Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is looking for gay men living with HIV to share their experiences online on its ‘What next?’ website, http://www.tht.org.uk/whatnext which provides information and support specifically for newly diagnosed gay men.

Part of the website is written from the perspective of men already living with HIV and includes diaries describing their personal experiences and offering tips and advice. THT hopes to find more men willing to contribute to this section.

Anyone who is interested can come forward and the aim is to get a diverse range of men with varying experiences and backgrounds. At the moment, THT is particularly looking for Latin American men and men from black and minority ethnic communities. Ideally contributors would be able to provide a diary of about 500 words once a month. They would also have to be comfortable being pictured on the website.

Marc Thompson, Deputy Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust said “We know that many people feel quite alone after being diagnosed with HIV and What next? aims to reduce that feeling of isolation. Hearing from men with HIV who are living normal lives and managing their condition can really help. If you’re interested in featuring on the website, please get in touch. Your contribution could mean a lot to someone who is newly diagnosed.”

What next? is funded by the Department of Health. Topics on the site include finding out you have HIV, telling people, health, sex and love, dealing with medical staff and information on HIV, treatment and transmission. There is a quiz to test knowledge and an option to ask an anonymous question on any aspect of HIV.

Notes

1. Terrence Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity with centres across England, Scotland and Wales. We’re here to provide information and advice about HIV and sexual health and offer a range of services including sexual health checks, counselling and support groups. We campaign for a world where people with HIV live healthy lives, free from prejudice and discrimination and we promote good sexual health as a right and reality for all.

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

The HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Unit of The Gambia’s armed forces earlier this week held an educational program for military leaders and personnel in an effort to promote education and leadership regarding the disease, the Daily Observer/AllAfrica.com reports. U.S. Ambassador to The Gambia Barry Wells during the program said that HIV/AIDS continues to harm militaries across Africa, adding that many militias fail to address the disease as a major public health issue. He continued that allowing HIV/AIDS to “eat away at military forces around the world” leaves “borders unprotected, security in jeopardy and the people of our nations vulnerable.” He added that military leaders can impart the behavioral changes needed to curb the spread of the disease.

In addition, Wells said that the militia should raise awareness among members in order to disseminate HIV/AIDS awareness to citizens. Lt. Col. Yankuba Drammeh noted the impact of HIV/AIDS in The Gambia, adding that it affects the economic and national security of the country. Drammeh said that the military is committed to raising awareness in the country and among personnel (Ngum-Saidy/Janneh, Daily Observer/AllAfrica.com, 4/29).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

The New York Times on Friday examined an HIV blood test, which seeks out bits of the virus’ RNA and can identify infections during the acute or primary phase. Standard rapid tests, which detect HIV antibodies, can provide immediate results but are not likely to identify an infection that has occurred in the past month. The RNA tests, which can identify infections in one week to 10 days, are able to detect infections in the early stages, when HIV is replicating but the immune system has not mounted a response. According to the Times, although many health officials and HIV/AIDS experts see detecting newly infected HIV-positive people as an “important next step in controlling the spread of HIV,” the RNA test, the “only one capable of detecting the newest infections, has not been widely adopted for this purpose.”

“People with acute infection have more virus in the blood, and if they’re unaware they’re infected, they’re more likely to engage in risky behavior,” Kenneth Mayer of Brown University said. He added that finding people with new infections sooner and providing them with counseling will help prevent the spread of HIV. Some studies indicate that newly infected HIV-positive people could be the source of 10% to 50% of all new HIV transmissions, the Times reports.

Although CDC has done pilot studies of RNA testing in some cities, current national guidelines focus more on widespread antibody testing. According to the Times, RNA testing has been tried rarely in part because it is expensive, requires drawing blood and laboratory work, and does not produce immediate results. However, health departments in North Carolina and San Francisco have used the RNA tests in some settings for a few years. These health departments have reduced costs by pooling several blood samples and testing them at the same time. Officials in these areas say that they have detected dozens of cases of acute HIV infection that were not detected through the standard test, adding that wider use of the RNA test is needed.

The Times reports that a less expensive version of the RNA test might be available soon. CDC recently launched a study to compare RNA testing with an advanced version of the standard test. The new version, called an antibody-antigen test, is easy to administer and can detect substances produced by HIV in its early stages. The new test appears to be able to identify 85% of the acute infections detected by the RNA and could be commercially available next year, according to CDC officials (Tuller, New York Times, 4/30).

Opinion Piece
If “everyone were tested” for HIV, the “stigma surrounding AIDS testing might decrease,” columnist Michael Gerson writes in a Washington Post opinion piece, adding, “It takes only 20 minutes.” According to Gerson, he recently received an HIV test in the Ward 7 neighborhood of Washington, D.C., which has become a “new ground zero in the American AIDS crisis.” He adds that the disease primarily affects district residents who are “geographically isolated, often poor and thus largely invisible.” Unity Health Care, which provides health services in Ward 7, recommends “three changes to confront the epidemic,” Gerson writes, adding, “First, AIDS needs to be discussed at home.” Second, staff members “argue for the ‘routinization’ of AIDS within the range of infectious diseases,” Gerson writes, adding, “Third, testing needs to be broader.” According to Gerson, people who are aware of their HIV-positive status are “more likely to change their behavior and get treatment for opportunistic infections. Early treatment can also reduce the virus to a nearly undetectable level in the body.” This “raises an interesting prospect supported by” NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, Gerson writes, adding that although the prospect of developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine “remains unlikely in the short term, what if we were to begin treatment with AIDS drugs as soon as someone is diagnosed with HIV instead of waiting, as we do now, until later stages? Lower viral loads would inhibit transmission.” The “obstacles are immense,” Gerson writes, adding, “But even the attempt would have many good effects. It would encourage early care and effective prevention” (Gerson, Washington Post, 5/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

World Bank programs aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, are less effective overall than World Bank programs aimed at addressing other health and development issues, according to a report released Thursday by the organization’s Independent Evaluation Group, the New York Times reports.

The report assessed the World Bank $17 billion investment in health, nutrition and population programs since 1997. According to the report, seven of 10 World Bank HIV/AIDS programs worldwide, and eight of 10 in Africa, had unsatisfactory results (Dugger, New York Times, 4/30). HIV/AIDS programs in Africa had a 25% success rate, compared with 80% success rate for all World Bank programs, the report found. In addition, one-third of World Bank nutrition, health and population programs from 1997 to 2007 did not produce satisfactory results. However, some programs were very successful, including a malaria campaign in Eritrea that reduced malaria deaths by 85% (Faiola, Washington Post, 5/1). HIV/AIDS programs accounted for about 60% of the bank’s communicable diseases projects between 1997 and 2006. Meanwhile, malaria programs accounted for 3% of projects and tuberculosis programs for 2%, the report said. In addition, the report noted that World Bank reduced its support for family planning and other issues, such as malnutrition, as it allocated more resources to HIV/AIDS (New York Times, 4/30).

The report cited weak monitoring and infrastructure, poor implementation and overly complex programs as reasons for the unsatisfactory results, noting that a $26.6 million HIV/AIDS program conducted in Ghana from 2000 to 2005 did not target people at risk of contracting HIV (Washington Post, 5/1). Difficulties in coordinating collaboration with donors, not-for-profit groups and government agencies also made it difficult to ensure the programs delivered results, the report said (New York Times, 4/30). In addition, the report noted that evaluation of programs was “almost nonexistent” and cautioned that “excessive earmarking” of programs for communicable diseases could weaken health systems (Jack, Financial Times, 4/30).

The report recommended that the World Bank simplify programs, reduce the number of government agencies involved and have more modest goals. Martha Ainsworth, lead author of the report, added that efforts to reduce high fertility rates also are needed. “The fact that no one’s been paying attention to reducing high fertility is critical for Africa,” Ainsworth said (New York Times, 4/30). The World Bank noted that it is tripling its commitment to health programs to $3 billion in the current fiscal year and plans to focus on efforts to strengthen health systems.

Comments
The report also called for increased efforts to reinforce accountability (Financial Times, 4/30). The bank said it would look into ways to streamline existing programs but noted that it can be challenging to operate programs under difficult conditions in certain regions. “I accept much of the report; I accept it as constructive criticism,” Julian Schweitzer — World Bank director of health, nutrition and population — said, adding, “In hindsight, some of these projects were too complex. But I also want to make a point that health is complicated. It is very hard to develop a good health system.”

According to the Post, the report was released as governments are being called on to provide billions in aid to help institutions such as the World Bank address the financial crisis. In addition, the bank is planning to increase emergency programs to address the swine flu outbreak. Eswar Prasad, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor of trade policy at Cornell University, said the report is a “cautionary note about long-held concerns that money to these institutions can generate a lot of waste” (Washington Post, 5/1). William Easterly, an economics professor at New York University, added that the report confirmed a “fear that many of us have had for some time: that hugely disproportionate attention to AIDS has had a negative effect on aid efforts for all other health problems” (New York Times, 4/30).


The report is available online.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

About 9.2% of inmates in Tanzania’s prisons are HIV-positive, according to a recently released 2008 Human Rights Report compiled by the country’s Legal and Human Rights Centre, Guardian/IPP Media reports. LHRC advocate Clarence Kipobota at the release of the report said that the situation in Tanzanian prisons is alarming, adding that there are no systems in place to aid HIV-positive inmates. He said, “There is no information on appropriate health facilities for people living with HIV/AIDS in prisons,” adding that there are “no mechanisms designed to facilitate a convicted person’s transition back into the society when they are released.”

The report found that as of June 2008, there were 39,951 inmates in the country’s prison system — above the official maximum capacity level by 12,298 inmates. Kipobota said that although the country’s Parole Board Act is in place and operational, the act is restrictive and therefore unable to help curb the overcrowding occurring in prisons. Retired Judge Edward Mwesiumo said the report should serve as a working tool to improve human rights in Tanzania (Philemon, Guardian/IPP Media, 4/28).


The report is available online (.pdf).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.