THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

April 2011 correct version

Switzerland lags behind with regard to international cooperation in the field of health. With only 0.025 per cent of the gross national income (GNI) for medical support and health promotion in the countries of the South and the East, Switzerland ranks second last – just before Italy (and when Italy deposits the funds promised to the Global Fund – which it will do, then Switzerland will fall on last place).

This is the sad conclusion of a new study about Switzerland’s official development aid commissioned by aidsfocus.ch and based upon recent OECD figures. What a disgraceful conclusion for a country boasting about one’s own humanitarian tradition of medical aid and – with Geneva – hosting the world capital of international health.

Switzerland’s commitment to AIDS has been stagnating at low level with approx. 36 million Swiss Francs, or rather with 0,006 per cent of GDP. Hence, Switzerland spends just about 2 per cent of the very modest ODA for preventive or treating interventions of HIV and for caring and supporting people living with HIV. In addition, the commitment for sexual and reproductive health is very low and the dates and facts are yet scattered.

At the aidsfocus.ch Conference, specific examples from Togo, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso and Tibet/China showed the effectiveness of programmes to promote sexual and reproductive health including AIDS prevention, contraception, safe abortion for the life and well-being of women, men and children and therefore for the development of a country. There are many high-quality projects, and Swiss NGOs and their partners in the South have the expertise, commitment and experience required. Yet, expertise, funds as much as political will are needed to venture in effective health cooperation resulting in a broader impact.

In June 2011, Swiss government representatives will travel to New York together with representatives from all over the world to participate in the High Level Meeting on AIDS, and to reaffirm necessity and readiness in the international commitment for a universal access to HIV-prevention, treatment, care and support. What will Switzerland bring back – apart from fine words? And in particular, what will Switzerland take up and implement?

Helena Zweifel Executive Director Medicus Mundi Switzerland Coordinator aidsfocus.ch

The analysis by Joachim Rüppel, Medical Mission Institute Würzburg, Germany, provides the following information: Official ODA according to DAC/OECD reporting guidelines and real resource transfers (Source: OECD-DAC, for 2010 preliminary data released 6.4.2011). Official ODA and real ODA transfers, volumes in CHF Mio. and as % of GNI, 2001-2010. Total ODA-disbursements for Health Promotion by European DAC Countries in relation to GNI. Switzerland: ODA Disbursements for the HIV Response by funding mechanism, and ODA disbursements for Health Promotion and HIV Response taking into account all relevant funding mechanisms 2005-2009. (7 April 2011)

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

The documentation of the aidsfocus.ch conference of 7 April 2011 including a photo gallery is now online. The papers presented as well as additional papers will be published in the reader of the conference, the Bulletin of Medicus Mundi Switzerland No. 121, August 2011.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

HIV and AIDS are a hard reality in a number of countries involved in International Cooperation (IC). It affects not only every aspect of the lives of the people concerned, but also considerably impacts the life and work of IC expatriate personnel. This seminar has the objective of working with participants so that they can better manage this challenge. The participants will discuss the impact of HIV and AIDS on personal life and how to cope with it, and the impact of HIV and AIDS on professional life, HIV, AIDS and intercultural communication.

http://www.cinfo.ch

New York | Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, and 10 years since the landmark UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world will come together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS from 8–10 June 2011 in New York. Member States are expected to adopt a new Declaration that will reaffirm current commitments and commit to actions to guide and sustain the global AIDS response.

http://www.unaids.org

New York, 8 April 2011 — More than 400 civil society representatives have come together at the United Nations in New York for a one-day hearing on progress made in the HIV response. At the hearing civil society organizations highlighted the need for a strong new declaration, rejuvenated political commitment and revitalized targets to ensure countries scale-up to reach their universal access goals. The President of the General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, who chaired the hearing said, “Civil society was the first to sound the alarm bells on AIDS in the 1980’s and their passion and resolve have not diminished today.”

http://www.unaids.org

Nairobi, 13 April 2011 - Less-than-strict adherence undermines the efficacy of the antiretroviral drugs. Here are some ways HIV programmes can improve adherence: 1) Continuous counselling - Crucial to ensure patients understand the importance of strictly adhering to their medication. 2) Community support - Visits by community members, home-based care. 3) Task-shifting - the use of mid- to low-level health workers rather than doctors to prescribe ART. 4) Technology – e.g. the use of text messages to remind patients to take their medicines. 5) Social assistance - Food assistance and cash transfers for transport costs. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

Johannesburg, 11 April 2011 - A former politician, diplomat and aid worker, former UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, and now co-director of the international advocacy organization, AIDS-Free World, Stephen Lewis, spoke to IRIN/PlusNews about the direction of the international response to HIV. Q: What is the hardest truth about the fight against HIV that we are not facing? A: The recognition that there are HIV prevention interventions that would work if only the world would galvanize around them. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission that should have been the easiest. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

1. April 2011 - A controversial US project that pays drug users and alcoholics to undergo sterilisation or long-term contraception, is setting its sights on women living with HIV in South Africa. Project Prevention is already operating in parts of Kenya, where it is paying women living with HIV U$40 to accept long-term contraception. A doctor is paid U$7 per patient. A Project Prevention statement released in December last year said there was a need “…to work on getting women living with HIV/AIDS on long term birth control to prevent future pregnancies that may result in suffering children.” (health-e)

http://www.health-e.org.za

1. April 2011 - In developing countries one of the major challenges for universal access to treatment is access to affordable commodities. The International Conference on local pharmaceutical production in Africa took place 4-6 April 2011. Under discussion are a wide range of issues including access to essential medicines, intellectual property rights, technology transfer as well as the use of TRIPS-flexibilities and the harmonization of drug regulation. (UNAIDS)

http://www.unaids.org

1. April 2011 - Civil society organisations want to see government taking a firmer stand to stop antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) from being smuggled into the black market. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the National Association of People Living with AIDS (NAPWA) say that many HIV-positive people are now afraid to go fetch their treatment from public health facilities for fear of being victims of people stealing their medicine. They have begun encouraging people to collect treatment in groups for safety, and to get family members to accompany them where possible. (health-e)

http://allafrica.com

Isiolo, 29 March 2011 - Media images of men in northern Kenya washing condoms for re-use have underscored the need to improve HIV communication and close gaps in the supply of condoms in rural areas. Male condoms are intended for single use; washing and re-using them weakens the latex, increasing the chances of breakage and in turn, the risk of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Condoms are free at government health centres, but in rural Kenya these are few and far between and supplies unreliable. (PlusNews)

http://www.plusnews.org

The new report makes five recommendations to strengthen the AIDS response: 1) Harness the energy of young people for an HIV prevention revolution; 2) Revitalize the push towards achieving universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2015; 3) Work with countries to make HIV programmes more cost effective, efficient and sustainable; 4) Promote the health, human rights and dignity of women and girls; and 5) Ensure mutual accountability in the AIDS response to translate commitments into action. (March 2011)

http://www.unaids.org
http://www.unaids.org

Access to essential medicines is now established as a part of the right to health. In the context of HIV, this includes access to antiretroviral drugs and other medicines essential for HIV care, including medicines for the treatment of opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. This paper reviews how countries can successfully use the flexibilities of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to increase access to HIV treatment. (March 2011)

http://www.unaids.org
http://www.plusnews.org
http://www.irinnews.org

Share-Net is the network of Dutch development organisations and individual consultants working in the field of sexual & reproductive health and rights, and HIV. Share-Net aims to maintain and strengthen the capacity of its members through information sharing, capacity building and policy dialogue. The by-weekly Share-Net newsletter is a service offered to the sexual and reproductive health and HIV/AIDS communities free of charge.

http://www.share-net.nl

This resource pack aims to build a common understanding of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV linkages and provide an overview of the current status of SRH and HIV linkages among key partners. It contains useful resources for organizations advocating for this issue. The resource pack is targeted towards policy makers, advocates and programme managers from national governments, international and national non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, and donors.

http://www.srhhivlinkages.org

Partners: Afro-European Medical and Research Network, AIDS & Child, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, INTERTEAM, Kindernothilfe Schweiz, Kwa Wazee, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, missio, SolidarMed, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Aids Federation, Missio, Mission 21, Swiss Aids Care International, Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund, Swiss MIVA, Swiss Red Cross, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), Tear Fund, Terre des hommes Foundation, terre des hommes schweiz, and World Vision Switzerland.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch