World AIDS Day 2011

'Getting to Zero', the world commemorates World AIDS Day. An event that was inaugurated 23 years ago today by the World Health Organisation, World AIDS Day focuses on raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice, and improving education on the issue of the AIDS pandemic caused by the HIV infection.

Observed on December 1st each year, the World AIDS Campaign is the leading international organisation which plans and implements the observance of the day and provides governments, national AIDS programmes, faith organisations, community organisations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the AIDS pandemic worldwide.

The red ribbon used is the global symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS.

This year's theme marks the commitment of the global community to focus on the achievement of the following three targets: zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. World AIDS Day is important for reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. It also provides all of us with the opportunity — on an individual, community and political level — to take on the challenge of getting to zero.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 34 million people living with HIV, including approximately 2.5 million children. During 2010, some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus, including an estimated 390,000 children.

Despite a significant decline in the estimated number of AIDS-related deaths over the last five years due to improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic still claimed an estimated 1.8 million lives in 2010.

The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children around the world. In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving it, and too many do not have access to adequate care services.

The Caribbean, one of the regions of the world that is most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, reduced the number of new HIV infections by a third from 2001 levels and by more than 25 per cent in Dominican Republic and Jamaica.

However, we are still ranked amongst the highest in the world with an estimated 240,000 people living with HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean at the end of 2009 and an estimated 17,000 newly affected and 12,000 new deaths.

In two countries in this region — The Bahamas and Haiti — more than two per cent of the adult population is living with HIV. These statistics are only rivalled by those of sub-Saharan Africa, making the Caribbean the second most affected region in the world.

Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in the Caribbean is through sexual intercourse. Much of this transmission is associated with commercial sex, but the virus is also spreading in the general population. Cultural and behavioural patterns (such as early initiation of sexual acts and taboos related to sex and sexuality), gender inequalities, lack of confidentiality, stigmatisation, and economic need are some of the factors influencing vulnerability to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean. As a result, AIDS is now one of the leading causes of death in some of these countries, with Haiti being the worst affected. An estimated 7,500 lives are lost each year to AIDS in Haiti, and thousands of children have been orphaned by the epidemic.

This year, we are asking you to Be Aware. Being aware means finding out the facts about HIV and using this knowledge to protect yourself and others. Promote awareness amongst friends, family members and loved ones; take part in AIDS awareness initiatives and ensure that the message is passed on to all, so that we may be one step closer to reaching zero.

A recent survey in the men who have sex with men population by the Ministry of Health already however suggests we have cause for some serious concerns as preliminary estimates suggest the infection rate will pass the 2007 31% figure despite the presence of a national program that was expected to impact behaviour change overall but what seems to be very little targeted work on the ground by the advocacy structure that being Jamaica AIDS Support and its offspring Jamaica Forum for Lesbians Allsexuals and Gays with very little presence in the community in terms of front line and beat foot patrols then it is no wonder we may see these high figures and to think both organizations are headed by gay men, what does that say about interest and reasons for existence? Is it possible to get to zero or let alone just reduced rates with this kind of aloofness? I think not, we need to get real.

 World AIDS Day 2011 Concerns by glbtqja4 

Meanwhile a full paged ad appeared in the Gleaner (partially scanned seen below) today from an organization I presume named The Isaachar Foundation of whom we know very little about so far except it is chaired by Dr Wayne West who is aligned to the Lawyers' Christian Fellowship and The Coalition for the Defence of Life, Isaachar with their motto "Confronting The Culture ... one mind at a time" of course here seems to be sizing up the high infection rates in the men who have sex with men populations as their fault, they also made reference to France having no sodomy laws since 1791 while having staggering rates of infection.

If one is to be honest and so righteous as these religious pundits claim to be then why not contextualize the points, there must be some cultural as well as other specific factors that contribute to such rises, not just a broad brush of msms simply because they want to impose a theocratic way of doing business and dictating how others should live. This surprise ad had no contact information provided or any logo or reference as to who they really are. Clearly as we have been seeing with the posturings of the leading voices of the religious right they now have new allies coming to their aid or are they consolidating? then what about freedom of choice? Nuff tings lie ahead people.


also see: 

More effective HIV/AIDS prevention message needed

Peace and tolerance

H 

(pamphlet photos from the MOH National Program)

UN summit on HIV/AIDS adopts ambitious targets to defeat epidemic .. but

10 June 2011 –

Countries meeting at a United Nations summit in New York today adopted ambitious new targets to defeat AIDS, with the aim of ridding the world of a disease that has claimed more than 30 million lives since it was first reported three decades ago.
The High-level Meeting on AIDS brought together 3,000 participants, including 30 heads of State and government, along with senior officials, representatives of international organizations, civil society and people living with HIV, to chart a path for the future of the AIDS response.

“The momentum we’ve experienced here again confirms the essential role of the UN in the AIDS response,” Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), told reporters. “This meeting intends to bring us to the beginning of the end of AIDS.”

The declaration adopted by Member States of the General Assembly contains clear, measurable targets, including to halve sexual transmission of HIV by 2015, to reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs by 50 per cent by 2015, to ensure that by 2015 no child will be born with HIV, to increase universal access to antiretroviral therapy, to get 15 million people onto life-saving treatment by 2015, and to halve tuberculosis deaths in people living with HIV by 50 per cent by 2015.

“These bold new targets set by world leaders will accelerate our push to reduce the transmission of HIV,” said Assembly President Joseph Deiss. “The challenge that now remains is to implement these commitments and here leadership and mutual accountability are crucial.”

Member States also pledged to close the global resource gap for AIDS and work towards increasing funding to between $22 and $24 billion per year by 2015.

Dr. De Lay noted that the declaration clearly outlines the urgent need to increase access to HIV services for people most at risk of infection, including men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and sex workers.

The pledge to eliminate gender inequality, gender-based abuse and violence and to empower women and girls must be fulfilled without delay, he added.

This week also featured a number of side events on issues such as women, girls and HIV; faith-based action to prevent HIV; and AIDS and disability.

Addressing an interfaith prayer breakfast this morning, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro stressed how important the voices of religious leaders are in tackling the epidemic.

“You more than anyone can be forceful advocates against stigma. You are natural activists who can change attitudes. You know that protecting lives is as important as saving souls,” she said, urging leaders to speak out, end marginalization and make it clear that their houses of worship are open to all people coping with AIDS.

One of the events that occurred this week that Mr. De Lay described as “momentous” was the launch of a global plan to eliminate new HIV infections in children by 2015, which is intended to stop the 370,000 new HIV infections in children which are currently happening every year and to keep mothers alive.

The other was the adoption by the Security Council of a new resolution that seeks to protect peacekeepers and the communities that they interact with, as well as help end violence against women in conflict.

But ....

The Huffington Post today published a not so feel good article criticising in essence the lack of the business of sex at the summit. An interview was conducted by a huffington reporter

Alexandra Garita, an international policy program officer at IWHC, discuss the declaration and the controversies that arise whenever sex is on the agenda. The declaration, produced every five years, gives U.N. agencies a mandate for their programs and advises governments where best to spend monies.

Q: The declaration speaks of several medical breakthroughs. What do you think of them?

AG: We don't consider that the newer methods are necessarily breakthroughs. For example, male circumcism is recommended in countries with a high prevalence of HIV. And yet the document does not contain language of how important it is not to have sex until all is fully healed. They don't recognize how important it is that the projects to provide that particular method take into account how these men before and after the procedure relate to women, how they have sex and with whom. The research was biased in the beginning in not looking at what happens to women when you offer intervention for men.

Q: And how about the new studies on early intervention of Antiretroviral drugs (ARV) to reduce transmission, which are welcomed as a major breakthrough?

An important development is using ARV treatment much earlier in a person's life in order to reduce the amount of virus in the body. Therefore the person will be less able to transmit the virus to someone else and you can use treatment as prevention. In this document, it is treated as a miracle breakthrough. We don't look at it that way. Probably about half the people in the world who are living with HIV don't know it. You are most infectious right after you have been infected. But at that time you have no symptoms at all so why would you go forward with testing? So to think that a medicine, a drug, is going to end this epidemic when we don't even know how to get more people to come forward for testing -- is really foolish. But debates on how best to end the epidemic go on all the time -- how we should all be giving much more time to prevention. Yet this document ends up with four paragraphs -FOUR!-on prevention. Does that make much sense? No. Not in our book.

Q: Homosexuals and prostitutes were a big issue five years ago, even among some delegates from the Bush administration. Has this changed?

They are in the document for the first time. There was one paragraph that names the community of drug users, men who have sex with men and sex workers. That is very good. But this listing is used once only and then there is UN mumbo-jumbo in other paragraphs where you should have specific references about the kinds of interventions needed to reach this population and what they face in their lives. And there is nothing on human rights for these people (despite the UN secretary-general's speech).

See the full article here

Peace and tolerance

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UNAIDS Global Report & AIDS Score card 2010

Open publication - Free publishing - More unaids

Open publication - Free publishing - More unaids

The global reference book on the AIDS epidemic and response

More info:http://www.unaids.org/globalreport

What's The Score On Regional HIV/AIDS?

Massiah

Ernest Massiah, Contributor,

Ernest Massiah is Director, UNAIDS Caribbean Regional Support Team, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

Ten years ago, in New York, 16 Caribbean heads of state joined 173 other world leaders to formally endorse a bold new plan that could change the lives of millions and usher in a new world era for developing countries - a world with more equality and better health and education. In 2000, the leaders agreed upon the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight broad agendas to be achieved by 2015.

Later this month, 10 years and billions of dollars later, world leaders will meet again in New York, at the United Nations, to assess how countries and the international community have performed, what they have achieved,and how people's lives have been affected. What willCaribbean leaders report?

One of the success stories in the Caribbean has been with MDG 6, which addresses HIV. The number of AIDS-related deaths went down by 40 per cent between 2001 and 2008. Over that period, the number of new infections in children dropped by 18 per cent and the number of newinfections in adults by five per cent. Significantly, in 2010, 51 per cent of people living with HIV who need antiretroviral medication have access to it.

New infections number the same

But, 49 per cent of people who need it don't have access to treatment and the number of new infections each year has not fallen significantly over the last 10 years. Across the region, 50 per cent of all persons with HIV are women. And, in some countries, women, often under the age of 30, account for almost 60 per cent of all cases.

HIV now disproportionately affects young women, gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgendered persons and sex workers across ethnicity, race and class barriers. And there are still British colonial laws in place that criminalise sexual behaviours, reinforcing stigmas and making it difficult to respond comprehensively to HIV.

What can be done for the Caribbean to achieve the Millennium Development Goals for HIV by 2015?

First, we must speak. Openly, without shame, misinformation or bias about sex, sexual orientations and sexual behaviours, if our prevention efforts are to have impact and prevent new cases of HIV. We cannot pretend away the world in which young people exist: it is a world of frank, open conversation about love, sex and sexual orientations.

Remove stigma

Second, HIV must no longer be stigmatised. It should not be an issue associated with fear or avoidance. People living with HIV are productive citizens with the same right to protection by the law, access to healthcare and other services, and with the potential to make valuable contributions to Caribbean societies. In 2010, HIV is not about death, it is about people living and enjoying productive lives.

Third, we must encourage and support the many citizen groups that are vital to the response to HIV. These groups support individuals and families, taking care of children and providing counselling, friendship and solidarity. They protect the vulnerable, they provide information and, in many cases, an alternative lens through which to assess the state of HIV in the Caribbean.

(photo from UNAIDS sponsored Walk for Tolerance in Montego Bay Jamaica 2010)

The stigma associated with HIV is a relic of the early 1990s, when fear informed ignorance. This is also linked to prejudice and rejection of what is perceived and judged as abnormal sexual beha-viour and wrongful sexual orientation. It is precisely these stigmas that threaten the public's health: they prevent people from getting tested, getting and sharing their test result with others and from seeking treatment, if needed. Unrecognised and untreated HIV can spread. In 2010, stigma and prejudice should have no place in Caribbean societies.

Significant achievement

True development will require significant achievement on all the MDGs. Trade, health, education, poverty and environmental sustainability and gender relations interact with each other. There is an old saying: one hand alone cannot clap. But, making the right sound is not easy. An educated, healthy population with equal opportunity for all, with environmental stability and economic prosperity is not unattainable. But, many hands will have to clap to achieve this goal.

In five years' time, what will the 16 Caribbean countries say in New York, at the United Nations, about the Millennium Development Goals? Goals scored? Or match ended nil-nil: we played to a goalless draw?

massiahe@unaids.org or www.unaidscaribbean.org.