Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
HIV Transmission in Europe Occurs Primarily in Vacation Destinations, Study Finds
East African Officials Meet To Coordinate HIV/AIDS, Transport Efforts
Singer Elton John Calls for Increased HIV/AIDS Education, Care
Green Tea Chemical Shows Potential as Low-Cost Intervention Against Sexual HIV Transmission, Study Says
Global Challenges
Former President Clinton, U.N. Advisor Douste-Blazy Announce Voluntary Airline Ticket Donation
[May 21, 2009]
Former President Clinton has joined efforts to raise money for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria from travelers purchasing electronic airline tickets, the New York Times reports. At a press conference in Paris with United Nations special advisor Philippe Douste-Blazy, Clinton said, "If you provide a user-friendly, efficient way of giving, the contributors will use this system."
The U.N. is behind the effort, which will enable travelers to voluntarily add a $2 donation for projects to fight malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS when buying an airline ticket, the Times reports. Both Clinton and Douste-Blazy are working with a newly formed group — Leading Innovative Financing for Equity, or LIFE. LIFE is comprised of eight different groups working to raising money for health aid. According to Douste-Blazy, efforts targeting small donors will begin in January 2010. He added that "the idea is that the citizens of the world are connected by the Internet and credit cards and can show their solidarity."
The groups also hope to reach people renting cars, booking hotels or buying train tickets, the Times reports (Carvajal, New York Times, 5/21). Clinton said U.S. air passengers will be able to voluntarily participate in the program, adding, "There is no question that huge numbers of people will participate in this. They understand that it doesn't cost much and that 100% will go to save lives." (AFP/Google.com, 5/20).
HIV Transmission in Europe Occurs Primarily in Vacation Destinations, Study Finds
[May 21, 2009]
HIV in Europe is transmitted primarily in vacation destinations, according to a study published recently in the journal Retrovirology, the PA/Google.com reports. For the study, researchers led by Dimitrios Paraskevis of the University of Athens analyzed samples of HIV-1 subtype B virus, the most prevalent form of HIV in Europe, from 16 European countries and Israel (PA/Google.com, 5/20). The researchers created a family tree of the virus and examined its genetic characteristics to determine how it has evolved.
The study found that tourists are more likely to contract HIV in Greece, Portugal, Serbia and Spain, which are popular vacation destinations. Meanwhile, HIV-positive people in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Luxembourg are more likely to have contracted the virus outside of these countries. The study also found that HIV-positive people in Israel, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom contract the virus both within these countries and in other countries. In addition, the study found that in Poland the virus spread mainly among residents through injection drug use.
"Viruses move around with travelers -- thus health programs within countries should not only target the national populations, prevention efforts must also be aimed at migrants, travelers and tourists -- who are both major sources and targets of HIV," Paraskevis said (BBC News, 5/20). Lisa Power, head of policy at the Terrence Higgins Trust, said that the findings are not a "surprise," adding, "We've known for some time with high levels of mobility in the world these days that it's very easy for viruses to move around. What it tells us is that you can't limit HIV prevention and support just to permanent residents" (PA/Google.com, 5/20).
 The study is available online.
East African Officials Meet To Coordinate HIV/AIDS, Transport Efforts
[May 21, 2009]
East African health officials on Tuesday met in Kisumu, Kenya, to examine integrating HIV/AIDS issues into transport policies in the region, Xinhua/CRI.com reports. The East African Community in a statement released ahead of the conference on Monday said that the meeting, which runs through Friday, brings together more than 100 stakeholders at the national and regional levels, including experts from national AIDS commissions, as well as representatives from transport, health, trade, immigration, gender and youth ministries. Representatives from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are attending the conference.
Other representatives include those from the Lake Victoria Basin Commission, Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization, USAID, the International Organization for Migration, the Port Management Association of Eastern and Southern Africa, East Africa Trade and Transport, and the East, Central and Southern African Health Community. Delegates from the EAC Regional Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Health, Population and Development also are attending.
The meeting aims to promote improved regional coordination and quality of HIV services for at-risk populations by bringing together national and regional efforts along major land, sea, ocean and inland transport systems. It also will provide an update on studies conducted to determine HIV transmission modes in the region, as well as identity appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and support initiatives for communities located on transit hubs and corridors. According to the EAC statement, the meeting will identify ways for the transport sector to work in partnership with various implementing partners and local communities to address HIV/AIDS (Xinhua/CRI.com, 5/19).
Across The Nation
Singer Elton John Calls for Increased HIV/AIDS Education, Care
[May 21, 2009]
Singer Elton John on Tuesday at the 2009 Bio International Convention in Atlanta called for renewed efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. John, founder of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, addressed an audience that included CEOs of organizations working to develop HIV/AIDS therapies and vaccines. He called on governments and institutions to increase their focus on education, especially among young people; access to medical treatment; and needle-exchange programs (Poole, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/19).
"There are long-standing stereotypes and prejudices that inhibit our efforts to combat AIDS," John said, adding, "I am asking for your leadership." According to John, CDC estimates that one in every three new HIV cases occurs among people younger than age 30, a statistic that he said has not received adequate attention. "It is unfathomable and unconscionable that we are not making a bigger effort to educate this demographic about HIV/AIDS with creative materials and up-to-date information," John said, adding, "Our failure to do so is costing lives" (Turner, AP/PennLive.com, 5/19).
John also noted a recent report by the Kaiser Family Foundation, which found that the number of Americans who believe HIV/AIDS is an urgent health problem has declined to 6% currently from 44% in 1995. Bob McNally, CEO of GeoVax Labs, said John's message is that "just not enough is being done" and that "people continue to die from the disease." He added that John "spurred the audience towards being advocates" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 5/20).
Science & Medicine
Green Tea Chemical Shows Potential as Low-Cost Intervention Against Sexual HIV Transmission, Study Says
[May 21, 2009]
A chemical found in green tea might be an effective tool against the sexual transmission of HIV, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Heidelberg in Germany and published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, AFP/Google.com reports.
According to the study, green tea polyphenol -- called epigallocatechin-3-gallete, or EGCG -- neutralizes a protein in sperm that aids in the transmission of HIV during sex. The researchers noted that they "recently identified a peptide fraction in human semen that consistently enhanced HIV-1 infection." The study found that EGCG is able to neutralize the sperm protein, known as a semen-derived enhancer of virus infection, or SEVI. The researchers said that SEVI is "an important infectivity factor of HIV."
According to the researchers, EGCG "appears to be a promising supplement to antiretroviral microbicides to reduce sexual transmission of HIV-1." The researchers said that because a majority of people living with HIV contract the disease through heterosexual transmission and that 96% of new cases are reported in developing and impoverished nations, the use of green tea in topical creams could be a "simple and affordable prevention method" (AFP/Google.com, 5/19).
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