Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report
Advocates at Kenya Conference Explore New Strategies To Combat HIV/AIDS in Africa
South African Health Minister To Launch PMTCT Plan
World Cup Campaign To Build Centers To Provide HIV/AIDS Education, Other Services to At-Risk African Youth
Rwanda Launches Campaign To Address Cross-Generational Sex
Solomon Islands Could See Increase in HIV Cases, WHO Says
Across The Nation
California Gov. Schwarzenegger's Plan To Reduce State Spending Includes Cuts to HIV/AIDS Services
[May 27, 2009]
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) on Tuesday sent state lawmakers a plan to reduce more than $5 billion in spending that includes cuts to HIV/AIDS services, the Los Angeles Times reports (Rothfeld/McGreevy, Los Angeles Times, 5/27). The proposed cuts include $55.5 million in California's AIDS Drug Assistance Program and other state Office of AIDS programs. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Schwarzenegger's plan would make HIV-positive people pay more for drugs, while HIV/AIDS programs such as counseling, monitoring and education would be reduced or eliminated. "We were expecting cuts, but this is much, much worse than what we were expecting," Courtney Mulhern-Pearson, policy and legislative associate for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said (Yi, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/27).
Tuesday's plan follows a separate proposal to cut $16 billion in overall state spending that Schwarzenegger announced two weeks ago. Aides say that Schwarzenegger plans to propose an additional $3 billion in reductions by the end of the week to offset a projected $24.3 billion budget shortfall. "Behind every one of these dollars that we cut there are real faces," Schwarzenegger said, adding, "Even though those are tough choices, what is the alternative?" (Los Angeles Times, 5/27).
Global Challenges
Advocates at Kenya Conference Explore New Strategies To Combat HIV/AIDS in Africa
[May 27, 2009]
Nearly 30 years after the emergence of HIV/AIDS, the global health community must develop new strategies to curb the spread of the disease in sub-Saharan Africa, some experts said Tuesday ahead of the Global Citizens Summit for Social Mobilization to End AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya, AFP/Google.com reports. The advocates also stressed the need for innovative approaches to health financing as international donors shift their attention toward other issues and as the ongoing economic downturn threatens fundraising prospects. The conference, which opens Wednesday, includes participants from 32 countries, primarily in Africa.
According to Wasai Jacob Nanjakululu of Oxfam, about 90% of HIV-positive people are unaware of their status and 70% of people in need of treatment are not accessing medical care. Leonard Okello, an HIV/AIDS specialist with ActionAid International, added that the global health community is "far from winning the struggle against" HIV/AIDS. Okello said the conference will examine the shortcomings of earlier HIV/AIDS policies and explore new methods to address the disease. "There are a lot of resources in HIV/AIDS programs but not much of that reaches the community," Okello said, asking, "What is it that we should radically change?" (AFP/Google.com, 5/26). According to IRIN/PlusNews, conference participants also plan to discuss "people-centered" approaches to combating HIV/AIDS at the Nairobi meeting. ActionAid Report Calls For Improvements in Basic Health Care To Address HIV/AIDS
In related news, ActionAid ahead of the Nairobi conference released a report calling for countries to scale up local health care capacity in order to effectively address HIV/AIDS. According to the report, titled "Primary Concern: Why Primary Health Care is Key to Tackling HIV and AIDS," equipping local health centers with more resources is the best way to tackle HIV/AIDS. Advocates at the report's launch in Nairobi also called for governments to expand access to primary health care by establishing more clinics and improving existing centers.
Linda Mafu, Africa regional coordinator for the World AIDS Campaign, said, "Health centers need to be spread out and properly equipped, so they have the capacity to deal not only with HIV, but with other diseases that affect the population." Mafu added that this could help ease transportation burdens and delays from long waits to visit health centers. Okello added that health officials should train primary health care workers on "the skills to integrate HIV management into their other work."
Although an efficient public health sector could provide HIV/AIDS services, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations might need to support health systems for the foreseeable future, the report said. According to the report, many populations such as commercial sex workers choose to "opt out of the public health system," and delays in implementing HIV programs and strengthening health systems could "lead to higher numbers of AIDS-related deaths" (IRIN/PlusNews, 5/27).
 The ActionAid report is available online.
South African Health Minister To Launch PMTCT Plan
[May 27, 2009]
South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi within the next two weeks is expected to launch a plan to address mother-to-child HIV transmission in an effort to reduce infant mortality in the country, The Times reports. The MTCT plan is part of a new health program adopted by President Jacob Zuma's administration, according to The Times.
"This is one of the most urgent things I want to (deal with) as the new minister," Motsoaledi said. According to Motsoaledi, a child dies every eight minutes in South Africa, and about 40% of child deaths are related to HIV/AIDS. The plan was developed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa at a July meeting of government and health sector stakeholders. Participants at the meeting also examined maternal deaths and the decrease in life expectancy among young adults because of HIV/AIDS. According to Motsoaledi, these and other issues have been identified as priorities for the Zuma administration if South Africa is to meet targets in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. They also have been consolidated into a 10-point plan to help the Department of Health focus on urgent issues through 2015.
"Health and education are the biggest challenges for (the government) and we ought to be doing something drastic," Motsoaledi said, adding, "These are very serious issues in society." The health department's plan also calls for the revival of the National AIDS Council and says that the government should improve regulation of the private health sector. It also calls for the establishment of a national tuberculosis reference laboratory, a focus on infection rates among women ages 17 to 21 and the improvement of HIV prevention among commercial sex workers (Molele, The Times, 5/25).
World Cup Campaign To Build Centers To Provide HIV/AIDS Education, Other Services to At-Risk African Youth
[May 27, 2009]
Authorities in South Africa have begun construction of one of the 20 planned Football for Hope centers in Africa -- part of a 2010 World Cup campaign called "20 Centers for 2010" aimed at reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime in local communities -- the AP/Google.com reports. The center under construction in South Africa's Khayelitsha township will include a soccer field, community center and after-school programs that will focus on sex education and HIV/AIDS education. The International Federation of Football Association, or FIFA, in alliance with Streetfootballworld, a network of development groups, is providing the campaign with $10 million in funding. Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Rwanda and other African countries will be home to the remaining 19 centers.
According to FIFA President Joseph Blatter, the campaign "emphasizes the power of football far beyond the boundaries of the pitch." He added that the centers will "provide a platform for communities to address social issues such as children's rights, education, health, HIV/AIDS prevention and will leave a legacy for Africa that will last long after the final whistle of the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been blown." Helen Zille, premier of the Western Cape Province, said construction of the center in the township "shows what we can do when we focus on getting things right rather than concentrating on what's wrong," adding that she hopes the center is successful with its HIV/AIDS education efforts. The center will be run by Grassroots Soccer, an HIV/AIDS education organization that uses the sport to educate youth. Nocawe Tyali, a life-skills and football teacher who works with teenagers, said the new center will give young people an alternative to high-risk behaviors and enable the area to offer more youth football programs that include an HIV/AIDS prevention message (Nullis, AP/Google.com, 5/25).
Rwanda Launches Campaign To Address Cross-Generational Sex
[May 27, 2009]
The Rwanda Ministry of Youth recently launched a six-month campaign aimed at reducing the trend of cross-generational sex, which some health officials say is contributing to the spread of HIV among young people in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports. Rwanda's National Commission for the Fight Against AIDS, USAID and Population Services International launched the campaign urging youth to avoid having sex with older people. The minister of youth, Protais Mitali, said that all institutions in the country should help address the trend in order to curb the spread of HIV among young people.
According to Anita Asiimwe, executive secretary of the commission, data show that Rwandan women ages 20 to 24 are five times more likely to be HIV-positive than men their age. She added that statistics indicate that one out of every 10 girls had her first sexual experience with a man 10 or more years older. She added, "Since older men are much more likely to be [HIV-positive] than their male counterparts, young girls appear to be getting infected by older men, rather than by boys of their age." Staci Leuschuer with PSI Rwanda said that there are lower rates of condom use among young people, noting that about 40% of young people report condom use and that about 24% to 25% of girls ages 15 to 24 are using condoms (Mutara, New Times/AllAfrica.com, 5/24).
Solomon Islands Could See Increase in HIV Cases, WHO Says
[May 27, 2009]
A recent estimate from the World Health Organization says that the number of HIV cases in the Solomon Islands could reach at least 350 by 2010, the Solomon Star News reports. The Star News reports that 12 new HIV cases were confirmed in 2008, although the actual number of new cases could be higher because of unreported cases. Of the 12 cases reported in 2008, eight were among women and four were among men, according to a health report.
In addition, sexually transmitted infections, particularly syphilis and chlamydia, are prevalent among pregnant women in the country and overall condom use is low, indicating that people could be at a high risk for HIV, according to the report. The most at-risk populations include mobile workers, commercial sex workers, students and men who have sex with men. Twelve facilities in the country currently offer HIV tests, and a relatively low number of tests are conducted, according to the Star News. The Ministry of Health has partnered with various groups and agencies to address HIV/AIDS in the country, the Star News reports (Carter, Solomon Star News, 5/26).
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