Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 306 772 at noon on Wednesday April 27
Privacy policy: The Vietnamese government has passed a decree to allow the punishment of people who discriminate against HIV-positive individuals in the country. This allows the government to fine anyone who, for example, publicises test results, names, addresses or photos of HIV-positive people without their consent.
Vietnam has been criticised for ‘tolerating the stigmatisation” of HIV/Aids patients, and United Nations agencies have ‘complained” that HIV-positive people face employment discrimination. The country’s national HIV/Aids strategy aims to reduce HIV prevalence and increase awareness about the disease, among the general population and policymakers.
Source: Kaisernetwork.org
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 105 173 at noon on Wednesday April 13
Hope at hand: Former United States president Bill Clinton this week announced that the Clinton Foundation is pledging $10-million to provide treatment to about 10 000 children living with HIV/Aids in 10 countries.
Speaking at a news conference in New York City, Clinton said the paediatric-treatment initiative would almost double the number of HIV-positive children receiving anti-retroviral therapy in developing countries.
‘These children need hope, and we know what must be done. The global community has the means to save many lives, and we must meet that responsibility as quickly as we can,” said Clinton.
Kaisernetwork.org
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 62 004 234 at noon on Wednesday, April 6
Free State fumbles: During the first open forum since the government announced the anti-retroviral (ARV) roll-out in November 2003, health workers, researchers and officials last week shared their experiences of the programme, writes Kerry Cullinan.
The conference, co-hosted by the Free State health department and the University of the Free State, heard how 95 patients in the province died within six months last year while waiting for ARVs. Their treatment was compromised by a shortage of these drugs.
Health workers told how the disruption of the drug supply dented the programme’s credibility and health workers’ morale.
The programme was further slowed down by the fact that laboratories took four weeks to process CD4 tests to determine whether patients were eligible for ARVs.
Health workers were also concerned that not enough men and children are receiving ARVs. Only 33% of patients on ARVs in the Free State are men.
Only 8% of patients on ARVs at Bongani Hospital in Welkom are children. Many health workers admitted they did not know how to administer the treatment to children.
The hospital, which was the first ARV treatment site in the province, has lost five of the seven doctors qualified to work in its ARV clinic.
Meanwhile, a province-wide household survey showed that much work still needs to be done on communication about HIV/Aids.
Only 45% of people in the Free State knew what caused Aids and more than half of residents had never even heard of ARVs, according to Judith Matthis, a researcher from the CIETafrica, which conducted the survey.
Almost a third (31%) of people believed that condoms caused Aids, while others said women spread Aids by menstruation, prostitution and using contraception.
Of those who had heard of ARVs, 15% had incorrect information. Some believed the drugs should only be taken when a woman was pregnant or had been raped, while others believed the drugs only worked if taken before HIV infection occurred. — Health-e News Service