Caribbean Needs To Increase Efforts Against HIV

Increased efforts are needed to bolster HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and education in the Caribbean, Karen Sealy, head of the UNAIDS Caribbean office, said recently at the seventh annual United States Chiefs of Mission Conference on HIV/AIDS, the Caribbean Media Corporation reports. Sealy said that 38 people in the region die from AIDS-related causes daily and that 55 new HIV cases occur each day in the Caribbean, adding that high-risk groups include commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men. An increase in HIV/AIDS cases also is being recorded among drug users, Sealy said, adding that "perhaps the category that we have not identified is that of prisoners." In addition, she said, "We know that the spread of HIV in the Caribbean is in fact being fueled by serious gaps in gender equality," adding, "All the countries of the Americas which have homosexuality as a crime are now located in the Caribbean region."

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that "one of the true successes" of the country's efforts to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS is the decrease in mother-to-child transmissions because of the no-cost antiretroviral drugs provided to all pregnant women who receive treatment at government clinics. Manning said that many of the people living with HIV/AIDS in Trinidad and Tobago are able to live "a high quality of life" because of the country's health care program but added that more work needs to be done to address the spread of HIV.

According to the Caribbean Media Corporation, the Caribbean has the second highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate worldwide after sub-Saharan Africa (Caribbean Media Corporation, 10/22). UNAIDS figures show that an estimated 230,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the region and that 14,000 AIDS-related deaths were recorded last year Kaiser Family Foundation fact sheet

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55177

HIV/AIDS Training for Teachers in Papua New Guinea

Primary public school teachers in Papua New Guinea's capital of Port Moresby recently completed a two-week workshop aimed at providing them with the skills to teach young people about HIV/AIDS prevention, Papua New Guinea's Post-Courier reports. The program was run by the country's Education Department and UNAIDS and focused on a life-skills approach to HIV prevention. During the sessions, teachers were trained on providing students with the skills and behaviors that will enable them to avoid contracting HIV, Joe Anang of UNAIDS said. According to Anang, this approach is based on the fact that many young people find decisions about sexual relationships difficult to make despite having knowledge about how to live healthy lifestyles, the Post-Courier reports. This makes youth vulnerable to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, Anang said.

Seventy-six teachers from three areas -- the Autonomous Region of Bouganville, Madang and Eastern Highlands -- attended the workshop and have returned to teach in these provinces. Teacher Emleen Sioni said that the training was valuable because many educators feel uncomfortable teaching about HIV/AIDS at the primary-school level. Participants of the program also were provided a newly published HIV/AIDS life skills resource book from UNAIDS (Post-Courier, 10/22).

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FIAVI Announces Funding for Taiwan HIV/AIDS Research

The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative has awarded a $612,923, three-year grant to an HIV/AIDS research team in Taiwan, the Central News Agency reports. The research team is led by Academia Sinica President Chi-Huey Wong and was awarded the grant for its work to develop a defense against HIV/AIDS, according to the Central News Agency. Wong and colleagues developed a new compound, called glycodendron, that has proven effective at stopping HIV from infecting rodents by preventing the virus from attaching to dendritic cells and prompting the immune system to produce antibodies to attack HIV. According to the Central News Agency, the researchers hope the compound can be used in new HIV/AIDS treatments and to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Wong said that the IAVI grant will help foster increased attention to and engagement in the development of an HIV/AIDS vaccine (Wu, Central News Agency, 10/20).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55130

Advocates Call for New Approaches To Preventing HIV

Citing concerns that the ABC prevention method -- which stands for Abstinence, Be faithful and use Condoms -- does not provide women with sufficient protection against HIV/AIDS because of issues such as rape, early marriage and low condom use, advocates for women's reproductive health recently called for new approaches to reducing the disease among women, Ghana's Public Agenda reports. According to the Public Agenda, the ABC method is not considered a pragmatic option for millions of women and girls in Africa who often are taught to obey men

Bernice Heloo, president of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa who spoke at a workshop aimed at providing the media and women with skills to address HIV/AIDS, said that more women are contracting HIV because of several factors, including gender inequality. "Women are already marginalized, and HIV and AIDS have worsened their plight," Heloo said, adding, "It is very difficult for them to negotiate condom use." She also said that although the emergence of antiretroviral drugs has made significant gains in HIV/AIDS prevention, many people living with the disease, particularly women, do not have access to the drugs or cannot buy them.

In terms of the media, Heloo said that because HIV now can be managed by antiretrovirals, the media have "a great responsibility to project this to reduce stigmatization and discrimination." In addition, she stressed the need to present HIV/AIDS as a disease that can affect anyone, rather than just low-income people. Tim Quashigah of the Ghana Institute of Journalism added that because reporting on HIV/AIDS is a political issue, journalists need to understand the political climate and educate themselves on the dynamics of the disease (Amankwah, Public Agenda, 10/20).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55127

The Spread of HIV in African Border Towns

IRIN/PlusNews recently examined how some long-distance truck drivers in parts of East Africa -- including Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda -- will have relationships with women in border towns and typically not use condoms during sex, putting them at an increased risk of HIV/AIDS. Brian Atuhire -- site coordinator for a Family Health International HIV program in Katuna, Uganda -- said truckers do not view these women as commercial sex workers, making it difficult to encourage condom use. "If it is a sex worker who they meet in a bar and pay for sex once, then the truckers know they should use a condom -- to them that's obvious," Atuhire said, adding that the "challenge comes with these so-called 'wives' or 'girlfriends,'" who usually are supported financially by the truck drivers. The men "feel more of a connection" and "believe [the women] are cleaner, so they don't bother with condoms for these women," Atuhire said.

According to voluntary counseling and testing records at the largest health center in the Ugandan border town of Katuna, the town has an HIV/AIDS prevalence of 11% -- higher than the national average of 6.4%. According to a prenatal clinic survey conducted in 2007, the town of Gatuna on the Rwandan side of the border has an HIV/AIDS prevalence of more than 6%, which almost is double the national average, according to IRIN/PlusNews. In an effort to address the issue, FHI is reaching out to low-income commercial sex workers, providing them with skills training in agriculture, commerce and information technology. Atuhire said that competing with the truck drivers -- who give the women as much as $100 per visit -- is a challenge, as is providing information on safer-sex practices to the truck drivers. "After a while the message is routine -- the truckers have heard it all before and know everything they need to know," Atuhire said, adding that the organization "emphasize[s] that they must always use condoms with all their sexual partners, and hopefully the messages will eventually get through.

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55045

Key Components Of A Health Systems Response

TB-HIV Community Activism: Key Components Of A Health Systems Response

In partnership with the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), kaisernetwork.org is pleased to be the official webcaster of the 39th Union World Conference on Lung Health, providing access to daily conference developments.

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=3054

Singapore Releases Results From HIV/AIDS Survey

Singapore's Health Promotion Board recently released the results of an HIV/AIDS survey conducted last year, AsiaOne reports. The survey was conducted among 1,768 people ages 18 to 69 and asked participants about their awareness of HIV prevention, primarily concerning abstinence, fidelity and condom use. According to the survey, 80.4% of participants were aware of at least two of the three ways to prevent HIV, and 36.6% were aware of all three (AsiaOne, 10/16). The level of awareness was lowest among people ages 18 to 29, according to Channel NewsAsia (Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia, 10/16).

The survey also found that one in two participants did not know that using condoms can prevent HIV transmission, the Straits Times reports (Chong, Straits Times, 10/16). "Condom use is still very much a taboo subject in Singapore, and most of the general population would relate the use of condoms as a form of contraception, as opposed to preventing HIV/AIDS or even sexually transmitted infections," Lionel Lee, executive director of Action for AIDS, said (Channel NewsAsia, 10/16). In addition, one in five respondents at high risk of the virus -- including men who have sex with men and people with multiple sex partners -- reported consistent condom use during sex (Straits Times, 10/16).

The survey also found that one in three respondents was not aware that an HIV-positive person still can appear healthy. According to Channel NewsAsia, this misconception can prevent people from getting regular HIV screenings or practicing safer sex if their partners look healthy.

Although 68% of survey participants said that HIV cannot be transmitted by sharing a meal with an HIV-positive person, 22.4% said that they would do so. In addition, 18.2% of respondents said that they would buy food from a person living with the virus. Fifty-four percent of participants said that they would provide care for a family member living with HIV (Channel NewsAsia, 10/16).

To address the situation, the health board plans to implement various HIV/AIDS education campaigns to combat stigma and curb the spread of the virus (Straits Times, 10/16). It also plans to emphasize early HIV testing and detecting in addition to the ABC approach (Chai Chin, Today, 10/17).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55044

Advocates Oppose Bill Criminalizing Deliberate Spread of HIV

Advocates for people living with HIV/AIDS recently criticized a proposed law
in Uganda that would criminalize the deliberate spread of the virus, the New
Vision/AllAfrica.com reports. According to the advocates, lawmakers should
drop the bill, which currently is being considered by the Parliamentary
Committee on HIV/AIDS.

According to Flavia Kyomukama of the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, the law would contribute to the spread of HIV and increase stigma against people living with the virus. The government "must protect the citizens in a way that does not put to risk the lives of an already marginalized group,"
Kyomukama said. Kihumuro Apuuli, director-general of the Uganda AIDS
Commission, said the bill is directed at men who are aware of their
HIV-positive status and still engage in unprotected sex with multiple
partners. According to Apuuli, this population is the biggest driver of
HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Irish Ambassador to Uganda Kevin Kelly -- who represented donors at a meeting to launch a five-year strategic plan issued by the Uganda AIDS
Commission -- expressed concerns about how the bill would affect people
living with HIV/AIDS but did not condemn the measure, according to the New
Vision/AllAfrica.com. He said the proposed legislation should include
provisions to protect people living with the virus. Richard Nduhuura, state
minister of health, said the intent of the bill is to punish people living
with HIV/AIDS who knowingly spread the virus and not to criminalize those
simply living with HIV (Mugisa, New Vision/AllAfrica.com, 10/20).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55100

'Long Way To Go' in Fighting HIV/AIDS'

Despite the progress made in the fight against HIV since it was discovered
in 1983, there is "still a long way to go," Luc Montagnier, who recently
shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine for his work in the discovery of
HIV, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. HIV/AIDS is "spreading
in many countries," and even "developed countries like the U.S. have many
new infections," he writes, adding, "There is also the danger of a new
epidemic caused by viral strains resistant to treatment. Moreover, despite
the effort of thousands of researchers, we still have no cure and no
vaccine."

According to Montagnier, "many potential preventive vaccines have been
experimented with" since 1985. "A few of them made it up to efficacy trials
but then failed," he writes, adding that this is "no surprise" to him for
"two main, related reasons." The first is that HIV has "evolved to present
its most variable parts to the immune system, and it hides its crucial parts
in internal pockets," he writes, adding, "Second, the variability potential
of the HIV genetic material is enormous, although its origin is not fully
understood."

This "complexity means it is very difficult to elicit an immune response
that would protect against the many different HIV variants that infect the
human population," according to Montagnier. He adds, "In addition to its
very high level of variability, HIV has evolved several other strategies to
evade the response of the immune system, making it difficult to design an
effective vaccine." However, he writes that researchers "know that
protection against HIV is possible in natural conditions" -- including in
some people who are exposed to HIV but do not contract the virus, as well as
in "some rare individuals" who contract HIV "but do not progress toward
immunodeficiency and AIDS." He adds, "It is possible that the mechanisms
that provide resistance to infection, and those that provide resistance to
disease progression, are the same. If this is the case, accines capable of
eliciting protective immunity could be first tested in HIV-infected
individuals for the capacity to delay progression to disease and reduce
viral replication."

According to Montagnier, more than 10 years ago he "proposed using
vaccination against HIV antigens not for prophylaxis but as an additional
therapy following a short antiviral treatment." The goal in this
circumstance is to make HIV-positive people's immune systems "fully
competent, after only partial restoration by an antiretroviral treatment
reducing the viral load in the blood to undetectable levels," he writes.

According to Montagnier, in "developing countries, many infected patients
refuse to be tested and are not treated because of the stigma attached to
AIDS." He writes that the "availability of treatment able to eradicate the
infection will change their attitudes," concluding that the "epidemic will
thus gradually decrease, perhaps helped by a preventive vaccine derived from
a successful therapeutic vaccine" (Montagnier, Wall Street Journal, 10/21).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55103

Researchers Express Concerns About Funding Levels

Experts at the AIDS Vaccine 2008 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday expressed concerns that the current global economic situation could damage funding for AIDS research and vaccine development, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports.

The economic situation has "added to the gloom among experts deeply frustrated by setbacks" in HIV/AIDS vaccine research, according to the AP/Times.

There also are concerns that some groups that are large contributors to health and international development initiatives could reduce funding in light of the economic situation, the AP/Times reports. Anthony Fauci, director of NIH 's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , said this year's NIH budget for HIV/AIDS vaccine research is $491 million out of a total HIV/AIDS budget of $1.5 billion. This compares with a $115 million vaccine budget in 1998 out of a total budget of $703 million. Although Fauci said that he does not expect the U.S. government to reduce its funding for HIV/AIDS, he added that the "increases in the budget that we had hoped for will not be forthcoming" because of the current financial crisis in the U.S.

The conference follows a year of several setbacks in HIV vaccine research. Merck in September 2007 announced it had halted a large-scale clinical trial of its experimental HIV vaccine after the drug failed to prevent HIV infection in participants or prove effective in delaying the virus' progression to AIDS. The vaccine candidate also might have put some trial participants at an increased risk of HIV. Following news of the Merck vaccine, trials of NIH's Vaccine Research Center 's HIV vaccine candidate were scaled back
Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55016

Uganda: New $2 Billion, Five-Year HIV/AIDS Plan

he Uganda AIDS Commission on Tuesday launched a five-year strategic plan aimed at decreasing Uganda's annual HIV incidence by 40%, the New Vision/AllAfrica.com reports. The plan is worth an estimated $2 billion and also aims to increase access to HIV/AIDS services in the country. David Kihumuro, director-general of the commission, said that under the plan, the number of annual new HIV cases is expected to decrease from 163,000 to 100,000 by 2012 through the ABC method -- which stands for Abstinence, Be faithful and use Condoms -- and a focus on cost-effective prevention programs. "We also intend to develop and implement strategies for HIV prevention targeting key population groups at higher risk and the general population, and also ensuring that all youth access life skills for HIV prevention," Kihumuro said, adding that Uganda's HIV epidemic is "mature but also continuously evolving and different groups are now more vulnerable than in the past."

The plan also aims to increase the number of people with access to antiretroviral treatment to 240,000 from 91,500 over the next four years, Kihumuro said. He added that he is concerned that challenges in designing, implementing and supporting a response to HIV/AIDS in Uganda could lead to an increase in the number of people living with the disease from 1.1 million in 2006 to 1.3 million in 2012 (Karugaba, New Vision/AllAfrica.com, 10/15).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55018

Dominica Begins Plan To Improve Response to HIV/AIDS

Health officials and stakeholders in Dominica met Monday to begin work on developing an improved national strategic plan against HIV/AIDS for 2008 through 2013, the Dominica News reports. According to the News, the plan aims to serve as a guide to strengthen the island's health care systems and integrate HIV/AIDS awareness into its primary health care system.

Health Ministry Chief Medical Officer David Johnson said the meeting on Monday was "just part of the process of developing the plan. ... In order for us to get a better understanding of what are the things that's driving the epidemic of HIV/AIDS, we need to have facts; we need to develop our programs; we need to identify the resources that are necessary to improve a response; we need to develop what are the correct activities and strategies to address HIV/AIDS. ... From where I sit from the Ministry of Health, it is something that's going to assist us (and) improve Dominica." He added that the national plan will provide the country with the tools and "the foresight in terms of what are the things we really need to do to address the epidemic in Dominica."

According to the News, the Dominica Red Cross, Dominica Planned Parenthood Association, Dominica Evangelical Association, Christian Council, Dominica Association of Disabled People, National Council of Women, nongovernmental organizations, medical practitioners and HIV/AIDS support groups were represented at the consultation (Baptiste, Dominica News, 10/14).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=55019

HIV Drug Resistance Spreading in China

HIV Drug Resistance Spreading in China, Researcher Says

As HIV spreads beyond high-risk groups into China's general population, drug-resistant strains of the virus also are appearing in parts of the country, Chen Zhiwei of the AIDS Institute in Hong Kong said recently, Reuters reports. According to Chen, the two trends are "alarming" and people living with HIV in China could face treatment obstacles because relatively few antiretroviral drugs are available in the country. "All these drug-resistant mutations are in China now, they are emerging in Chinese patients," he said, adding, "The major worry is whether the drug-resistant virus will spread. We are studying whether that is happening, but that will be the case if you don't provide proper treatment. If drug-resistant virus (strains) spread in China, we don't have enough selection of (drugs) that are made available."

According to Reuters, about seven of the more than 20 different antiretrovirals are available in China, meaning that HIV-positive people might be left with limited options if they develop resistance to certain drugs. In addition, treatment adherence can be low in rural parts of China because of a lack of knowledge among patients, low access to health care and inadequate numbers of health care workers to explain the importance of adherence.

Chen's comments follow a study published last week in the journal Nature that found how HIV cases are increasing among women and men who have sex with men in the country. "The virus is moving into the general population," Chen said, adding, "Signs are prevalent among women and" in mother-to-child transmission. Chen also said if "there is no good prevention, transmissions will suddenly explode." According to Chen, China's open southern border is a concern, and an HIV strain recorded in Yunnan province also has been detected in Thailand and Myanmar. He added that this could be explained by women working as commercial sex workers in other countries and returning to China. In addition, travelers crossing China's southern border could be contributing to the situation, Chen said (Ee Lyn, Reuters, 10/10).

Source: http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=54931

South Africa: Fear over killer disease

Pambazuka News :Health & HIV/AIDS
More than 100 people in South Africa are under medical observation after coming into contact with people who died from suspected haemorrhagic fever. Doctors have tried to calm fears that the disease could spread throughout the wider population in Joh...

Ten Kenyans hold Key to an HIV Vaccine

The individuals, who the scientists say have powerful antibodies that neutralise the virus, stopping it from infecting new cells, have neither used any antiretroviral drugs nor been attacked by opportunistic infections despite living with the virus for over nine years.

On being screened, the individuals were found to possess high CD4 count- immune cells used to fight infections- and very low viral loads-amount of HIV in the body-, which were uncharacteristic of an infected person.

The individuals, who the scientists say have powerful antibodies that neutralise the virus, stopping it from infecting new cells, have neither used any antiretroviral drugs nor been attacked by opportunistic infections despite living with the virus for over nine years. On being screened, the individuals were found to possess high CD4 count- immune cells used to fight infections- and very low viral loads-amount of HIV in the body-, which were uncharacteristic of an infected person.
Read more

2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic

Global: UNAIDS launches 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic

02:37 2008/10/10, Pambazuka News :Health & HIV/AIDS

According to a new report by UNAIDS, significant gains in preventing new HIV infections are being seen in a number of countries most affected by the AIDS epidemic though it is not over in any part of the world....

4th Int Conference on HIV Treatment

The goal of this conference is to provide an international forum for the presentation and discussion of state-of-the-science HIV treatment adherence research, as well as current behavioral and clinical perspectives in practicum. Our ultimate hope is ... Read more

Access coverage of '08 AIDS Conference

SAHAR NEYAZI, Communications Associate,
Online Activities,Kaiser Family Foundation

You may be familiar with the Kaiser Family Foundation's coverage of pastInternational AIDS conferences. As the XVII International AIDS Conference(AIDS 2008) approaches, kaisernetwork.org is pleased once again to be the official webcaster of its proceedings, providing viewers with access to thedaily developments from the conference in Mexico City, August 3-8.

I'm writing today to let you know about the free content-sharing andsyndication options Kaiser is offering to allow organizations to displayonline coverage of the conference on their Web sites. We encourage yourorganization to take advantage of this opportunity to provide your Web sitevisitors with daily coverage of this important event.

Kaisernetwork.org's Extensive Coverage of AIDS 2008 will include:

Live and tape-delayed webcasts and transcripts of each day's sessions,including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, as well asselected other sessions and press conferences;English and Spanish-language audio podcasts of select sessions;Slide presentations from select conference sessions;Daily narrated video highlights of major conference developments;Extended news coverage available in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report,including summaries of coverage from international news sources andnewly-released studies; andInterviews with newsmakers and journalists for analysis and summaries ofconference developments.

How to Partner with Kaisernetwork.org to Share the Coverage

To help extend the reach of the conference, you can make coverage availableto your constituency by forwarding kaisernetwork.org's daily email updatesand/or becoming a syndication partner.

Forward the Daily Update email to your listserv or email subscribers: TheDaily Update email, sent each day of the conference, will include a summaryof and access to each day's online coverage. Sign up for the email athttp://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2008.

Feature the conference coverage on your Web site through our freesyndication service: Syndication options allow you to match the content tothe look and feel of your Web site in order to provide the optimalcontent-sharing experience. You have options that include featuring the fullcoverage or embedding a small widget that is easily adaptable to your blog,Web site or social networking page. For more information and to see examplesof partners' sites that syndicated content from the 2006 International AIDSConference, visit http://www.kaisernetwork.org/aids2008/syndication.cfm.

Médecins Sans Frontières invites you...

MIND THE GAPS: AIDS TREATMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTH CARE WORKER SHORTAGES

A Médecins Sans Frontières Satellite Meeting at the XVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico City 2008

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) invites you to attend a satellite meeting on the impact of the health care worker shortage on access to HIV/AIDS treatment and lessons learned from clinicians and advocates working on the ground to overcome this gap.

August 3, 2008, 9:00am-1:00pm,

Melia Reforma Hotel,
Paseo de la Reforma
Mexico City, Mexico

Introduction: An estimated 70 percent of people who need antiretroviral treatment are still not getting it. One barrier to access to treatment is the critical shortage of health care workers. This shortage contributes to unnecessary illness and death, yet acknowledgement of the human resource crisis has not yet translated into strategies and funding to stimulate needed change.

MIND THE GAPS is a half-day satellite meeting preceding the opening ceremonies of the International AIDS Conference organized by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)‹will include reports on efforts to expand and uphold quality of AIDS treatment in the context of severe shortage of health care workers and critical discussions among experts and AIDS activists about possible policy shifts needed to confront one of the largest barriers to scale-up and quality AIDS treatment.

Speakers include:

* Dr Mphu Ramatlapeng, Honourable Minister of Health & Social Welfare,
* Lesotho
* Stephen Lewis, Co-Director of AIDS-Free World
* Rachel Cohen, Head of Mission, MSF South Africa and Lesotho
* Wim Van Damme, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
* Vuyiseka Dubula, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), South Africa
* Paul Kasonkomona, Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC)
* Dr Jennifer Kavuma, Health Workforce Advocacy Forum (HWAF), Uganda
* Dr Moses Massaquoi, MSF Malawi
* Gorik Ooms, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp
* Asia Russell, Health GAP

To register, please go to:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/events/symposiums/2008/aids/

Paediatric satellite clinics in Lesotho

Teboho Senthebane, Series Producer, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Lesotho will soon be the first country in Africa offering state-of-the-art HIV/AIDS facilities, care and treatment to children and families living in every district. Through a partnership with the government of Lesotho, construction began this week on the first of 10 satellite clinics in remote areas of the country, as part of the Baylor International Paediatric AIDS Initiative.

The government of Lesotho has designated land for 10 satellite clinics, one in each district of the country, and will also help with operating costs. Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation will build the clinics and provide medical expertise to serve the young patients and their families.