In celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia on 17th May, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) Cymru will be showcasing the work of a local young photographer at Swansea’s InfoNation centre.

The show, which opens to the public on Saturday 16th May and runs for one week, features a series of photographs highlighting homophobia in the community, with a particular focus on the difficulties faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in coming out to their family and friends.

The 21-year-old photographer, Swansea-born Laura Condon, said: “I wanted to represent how coming out can cause feelings of shyness and isolation, and how hard it can be for LGBT people to reveal their sexuality, even to their loved ones. I worked closely with THT Cymru’s LGBT youth group SYGNet to organise this exhibition, which I hope will give visitors an insight into some of the problems caused by homophobia.”

Gavin Mooney, Centre Manager for THT Cymru in Swansea, said: “THT has a long history of working with LGBT communities in Swansea and Cardiff, and we’re committed to tackling homophobia in the region, and across the UK. Laura is a promising local artist, and we’re delighted to be working with her to raise awareness of these issues.”

The exhibition will be shown at InfoNation, 47 The Kingsway, Swansea. It will run from Saturday 16th - Saturday 23rd May between 12.00pm and 5.30pm; admission is free. There will also be information available in Welsh and English explaining how homophobia can be tackled in schools, colleges and youth groups.

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. Terrence Higgins Trust relies on donations to deliver a wide range of services. To make a donation, visit http://www.tht.org.uk

2. The International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was founded by Louis Georges Tin in 2005. Campaigns and initiatives take place on or around May 17th every year to combat prejudice against LGBT people. May 17th is chosen because it marks the anniversary of the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its list of mental diseases.

3. Info-Nation provides free and confidential information and support on a wide range of topics; Employment and Training, Education, Family and Relationships, Law and Rights, Housing, Environment, World, Europe, UK, and Wales, Money, Sport and Leisure, and Health. web: http://www.info-nation.org.uk

Source
Terrence Higgins Trust

In an effort that will contribute to raising the quality of medicines in Peru and the surrounding region, the country’s National Center for Quality Control - the Centro Nacional de Control de Calidad (CNCC) - has attained internationally recognized ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation for testing and calibration laboratories. This achievement is being celebrated today in Lima by the CNCC along with its partners who assisted the laboratory in achieving this accreditation, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention, a scientific nonprofit organization that develops and disseminates standards for the identity, quality, purity, strength and consistency of medicines as well as dietary supplements and food ingredients.

ACLASS, an accrediting body based in Washington, D.C., awarded CNCC the ISO/IEC accreditation for five key analytical tests. This accreditation certifies that CNCC is providing valid and trustworthy data to the Peruvian Ministry of Health, helping to ensure the distribution of good quality medicines to the country’s citizens. CNCC is one of only a few official medicines control laboratories in Latin America to have achieved this accreditation.

“I congratulate the Ministry of Health and the CNCC on this tremendous achievement, which is the culmination of years of diligence and hard work,” said Roger L. Williams, M.D., chief executive officer of USP. “The importance of this accreditation should not be understated. Patients and doctors should be able to trust that the medicines they take or administer are of high quality. The work we all do in helping to ensure that is the case is vital and life-saving. There is no better way to demonstrate commitment to quality than to submit oneself to the objective scrutiny of public quality standards such as those offered by ISO.”

“The ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation positions CNCC as an international reference for labs working on quality control of pharmaceutical products. It consolidates our technical competitiveness, widens our reach and allows us to contribute to the sustainable development of Peru and the region in public health,” said Dr. Ruben Tabuchi, CNCC general director.

USP, through its Drug Quality and Information (DQI) Program, provided technical assistance to CNCC in a number of different capacities, including conducting an assessment of the CNCC laboratory’s quality management system against ISO/IEC standards; providing ongoing monitoring of CNCC’s progress toward accreditation; and hosting a CNCC intern at its U.S. headquarters to observe first hand how USP’s quality management system complies with ISO standards.

The USP DQI Program has supported quality assurance and quality control systems in Peru through the USAID-funded Amazon Malaria Initiative since 2002 and South American Infectious Diseases Initiative since 2005, which work to improve malaria control and contain the spread of antimicrobial resistance, respectively. USAID is an independent agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. USP DQI is a cooperative agreement with USAID that works to improve drug quality in developing countries. The program focuses on the availability of high-quality medicines to treat life-threatening diseases including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Lack of access to, and misuse of, these medications is a major public health threat throughout much of the world.

Source:
Francine Pierson

US Pharmacopeia

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In a Journal of the American Medical Association NIAID release, 6/9). In their commentary, the authors highlight the various areas of research that are necessary to verify or refute the test and treat approach (Fauci/Dieffenbach, JAMA, 6/10).

This information was reprinted from dailyreports.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily U.S. HIV/AIDS Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at dailyreports.kff.org.

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