********************************************************** SAATHII Electronic Newsletter HIV NEWS FROM INDIA Source: The Hindu, The Times of India, The Hindustan Times, IndUS Business Journal, IBN Live, NDTV and DNA India. Posted on: 03/12/2007. COMPILED BY: Jacob Boopalan, and L. Ramakrishnan SAATHII Chennai Office. Note: this compilation contains news items about HIV/AIDS published in the Indian media, as well as articles relevant to HIV/AIDS in India published internationally. Articles in this and previous newsletters may also be accessed at http://www.saathii.org/orc/elibrary =============================================================== 1. Women affected disproportionately by HIV/AIDS (New Delhi) The Hindu, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120161711300.htm 2. Drug users transmitting virus to women in North-East (New Delhi) The Times of India, December 01, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Drug_users_transmitting_virus_to_women_in_N-E/articleshow/2586518.cms 3. US praises India's effort in fighting HIV/AIDS (Washington) The Times of India, December 01, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/US_praises_Indias_effort_in_fighting_HIVAIDS/articleshow/2586802.cms 4. Good going but battle far from over (New Delhi) Hindustan Times, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=7e1bb6d9-d6fe-407c-a7f5-5c43e03f960e&MatchID1=4603&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=7&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1157&MatchID2=4574&TeamID3=8&TeamID4=2&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1147&PrimaryID=4603&Headline=Good+going+but+battle+far+from+over 5. Faulty HIV tests in India give false negatives (Washington) IndUS Business Journal, December 01, 2007. http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=85A13B90457C416AAAFCCC3B57B4AC2D 6. Naco looks at quacks to combat STD, AIDS IBN Live, December 01, 2007. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/train-on-tracks-ferries-awareness-on-aids/53386-3.html 7. World AIDS Day 2007: Keep the Promise (New Delhi) NDTV, December 01, 2007. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070034470&ch=11/30/2007%206:31:00%20PM 8. HIV/AIDS numbers take a beating (New Delhi) DNA India, December 01, 2007. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1136488 9. On a ‘noble’ track, train ferries awareness on AIDS (New Delhi) IBN Live, December 01, 2007. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/train-on-tracks-ferries-awareness-on-aids/53386-3.html 10. Second line ART from January next (Bangalore) The Hindu, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120153600400.htm =============================================================== 1. Women affected disproportionately by HIV/AIDS (New Delhi) The Hindu, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120161711300.htm NEW DELHI: Women and girls in the developing world are disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS because they face systemic and persistent discrimination, claims a new report from ActionAid and Voluntary Service Overseas. The report calls on donors and national governments to fund programmes that reduce the vulnerability of women and girls to AIDS as a matter of urgency. ‘Walking the talk: Putting women’s rights at the heart of the HIV and AIDS response’ argued that governments and international donors too often ignore the vital steps needed to turn the tide for women in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In India and other developing countries, the crisis was acute. Nearly 40 per cent of those now contacting the HIV virus were women, including housewives. In rural India, less than half of women had heard of AIDS, let alone how to protect themselves from HIV infection. Legal and economic inequalities and limited access to health and education services only deepen the crisis. Prevention methods frequently ignore the violence and lack of control many women experience around sex. Culturally, women face significant barriers in getting support if HIV positive, while the burden they bear as care-providers often leaves them in poverty. Donors continue to fund prevention programmes that do not reflect the realities faced by women. Some disproportionately focus on abstinence and fidelity, which fails to recognise that some married women lack the power to make their husbands use condoms and reinforces stigma and discrimination for those living with HIV. Too little money is spent on the development of female-centred prevention methods such as microbicides and female condoms. Research shows that 2.5 million HIV infections might be prevented if just 20 per cent of women in poorer countries could regularly use a microbicide. Even though women were slightly more likely than men to receive AIDS drugs, they were less likely to continue taking them. Many sacrifice medicines to their partners whilst others fear stigma, violence and abandonment if drugs are found. Often, they also do not have access to the right diet needed to enable the drugs to work properly, particularly in poor rural areas. Failing health systems mean women overwhelmingly shoulder the burden of providing care and support to people living with HIV and AIDS in their families and communities. Girls frequently drop out of school to care for sick parents, while women lose employment opportunities and carry the huge psychological and financial burden of caring for the sick and dying without training, recognition or financial support. =============================================================== 2. Drug users transmitting virus to women in North-East (New Delhi) The Times of India, December 01, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Drug_users_transmitting_virus_to_women_in_N-E/articleshow/2586518.cms NEW DELHI: Drug users transmitting virus to women in North-East Two trends — the HIV epidemic in north-eastern states becoming heterosexual in nature and a large number of men having sex with men (MSM) — are proving to be ominous signs for India's AIDS control programme. Experts from National AIDS Control Organisation have evidence of intravenous drug users (IDUs) in the north-eastern states infecting their partners with HIV by having unprotected sex. Nagaland has already reported such a trend. India is home to nearly two lakh IDUs. Of these, over 50,800 people are from Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Over 20% of them are HIV positive solely due to sharing of contaminated needles. "We now know that the epidemic in North-East India is becoming heterosexual in nature, making it a real threat. Till now, contaminated syringes were the main source of HIV infection in Nagaland. Now, women are getting infected because IDUs are indulging in high risk behaviour. Manipur may soon follow," Naco DG K Sujatha Rao told TOI . Naco experts said another worry was the large number of IDUs living in non-classical states like Orissa, West Bengal and Punjab. Rao also admitted that the MSM population in India had started to swell. At present, that population is estimated to be 2.5 million. "They indulge in very high risk behaviour. Under India's $2.5 billion NACP-III, we will take special interest in this community," Naco joint director Dr A Khera said, adding that the number of programmes meant solely for high risk populations would be increased from 747 to over 2,000 by 2011. Naco will also increase the number of interventions meant for the MSM community from 30 at present to 232 in the next five years. Studies have found HIV infection rates as high as 16% in MSMs in India. "Data in Asia show that without interventions, MSM will become one of the main sources of new HIV infections in the region," UNAIDS official J V R Prasada Rao said. Meanwhile, to combat the menace of IDUs, Rao is planning to introduce the Oral Substitute Therapy and needle exchange programme by April 2008. IDUs will officially be given bupernorphin (the most common drug of abuse by addicts) and syringes from the government. While clean syringes will help reduce the risk of addicts getting infected with HIV through sharing needles, bupernorphin will help them get over hard substances like heroin and cocaine. Rao had recently visited China, known to have achieved tremendous success with OST, to formulate the programme. Rao said, "Till now, the government only ran detox programmes for IDUs. However, the policy proved to be a grand failure with high relapse rates. We have, therefore, decided to implement OST in India." First, addicts will be asked to exchange their syringes with safe needles. They will then be put under the 6-9 month-long OST programme. This strategy has worked very well for China, US, Holland, Germany and Australia. =============================================================== 3. US praises India's effort in fighting HIV/AIDS (Washington) The Times of India, December 01, 2007. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/The_United_States/US_praises_Indias_effort_in_fighting_HIVAIDS/articleshow/2586802.cms WASHINGTON: The United States has praised India's effort in fighting HIV/AIDS and said it is privileged to work with the country in running various programmes successfully there. "The UN has revised the numbers downward in India by about half. There are some very successful programmes in India and Prime Minister Singh has significantly increased resources for the HIV/AIDS. The US government was a Privileged Partner with India in their fight," US Global AIDS Coordinator Mark Dybul said at White House Press Conference on World AIDS Day. The US government has been running various programmes in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, he added. "In Tamil Nadu, actually, we have seen a significant decline in HIV infection. But it is less than we thought because better evaluation was done," the US official said. The White House has said that the administration will be putting additional money and resources to combat the deadly disease and President George W Bush will visit sub Saharan Africa in this regard. "There is a need here in America, but there is also a need in other countries, including Africa, Latin American and Asia. One of the things, the President talks about is that it is in our national security interests to make sure that nations aren't completely destabilised by an infection that we know we can help prevent -- or at least we can help people be able to live healthy and productive lives," the White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. The President's trip to that part of Africa will have many reasons only one of which being focused on AIDS, she said. However, no specific dates have been set for Bush's visit there with the White House saying only it will materialise "early next year". =============================================================== 4. Good going but battle far from over (New Delhi) Hindustan Times, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/storypage/storypage.aspx?id=7e1bb6d9-d6fe-407c-a7f5-5c43e03f960e&MatchID1=4603&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=7&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1157&MatchID2=4574&TeamID3=8&TeamID4=2&MatchType2=1&SeriesID2=1147&PrimaryID=4603&Headline=Good+going+but+battle+far+from+over The year 2007 has been a good year for India, with new data backed by UNAIDS halving India’s HIV-infected population from 5.2 million last year to 2.5 million. The sharp drop in the India’s numbers led the United Nations to slash its global estimates from nearly 40 million to 33 million in its 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update. The report gives two reasons for the downward revisions –better data and an actual decrease in the number of new HIV infections. The likely number of new infections peaked in the 1990s at 3 million but fell to 2.5 million for 2007. People with HIV are also living longer, with a person living up to 11 years after getting infected without being treated, up from the earlier 9 years. The revised numbers, say UN experts, are a combination of natural trends in the epidemic and HIV prevention efforts. “Of the total difference in the estimates published in 2006 and 2007, 70 per cent are due to changes in six countries: Angola, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe,” the report says. Africa remains the hardest hit by AIDS, with 22.5 million people infected with HIV. “The estimates for India is more reliable than before because the data base has been expanded to include 1,122 sentinel surveillance sites – up from 702 in 2005 – and the National Family Health Survey-III surveys,” says NACO’s director general Sujatha Rao. The prevalence in the adult Indian population also dropped from 0.9 at the end of 2005 to 0.36 at the end of 2006. While the AIDS epidemic showed an overall decline, prevalence in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Manipur and Nagaland remained above 1 per cent. Mizoram had a prevalence of 1 per cent, while it dropped to less than 1 per cent in Tamil Nadu and Maharasthra for the first time ever. Prevalence is 6 per cent in Dharwad in Karnataka, which is the highest in the country. Currently there are an estimated 3.6 million people living with HIV in the South-East Asia Region; unsafe sex and injecting drug use are the two main drivers of the epidemic. India, with its large population, has 2.5 million infected with the AIDS virus, while Bhutan, Maldives and Timor-Leste have fewer than 500 each. Experts, however, say it is too early to hang up one’s gloves. “These improved data present us with a clearer picture of the AIDS epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities. But with more than 6,800 new infections, and over 5,700 deaths each day due to AIDS, we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduce the impact of AIDS worldwide,” says UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot. =============================================================== 5. Faulty HIV tests in India give false negatives (Washington) IndUS Business Journal, December 01, 2007. http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=85A13B90457C416AAAFCCC3B57B4AC2D WASHINGTON: U.S. doc criticizes World Bank for slow response to problem The World Bank will investigate complaints raised by Ohio physician Kunal Saha that HIV-test kits used by the organization in its HIV-prevention program in India are unreliable and may have put people at risk. Dr. Saha, an AIDS specialist who visited India early this year at the behest of bank officials, has pleaded with them to release a public report based on his research. After months of delays, the bank agreed to take action – though not the kind Saha was looking for. In mid-October, World Bank managing director Graeme Wheeler and Kees Kostermans, a specialist who supervises the bank’s public health program in South Asia, told Saha the bank would hire a pair of independent consultants to look into evidence that the kits routinely produced false negative results. However, Wheeler and Kostermans told Saha that a thorough investigation of the HIV test kit program would require some time to complete. According to Saha, that is unacceptable. “They essentially told me to be patient,” he said, “but I don’t know if they understand the gravity of the situation. What is the point of assigning new consultants to revisit the same issues? Isn’t that why I traveled to India for them? We are past the point of investigations – there is a very real possibility that many, many people could be infected with HIV as a result of these test kits.” The World Bank has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into HIV-prevention in India, which the United Nations ranked as the world leader in 2006, with an estimated 5.7 million people infected with the virus. As part of those efforts, the Washington-based bank asked Saha last spring to travel to India to investigate data that suggested the kits produced an abnormally high number of false negative results. “In March of this year, the World Bank contacted me and asked me if I could go with a team of World Bank medical consultants to India because they had received many complaints about these HIV test kits,” Saha said. “This is my work – it’s what I’m passionate about – and so when the World Bank asked me to do this, I said ‘yes’ with no hesitation.” Saha, a noted AIDS vaccine researcher at the Children's Hospital and Ohio State University in Columbus, uncovered documents from two Indian hospitals that indicated the kits were faulty. Though the documents date back to 2004 and 2005, Saha said he saw the faulty kits on the shelves of Indian medical centers as recently as April. In fact, the Indian state of West Bengal filed criminal charges late last year against Monozyme India Ltd., the company that manufactured and distributed the kits, alleging that it sold hundreds of thousands of the kits well past their expiration dates to Indian blood banks. Saha and many other doctors contend the expired test kits gave false-negative readings to many infected Indians, who then went on to donate blood or engage in unprotected sexual contact and infect others. The company's owners deny charges of malpractice and forgery. Saha produced a draft report of his investigation upon his return to the United States, which he says was part of the agreement he struck with bank officials before he travelled to India. Thus far, however, the bank has chosen not to release it. “The plan was that I would prepare a final report after we returned from our trip in April or May. It was a contractual agreement,” Saha said. “Well, I wrote a draft report and submitted it to the World Bank. The leader of the trip – her name is Marley Khouw – she told me they would call me when I returned, but that never happened. In fact, I was the one who called them.” Saha, a self-described crusader who established a patients’ rights group in India after his wife died because of medical mistakes nearly 10 years ago, provided the IndUS Business Journal with copies of letters and e-mail messages that he sent to top World Bank personnel – among them former bank president Paul D. Wolfowitz, current bank president Robert B. Zoellick and general counsel Ana Palacio – in June and July requesting that they take immediate action. Bank officials responded that they were finalizing a report, but Saha says he can wait no longer. “I hope that something will happen, that the World Bank will do the right thing,” he said. “But I will press to the very end – though I cannot sue the World Bank because it is a world agency, I could approach the International Court of Justice, or I might approach my congressman to hold hearings on this.” Saha added that bank officials have told him that if they were to follow his recommendations, it would likely upset the Indian government, which also happens to be the World Bank’s single largest borrower. “Kostermans told me that India is the World Bank’s largest borrower, and if we were to take drastic action, the Indian government would be very upset with us because this would humiliate them,” Saha said. “But I do feel that we have a valid reason to do this – what is more important, the Indian government’s reputation or the lives of hundreds of thousands of people?” =============================================================== 6. Naco looks at quacks to combat STD, AIDS IBN Live, December 01, 2007. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/train-on-tracks-ferries-awareness-on-aids/53386-3.html NEW DELHI: Naco looks at quacks to combat STD, AIDS India's battle against HIV will now enlist help from an unusual quarter — quacks. For the first time ever, the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco) has decided to zero down on the most popular quacks, consulted frequently by the rural poor for treating various sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and include them in the country's Aids control programme. Naco is at present finalising an agency which will undertake a survey to identify 100 such practitioners in an equal number of districts. They will then be trained to provide basic care and counselling to patients suffering from STD before referring them to the nearest Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC). Besides helping the government distribute condoms among patients suffering from STDs, the quacks will also provided them with drugs and STD detection kits at a much cheaper price. "The quacks will be given special incentives by Naco to work under NACP. They will be given social marketing STD kits and once trained, their activities will be supervised and high accountability of their actions will be maintained," said A Khera, joint director (NACO). Experts say testing and treatment of STDs can be an effective tool in preventing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Khera told TOI that patients infected with any form of STD are at least 10 times more likely than uninfected individuals in acquiring HIV if they are exposed to the virus through sexual contact. Almost 20% of these people suffer from the deadly disease. Also, over 6% of Indians suffer from some sort of STDs at any given point of time. Khera said: "We will soon start mapping the quacks, who are frequently visited by clients of sex workers suffering from STDs. These quacks are usually found roaming about in parks, railway stations and near brothels. Private sector doctors working in district and sub-district levels will also be involved in this partnership to combat STD. If we have to detect high risk groups suffering from HIV before they start spreading the disease within the community, we can't overlook this section of rural medical practitioners, who command tremendous control among the rural poor." Experts say there is substantial biological evidence demonstrating that the presence of STD increases the likelihood of both transmitting and acquiring HIV. STDs increase susceptibility to HIV by two mechanisms — genital ulcers like Syphilis and Herpes create breaks in the genital tract lining or skin which acts as the entry point for HIV. Non-ulcerative STDs like Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea increase the concentration of cells in genital secretions that can serve as targets for HIV. Men who are infected with both gonorrhoea and HIV are more than twice as likely to shed HIV in their genital secretions. Moreover, the concentration of HIV in semen is as much as 10 times higher in men who are infected with both gonorrhoea and HIV. =============================================================== 7. World AIDS Day 2007: Keep the Promise (New Delhi) NDTV, December 01, 2007. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070034470&ch=11/30/2007%206:31:00%20PM New Delhi: World AIDS Day is celebrated around the globe on 1 December, highlighting the progress made in the battle against the epidemic and brings into focus remaining challenges. The theme for World AIDS Day remains ''Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise''. This is an appeal to governments, policy makers and regional health authorities to ensure that they meet the many targets that have been set in the fight against HIV and AIDS, and especially the promise of universal access to HIV treatment, care, support and prevention services by 2010. This campaign will run until 2010, with a related theme chosen for World AIDS Day each year. The 2007 theme is Leadership , which highlights the need for innovation, vision and perseverance in the face of the AIDS challenge. The campaign calls on all sectors of society such as families, communities and civil society organisations - rather than just governments - to take the initiative and provide leadership on AIDS. The overall purpose of the World AIDS Campaign from 2005 to 2010 is to ensure that leaders and decision makers deliver on their promises on AIDS, including the provision of universal access to treatment, care, support and prevention services by 2010. Within that five-year mission, annual campaigning themes are selected which are timely, relevant and adaptable to a number of different regions and issues. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35 years. Around 95 per cent of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is not just about raising money, but also about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. India has a population of one billion, around half of whom are adults in the sexually active age group. The first AIDS case in India was detected in 1986; since then HIV infection has been reported in all states and union territories. The spread of HIV in India has been diverse, with much of India having a low rate of infection and the epidemic being most extreme in the southern half of the country and in the far north-east. The highest HIV prevalence rates are found in Maharashtra in the west; Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the south; and Manipur and Nagaland in the north-east. As of August 2006, 90 per cent of all nationally reported AIDS cases have been found in 10 of the 38 states and union territories. The greatest numbers were in Maharashtra and Gujarat in the west; Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka in the south; and Manipur and West Bengal in the north-east. In the southern states, HIV is primarily spread through heterosexual contact, while infections are mainly found amongst injecting drug users in Manipur and Nagaland. There are many ways in which you can support the World AIDS Day. * Raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in your area. * Wear a red ribbon and ask others to do the same. * Protect yourself and your partners - this is the first and best way to stop the spread of HIV. * If you are worried - get tested. =============================================================== 8. HIV/AIDS numbers take a beating (New Delhi) DNA India, December 01, 2007. http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1136488 NEW DELHI: HIV/AIDS numbers take a beating NACO survey puts the number at 2.47m, half the estimated 5.3m This World AIDS Day, India can feel a bit relieved. According to fresh surveys conducted by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and National Family Health Survey (NFHS)–3, the number of HIV/AIDS cases in the nation has gone down considerably. NACO puts the number at around 2.47m, almost half the estimated 5.3m. According to NFHS-3, the HIV prevalence rate in the 15-49 age-group is 0.28 per cent, that is 1.707m people, a sharp slide from the 0.36 pc declared by NACO early this year. However, beyond the stats stands a huge youth population at constant risk of catching the infection. A behavioural study by NACO reveals adolescents are increasingly indulging in casual sex. Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) 2006, conducted by ORG Centre for Social Research and NACO among 40,000 people aged 15-24, shows 8.4 pc of youth (about 1.5crore) indulge in pre-marital and extra-marital sex. The figure was 7.2 pc during BSS 2001. Equally concerning is the fact that despite 83.7 pc of sexually-active youngsters being aware of condoms and their importance, only 47 pc use them consistently during casual sex with non-regular partners, mostly sex workers. This high-risk behaviour is a common among urban as well as rural youth. In fact, NHFS-3 points out that rural youth indulge in casual and pre-marital sex more. On the flip side, the NACO survey shows HIV/AIDS awareness among youth has increased from 73 pc in 2001 to 85.5 pc. Attitudes and discrimination remain the areas of concern. About 65 pc of Indians report stigma and shame to be the barriers to overcoming the epidemic. Around 44 pc of the population is not comfortable sharing the physician with HIV/AIDS victims, while 38 pc reported they feel uncomfortable working alongside a person with HIV/AIDS. According to a new report by ActionAid and VSO (UK), nearly 40 pc of those contacting the HIV virus in India are women. “In the last few years, there has been a growing ‘feminisation’ of the epidemic in India,” says Christy Abraham of ActionAid, India. Prevention methods frequently tend to ignore the violence and lack of control many women experience around sex. Too little money is spent on the development of female-centred prevention methods such as microbicides and female condoms, even though research shows 2.5m HIV infections can be prevented if just 20 pc of women in poor countries regularly use a microbicide. The government has already formulated a comprehensive policy to deal with children infected and affected by the epidemic. Going with a more focused approach now, it will supply drugs to mothers and newborns to stop HIV transmission to infants and promote institutional deliveries. “Over 21,000 children are infected each year through mother-to-child transmission of the virus. One of the constraints is the high number of home deliveries,” said health secretary Naresh Dayal. The health ministry is also planning to bring a Bill to prevent discrimination due to HIV/AIDS. But high cost of medicines, lack of trained medical staff and a shortage of medical diagnostics, treatment and care has made the battle against AIDS tougher. =============================================================== 9. On a ‘noble’ track, train ferries awareness on AIDS (New Delhi) IBN Live, December 01, 2007. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/train-on-tracks-ferries-awareness-on-aids/53386-3.html New Delhi: On a ‘noble’ track, train ferries awareness on AIDS The much awaited Red Ribbon express is finally ready to roll out on the tracks on Saturday, World AIDS day, with all information on AIDS. All one needs to do is hop on to the train to know all about AIDS. This colourful train will not be ferrying passengers but spreading awareness about HIV. With seven coaches attached, the train has interesting exhibitions on HIV, counselling sessions and much more. “The auditorium section will hold three sessions of two hours each for district collectors and Anganwadi workers at the district level,” says Sujatha Rao, DG NACO. The Red Ribbon express will cover 27, 000 kilometers, visiting 180 stations across 24 states. To attract the public, performers have been hired to ride into nearby villages on these bicycles. Their job is to spread awareness through songs and dance themes. Sujatha Rao says that there wil be 60 performers, moving at the periphery of the villages. Union health ministry along with a group called Make art stop AIDS, has worked towards a jazzy launch of the Red Ribbon express. Auto rickshaws and even a bus have been roped in to make the campaign a success. The Red Ribbon express will reach out to millions of people. However, to assess this there will be a group of people at every destination, taking down profile of passengers getting onto the train. =============================================================== 10. Second line ART from January next (Bangalore) The Hindu, December 01, 2007. http://www.hindu.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120153600400.htm Bangalore: Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss to announce new strategy on World Aids Day A large number of HIV positive persons who are on first line Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and may have developed resistance to it have something to look forward to next year. The Union Government, through the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), will start second line ART from January next year and Karnataka is slated to adopt it in the following two or three months. According to official sources in the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society (KSAPS) and NACO, the first ART centres to roll out free second line ART for HIV positive persons will be J.J. Hospital in Mumbai and Tambaram ART Centre in Chennai. Subsequently, NACO will roll out the therapy in one ART centre each in every State covering the whole country by the end of next year. This will be announced on World AIDS Day on Saturday by Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Anbumani Ramadoss in Delhi. Quality of life Anti-Retroviral Therapy is the only recommended treatment that inhibits the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). ART drugs slow down the replication of HIV. When these drugs are given in combination, HIV replication and immune deterioration can be delayed, and survival and quality of life improved. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that in treatment programmes in resource-limited settings, HIV infected adolescents and adults should start therapy when they have clinical AIDS, regardless of CD4 count. When CD4 counts are available, all HIV infected people with less than 200 CD4 cells/mm3 should be offered treatment. “At present, 10,500 persons with HIV/AIDS are availing themselves of free first line therapy in 17 centres in Karnataka. Only those who show resistance to first line ART or in whom there is clinical failure to respond to first line treatment, such persons will be eligible for second line ART. The cost of second line anti-retroviral treatment is around Rs. 1 lakh a year and most patients cannot afford it,” a KSAPS official told The Hindu. In all, more than a lakh HIV positive persons across the country are getting free anti-retroviral drugs through 127 centres. As on November this year, the centres providing ART in Karnataka are Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, Bangalore; Mysore Medical College, Mysore; Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli; Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bellary; district hospitals of Davangere, Mangalore, Belgaum, Gulbarga, Bijapur, Kolar, Raichur, Chamarajnagar, Hassan, Tumkur, Koppal, Shimoga and Bagalkot. “We are happy that the Government has decided to start second line ART by January as we have been campaigning for this cause for sometime. “Around two to three per cent of the HIV positive persons who are on anti-retroviral drugs (roughly 200 in Karnataka) would be eligible for the second line treatment,” R. Elango, founder member of the India Network of People Living with HIV, said. 3,717 HIV positive men As on March 2007, there were 3,717 HIV positive men alive and on ART in Karnataka. Similarly, there are 2,103 HIV positive women, one transgender person and 342 children in the State taking ART. =============================================================== Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the above articles are those of the respective newspapers, not those of SAATHII.