New voter surge in early voting could sway battleground states in 2024 US presidential election    Civil Defense urges caution amid forecast of heavy rain to hit most Saudi regions until Monday    What's in it for FinTech startups in events like Biban24    Al Nassr and Al Hilal share points in intense Riyadh Derby draw    ImpaQ: Riyadh to host first Impact Makers Forum in December    Saudi Arabia ranks 12th globally in international visitor spending in 2023    SFDA chief discusses investment opportunities in food and pharmaceutical sectors with Chinese companies    Riyadh's Sports Boulevard receives Platinum ActiveScore certifications    Saudi Arabia refutes claims of rising worker fatalities, highlighting low work-related death rates    US says around 8,000 troops from North Korea are stationed in Russia's Kursk region    Spain mourns as death toll passes 150 in catastrophic floods    Seven killed in Israel in deadliest Hezbollah rocket strikes in months    Cyclists on phones face jail under Japan's new traffic laws    Hidden sugars in Asia's baby food spark concerns    Saleh Al Shehri strike seals Al Ittihad's Sea Derby win over Al Ahli    HONOR unveils pre-order of the stunning HONOR MagicBook Art 14 Featuring an ultra-slim design, HONOR Eye Comfort Display and AI Cross-OS WorkStation    Derby Week makes its debut in the Roshn Saudi League    Al Nassr eliminated from King's Cup after a defeat to Al Taawoun    Teri Garr, Young Frankenstein and Tootsie star, dies at 79    Indonesia Days event celebrates cultural diversity at Al Suwaidi Park    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Muted Eid celebrations for millions of Nigerian Muslims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Frustration grows as AIDS science, politics clash
By Kate Kelland
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 24 - 07 - 2010

AN international AIDS conference has exposed a gulf between scientists and politicians on how to tackle the deadly HIV pandemic.
Despite promises from governments around the world to pursue evidence-based policies, AIDS experts are frustrated at a refusal to adapt to new ways of looking at HIV and the people most at risk of contracting it.
It is a stance that displays discrimination and criminal negligence, says Julio Montaner, president of the International AIDS Society, who has led a drive at the conference to get politicians to wake up to the evidence.
“Yes we are treating five million people today, but there are 10 million people who need treatment, otherwise they will get sick and die. Not treating them amounts to criminal negligence,” he told Reuters.
At the heart of scientists' frustration is the impressive progress made against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS since it emerged in the early 1980s.
Advances in medicines have effectively turned an acute killer disease into a manageable chronic condition in many wealthy countries. Patients who take cocktails of AIDS drugs can often live normal lives – they work, bear children and can even look forward to meeting their grandchildren.
The message from scientists is: we've given you the tools and the evidence, now give us the money to use them.
Yet the political will to fund the AIDS battle is waning, they say.
“The world has become numb to the toll of 7,400 new HIV infections every day,” said Michel Sidibe, director of the United Nations AIDS program UNAIDS. “We need to recover our sense of outrage.”
The AIDS virus infects 33.4 million people globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, 22.4 million people have it. Eastern Europe has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the world.
So while the disease has been contained in some groups, in others the epidemic is raging “out of control”, according to one World Health Organization expert. Other analysts at the conference described the situation as “like running after an accelerating train”.
“Today, for every two persons starting treatment, five new infections occur,” Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, the French scientist who won a Nobel prize in 2008 for her work in identifying HIV in 1983, told the Vienna conference.
“The growing curve of the epidemic cannot be stopped without a strong and global commitment to combined HIV prevention measures, including treatment.”
The Vienna conference has seen study after study on HIV prevention measures ranging from male circumcision to microbicide gels containing AIDS drugs.
Studies on Eastern Europe have found harsh laws and authorities' refusal to offer HIV services to injecting drug users are fuelling an underground epidemic there.
In Africa, researchers have demonstrated treatment programs which cut costs by simplifying the ways in which patients get their drugs and earlier treatment.
UNAIDS has drawn up proposals called “Treatment 2.0” designed to improve efficiency in the global AIDS effort by developing more simplified drugs and delivery systems and using more community health workers.
But UNAIDS also reported that overall support for the AIDS fight from donor nations flattened last year amid the financial crisis.
In 2009, the G8 leading wealthy nations, the European Commission and other donor governments provided $7.6 billion for AIDS relief in developing nations, compared with $7.7 billion disbursed in 2008.
The head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, Michel Kazatchkine, says he is “really afraid” about the prospect of getting the $20 billion needed to continue the AIDS battle for the next three years.
“The big frustration is that we feel we have really responded to the call of proving certain efficiency models,” said Nathan Ford, a Medecins Sans Frontieres doctor who works on AIDS treatment programmes in some of Africa's poorest countries.
“I get the sense that no amount of data is going to change things. The decision has already been taken – but that is not how global health should be run.”
A replenishment conference is due on Oct. 5 in New York. Until then, Kazatchkine says there is time to show political leaders how the evidence is stacking up to show not increasing AIDS funding will be a decision that costs millions of lives.
“We have demonstrated the feasibility. Countries have shown that they can massively scale up. The case is strong. The funding decision is a political decision for the leaders of this world, and a political decision is a choice,” he said.


Clic here to read the story from its source.