View previous stories
	Five reasons why blindness is a gender issue by Fred Hollows Foundation   People often say disease doesn''t discriminate: cancer, Ebola, heart disease. But one disease – eye disease – certainly does.   Two-thirds of the world''s blind people are women. Here are five reasons why, in every region of the world, women are more likely than men to be blind.   1. Kids can make their mothers go blind.   It''s mostly toddlers who carry a bug known as trachoma, which causes an infectious eye inflammation. Women are more likely to stay at home to care for the kids, so they are more than twice as likely as men to be repeatedly infected.   Trachoma – the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world – can make the eyelashes curl inwards and scratch the cornea, causing excruciating pain and blindness if left untreated.   2. Women are less able to get eye health care   In many communities, men control the family finances and the medical needs of males within the family are prioritised. It can also be harder for women to travel because of family responsibilities or for cultural reasons.   3. Women and girls have to care for blind relatives   Preventable blindness doesn''t just affect the person who has lost their sight. Women like Helen (pictured) have to do back-breaking work while caring for a blind child. And girls often leave school to care for their adult relatives who have gone blind.   When they miss out on an education, they earn less and as they grow are unlikely to leave the cycle of poverty.   4. The discrimination starts early   The gap between rates of blindness in girls compared to boys is even higher than the gap between women and men. Most of these girls are in developing countries where they live in poverty. If they''re also blind, it''s almost impossible for them to learn and earn a living when they''re older.   5. Blindness heightens the risk of dying   An estimated half of all children who become blind will die within two years. Those who live are only expected to reach 40 years of age. More girls and women are blind, which means more of them are at risk of dying from blindness.   Preventable blindness has big implications for women trying to enter the workforce and support their families. It''s an economic development issue and that''s why correcting vision loss brings the greatest benefits for the poorest families.   For example, in India, 58% of women who had cataract surgery were able to return to the workforce. A recent study in Vietnam showed many people who had eye surgery worked longer hours and could then pay household bills, rent and medical expenses.   It''s clear to see: if we create more equality in eye care, then we create more equality in life.   Dr Zongfa Wang, a surgeon trained in cataract surgery by The Fred Hollows Foundation says: " A cured patient helps the whole family.. it means someone - usually a young woman - doesn''t have to look after them anymore, and is free to return to school or work.   http://www.hollows.org/au/why-blindness-is-a-gender-issue http://www.hollows.org/au/latest/25-amazing-images-from-25-years Visit the related web page
	21st International AIDS Conference - Access, Equity, Rights Now by UN AIDS, International AIDS Society, agencies South Africa   Hope for ''End of Aids'' is disappearing, experts warn, writes Sarah Boseley for Guardian News.   Efforts to combat Aids in Africa are seriously faltering, with drugs beginning to lose their power, the number of infections rising and funding declining, raising the prospect of the epidemic once more spiralling out of control, experts have warned.   The UN has set a target of 2030 for “the end of Aids”, which has been endorsed by donor governments including the US, where the president, Barack Obama, said the end was in sight last month.   But the reality on the ground, especially in the developing world, looks very different. Many experts believe that the epidemic will continue to spread and the Aids death toll, still at 1.5 million people a year, could begin to soar again.   Prof Peter Piot, the first executive director of UNAIDS and director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told the Guardian: “I don’t believe the slogan ‘the end of Aids by 2030’ is realistic and it could be counterproductive. It could suggest that it’s fine, it’s all over and we can move to something else. No. Aids is still one of the biggest killers in the world.”   At the recent International Aids Conference in Durban, South Africa, Bill Gates, a self-proclaimed optimist whose foundation has invested heavily in combatting HIV, warned of trouble ahead.   “If we only do as well as we have been doing, the number of people with HIV will go up even beyond its previous peak,” Gates said. “We have to do an incredible amount to reduce the incidence of the number of people getting the infection. To start writing the story of the end of Aids, new ways of thinking about treatment and prevention are essential.”   Those fighting the epidemic face a devastating combination of problems:   Every year, around the world, nearly 2 million people, 60% of them girls and young women, become newly infected with the virus, despite prevention efforts.   In developing countries, HIV is becoming resistant to the drugs used to treat people and keep them well, which means they will increasingly need other drugs that are currently unaffordable. Donor countries are cutting back on funding.   Globally, 38 million people are living with HIV, 17 million of whom are now on drugs that stop them transmitting the virus to others. But the rise in infections appears inexorable.   Piot said: “It is as if we’re rowing in a boat with a big hole and we are just trying to take the water out. We’re in a big crisis with this continuing number of infections and that’s not a matter of just doing a few interventions.”   There had been hope that treating people would stop the spread, but studies are beginning to show that “test and treat” – putting people on drugs as soon as they test positive for HIV to prevent them being infectious – may not work. Many people do not want to take medication until they become ill. Piot believes that drugs will not stop Aids and that cultural change, which is far harder to bring about, will be necessary.   “We will not end HIV as an epidemic just by medical means,” he said. “People are not robots. Sex happens in a context. It is about power. Southern African girls and young women are infected by men who are much older than themselves. It’s about poverty. It’s also about a culture of machismo. There are also gay men all over the world who are discriminated against and underground, and there’s no way you can prevent infections if something is underground.”   Gates said the number of young people at risk in Africa is set to rise markedly. In a few decades, 40% of the world’s youth will live on the continent.   “The largest generation in history is entering an age where they are most at risk … In 1990, there were 94 million people between the ages of 15 and 24. Already, that number has doubled. By 2030, there will be more than 280 million young people. The vulnerable age group will be three times as large in 2030 as it was back in 1990,” he said.   Drug resistance is only now beginning to be monitored in Africa, but there are clear signs that it is growing. Médecins Sans Frontières has found 10% resistance in its projects.   A World Health Organisation report tells of 40% resistance to one of the crucial drugs in the basic cocktail given to people in less economically developed countries. Resistance is widespread in Europe and North America, but people with HIV are moved on to newer drug combinations that are vastly more expensive. The basic regime in Africa costs $100 (£75) a year. Drug treatments in the US cost more than $20,000 a year.   The report shows that more than one-third (35.7%) of nearly 1,200 clinics reported regularly running out of at least one drug over the course of a year. If antiretroviral drugs are not taken consistently, the virus mutates, resistance develops and the drug will no longer work. It also found that one in five patients was lost to followup, so nobody knows whether they are being successfully treated.   Funding for HIV is declining, in response to austerity measures, financial crises and the assumption that the epidemic is under control. A recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS said funding from donor governments fell last year for the first time in five years, from $8.6bn in 2014 to $7.5bn.   18 July 2016   HIV/AIDS continues to stalk children and adolescents – UNICEF   As the 21st International AIDS Conference gets underway in Durban this week, UNICEF warned that despite real global progress in tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic, much work remains to be done to protect children and adolescents from infection, sickness and death.   Since 2000, concerted action to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) in countries with high HIV/AIDS prevalence has brought the transmission rate down by roughly 70 per cent worldwide.   This includes sub-Saharan Africa, the region with the greatest burden of HIV/AIDS infections and deaths. Over the last 15 years, PMTCT programmes have prevented some 1.6 million new HIV infections in children, globally, while the provision of anti-retroviral treatment has saved 8.8 million lives (people of all ages).   But the children’s agency said that adolescents are dying of AIDS at alarming rates.   “After all of the saved and improved lives thanks to prevention, treatment and care; after all of the battles won against prejudice and ignorance about this disease; after all of the wonderful milestones achieved, AIDS is still the number two cause of death for those aged 10-19 globally – and number one in Africa,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.   The numbers of AIDS-related deaths among adolescents 15-19 years have more than doubled since 2000. Globally in 2015, there were on average 29 new infections an hour among those in this age group. And while rates of new infections among adolescents have levelled off, UNICEF is concerned that projected increases in their population in the coming years will mean an increase in the overall number of infections.   Girls are particularly vulnerable, making up about 65 per cent of new adolescent infections worldwide. In sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for about 70 per cent of people in the world living with HIV, 3 out of every 4 adolescents newly infected by HIV in 2015 were girls.   Yet fear of testing keeps many young people unaware of their status. Among adolescents, only 13 per cent of girls and 9 per cent of boys were tested within the last year. A new poll conducted on U-report, UNICEF’s mobile-based reporting tool, shows that some 68 per cent of 52,000 young people surveyed in 16 countries said they did not want to be tested, both because they were afraid of an HIV-positive result, and because they were worried about social stigma.   Meanwhile, new infections among children due to transmission at birth or during breastfeeding have decreased dramatically since 2000, dropping by 70 per cent in the period. But UNICEF called for stepping up efforts to eliminate the transmission of the virus from mother to child.   Lake, speaking after a visit to the Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital in Kwa Zulu Natal province, South Africa, stressed the urgent need for innovation and renewed political will to reach the children still being left behind. In 2015, half of new infections among children (0-14 years), occurred in only six countries: Nigeria, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.   “The undeniable progress we have made in the last three decades does not mean that our struggle is over,” Lake said. “The battle against AIDS will not be over until we redouble prevention and treatment efforts; until we reach those young lives still being denied the progress that millions before them have enjoyed; and until we end the stigma and fear that prevent so many young people from getting tested.”   http://uni.cf/2a8XaHm http://uni.cf/2aoRnh7   15 July 2016   36.7 million people were living with HIV AIDS in 2015. 17.8 were women.   A new report by UNAIDS reveals concerning trends in new HIV infections among adults. The Prevention gap report shows that while significant progress is being made in stopping new HIV infections among children, the decline in new HIV infections among adults has stalled. The report shows that HIV prevention urgently needs to be scaled up among this age group.   The Prevention gap report shows that an estimated 1.9 million adults have become infected with HIV every year for at least the past five years and that new HIV infections among adults are rising in some regions. The Prevention gap report gives the clear message that HIV prevention efforts need to be increased in order to stay on the Fast-Track to ending AIDS by 2030.   Eastern Europe and central Asia saw a 57% increase in annual new HIV infections between 2010 and 2015.   After years of steady decline, the Caribbean saw an 9% rise in annual new HIV infections among adults between 2010 and 2015.   In the Middle East and North Africa, annual new HIV infections increased by 4% between 2010 and 2015.   There have been no significant declines in any other regions of the world.   In Latin America the annual number of new adult HIV infections increased by 2% since 2010; New HIV infections declined marginally in western and central Europe and North America and in western and central Africa since 2010; New HIV infections among adults declined by 4% in eastern and southern Africa since 2010, and by 3% in Asia and the Pacific since 2010.   “We are sounding the alarm,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The power of prevention is not being realized. If there is a resurgence in new HIV infections now, the epidemic will become impossible to control. The world needs to take urgent and immediate action to close the prevention gap.”   The AIDS epidemic has had a huge impact over the past 35 years. Since the start of the epidemic, 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses and an estimated 78 million people have become infected with HIV.   It is essential for key populations to have access to the full range of HIV prevention options in order to protect themselves and their sexual partners from HIV. “Today, we have multiple prevention options,” said Mr Sidibé. “The issue is access - if people do not feel safe or have the means to access combination HIV prevention services we will not end this epidemic.”   The report highlights that the major hopes for antiretroviral therapy to have an impact on preventing new HIV infections are starting to be realized, although the full benefits may not be seen for some years.   The Prevention gap report estimates that over half of all people living with HIV, 57%, now know their HIV status, that 46% of all people living with HIV have access to antiretroviral treatment and that 38% of all people living with HIV have viral suppression, keeping them healthy and preventing onward transmission of the virus.   This underscores the urgent need for the UNAIDS 90–90–90 targets to be met to realize the full potential of antiretroviral therapy. The 90–90–90 targets are 90% of people knowing their HIV status, 90% of people who know their status accessing antiretroviral treatment and 90% of people on treatment having suppressed viral loads.   HIV prevention funding gap   The reports of rising numbers of new HIV infections are coming as data reveal donor funding has declined to its lowest levels since 2010. International donor contributions dropped from a peak of US$ 9.7 billion in 2013 to US$ 8.1 billion in 2015. Low- and middle-income countries are stepping up to fill the gap, with domestic resources accounting for 57% of the US$ 19.2 billion total funding in 2015.   The report notes that although international funding, the main source of funding for HIV prevention for people at higher risk of HIV, has reduced.   The current allocation of resources for HIV prevention is falling far short of what is needed. Currently, 20% of global resources for HIV are being spent on HIV prevention. The report indicates that to have maximum impact funding should focus on the location and population approach in order to reach people at higher risk with combination prevention options where they live and work.   Regional HIV prevention gaps   The report details the trajectory of new HIV infections and looks at which populations and which locations are most affected. It also outlines where countries need to make more tailored HIV prevention investments.   In eastern and southern Africa, for example, three quarters of all new HIV infections among adolescents aged 10–19 years are among adolescent girls. Adolescent girls are often prevented from accessing HIV services owing to gender inequality, a lack of age-appropriate HIV services, stigma, a lack of decision-making power and gender-based violence.   In 2014, only 57% of countries globally (of 104 countries reporting) had an HIV strategy that included a specific budget for women. It is estimated that worldwide only three in 10 adolescent girls and young women between the ages of 15 and 24 years have comprehensive and correct knowledge about HIV. Reaching adolescent girls and young women, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, will be a key factor in ending the AIDS epidemic.   In eastern Europe and central Asia, 51% of new HIV infections occur among people who inject drugs. More than 80% of the region’s new HIV infections in 2015 were in the Russian Federation. The epidemic is concentrated predominantly among key populations and their sexual partners, in particular people who inject drugs, who accounted for more than half of new HIV infections in 2015. However there is very low coverage of prevention programmes, in particular harm-reduction interventions among people who inject drugs.   In the Middle East and North Africa, 96% of new HIV infections occur among key populations, predominantly among people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and female sex workers and their sexual partners. However, prevention programmes for men who have sex with men and sex workers rarely receive support from domestic resources or through public services.   In western and central Europe and North America, around half of all new HIV infections occur among gay men and while a significant proportion of resources are being invested for this key population group, prevention efforts are failing to have an impact. Between 2010 and 2014, new HIV diagnoses among gay men increased by 17% in western and central Europe, and by 8% in North America.   The report shows the complexity of the AIDS epidemic and how the populations and locations most affected change dramatically across each country and region. It also shows that investments need to be made in effective HIV programmes that are proven to make a significant difference in reducing the number of new HIV infections.   Compared to 20 years ago when HIV prevention options were limited, there is now a range of options available to suit people’s needs throughout their lives to ensure that they can protect themselves from HIV.   UNAIDS urges countries to take a location and population approach to HIV programming efforts following five prevention pillars, to be delivered comprehensively and in combination:   Programmes for young women and adolescent girls and their male partners in high-prevalence locations. Key population services in all countries. Strengthened national condom programmes. Voluntary medical male circumcision in priority countries. PrEP for population groups at higher risk of HIV infection.   Closing the HIV prevention gap   “Science, innovation and research have provided new and effective HIV prevention options, rapid diagnostics and improved treatment for HIV,” said Mr Sidibé. “Investing in innovation is the only way to secure the next big breakthrough, a cure or a vaccine.”   The data in the report, collected from more than 160 countries, demonstrate that enormous gains can be achieved when concerted efforts are made. It outlines that by 2015 some 17 million people had access to antiretroviral therapy, double the number in 2010 and 22 times the number in 2000.   http://bit.ly/2a6CV9t   Every year the International AIDS Conference has a dedicated theme, this year is “Access Equity Rights Now”. It is a call to action to work together and reach the people who still lack access to comprehensive treatment, prevention, care and support services.   For example, more than 60% of people living with HIV remain without antiretroviral therapy; investments in HIV prevention research appear to have flattened; and widespread violations of human rights including criminalisation continue to undermine effective responses.   AIDS 2016 is being convened by five permanent partners: IAS, Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), The International Community of Women with HIV/AIDS (ICW), International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) and UNAIDS in collaboration with international and South African scientific and civil society partners.   Ugandan youth speak of change and hope at the AIDS 2016 Youth Dialogue event.   AIDS is the primary killer of adolescents in Africa and the second cause of death in adolescents worldwide. This sobering fact is all the more reason why it is imperative for youth to be at the centre of the HIV response.   As part of that effort, AIDS 2016 has been partnering with groups around Sub-Saharan Africa to host a series of dialogues with young people to help influence the programme and activities at AIDS 2016. The most recent of these took place in Kampala, Uganda where we had the chance to talk with several of over 300 attendees to share their personal hopes for the future of the HIV response. Here’s what they had to say:   “In the future, we would like to see, zero new HIV infections, zero mother-to-child transmissions and zero HIV in adults and the youth. HIV education forms part of all our work because we encourage women to make sure their partners use condoms to prevent pregnancy, as well as HIV.”- Grace Kayinza, Nakazibwe Dona and Kilgoy Timothy from Reproductive Heath Uganda, a civil society organisation offering a range of services including family planning, cancer screening and HIV treatment and counselling.   “There is still stigma about HIV in Uganda so we run the Stigma-Free Club, a post-test club where HIV positive teens come and share life experiences. We want to see the end of stigma towards HIV positive people. We say there is hope. There is life after HIV.” - Commie Quandat from NAGURU Teenage and Information Health Centre, a civil society organisation offering HIV counselling and testing, as well as peer education on HIV. She believes prevention is key to ending HIV and hopes more youth learn about AIDS 2016.   “We need to empower the youth to see a change. I want to see the youth empowered through information sharing and economically. I want to bring all of the youth from my organisation to AIDS 2016 as part of my vision for youth empowerment.” - Muhinda Frankline from Nurture Africa, a civil society organisation working with the youth and vulnerable families in Uganda, says “a focus on the youth is critical in fighting HIV”.   Efforts to strengthen the global fight against tuberculosis, the leading killer of people with HIV, at the 21st International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2016)   Although it is one of the world’s oldest disease, TB is not currently on the decline. In fact, a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report found that the global TB epidemic is even larger than previously thought, revising the estimated global burden of TB upward for the second year in a row.   The millennia-old disease sickened almost 10 million people last year and claimed 1.5 million lives, despite being preventable, treatable and curable. People living with HIV are particularly susceptible to TB infection and to TB-related illness.   “We cannot win the fight against AIDS without also tackling TB,” said Linda-Gail Bekker, IAS President-Elect. “Too often, TB and HIV team up against us, but with this conference we are supporting a global movement to bring the TB and HIV responses together to defeat both epidemics. TB 2016 reminds us that the work before us will take place not only in laboratories, but also in the halls government, in health facilities, and in the communities affected by these two devastating epidemics.”   Commenting on the rapidly evolving science of TB prevention and treatment, Valerie Mizrahi, Head of the University of Cape Town''s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, added, “The TB 2016 program highlights the urgency of using the treatments and public health interventions we have today, as well as the need for new tools and approaches to tackle TB, drug-resistant TB, and the complex co-epidemic of TB and HIV. Recent scientific advances and a new global plan to end TB point to opportunities ahead. But the challenges of a vastly under-resourced response, a lack of political urgency, and the growing threat of drug resistance must all be confronted head on if we are to reduce the global burden of TB.”   “TB is preventable, treatable, and curable, yet we have allowed it to become the world’s leading infectious killer, and the leading killer of people with HIV,” said Joanne Carter, RESULTS. “The question is not whether we are able to do more, but rather whether we will make the fight against TB a global public health priority it must become. TB2016 is an important step forward in the effort to bring the needed scientific, financial, and political resources to bear against this global killer.”   http://www.aids2016.org/ http://www.spotlightnsp.co.za/ http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2016/prevention-gap http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2016/AIDS-by-the-numbers http://bit.ly/1ps06jRb http://www.msf.org/en/diseases/hiv-aids http://www.who.int/hiv/en/ http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2016/07/21/aids-money-shrinks-who-loses http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jul/31/aids-could-spiral-out-control-africa-again-experts-warn Visit the related web page
	View more stories