MSM Initiative Asia/Pacific: amFAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, announces new funding for projects that address HIV/AIDS among MSM in the Asia-Pacific region for an award of up to $20,000 to support project-related costs for up to 12 months. Application deadline is May 19. Visit www.amfar.org/grants for more details
Call for nominations for Communities delegation: Community delegation members for the Global Fund Board are looking for suitable candidates to join the current team of Communities Delegations and serve as a board member from January 2011 through December 2013. Application forms and letters of references should be sent by email to gfatmcommunitiesdelegation@gmail.com with the subject “Application for Communities Delegation 2011 through 2013”. The deadline for submission is August 31 at 1500 HRS GMT.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Resources
HAART for HIV prevention : This paper provides an overview of the reasons to start treatment earlier than current WHO guidelines recommend and the potential that treatment can play in preventing HIV infections. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/275587194/name/HAARTforHIVPreventionGranichJAIDS2010.pdf
From HIV to Tuberculosis and Back Again: A Tale of Activism in 2 Pandemics, Mark Harrington of Treatment Action Group: An interesting article looking at the history, development and progress to date of the global response to HIV and tuberculosis, published in the Clinical Infectious Disease 2010. http://www.tbvi.eu/news-agenda/other-tb-news/news-message/from-hiv-to-tuberculosis-and-back-again-a-tale-of-activism-in-2-pandemics.html
Synergistic Pandemics: Confronting Global HIV and Tuberculosis: A compilation of articles on the latest developments on HIV and TB and challenges in preventing the virus among key populations. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/cid/2010/50/s3
Global Action and Advocacy on Removing HIV-specific entry: A small working group among colleagues from IAS, DAH, GNP+ and EATG along with UNAIDS colleagues has been formed to maintain emphasis and action on removing HIV-specific entry and residence restrictions worldwide. They launched the “Global Database of HIV-specific Travel and Residence Restrictions”, which can be found at www.hivtravel.org The working group also ask all of us to supply resources, publications, new items and relevant research, information on legal services for PLHIV and advocacy partners. Please contact David Haerry from the European AIDS Treatment Group at david@haerry.org for more information.
UNAIDS PCB NGO report 2010: The English version of the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation’s annual report to the board has been shared and will be discussed at the June meeting of the UNAIDS board in Geneva. The Communication Facility is now working with a data analyst to break down the findings and prepare a report back to civil society for advocacy purposes. Contact Sara Simon at pcbcf.ssimon@gmail.com for more information
http://unaidspcbngo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/2010_NGO_Report_Final_Website.pdf
Progress of INPUD: This was launched at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Liverpool by the World AIDS Campaign, representing an independent review of the progress of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD) over the 2009 in various areas including advocacy. The World AIDS Campaign offered to help document some of INPUD’s major achievements over the past 12 months to highlight for partners and donors the positive contributions INPUD has made to global advocacy efforts for the rights of people who use drugs and harm reduction. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1810053219/name/INPUDAdvocacyReportPrintingFinal.pdf
From HIV to Tuberculosis and Back Again: A Tale of Activism in 2 Pandemics, Mark Harrington of Treatment Action Group: An interesting article looking at the history, development and progress to date of the global response to HIV and tuberculosis, published in the Clinical Infectious Disease 2010. http://www.tbvi.eu/news-agenda/other-tb-news/news-message/from-hiv-to-tuberculosis-and-back-again-a-tale-of-activism-in-2-pandemics.html
Synergistic Pandemics: Confronting Global HIV and Tuberculosis: A compilation of articles on the latest developments on HIV and TB and challenges in preventing the virus among key populations. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/cid/2010/50/s3
Global Action and Advocacy on Removing HIV-specific entry: A small working group among colleagues from IAS, DAH, GNP+ and EATG along with UNAIDS colleagues has been formed to maintain emphasis and action on removing HIV-specific entry and residence restrictions worldwide. They launched the “Global Database of HIV-specific Travel and Residence Restrictions”, which can be found at www.hivtravel.org The working group also ask all of us to supply resources, publications, new items and relevant research, information on legal services for PLHIV and advocacy partners. Please contact David Haerry from the European AIDS Treatment Group at david@haerry.org for more information.
UNAIDS PCB NGO report 2010: The English version of the UNAIDS PCB NGO Delegation’s annual report to the board has been shared and will be discussed at the June meeting of the UNAIDS board in Geneva. The Communication Facility is now working with a data analyst to break down the findings and prepare a report back to civil society for advocacy purposes. Contact Sara Simon at pcbcf.ssimon@gmail.com for more information
http://unaidspcbngo.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/2010_NGO_Report_Final_Website.pdf
Progress of INPUD: This was launched at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Liverpool by the World AIDS Campaign, representing an independent review of the progress of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD) over the 2009 in various areas including advocacy. The World AIDS Campaign offered to help document some of INPUD’s major achievements over the past 12 months to highlight for partners and donors the positive contributions INPUD has made to global advocacy efforts for the rights of people who use drugs and harm reduction. http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1810053219/name/INPUDAdvocacyReportPrintingFinal.pdf
Sign-on letter
Global Fund-related
Organisations, networks and people working on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia recently came together in reaction to potential changes to the Global Fund’s prioritisation model currently under discussion. There are strong concerns that changes to the existing model could exclude countries with concentrated epidemics from accessing Global Fund resources. In response, a petition requests board members of the Global Fund during the next board meeting (April 28-30) consider the needs of countries with concentrated epidemics when revising the prioritisation model so as to ensure that prioritisation does not compound the effects of existing eligibility criteria.
Read the full petition here: http://bit.ly/GlobalFundPetition
As many donor governments are promoting the establishment of a ceiling on the next round of grants, the Global AIDS Alliance and Health GAP issued a joint statement calling on donor governments, especially the US government, to publicly clarify that they do not endorse a ceiling on the number of people who can receive lifesaving services from the Global Fund and that they do not contemplate any postponement of the lifesaving grants.
(http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1746098722/name/GAA_HealthGap_STopGFCaps_27Apr2009.doc)
Organisations, networks and people working on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Eastern Europe and Central Asia recently came together in reaction to potential changes to the Global Fund’s prioritisation model currently under discussion. There are strong concerns that changes to the existing model could exclude countries with concentrated epidemics from accessing Global Fund resources. In response, a petition requests board members of the Global Fund during the next board meeting (April 28-30) consider the needs of countries with concentrated epidemics when revising the prioritisation model so as to ensure that prioritisation does not compound the effects of existing eligibility criteria.
Read the full petition here: http://bit.ly/GlobalFundPetition
As many donor governments are promoting the establishment of a ceiling on the next round of grants, the Global AIDS Alliance and Health GAP issued a joint statement calling on donor governments, especially the US government, to publicly clarify that they do not endorse a ceiling on the number of people who can receive lifesaving services from the Global Fund and that they do not contemplate any postponement of the lifesaving grants.
(http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1746098722/name/GAA_HealthGap_STopGFCaps_27Apr2009.doc)
Treatment activists detained and deported from Tanzania during World Economic Forum on Africa
On the opening day of the World Economic Forum on Africa (May 5) in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, a group of nine AIDS activists from across the continent were detained for questioning by the Tanzanian authorities after they handed over a memorandum to Yvonne Chaka Chaka, the UN Goodwill Ambassador for the region, and to Christoph Ben, the director of External Relations for GFATM, entitled “Health is Wealth”, which emphasized the need for increased investment in health, particularly HIV, TB and malaria.
The memorandum was supposed to be handed over at a peaceful march with Tanzanian community groups, but the march was cancelled the night before as the government revoked the permit to demonstrate. Once the group handed over the memorandum outside the conference facilities, they were detained by police for questioning. While no charges were issued, the group was escorted under heavy security to their hotel and the airport under police supervision and requested to leave on the next flight, while an authority notice “Prohibited immigrant” was issued in their passports.
Those detained were Paula Akugizibwe and Lynette Mabote from the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa; Bactrin Killingo, James Kayo and Netsayi Dzinoreva from the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition; Linda Mafu and Soraya Matthews from the World AIDS Campaign; Sydney Hushie from the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS; and Michael O’Connor from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. All have now left Tanzania.
All activists within ITPC global and regional networks in solidarity support and praise our colleagues who have inspired us with courage and determination to confront government and donor cutbacks on AIDS and health spending.
The memorandum was supposed to be handed over at a peaceful march with Tanzanian community groups, but the march was cancelled the night before as the government revoked the permit to demonstrate. Once the group handed over the memorandum outside the conference facilities, they were detained by police for questioning. While no charges were issued, the group was escorted under heavy security to their hotel and the airport under police supervision and requested to leave on the next flight, while an authority notice “Prohibited immigrant” was issued in their passports.
Those detained were Paula Akugizibwe and Lynette Mabote from the AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa; Bactrin Killingo, James Kayo and Netsayi Dzinoreva from the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition; Linda Mafu and Soraya Matthews from the World AIDS Campaign; Sydney Hushie from the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS; and Michael O’Connor from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. All have now left Tanzania.
All activists within ITPC global and regional networks in solidarity support and praise our colleagues who have inspired us with courage and determination to confront government and donor cutbacks on AIDS and health spending.
ITPC new study: Missing the Target 8, Rationing Funds, Risking Lives: World Backtrack on HIV Treatment
April 26 marked the launch of the new ITPC report Missing the Target #8, Rationing Funds, Risking Lives: World Backtrack on HIV Treatment. The report brings together research from six countries -- India, Kenya, Latvia, Malawi, Swaziland and Venezuela --and documents early warning signs resulting from the global pullback on AIDS commitment and funding, caps on the number of people enrolled in treatment programs, more frequent drug stock outs and national AIDS budgets failing short.
ITPC will continue to support the six country teams to pursue their advocacy. We would appreciate your assistance in circulating the press release to media contacts and helping promote the report on your websites and list servs as well as sharing with representatives from governments, international agencies and donors.
Please write to Ed Ngoksin at editpc@gmail.com if you have any questions or need further information.
Download:
Report: Missing the target#8: Rationing Funds, Risking Lives: World Backtrack On HIV Treatment
http://www.itpcglobal.org/images/stories/doc/ITPC_MTT8_FINAL.pdf
Press release: Evidence from Six Countries Confirms Fears of People Living With HIV: Treatment Rationing Is Escalating
http://www.itpcglobal.org/images/stories/doc/MTT8_release_final.pdf
Friday, April 9, 2010
Resources
STOP TB Partnership: In the light of World TB Day on March 24, STOP TB Partnership launched a new campaign theme, “On the move against tuberculosis -- innovate to accelerate action.” Resources for advocacy include campaigning documents, posters ,T-shirts and blogs. The campaign features commitments of individuals around the world who have found new ways to stop TB and can serve as an inspiration to others. Visit http://www.stoptb.org/events/world_tb_day/2010/ for more.
Announcements/ opportunities
The Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF): Registration for the MSM pre-conference is now open. The MSM-Pre conference to be held before the 2010 International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria. Visit www.msmgf.org/beheard for more information.
Global AIDS Alliance: Open call for Nominations for the CEPA Leadership Council. The Campaign to End Paediatric HIV/AIDS is in the process of establishing a Leadership Council to enable individuals to play a role in advancing its agenda, including serving as spokespersons for the campaign. Country, regional and global stakeholders working on paediatric HIV/AIDS in six countries -- Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia -- are encouraged to submit nominations of individuals to Georgina Bukenya at gbukenya@globalaidsalliance.org by May 7.
United Nations MDG Summit: Leading up to the MDG Summit in New York on September 20-22, the General Assembly will convene a hearing with representatives of civil society and the private sector from June 14-15. It is now seeking nominations for speakers. The outcomes of these hearings will provide an input to the preparatory process for the Summit and be issued as an assembly document. Deadline for applications is April 16. For more information visit http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=amdg10&id_article=2263
International Health Partnership (IHP): Launched in 2010, the Civil Society Health Policy Action Fund is open to support health organizations, networks and coalitions in 21 IHP countries over a one-year period. The fund aims to support these networks and coalitions to become more effectively engaged in national health policy processes. The amount of funding available is US$25,000-30,000 from the 21 countries. Deadline for proposals is April 21. Visit www.healthpolicyactionfund.org for more information.
World AIDS Campaign & HIVOS: The MSM and Transgender Youth Regional Consultation Voices of Youth Consultation for South East Asia & Pacific is looking for applications from interested young men who have sex with men and transgendered people aged 16-25 from the region to attend the consultation, scheduled for May 12-14 in Bangkok, Thailand. The objective of this consultation is to provide a platform for them to articulate their concerns and unmet needs in relation to their sexual health, STIs and HIV prevention treatment and support. Deadline for applications is April 11. Go to http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Men-who-have-sex-with-Men/Announcements/Call-for-Applications or contact youthconsultation@gmail.com for more information.
TB TEAM: TB TEAM with the Stop TB Partnership has announced a call for applications for inclusion in the Experts Roster in several technical categories. The pool of qualified ACSM and community experts is a key technical support mechanism for GFATM CCMs interested in developing TB proposals. Inclusion requirements and application form are available. Experts are invited to apply for more than one technical area and the roster will be revisited and reassessed on a yearly basis based on a review of mission assessment feedback. Please contact TB TEAM at tbteam@who.int if you have any queries.
Global AIDS Alliance: Open call for Nominations for the CEPA Leadership Council. The Campaign to End Paediatric HIV/AIDS is in the process of establishing a Leadership Council to enable individuals to play a role in advancing its agenda, including serving as spokespersons for the campaign. Country, regional and global stakeholders working on paediatric HIV/AIDS in six countries -- Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia -- are encouraged to submit nominations of individuals to Georgina Bukenya at gbukenya@globalaidsalliance.org by May 7.
United Nations MDG Summit: Leading up to the MDG Summit in New York on September 20-22, the General Assembly will convene a hearing with representatives of civil society and the private sector from June 14-15. It is now seeking nominations for speakers. The outcomes of these hearings will provide an input to the preparatory process for the Summit and be issued as an assembly document. Deadline for applications is April 16. For more information visit http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=amdg10&id_article=2263
International Health Partnership (IHP): Launched in 2010, the Civil Society Health Policy Action Fund is open to support health organizations, networks and coalitions in 21 IHP countries over a one-year period. The fund aims to support these networks and coalitions to become more effectively engaged in national health policy processes. The amount of funding available is US$25,000-30,000 from the 21 countries. Deadline for proposals is April 21. Visit www.healthpolicyactionfund.org for more information.
World AIDS Campaign & HIVOS: The MSM and Transgender Youth Regional Consultation Voices of Youth Consultation for South East Asia & Pacific is looking for applications from interested young men who have sex with men and transgendered people aged 16-25 from the region to attend the consultation, scheduled for May 12-14 in Bangkok, Thailand. The objective of this consultation is to provide a platform for them to articulate their concerns and unmet needs in relation to their sexual health, STIs and HIV prevention treatment and support. Deadline for applications is April 11. Go to http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Men-who-have-sex-with-Men/Announcements/Call-for-Applications or contact youthconsultation@gmail.com for more information.
TB TEAM: TB TEAM with the Stop TB Partnership has announced a call for applications for inclusion in the Experts Roster in several technical categories. The pool of qualified ACSM and community experts is a key technical support mechanism for GFATM CCMs interested in developing TB proposals. Inclusion requirements and application form are available. Experts are invited to apply for more than one technical area and the roster will be revisited and reassessed on a yearly basis based on a review of mission assessment feedback. Please contact TB TEAM at tbteam@who.int if you have any queries.
The HIV Young Leaders Fund
The HIV Young Leaders Fund seeks grant proposals from organizations working to address the needs of young people affected by HIV in their communities, including young people living with HIV. Only youth-led organizations or youth-led projects are eligible for funding. Key activities supported by the fund are local, national, regional or international HIV advocacy; local peer-based HIV services; and community mobilization. There are two application tracts: one for Core Funding and one for Project Funding. Deadline for applications is May 1.
Download: Request for proposals , Grant application , Grant application guide .
In addition, the HIV Young Leaders Fund also announced a call for applications for its regional Community Review Panels (CRPs), a peer review system set up at regional level, comprising young leaders between the ages of 15-30 with experience working at the community level with young people affected by HIV, who review grant applications and recommend proposals for funding. CRP membership is voluntary. English proficiency is mandatory.
Download: Call for applications, CRP member application and CRP Declaration of Interest Form
Contact Caitlin Chandler at HIVYoungLeadersFund@gmail.com for any other questions you might have.
EU-India FTA negotiation
The Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) expressed its concern to Honorary Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of Commerce, and industry regarding the consequences of ongoing negotiations between India and the European Union for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Indian generic industry. According to the text of the EU-India FTA negotiation, the EU has demanded for data exclusivity, patent term extensions and border measures that would impact access to generic drugs. Therefore, DNP+ urged the minister to cease all FTA negotiations until there is a public consultation with health groups and the public or with approval from parliament and state legislatures.
DNP+ also issued an open statement to the EU Trade Commissioner as a reminder that their attempt to pressure India to adopt TRIPS-plus provisions will highlight its indifference to the loss of lives in developing countries in Africa, Latin America and even in India.
Related media articles:
a) Pharmabiz.com: Public interest groups ask government to open EU-Indian negotiation on FTA to Parliamentary scrutiny & public debate
b) Television on CNBC: FTA protest
c) The Guardian blog: Protect the drug giants patents – and harm the health of the poor?
d) Reuters Article by MSF: EU/India trade pact could limit cheap drugs
Groups warn of funding threats to HIV treatment access
On the eve of a high-level meeting in London on March 9 chaired by the UK’s Minister of State, Gareth Thomas, on universal access, Aids Rights Alliance of South Africa (ARASA) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) held a press conference in Cape Town, South Africa, to highlight the threats entailed in the international funding climate. They reiterated the urgent need to ensure that universal access targets are met and warned that scaling back HIV funding would prove catastrophic to individuals and communities. Please contact Paula Akugizibwe to follow up.
The Global Fund related discussions
Discussions were initiated as Gorik Ooms shared a Lancet article that looks into Global Fund performance and its contribution to strengthening the response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and whether it should expand its mandate to include MDG 4 and 5 and become the Global Fund for Health-related MDGs. In the discussions, activists agreed that cost-effective competition between global health priorities, such as comparing the cost of treatment for PLHIV with treatment for other diseases, should not be used as an argument to downsize or flat-fund the Global fund, and that instead, the focus should be on mobilizing additional funding through new mechanisms.
Global priorities, which focus on the obscene waste of resources on the military, wars, bail-out speculators and inequities in the tax systems must be discussed as a new way to mobilize resources for health (Svend Robinson, Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Rick Rowder).
Some activists criticised the existence of the Global Fund and its narrow mandate, citing that it deteriorates independent health systems and management capacities of countries in low resource settings (Mukosha et al) and divides civil society into two groups with conflicting ideologies: ones that does not think the Global Fund is the right tool to achieve comprehensive health care for all and one that supports its current mandate. Others disagreed and reiterated that there is no supporting argument that the investment in health system strengthening is better than disease-specific funding (Prof. Brook Baker et al). There are several arguments that confirm that the resources provided by the Global Fund have improved health outcomes not only on the three specific diseases, but on health systems overall. However, there is concern that the concept of health system strengthening through the existing CCMs of the Global Fund is too top-down and barely reaches vulnerable margins of society (Meg Davis).
In terms of expanding the GF mandate, some are pessimistic, mentioning there wont be significant additional resources and this will end up “hurting AIDS & TB programmes” and, furthermore, ART may be “downgraded as a priority by many decisionmakers in this new global health architecture”. Therefore, the discussions on mandate expansion need to be held in the current political and operational realities, as some donors are scaling down the funding and saying that it is “hopeless that replenishment targets are corresponding to mere maintenance of the current programmes of the Global Fund”. Some donors will even use shrinking resources to pay for non-Aids, -TB and -malaria programmes (Khalil Elouardighi, Gregg Gonsalves, Gorik Ooms) using cost-effectiveness arguments to decide and compare global health priorities.
Gregg Gonsalves raised important and practical questions:
a) What should we be doing if the Global Fund expands its mandate and donors provide little or no additional resources?
b) How should resources be allocated if new funding is forthcoming, but is less than needed to completely support old and new mandates?
c) What are the specific national and international political strategies in terms of resource mobilization vis-à-vis the Global Fund for MDGs?
d) How strong is our advocacy movement at the moment? What do we need to do to strengthen our own work to ensure greater funding for health?
These questions are yet to receive answers and the discussions remain open.
Resources:
The Global Fund Secretariat: The Global Fund 2010: Innovation and impact
Lancet: The Global Fund: replenishment and redefinition in 2010
The Global Fund Observer: Latest issue of the Global Fund Observer is now available
OSI blog on the Global Fund: The Global Fund for Health? If Donors Pay Up
Global priorities, which focus on the obscene waste of resources on the military, wars, bail-out speculators and inequities in the tax systems must be discussed as a new way to mobilize resources for health (Svend Robinson, Mohga Kamal-Yanni, Rick Rowder).
Some activists criticised the existence of the Global Fund and its narrow mandate, citing that it deteriorates independent health systems and management capacities of countries in low resource settings (Mukosha et al) and divides civil society into two groups with conflicting ideologies: ones that does not think the Global Fund is the right tool to achieve comprehensive health care for all and one that supports its current mandate. Others disagreed and reiterated that there is no supporting argument that the investment in health system strengthening is better than disease-specific funding (Prof. Brook Baker et al). There are several arguments that confirm that the resources provided by the Global Fund have improved health outcomes not only on the three specific diseases, but on health systems overall. However, there is concern that the concept of health system strengthening through the existing CCMs of the Global Fund is too top-down and barely reaches vulnerable margins of society (Meg Davis).
In terms of expanding the GF mandate, some are pessimistic, mentioning there wont be significant additional resources and this will end up “hurting AIDS & TB programmes” and, furthermore, ART may be “downgraded as a priority by many decisionmakers in this new global health architecture”. Therefore, the discussions on mandate expansion need to be held in the current political and operational realities, as some donors are scaling down the funding and saying that it is “hopeless that replenishment targets are corresponding to mere maintenance of the current programmes of the Global Fund”. Some donors will even use shrinking resources to pay for non-Aids, -TB and -malaria programmes (Khalil Elouardighi, Gregg Gonsalves, Gorik Ooms) using cost-effectiveness arguments to decide and compare global health priorities.
Gregg Gonsalves raised important and practical questions:
a) What should we be doing if the Global Fund expands its mandate and donors provide little or no additional resources?
b) How should resources be allocated if new funding is forthcoming, but is less than needed to completely support old and new mandates?
c) What are the specific national and international political strategies in terms of resource mobilization vis-à-vis the Global Fund for MDGs?
d) How strong is our advocacy movement at the moment? What do we need to do to strengthen our own work to ensure greater funding for health?
These questions are yet to receive answers and the discussions remain open.
Resources:
The Global Fund Secretariat: The Global Fund 2010: Innovation and impact
Lancet: The Global Fund: replenishment and redefinition in 2010
The Global Fund Observer: Latest issue of the Global Fund Observer is now available
OSI blog on the Global Fund: The Global Fund for Health? If Donors Pay Up
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Sign-on letter
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: In February, a group of civil society advocates issued a statement to the Secretary of United State, Hillary Clinton, to preserve the leadership role of the Global Aids Program & Office of Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) and its critical role in coordinating the activities and programmes managed by multiple agencies within the Department of State, Health and Human Services and Defence. As the United States was making some key decisions related to the governance of its Global Health Initiative, civil society advocates and public health experts were concerned that there was a possibility that PEPFAR and OGAC would be subsumed under a larger Global Health Initiative organisational structure at USAID. To follow up, please contact David Bryden at dbryden@idsociety.org
Resources & tools
Happy, Healthy and Hot: This guide is designed to support young people living with HIV to increase sexual pleasure, improve health and develop strong intimate relationships. It explores how human rights and sexual well-being are related and suggests strategies to help them make decisions about dating, relationships, sex and parenthood.
www.ippf.org/en/Resources/Guides-toolkits/Happy+healthy+and+hot.htm
MSMGF: A new policy brief, Reaching Men Who Have Sex With Men in the Global HIV& AIDS Epidemic, provides an introduction to HIV among gay men and other MSM and identifies key strategic areas that are essential to turn the tide of the epidemic.
http://www.msmgf.org/documents/MSMGF_ReachingMSM.pdf
2009 Reference Group to the UN on HIV and Injecting Drug Use: HIV prevention, treatment and care services for people who inject drugs: a systematic review of global, regional, and national coverage. This study compares in each of the investigated countries the provision of core interventions for IDUs: needle and syringe programmes, opioid substitution therapy and other drug treatment, HIV testing and counselling, antiretroviral therapy, and condom programmes.
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1309687683/name/PIIS0140673610602322.pdf
www.ippf.org/en/Resources/Guides-toolkits/Happy+healthy+and+hot.htm
MSMGF: A new policy brief, Reaching Men Who Have Sex With Men in the Global HIV& AIDS Epidemic, provides an introduction to HIV among gay men and other MSM and identifies key strategic areas that are essential to turn the tide of the epidemic.
http://www.msmgf.org/documents/MSMGF_ReachingMSM.pdf
2009 Reference Group to the UN on HIV and Injecting Drug Use: HIV prevention, treatment and care services for people who inject drugs: a systematic review of global, regional, and national coverage. This study compares in each of the investigated countries the provision of core interventions for IDUs: needle and syringe programmes, opioid substitution therapy and other drug treatment, HIV testing and counselling, antiretroviral therapy, and condom programmes.
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/9727221/1309687683/name/PIIS0140673610602322.pdf
Opportunities
UNAIDS: The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is seeking outside technical assistance from civil society organizations working internationally to host and serve as a Communication and Consultation Facility that will support the participation of the non-governmental organization (NGO) delegation to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB). Deadline for application submission is March 10. Natalie Siniora: pcbcf.nsiniora@gmail.com
http://data.unaids.org/pub/unaidsRFPs/2010/20100128_rfp_cf_2010_en.pdf
TB REACH: Grants of S500,000 - S1,000,000 will encourage the development and application of innovative, ground-breaking and efficient techniques, interventions and activities that result from increased TB case detection, reduced transmission and prevention of the emergence of drug-resistant forms of TB. TB REACH will focus on reaching people who have limited access to TB services. Applications are open until March 5.
http://www.stoptb.org/tbreach/
Community System Strengthening framework: The International HIV/AIDS Alliance & the International Council of AIDS Services Organisations (ICASO) are conducting an online consultation for civil society to give input on the draft framework that has been developed to outline community systems strengthened by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This framework, as mentioned by the Global Fund Secretariat, has been developed in consultation with stakeholders to support the CSS component of Global Fund grants, but is applicable to all community-based activities aimed at improving health though community-based action.
To provide input:
a)Read the draft CSS framework. For summary, go to http://www.aidsalliance.org/Pagedetails.aspx?Id=405
b)Join online focused discussions that will open a space for dialogue on the framework.
join-cssframeworkconsult@eforums.healthdev.org
c)Take the online survey.
http://www.aidsalliance.org/Pagedetails.aspx?Id=405
For further information, contact Taline Haytayan at thaytayan@aidsalliance.org
UNAIDS NGO delegation survey: As the NGO delegation to UNAIDS prepares to submit a report to the UNAIDS Board, the Communication Facility of the NGO delegation is gathering input from civil society on developments and issues of stigma and discrimination. The input will inform the NGO report about key issues on the agenda and will form the basis for discussion at the UNAIDS Board meeting anticipated for June. The survey is available in English, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese and Arabic.
http://data.unaids.org/pub/unaidsRFPs/2010/20100128_rfp_cf_2010_en.pdf
TB REACH: Grants of S500,000 - S1,000,000 will encourage the development and application of innovative, ground-breaking and efficient techniques, interventions and activities that result from increased TB case detection, reduced transmission and prevention of the emergence of drug-resistant forms of TB. TB REACH will focus on reaching people who have limited access to TB services. Applications are open until March 5.
http://www.stoptb.org/tbreach/
Community System Strengthening framework: The International HIV/AIDS Alliance & the International Council of AIDS Services Organisations (ICASO) are conducting an online consultation for civil society to give input on the draft framework that has been developed to outline community systems strengthened by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This framework, as mentioned by the Global Fund Secretariat, has been developed in consultation with stakeholders to support the CSS component of Global Fund grants, but is applicable to all community-based activities aimed at improving health though community-based action.
To provide input:
a)Read the draft CSS framework. For summary, go to http://www.aidsalliance.org/Pagedetails.aspx?Id=405
b)Join online focused discussions that will open a space for dialogue on the framework.
join-cssframeworkconsult@eforums.healthdev.org
c)Take the online survey.
http://www.aidsalliance.org/Pagedetails.aspx?Id=405
For further information, contact Taline Haytayan at thaytayan@aidsalliance.org
UNAIDS NGO delegation survey: As the NGO delegation to UNAIDS prepares to submit a report to the UNAIDS Board, the Communication Facility of the NGO delegation is gathering input from civil society on developments and issues of stigma and discrimination. The input will inform the NGO report about key issues on the agenda and will form the basis for discussion at the UNAIDS Board meeting anticipated for June. The survey is available in English, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, French, Chinese and Arabic.
Antiretroviral Treatment as prevention
What you should know:
Successful suppression of HIV replication through the use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) not only significantly reduces AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also drastically reduces transmissibility of HIV. Currently there is a common agreement that in order to implement ART as a prevention intervention, it should be combined with other interventions such as testing, needle exchange, circumcision and others. People will need to start ART earlier in the course of their disease and HIV test uptake and access to health care delivery would need to be improved. In addition, there is a need to for more resources, including funding, health care infrastructure and personnel, community-based services and human right protections.
Why the issue is important for us as treatment activists:
Many health experts and policy makers claim that AIDS funding causes other health response efforts to fail. There is a shrift in some donor’s policies from any disease-specific funding and toward generalized funding to strengthen health-care systems.
Advocates should be able to develop arguments based on sound evidence showing that investment in AIDS-related health care infrastructure, prevention and treatment will have not only a positive outcome on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also a decline in overall incidence of new infections. Reducing mortality, morbidity and incidence will lessen the overall effect and impact of the HIV epidemic on health-care systems and economic security.
Read ‘treatment as prevention’ related articles:
News.aaas.org: New HIV/AIDS Plan Would Test, Treat Everyone in High-Risk Regions
Pslgroup.com: Antiretroviral Therapy Can Reduce Risk of HIV Transmission to Uninfected Sexual Partners: Presented at CROI
Sciencespeaks: More Evidence That ART Is Treatment & Prevention
AIDSMAP: HIV treatment may prevent at least nine out of ten transmissions
AIDSMAP: Treatment as prevention must not violate human rights, conference told
Successful suppression of HIV replication through the use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) not only significantly reduces AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also drastically reduces transmissibility of HIV. Currently there is a common agreement that in order to implement ART as a prevention intervention, it should be combined with other interventions such as testing, needle exchange, circumcision and others. People will need to start ART earlier in the course of their disease and HIV test uptake and access to health care delivery would need to be improved. In addition, there is a need to for more resources, including funding, health care infrastructure and personnel, community-based services and human right protections.
Why the issue is important for us as treatment activists:
Many health experts and policy makers claim that AIDS funding causes other health response efforts to fail. There is a shrift in some donor’s policies from any disease-specific funding and toward generalized funding to strengthen health-care systems.
Advocates should be able to develop arguments based on sound evidence showing that investment in AIDS-related health care infrastructure, prevention and treatment will have not only a positive outcome on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality, but also a decline in overall incidence of new infections. Reducing mortality, morbidity and incidence will lessen the overall effect and impact of the HIV epidemic on health-care systems and economic security.
Read ‘treatment as prevention’ related articles:
News.aaas.org: New HIV/AIDS Plan Would Test, Treat Everyone in High-Risk Regions
Pslgroup.com: Antiretroviral Therapy Can Reduce Risk of HIV Transmission to Uninfected Sexual Partners: Presented at CROI
Sciencespeaks: More Evidence That ART Is Treatment & Prevention
AIDSMAP: HIV treatment may prevent at least nine out of ten transmissions
AIDSMAP: Treatment as prevention must not violate human rights, conference told
Stock out-Swaziland
Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL), Swaziland Nurses Association, Positive Women Together in Action and ASARA called on the government to ensure supply of essential medicine at all levels of the health system, including TB and HIV prevention, diagnostics and treatment, drugs for treating certain opportunistic infections, and supply of masks for staff and visitors of TB hospitals.
Recently, the country faced a shortage of TB drugs due to a three-month delay in paying for shipments of these drugs. The Ministry of Health also banned nurses who give patients prescriptions for medicine that is out of stock in clinics, leading to the patients purchasing these drugs from private pharmacies at inflated prices.
Civil society groups also met with Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, and brought the issue up at the meeting.
BACKGROUND
Since 2006, incidence of ARV drug stock-outs occur on a regular basis in Swaziland due to a problem with the procurement system of drugs and other medical supplies. While the majority of people depend on public health facilities for the provision of ARV treatment, it is reported that patients are given prescriptions to buy at local pharmacies for a higher than normal price.
Negative consequences of stock outs include decreasing treatment efficacy, treatment failure and compromising patients’ adherence to treatment, which leads to drug resistance problems and result in unnecessary deaths.
In January, Swaziland Positive Living in collaboration with other civil society partners succeeded in solving the problem of TB drug stock outs by conducting public advocacy and issuing press statements to call for the government to take the following actions:
a) Develop a procurement system and regulations that will have structured rational drug forecasting, buffer stocks and parallel procurement and distribution arrangement.
b) Identify and blacklist corrupt companies who are selected for procurement of drugs.
c) Stop buying from companies who do not deliver drugs on time.
d) End all practices which may inflict permanent damage or even death of people who depend on the provision of treatment from public health facilities.
Read initial article on the stock-outs
Recently, the country faced a shortage of TB drugs due to a three-month delay in paying for shipments of these drugs. The Ministry of Health also banned nurses who give patients prescriptions for medicine that is out of stock in clinics, leading to the patients purchasing these drugs from private pharmacies at inflated prices.
Civil society groups also met with Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, and brought the issue up at the meeting.
BACKGROUND
Since 2006, incidence of ARV drug stock-outs occur on a regular basis in Swaziland due to a problem with the procurement system of drugs and other medical supplies. While the majority of people depend on public health facilities for the provision of ARV treatment, it is reported that patients are given prescriptions to buy at local pharmacies for a higher than normal price.
Negative consequences of stock outs include decreasing treatment efficacy, treatment failure and compromising patients’ adherence to treatment, which leads to drug resistance problems and result in unnecessary deaths.
In January, Swaziland Positive Living in collaboration with other civil society partners succeeded in solving the problem of TB drug stock outs by conducting public advocacy and issuing press statements to call for the government to take the following actions:
a) Develop a procurement system and regulations that will have structured rational drug forecasting, buffer stocks and parallel procurement and distribution arrangement.
b) Identify and blacklist corrupt companies who are selected for procurement of drugs.
c) Stop buying from companies who do not deliver drugs on time.
d) End all practices which may inflict permanent damage or even death of people who depend on the provision of treatment from public health facilities.
Read initial article on the stock-outs
ITPC: Transitional Steering Group of ITPC meeting in NYC:
February 5-6, the Transitional Steering Group (TSG) of ITPC met for the first time in New York City, USA, to agree on an advocacy agenda and future permanent governance structure, as well as to look at the registration of ITPC, actual operating costs, fundraising strategies and the strategic direction of ITPC-related initiatives (HIV Collaborative Fund, Treatment Monitoring Project, World Community Advisory Board and others). This meeting was attended by all seven board members with Sarah Zaidi and David Barr in ex-officio attendance as staff members. The Terms of Reference of the TSG were agreed, and work priorities established.
While it is anticipated that the new permanent board is to be set up by the end of 2010, the TSG was put in place in late 2009 for one year to develop a governance structure, provide oversight and, on a temporary basis, fulfil the role of a board.
The TSG made commitments of engagement as TSG members for their one-year term and plans to meet again in September to coincide with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) meeting in New York to advocate for continued commitment to country universal access targets.
Meet the ITPC Transitional Steering Group members
Alessandra Nilo,
Gregg Gonsalves,
Ian Mcknight,
John Rock,
Rolake Odetoyinbo,
Patricia Asero,
Dr. Toku Yeptomi,
Click here to download TSG biography
While it is anticipated that the new permanent board is to be set up by the end of 2010, the TSG was put in place in late 2009 for one year to develop a governance structure, provide oversight and, on a temporary basis, fulfil the role of a board.
The TSG made commitments of engagement as TSG members for their one-year term and plans to meet again in September to coincide with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) meeting in New York to advocate for continued commitment to country universal access targets.
Meet the ITPC Transitional Steering Group members
Alessandra Nilo,
Gregg Gonsalves,
Ian Mcknight,
John Rock,
Rolake Odetoyinbo,
Patricia Asero,
Dr. Toku Yeptomi,
Click here to download TSG biography
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