Small business enterprise project for HIV positive women launched

Colombo, Aug. 21: To help women living with HIV lead a life of dignity and economic independence, the UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme and Thailand’s Population and Community Development Association (PDA) have launched a “Women and Wealth Project (WWP)” in Cambodia, China and India, according to a press release from UNDP.

Under this project, groups of women living with HIV run small, market-savvy social enterprises, with technical and marketing support from PDA, UNDP, international agencies, and the private sector. PDA provided the HIV positive women with business management training to assist them in developing business plans before establishing their specific enterprises.

“Access to credit is a human right, as is the right for women living with HIV to be economically secure and independent. The beauty of this project is the economic empowerment it provides for the women, individually and collectively, and using a new and fresh approach through the strategy of business to provide them with business skills that they can use in overcoming the barriers associated with living with HIV.” said Mr. Mechai Viravaidya, Founder and Chairman of PDA. “As I have often said, to combat the issue of HIV we all must think out of the box.”

“In a rapidly feminizing epidemic, the socio-economic independence of women is essential – it enables women to cope with the devastating impact of the epidemic on their family life and sources of livelihood. Smart skills and regular incomes can reduce situations of HIV-vulnerability and helps positive women live with dignity and security,” said Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, Regional HIV/AIDS Team Leader and Programme Coordinator, UNDP Regional HIV and Development Programme. read more

Internet a Fertile Medium for HIV Denialists to Spread Misinformation

False information about HIV/AIDS spread online can have serious consequences to public health. HIV denialist organizations such as "Reappraising AIDS" have become more aggressive in their campaign in denying the disease and spreading false in formation. Tara Smith (University of Iowa College of Public Health) and Steven Novella (Yale University School of Medicine) believe that "It may seem remarkable that, 23 years after the identification of HIV, there is still denial that the virus is the cause of AIDS."

There is a consensus in the scientific community that HIV is the cause of AIDS, based upon over two decades of robust research. Deniers must therefore reject this consensus, say Smith and Novella, "either by denigrating the notion of scientific authority in general, or by arguing that the mainstream HIV community is intellectually compromised."

Many members of the general public do not have the scientific background to critique the assertions put forth by these groups, say Smith and Novella. Those who believe the false information spread by HIV denialists could end up putting themselves at risk of HIV infection (e.g. by abandoning safe sex), while those who are already infected could end up seeking unproven, ineffective remedies.read more

Staying off booze can halt HIV spread

WASHINGTON: Drinking alcohol adversely affects HIV-infected people, a new study has found.

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) carried out the study, which shows a link between alcohol consumption and HIV disease progression in HIV-infected persons.

The researchers found that among subjects who were not on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was associated with a lower CD4 cell count, and that among subjects who were on ART, heavy alcohol consumption was not associated with a lower CD4 cell count or higher HIV viral load.

“HIV-infected persons who drink alcohol heavily and are not on ART might decrease their risk of disease progression if they abstain from alcohol use,” he added. read more

Maine women knit dolls for African AIDS orphans

Somewhere in Africa, a young girl waits for medicine.

Her parents are dead, victims of a widespread AIDS epidemic. The child has the disease too and may never reach adulthood, even with the medication.

This grim scene plays over and over again in the bleakest regions of Africa where these children, known as AIDS orphans, yearn for comfort.

A nonprofit organization in Vermont called Children Affected by HIV-AIDS collects donated dolls from all over New England, including Hancock County.

Grannis, a retired educator, started CHABHA in 2003. She and her husband, both Fulbright scholars, had returned recently from the African country of Namibia.

"We had been hearing about the AIDS epidemic for years, and we got to see a little of it up close," she said. "I started this nonprofit basically to teach people in the U.S. about what’s happening to children because of HIV-AIDS. The children there don’t have a voice."

So far, CHABHA has provided assistance to more than 3,000 children affected by HIV or AIDS in the African countries of Rwanda and South Africa, and Grannis is optimistic about expanding the reach of her organization.

While she admitted she’s happy that the dolls have become a conversation piece at knitting parties throughout the Northeast, Grannis hopes that’s just a start.
read more

UNAIDS calls for renewed vigor on AIDS in Asia-Pacific

COLOMBO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) official on Monday called Asia-Pacific nations to commit more national funds and human resources to AIDS programs and become less reliant on external donors.

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UNAIDS calls for renewed vigor on AIDS in Asia-Pacific
Posted: 2007/08/21
From: Mathaba




COLOMBO, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- A senior UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS) official on Monday called Asia-Pacific nations to commit more national funds and human resources to AIDS programs and become less reliant on external donors.

UNAIDS Asia Pacific Regional Director Prasada Rao told the opening session of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) that resources for national AIDS programs in Asia, while increasing, are insufficient for a durable response to AIDS.

Rao stated that achieving regional targets of Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment and care demands a sharply defined multi-sectored government response and a revitalized civil society to confront legal and social barriers.

Concluding his speech, Rao called upon civil society groups -- including people living with HIV -- to continue and to increase pressure on governments to deliver concrete AIDS programs.

read more

Study: Men Who Wash After Sex Increase Chances of Getting HIV

A Uganda study has found that uncircumcised men who wash soon after sex increased their chances of getting HIV, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

The sooner the men washed their penises, the study claims, the greater their risk of becoming infected.

But those who held off for at least 10 minutes significantly decreased their chances of getting HIV, according to Dr. Fredrick E. Makumbi, who announced the finding on July 25 at an International AIDS Society Conference in Sydney, Australia.
read more

May tomatoes hit the Achilles heel of HIV?

HIV is a growing problem globally which continues to cause a significant amount of deaths. This has motivated thousands of researchers to battle against this virus. Now, one armed with a tomato has begun to turn some heads.

Developing an effective HIV drug or vaccine is not the only challenge that researchers face. Once a drug or vaccine exists other barriers often stand in the way of delivering the needed medication to developing countries, such as: insufficient infrastructures, logistical problems and the lack of adequate medical care.

Dr. Ramirez and his team enhanced the genome of a tomato in a way that allows the fruit to act as a vaccine. The tomato is able to function as a vaccine, because it was given the ability to synthesize an HIV protein called Tat.

The results of this approach to find a new vaccine against HIV show that plant are steadily playing a more important role in producing inexpensive and effective vaccines.read more