with
HIV/AIDS, the world's largest caseload. Many of those infected
are prostitutes.

Mumbai has an estimated 600,000 prostitutes, but a sizeable
number of them are not in brothels which makes implementation
of HIV/AIDS intervention programs difficult.

===============================================================
3. NRIs support AIDS cause
NDTV, January 13, 2007
http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=aids&slug=NRIs+support+AI
DS+cause&id=99348&callid=1&category=National

New York: India has the highest number of people affected by
HIV infections in the world. Leading Indian business leaders in
America are trying to do their bit to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

At the lead, was Zubin Mehta who returned to conduct the New
York philharmonic after 15-years hiatus.

More than a reunion the concert was a fundraiser to tackle the
scourge of AIDS in India.

Last week a study conducted at Duke University looked at how
large the contribution of Indian immigrants was to the US economy.

Many of those entrepreneurs are putting together their resources
and business expertise to fight HIV AIDS back home.

The worry is that the HIV/AIDS epidemic could potentially derail
India's burgeoning 8 per cent economic growth.

"If we do not stem the disease it will have a very severe economic
drain on the country," said Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner, McKinsey

Unskilled labour supply is expected to drop by 0.35 per cent
and skilled labour by 0.22 per cent because of HIV/AIDS.

"If you have such a young work force that is possibly at risk,
it is important that we begin the education process now," said
Ron Summers, President, US-India Business Council.

India has the highest number of HIV infections in the world and
strong intervention is needed to contain a more serious epidemic
in the future.

Indian businessmen have proved that they can take on the odds
on Wall Street and now, perhaps their biggest challenge awaits
them back home.

===============================================================
4. AIDS funds to rise five times
Hindustan Times, January 16, 2007
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1902432,0050.htm

New Delhi: The Union health ministry has proposed increasing
funding of anti-AIDS/HIV programmes more than five times to a
record Rs 11,585 crore, supported by the World Bank, Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and other agencies. The funds are to be spent
over the next five years for prevention, care, support and
treatment of the disease.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the nodel agency
for HIV, will administer the spending under the National AIDS
Control Programme (NACP) III. Scheduled to start from April 1,
the programme has got an in-principle approval from the Planning
Commission. About three quarters of the programme will be funded
by the World Bank. "UNDP, UNAIDS, ILO, Global Fund for HIV/AIDS,
USAID and World Food Programme will be providing assistance too,"
said a NACO official, declining to be identified.

The government has hiked allocation to care, support and treatment
of HIV infected, to roughly a third ó roughly Rs 3,667 crore.
The remaining two-thirds of the allocation will be on spreading
AIDS awareness.

AIDS activists said the expansion of funding to fight HIV was
welcome but were unhappy with the monies set aside for treatment.
"A lot remains to be done for the care and treatment of the
HIV-positive people," said Nivedita Dasgupta, director of
Delhi-headquartered Modicare Foundation.

The second phase of the AIDS control programme, NACP II, had
an allocation of Rs 2,065 crore and had spent merely 18-20% on
the care and treatment aspect. "There is sufficient awareness
about this disease in certain HIV high prevalence states and
we need to focus on the needs of those who have already contracted
the disease in such areas," added a second NACO official,
who too requested anonymity.

In NACP III, six states with high prevalence of HIVóMaharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagalandówill
continue to be the focus but district-level fine tuning will be
done to ensure that HIV-infected districts elsewhere are not
missed out. The funding is adequate for five years, stated
Jacob John, advocacy officer of the Indian Network of People
Living with HIV/AIDS but the government should provide expensive
drugs in second stage treatment as well.

===============================================================
5. Bollywood plots Aids message
News24, January 23, 2007.
http://www.news24.com/News24/Entertainment/Abroad/0,9294,2-1225-1243_2058142
,00.html

New Delhi - Four top Bollywood directors are to make short films
dealing with HIV/Aids that will be shown before blockbuster releases,
hoping to use their stars' pulling power to spread awareness of
the deadly virus in India.

The low-budget, 12-minute movies will be shown at theatres ahead
of full-length commercial Bollywood films that star well-known
actors, said Mira Nair, the India-born director of Mississippi
Masala and the sensuous hit Kama Sutra, on Monday.

"The idea is to piggyback on blockbusters to spread Aids awareness,"
Nair said at a news conference in a country that has the world's
largest population living with the deadly virus.

"We want to use cinema (against Aids) so that it holds a mirror
to the world and gets under your skin."

The movies will be funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
which is spending $258m on HIV prevention efforts in India over
a five-year period.

'We do not want to preach but entertain'

Nair, who is making one of the 12-minute films which will be
titled Migration, said she had been unable to get A-list Bollywood
actors to feature in the films on Aids.

"Lots of stars don't want to be associated with the virus," the
feisty director said, adding: "Some live and don't learn."

The other directors involved in the venture are Santosh Sivan,
who directed the critically acclaimed The Terrorist, Farhan Akthar,
who made the box office hit Dil Chahta Hai (What the Heart Wants),
and Vishal Bhardwaj who made Omkara - a Bollywood take on William
Shakespeare's Othello.

"We do not want to preach but entertain. Once you start preaching
and teaching, people get bored," Bhardwaj said.

The directors are hoping the movies will be released in cinemas
within a few months, and Nair said the initial response from
distributors had been positive.

Two of the short movies would be in Hindi while the other two
would be in south Indian languages like Tamil, a press statement
about the Aids Jaggo (Wake up to Aids) initiative said.

Stigma and prejudice is widespread

According to Unaids, India has 5.7 million people living with
HIV/Aids and stigma and prejudice is widespread.

Many people, including some federal lawmakers, believe that a
person can get HIV by shaking hands with an infected person,
surveys have shown.

In recent years, Bollywood has made two full-length movies on
HIV/Aids. Neither was a commercial success.

===============================================================
6. Indian state plans mandatory HIV testing before marriage
Roman Catholic News, January 24 2007.
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=48838

Bangalore: The health minister of India's southern Karnataka
state said on Tuesday that the government will enact legislation
to make pre-marital testing for AIDS compulsory.

The government minister, R. Ashok, said this legislation, which
would be unprecedented in India, is necessary to prevent HIV-positive
people from cheating gullible spouses by failing to disclose
their AIDS infection.

The drastic measure comes as AIDS reaches epidemic proportions
in some parts of India. Last year the country surpassed South
Africa to gain the dubious distinct of having the world's largest
number of people reported HIV-positive; the figure is 5.6 million.
Amid growing demand over mandatory HIV testing, the Catholic
bishops of India had a drastic measure, the Catholic bishops had
earlier recommended that during a pre-nuptial inquiry, priests
should remind couples of the duty to reveal their HIV status,
and the right of each partner to ask the other whether he is
suffering from any serious ailment.

===============================================================
7. Mira slams B`wood stars for refusing AIDS awareness films
Zee News, January 25, 2005.
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=349996&ssid=1&sid=ENT

Washington, Jan 25: Bollywood director Mira Nair has criticised
A-list Bollywood actors for refusing to star in a series of short
films designed to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS in India.

Nair will direct one of four low-budget, 12-minute movies to be
shown in cinemas ahead of full-length Bollywood films, which
will be funded by the charity Bill + Melinda Gates Foundation.

But Nair says she was unable to get top Bollywood actors to
feature in the shorts because of the association with the disease.

"Lots of stars don`t want to be associated with the virus. Some
live and don`t learn," she was quoted by Contactmusic, as saying.

===============================================================
8. Novartis to proceed with case against Indian patent law
Business Standard, January 27, 2007
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=272764&leftnm=1
&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

New Delhi: Despite growing pressure from non-governmental
organisations and public health groups across the world, Swiss
multinational Novartis AG has decided to go ahead with its legal
challenge against the provisions of the Indian patent law
specifically meant to restrict the scope of patentability on drugs.

The Novartis petition, which will come up for hearing before a
Division Bench at the Chennai High Court on January 29, has
garnered global attention.

The protesters, who urge Novartis to drop the case, fear that
any favourable verdict for the company could undermine India's
capability to supply affordable medicines to the developing and
least developed countries.

The protests from public interest groups gathered momentum after
a government appointed committee on patent laws, headed by former
chief of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
RA Mashelkar, favoured the grant of patents to all incremental
innovations made to a drug molecule.

The committee also opined that the restriction of patents to new
chemical entities (new drugs in the strictest sense) is not in
tune with India's Trade and Intellectual Property Rights
obligations before the World Trade Organisation.

In the petition, Novartis challenges the constitutional validity
of the specific provision in the Indian Patent Act, Section 3 (D),
which restricts grant of patents to existing drugs with proven
therapeutic advantages.

It is also challenging a decision of the Indian patent office
to refuse patent to its blockbuster blood cancer drug Glivec
(Imatinib Mesylate).

As the company finds itself in a stronger position to argue its
case after the favourable comments from the Mashelkar panel,
global NGOs have stepped up their protests against Novartis'
position.

The NGOs even succeeded in persuading some members of the European
Parliament to call for a hearing this week to discuss the
seriousness of the issue. The NGOs led by Medicines Sans Frontiers,
had wanted political intervention to persuade Novartis to drop
the case.

Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a corporate
responsibility NGO whose members have a combined portfolio value
$110 billion is another organisation that wanted Novartis to
withdraw from the case which, according to them "could have an
adverse impact on the availability of affordable medicines to
millions in the developing world".

For Medicines Sans Frontiers, the NGO that has been in the
forefront of the fight for affordable medicines, India is a
crucial source of affordable generic medicines.

About 84 per cent of the drugs for acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS) Medicines Sans Frontiers uses to treat over
60,000 patients in more than 30 countries are sourced from India.

However, Novartis, on January 17 reiterated its stance and stated
that it wanted the Indian government to grant patent to its
anti-cancer drug Glivec and ensure that Indian laws reflect
international standards of patentability.

===============================================================
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the above articles
are those of the respective newspapers, not those of
SAATHII.