latest on Hiv and Aids

Goodnight Vienna
July 26, 2010The International AIDS Conference in Vienna drew to a close on Friday. More than 20,000 attendees have made their way home, most of them galvanized by a work hard, play hard week of networking, sharing, learning and generally drinking in the special atmosphere generated by what may be regarded as the premier gathering of HIV professionals and policy makers.

The week's headline story, picked up by the world's media and delivered in a presentation interrupted by bursts of spontaneous applause, was the announcement of early trial results showing that a vaginal microbicide gel laced with the antiretroviral tenofovir delivered some protection against the virus in women. The promise of this innovation is such that it is likely that the next stage clinical trial will be fast-tracked and widely supported.

The week also saw revisions to adult treatment guidelines issued by the World Health Organization. These amounted to a declaration of the safety and efficiency of antiretroviral drugs and urged countries to adopt earlier treatment. UNAIDS rallied for Treatment 2.0: in essence simpler treatment delivered by lower cost, more efficient health systems. Ambitious, this would see 15 million people on treatment, up from the 5 million currently on antiretroviral therapy. The cold reality of achieving this: an annual treatment bill estimated in the region of 26 billion USD.

Conference also highlighted that, in spite of the evidence that it works (reducing HIV incidence in newborns down to less than 2% in well resourced settings), children are impacted by the lack of treatments needed to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. More WHO guidelines were released in support of earlier HIV testing in pregnancy coupled with earlier treatment. The Head of HIV and AIDS at WHO, Gottfried Hirnschall, said "child health is inextricably linked to the health of it's mother...ensuring HIV positive mothers have access to treatment... will greatly enhance outcomes for their children."

Circumcision continued to dominate discussions surrounding transmission prevention in heterosexual men. It has been shown to reduce infection rate by 60% but in the 12 highest prevalence countries less than 1 in 10 men are circumcised. Conference heard of plans to increase this to a rate of 80%, which equates to surgery on a dizzying 41 million men, all of which must be performed safely and efficiently.

With the unveiling pre-conference of the Vienna Declaration, it was always clear that the issue of injecting drug use- and it's contribution to HIV spread- was going to be a hot topic. Governments faced demands to decriminalize both drug users and those who work to make the improve the health (and status in society) of injecting drug users.

Funding, particularly in support of the 2010 target of universal access to treatment, care and support, was examined and largely found wanting. Oxfam has already made a statement that the conference must be considered "a disappointment" with "no real commitments" being made to boosting access to services. The host country, Austria, was also heavily criticized for it's lack of fiscal commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Probably most pilloried, however, was President Barack Obama, who, it was claimed by Eric Goosby, Head of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has been 'hurt' by claims he has backtracked on HIV and AIDS. In taped contributions to the conference both President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton restated their desire to tackle the HIV epidemic in a broad, sustainable and effective way. Ms Clinton, in a rebuttal of the criticism levied against the United States, called access to prevention, treatment and care "a universal, shared responsibility." Meanwhile Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund, called for donors to maintain their nerve, in the face of economic pressures, citing the growing reality of clinic waiting lists.

The International AIDS Conference saw participation in almost 250 sessions and presentation of well over 6000 abstracts. It is likely that the best, most lasting, aspects of the conference will only become apparent in the coming days, away from the hothouse atmosphere of Vienna. There's much to absorb- and ever more work to be done- before the next conference takes place in Washington DC in 2012.

Source: International AIDS Conference Accessed: 26/07/10

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Red faced teachers
July 23, 2010A report released on 23rd July 2010 by UK education watchdog OFSTED suggests that some children receive poor sex education because teachers cannot overcome their embarrassment at having to tackle the subject.

Teenagers themselves stated that the education they received came "too late", with much of the subject being covered as a lesson in human biology with far too little lesson time spent covering relationships.

In more than one third of the schools visited by inspectors over a 3 year period students' grasp of sex and relationship education was rated as "no better than satisfactory." In 3 schools sex education provision was graded "inadequate".

Teachers who lacked the confidence, or knowledge, to tackle the subject area were found to have left students without the opportunity to explore what relationships are, discuss managing risks around sexual behaviours, negotiating saying 'no' and broader issues such as breakdown in relationships.

AVERT has more information on sex education that works plus comprehensive information on sex and relationships, designed for specifically for teens.

Source: The Independent Accessed 23/07/10