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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon during a General Assembly meeting Tuesday urged governments not to cut aid for the international fight against HIV/AIDS, the AP/Washington Post reports. Even as Ban “called for ‘bold action’ not only to increase funding but also to break down social barriers to achieve the goal set by world leaders in 2006 of universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention services, treatment, care and support by 2010,” he and other speakers at the meeting “reviewing progress and challenges in the battle against AIDS indicated that it will be exceedingly difficult - if not impossible - to reach the goal” (Lederer, AP/Washington Post, 6/16).

During the meeting, Ban presented a report (pdf) on the progress of HIV/AIDS commitments, that showed “achieving national universal access targets by 2010 will require an estimated annual outlay of $25 billion within two years,” Xinhua reports. “Now is not the time to falter,” Ban said. “The economic crisis should not be an excuse to abandon commitments - it should be an impetus to make the right investments that will yield benefits for generations to come” (Xinhua, 6/16).

Ban highlighted positive indicators from his report, including the results of a survey of 14 African countries that showed a drop in the percentage of pregnant women who are HIV-positive (AP/Washington Post, 6/16); an increase in funding for HIV/AIDS programs in middle- and low-income countries, from $11.3 billion in 2007 to $13.7 billion in 2008 (UNAIDS release, 6/16); and that “the provision of antiretroviral drugs increased, contributing to the first decline in the number of annual AIDS deaths since the epidemic was first recognized nearly 30 years ago,” according to the AP/Washington Post.

“Yet, there are still nearly five new infections for every two people put on treatment,” Ban said. The AP/Washington Post writes, “General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann cited other shortcomings: 29 million people who need HIV treatment still lack medication, roughly two out of three HIV-positive pregnant women don’t receive services to prevent mother-to-child transmission, and an estimated 370,000 children under the age of 15 became infected with HIV in 2007 and are less likely than adults to receive treatment.”

“Even as we see signs of cutbacks in AIDS funding in many countries, we must remind governments and the international community that the world has the resources to mount the kind of AIDS response to which we have committed. If we allow cuts now, we will face increased costs and great human suffering in the future,” d’Escoto said (Lederer, AP/Washington Post, 6/16).

“The Secretary-General’s report also highlights that despite the many commitments made by member states to protect the rights of people living with HIV and people vulnerable to HIV infection, many countries have laws and policies that are inconsistent with the commitments and result in reduced access to essential HIV services and commodities,” according to UNAIDS (UNAIDS release, 6/16).

This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

To improve efficiency and expand capacity to monitor the growing number of clinical studies being conducted in Western Sub-Saharan Africa, Quintiles today announced the opening of a new office in Accra, Ghana.

The opening of a Quintiles’ office in Ghana, and the access it will provide to the surrounding West African countries, will immediately facilitate monitoring of a large malaria vaccine study now under way.

The new Ghana office is based at the grounds of the University of Ghana at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. In opening this new facility, Quintiles has worked with Professor Alex Nyarko, Ph.D., director of the institute. This collaboration will continue. In addition, Professor David Ofori-Adjei, a specialist physician at the institute who has more than 30 years’ experience studying infectious diseases, has entered into a Partner-Site Agreement with Quintiles.

As part of the agreement with the institute, Quintiles will provide training for new investigators across a range of therapeutic areas, as well as training for clinical research associates (CRAs).

“This expansion offers huge potential to reach patients in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an estimated population of 760 million people,” said Gillian Corken, Chief Executive Officer, Quintiles Africa. “Initially the focus will be on diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV. However, we anticipate that as the infrastructure and economies in Africa develop, like many other non-traditional regions before, it will play an increasingly important role in recruiting patients for many other therapeutic areas, such as oncology and cardiovascular.

“Quintiles already has an established and successful operation in South Africa that provides a range of services including clinical operations, regulatory support, partner sites, data management, biostatistics and laboratory services, as well as commercial operations,” explained Corken.

Professor Nyarko said, “We are excited to be working in partnership with a company such as Quintiles. We have the clinical expertise, infrastructure and resources to conduct clinical studies and to play our part in the development of new and better medicines. Working with Quintiles means we can learn and develop expertise in clinical research. We are already working with Quintiles on a landmark pediatric malaria study targeted to enroll more than 16,000 patients across seven Sub-Saharan countries.”

In conducting studies in Africa, Quintiles adopts the same policies and procedures as employed in the entire 50-plus countries it operates in worldwide. Putting patients first is at the heart of everything Quintiles does. Regardless of country, Quintiles strictly adheres to ethical principles articulated by international guidelines such as ICH, the Declaration of Helsinki, CIOMS and The Belmont Report. In addition to following all international guidelines, Quintiles has developed its own extensive internal policies and procedures to safeguard patients.

Quintiles is the only fully integrated biopharmaceutical services company offering clinical, commercial, consulting and capital solutions worldwide. The Quintiles network of 23,000 engaged professionals in more than 50 countries around the globe works with an unwavering commitment to patients, safety and ethics. Quintiles helps biopharmaceutical companies navigate risk and seize opportunities in an environment where change is constant. For more information, please visit http://www.quintiles.com.

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AIDS Community Services of Western New York (ACS), a Buffalo-based agency that provides medical treatment and social services for individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS, has lost a $288,500 grant from the Junior League of Buffalo that was to be used to expand a primary care center, the Charlotte Business Journal reports. The Junior League of Buffalo cited a contract agreement that said construction was to be completed by Dec. 31, 2008 as the reason for the decision; construction has yet to begin. ACS President Ronald Silverio said the agency will move forward with its expansion plans, although they will be further delayed, and anticipates that they will receive other funding to replace the loss. Since the ACS began planning this project, they have also experienced cuts in state funding, according to the Journal (Drury, Charlotte Business Journal, 6/19).

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.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.