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The Washington Post examines how African countries are “grappling with debates over what rights and duties to give those living with [HIV/AIDS] — a growing segment of the population that remains largely hidden.” The newspaper writes: “Across the continent, lawmakers are considering whether to make criminals of those who infect others with HIV, allow bosses to test workers for the virus, punish women who pass it to their babies and give constitutional protections to those with HIV.”

The Washington Post reports that policies protecting the rights of people who are living with HIV/AIDS have “generally been favored by officials in African nations,” but “those officials also face pressure to protect the uninfected.”

To illustrate some of the issues involved, the Washington Post highlights a pending court case involving two Zambian airmen who say the military did not tell them they were tested for HIV and unfairly discharged them. They claim this violated “their rights to privacy and protection from inhumane and degrading treatment,” and want their military jobs back (Brulliard, 9/12).

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.

The World Health Organization is reviewing its 2006 guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs by HIV-positive pregnant and breastfeeding women because of new evidence that prolonged use can cut the risk of mother-to-child transmission, reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE56K6XB20090721″ target=_new>Reuters reports. Current guidelines recommend that these women receive a short-course antiretroviral regimen. However, a new study released at an international AIDS conference on Wednesday shows that a stronger regimen over a prolonged period significantly lowers the risk of mother-to-child transmission.

The study examined 824 pregnant women in Burkina Faso, Kenya and South Africa who received either the standard antiretroviral regimen or a combination of three antiretrovirals. The combination regimen was administered during the last trimester and for a maximum of six months during breastfeeding, according to study leader Tim Farley of WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health. Farley said women who received the combination regimen during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding had a 42% lower risk of transmitting HIV to their infants than women given the standard course.

Farley added, “The results of this study show an almost twofold reduction in the risk of HIV transmission during the breastfeeding period and also [show] there is no short-term toxicity” to the women or their infants. He said that participants will be monitored for any long-term health effects. WHO is expected to release the updated recommendations by the end of the year (Roelf, Reuters, 7/21).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women’s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women’s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is facing a budget shortfall of about $3 billion, Marcela Rojo, a Global Fund spokesperson, said on Friday, Reuters reports. Rojo said the Global Fund needs $170 million to pay for the programs it committed to supporting last year, and the organization will need between $2.5 billion and $3 billion to maintain and finance programs planned for 2010. “The Global Fund will need a substantially higher amount than the one pledged at the last replenishment in Berlin in 2007 ($10 billion),” Rojo said, adding, “The decisions that are made in the next 18 months will be critical for sustaining the gains achieved in global health so far and further scaling up programmes.”

According to Reuters, the U.S. “is the largest donor supporting public health programmes through the Global Fund.” Since the Global Fund was created in 2002, Washington has pledged more than $4.4 billion to support its programs. “Question marks over funding for the Global Fund’s long-term programmes may raise public health threats, because patients receiving AIDS and tuberculosis drugs need to keep taking the treatment to avoid developing resistance to it,” writes Reuters (MacInnis, 7/3).

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.

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The Senate on Friday confirmed President San Francisco Chronicle reports. Goosby - who “served previously in the Clinton administration as director of HIV/AIDS policy in the Department of Health and Human Services and as chief adviser to the president on HIV-related issues” - will now “head the U.S. strategy for addressing HIV around the world, and oversee the implementation of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief” (PEPFAR), the newspaper writes. Goosby “has more than 25 years of experience treating HIV/AIDS,” and most recently served as chief executive officer and chief medical officer of the Pangaea Global AIDS Foundation, which is affiliated with the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, according to the San Francisco Chronicle (Doyle, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/20).

Mark Cloutier, CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, said in a written statement, “The world’s most vulnerable populations will benefit from Dr. Goosby’s guidance through greater access to HIV treatment and prevention programs based on sound science” (San Francisco AIDS Foundation release, 6/19). “What’s unusual about Eric is that he already comes into the arena with a lot of global experience,” Cloutier added (San Francisco Chronicle, 6/20).

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.

The New York state Legislature “should make it mandatory for health care workers to offer [HIV] testing” as proposed in a New York state bill (us/leg/?bn=A07757″ target=”_new”>A 7757), a Long Island Newsday editorial says (Long Island Newsday, 5/11). The legislation would require that people ages 18 to 64 be offered an HIV test in emergency departments, outpatient clinics and community health centers. The legislation also would eliminate written consent requirements and require the state to develop a standard form to be used by all health care providers (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/16).

“There’s no harm in offering to test every adult for HIV,” the editorial says, adding that the “harm is in not making the attempt.” The editorial continues that the measure would “reduce the stigma of HIV testing by making it routine” and by “requiring doctors to offer the test, explain its purpose, how it’s done and answer any questions, but then simply note in a patient’s chart whether the offer was accepted or rejected.” The legislation would “advance the critical public health objective here, which is to get people tested” (Long Island Newsday, 5/11).

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 most lamentable and heart-breaking dimension of multilateralism” is the “absence of any serious focus on gender throughout” the United Nations system, Stephen Lewis, founder of AIDS-Free World, writes in a London Independent opinion piece. He adds, “I can cite chapter and verse, but let me start by telling you that whether it is poverty alleviation, or HIV and AIDS, or sexual violence and conflict, the whole panoply of discrimination visited on women around the world, particularly in developing countries, the U.N.’s agencies and the Secretariat have been profoundly delinquent in their response.”

According to Lewis, the “struggle for gender equality has become the most important struggle on the planet; the continuing marginalization of 52% of the world’s population is simply unacceptable.” He adds, “So we’re now engaged in an effort to create a new international agency for women, a fascinating undertaking that I hope will engage” governments. “Nothing approximates the possibility of finally having a vehicle that would give voice and resources and support to the struggles of women around the world,” Lewis writes, adding, “Everyone knows what’s happening in these areas about women’s vulnerability but there is never a consistent voice to bring it to the attention of the world community, to continue to hammer it home, to demand action from government.” He concludes, “So the emergence and creation of a women’s agency I think would be a godsend internationally and would overcome the record of the United Nations on gender” (Lewis, Independent, 5/22).

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.