THE ELECTRONIC BULLETIN OF THE SWISS PLATFORM FOR HIV/AIDS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION October 2006

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Dear reader

Everybody is talking about „Mainstreaming HIV and Aids“. But what does it actually mean? I often consult Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on the internet, yet, this time I did not receive any valuable answers.

Wikipedia states that „as such, the „Mainstream“ includes the cultural taste of a large majority of the population. The opposite for the mainstream are sub cultures or esthetic underground cultures“. The encyclopedia talks about Mainstream Pop, or about Mainstream Economy – yet, all this has little to do with our concerns.

Further down below Wikipedia introduces the term „Mainstreaming“, to „show the attempts to integrate and improve the situation of marginalized social groups“. Hence, "Gender Mainstreaming" is mentioned in this connection. But nothing is said about „Mainstreaming HIV and Aids“. Well, it seems that HIV and Aids have not yet been subjected to a real „mainstreaming process“.

Thus, I feel challenged to write a contribution to Wikipedia for the very first time. But, how should I describe „Mainstreaming HIV“ as brief and precise as possible – and also understandable for the lay persons? Which definition should I use? The rather long-winded working definition by UNAIDS, to which most of the publications refer to? Or rather the vivid paraphrase: „wearing Aids-glasses“?

It seems to be even more difficult to find answers to the question of specific implementations and results of Mainstreaming HIV, as we are mainly talking about a situation of „work in progress“.

Some of our partner organisations have had the experience of Mainstreaming and have come up against limits, yet, they have also lived some modest success stories. Within the context of an open Peer Review Group Meeting as to the issue of Mainstreaming HIV, they exchange experiences and questions – the next time at the premises of the Terre des Hommes Foundation in Lausanne on November 25. Be welcome to join!

Helena Zweifel Coordinator of aidsfocus.ch

BRIEFS - ACCOUNTABILITY - MAIN MESSAGE ON WORLD AIDS DAY 2006 - UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY DISCUSSES VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN - KENYA: AIDS PREVALENCE DROPS DESPITE CASH CONSTRAINT - CHINA: AIDS PREVENTION LECTURE SPARKS A STRONG REBUKE FROM POLICE - RED CRESCENT AIDS CAMPAIGN TARGETS BARBERSHOPS AND BEAUTY PARLOURS IN KABUL - FIVE MYTHS ABOUT THE HIV EPIDEMIC IN ASIA

NEW RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTS - REPORT OF THE XVITH INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE: TIME TO DELIVER - HIV, AIDS, AND NUTRITION - AIDS, POVERTY, AND HUNGER: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES - TOOLS FROM THE ALLIANCE TO MOBILISE COMMUNITIES FOR HIV/AIDS - ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN SUPPORT TOOLKIT (VERSION 2) - AN ASSESSMENT OF SERVICES FOR ADOLESCENTS IN PREVENTION OF MOTHER-TO-CHILD TRANSMISSION PROGRAMS - LISTEN TO US! LAND OWNERSHIP AND PROPERTY CONTROL - GUIDE TO THE COMMUNITY-BASED TREATMENT OF HIV IN RESOURCE-POOR SETTINGS

EVENTS (IN ENGLISH) - 15.11.2006 | AIDSFOCUS.CH ANNUAL MEETING - 23.11.2006 | AIDSFOCUS.CH PEER REVIEW GROUP MAINSTREAMING HIV - 01.12.2006 | STOP AIDS. KEEP THE PROMISE! - 06.06.2007 | SDC: MAINSTREAMING HIV/AIDS IN PRACTICE

Many partner organisations of aidsfocus.ch started to introduce mainstreaming of HIV and AIDS into their own organisation. Often they encounter unforeseen challenges, but at the same time are surprised by encouraging and unexpected small success stories. In this process we can best learn from each other. How do others do it? Where in the process are they? Which are the open questions, the challenges, the successes, the lessons learned? Have there been any results yet?

All these are questions that are looked at and discussed in more depth during twice yearly meetings. Anybody is invited to participate. Participants preferably have participated in the SDC training module or studied one of the toolkits in order to make sure that we share a common basic understanding of the concepts. No formal group will be created - so attendance to the meetings can be decided case by case. Information on past discussions and upcoming events:

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

UNAIDS proposes the following working definition: “Mainstreaming AIDS is a process that enables development actors to address the causes and effects of AIDS in an effective and sustained manner, both through their usual work and within their workplace.” (UNAIDS Secretariat: Strategy Note and Action Framework 2004-2005)

http://data.unaids.org

Looking for resources, documents, links, case studies, toolkits and manuals on mainstreaming HIV in development cooperation and humanitarian aid? Please consult topics: Mainstreaming on our website.

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Executive Director of the World AIDS Campaign, Marcel van Soest speaks to UNAIDS about the history of the World AIDS Campaign, how people can become involved in this year’s events and why ‘accountability’ is such a crucial theme for World AIDS Day 2006.

http://www.unaids.org

From 9 to 11 October, the advancement of women was debated at the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Secretary-General's in-depth study on all forms of violence against women highlights that for many women worldwide, the threat of violence exacerbates their risk of contracting HIV. Fear of violence prevents women from accessing information on HIV and AIDS, being tested, disclosing their HIV status, accessing services for the prevention of HIV transmission to infants and receiving treatment and counseling, even when they know they have been infected.

http://www.unaids.org

The HIV/Aids prevalence has declined from 6.1 per cent last year to 5.9 per cent this year, the National Aids Control Council (NACC) has announced. NACC acting director Prof Alloys Orago said the improvement happened against a backdrop of shortage of financial support, following the delay of release of funds by World Bank. The council now wants more attention to be focused on women as the female prevalence stands at 7.7 per cent as opposed to that of males at 4.0 per cent. Orago said 1.4 million pregnant women are in dire need of counseling and testing each year to determine their status. He said 64,000 women have tested positive and need treatment while 39,000 children need Antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). (October 2006)

http://allafrica.com

Bejing - An AIDS prevention lecture aimed at Chinese sex workers who were given free condoms has sparked a strong rebuke from police. The Center for Disease Control in northeastern Harbin held the lecture last week, calling the group of more than 50 sex workers "sisters" and telling them to call if they need help. Local police said the lecture was "unacceptable".

An estimated 650,000 people are living with HIV-AIDS in China, and health experts say the disease is moving into the general population with most new infections now spread sexually, although drug-users follow closely behind. (Reuters, October 2006)

http://topics.developmentgateway.org

Kabul, 16 October 2006 - In an effort to raise public awareness about HIV transmission, youth volunteers from the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) recently launched a campaign targeting beauty parlour and barbershop owners and customers in the capital of Kabul. The campaign was entitled “Let’s be aware of HIV/AIDS” and involved more than 50 young ARCS volunteers, who spoke to shop keepers and clients, hung posters around the city and handed out leaflets on preventing the spread of HIV through infected shaving blades.

http://www.ifrc.org

It is widely recognised that the huge population sizes of many Asian countries mean that although national HIV prevalence levels are still very low, very large absolute numbers of people are being infected each year with HIV. Urgent responses are required. The authors of the essay are concerned about a number of misinformed beliefs, about the epidemic—myths that are widely circulating in Asia regarding “development impact”, The “Three Ones”, the role of NGOs, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the “expanded multisectoral response” (2006).

http://topics.developmentgateway.org

The 16th International AIDS Conference in August 2006 was attended by 24'000 delegates, international celebrities but few political leaders only. Its agenda lacked focus, ignored to a large extent the African continent and did not succeed in uniting the various stakeholder groups around common solutions. Some of the essential information shared during the conference were regarding policy and advocacy, epidemiology, prevention, scaling up ART and health Systems and Human Resources for Health. (Report by Claudia Kessler Bodiang, SCIH/ STI and Sandra Bernasconi, SDC)

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

The interaction between HIV and AIDS, and nutritional status has been a defining characteristic of the disease since the early years of the epidemic. HIV and AIDS are associated with poor nutritional status and weight loss, and weight loss is an important predictor of death from AIDS. These linkages suggest that nutrition may have an important role to play in slowing progression of the disease and in contributing to successful antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. This Eldis guide reviews the evidence base for current nutrition interventions for HIV and AIDS, and looks at the scientific background, trends and challenges in implementation, and implications for policy and planning.

http://www.eldis.org

This book is based on the International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Food and Nutrition Security: From Evidence to Action, in Durban, South Africa, in April 2005. It reviews emerging knowledge on the interactions between AIDS and hunger and what this implies for poverty, food and nutrition-relevant policy and programmes. The book is organised around three main themes: interactions, local responses and policies, programmes and interventions.

The editor argues that an HIV lens, not a filter, needs to be employed in order to see the interactions and overlapping set of problems between HIV and AIDS, food insecurity and malnutrition. (IFPRI 2006)

http://www.eldis.org

“Tools together now!” is a toolkit of 100 participatory tools to help facilitate community mobilisation. “All together now!” is the toolkit on how to mobilise communities for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, support, and treatment and impact mitigation. Together, these two resources developed by the HIV/AIDS Alliance provide a powerful way for organisations and communities to work more effectively together to address HIV/AIDS. All the tools and approaches described in these toolkits were developed or adapted in the field by communities.

http://www.aidsalliance.org

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance and Family Health International have published an updated version of the CD-ROM on supporting orphans and other vulnerable children. The toolkit systematically addresses a wide range of themes related to support for orphans and vulnerable children – for example: situation assessments, access to education, psychosocial support, children’s participation, and monitoring and evaluation. It now contains over 650 documents sharing learning and resources from a wide range of organisations. (2006)

http://www.aidsalliance.org

This report describes the study results conducted at four antenatal care clinics with PMTCT programs in Kenya. The study identified and evaluated strategies for meeting youth's HIV and reproductive health needs within PMTCT services, based on assessments of HIV/AIDS, PMTCT, and contraceptive related knowledge, awareness, and attitudes that influenced service use. (Youth Research Working Paper No. 4, Family Health International 2006)

http://www.fhi.org

Grassroots women in Africa report their strategies for gaining control over land, housing and property while coping with HIV/AIDS, post-conflict situations and poverty. The report is based on innovative mapping led by grassroots women in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In comparison to concentrating only on legal means to acquire land and inheritance rights, this report clarifies that the law is one aspect of a larger set of human rights that include community development or collective rights. (2006)

http://www.huairou.org

Partners In Health has published an updated and expanded second edition of The PIH Guide to the Community-Based Treatment of HIV in Resource-Poor Settings. Drawing on PIH's experience since 1998 treating HIV patients in rural Haiti, the guide includes clinical protocols and guidelines for managing HIV-positive patients, as well as information about how to initiate a comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment program. The guide covers the totality of HIV care, including voluntary counseling and testing (VCT); HIV prevention; antiretroviral therapy (ART); and diagnosis and treatment of opportunistic and other related infections, with particular emphasis on tuberculosis (TB) co-infection and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (2006)

http://topics.developmentgateway.org

Bern | The annual meeting of aidsfocus.ch, the Swiss platform on HIV/AIDS and international cooperation, is an important forum for the sharing of information and experiences. Besides the annual report and accounts, there will be an open space for sharing and working on major subjects that is current and important to the participants.

1. 15 - 13.00 Uhr, aki, Kath. Universitätsgemeinde, Alpeneggstrasse 5, Bern

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Lausanne | Encouraged by the inspiring and successful meeting in June, hosted by World Vision Switzerland, a second meeting in a Francophone organization was planned for the second half of the year: The Terres des Hommes Foundation

Agenda: o Input/Presentation Terre des Hommes Foundation o Discussion: news from the participants’ organizations o Next steps: how to continue with the group in 2007

How to sign up: please confirm your availability and interest until the 3rd of November to claudia.kessler@unibas.ch

http://www.aidsfocus.ch

Worldwide | The theme for World AIDS Day 2006 is accountability. It was developed by the World AIDS Campaign support team based on their ongoing work around World AIDS Day. The most significant aspect of this World AIDS Day is the degree to which it has been based around the inputs of a wide range of civil society partners. More information, latest news, position papers, events:

http://www.worldaidscampaign.info

Ausserholligen | This course offered by SDC aims to provide information on and skills in mainstreaming HIV/AIDS. It aims to strengthen participants’ motivation and competence to mainstream HIV/AIDS as relevant for their work.

Target group: Collaborators of SDC; programme officers at SDC (headquarters and Coofs) and in NGOs, consultants and interested professionals in the field of international cooperation who would like to start or improve mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in their work.

http://www.deza.ch

aidsfocus.ch is a project set up by Medicus Mundi Switzerland. aidsfocus.ch is sponsored and shaped by 30 partner organizations who support the aims and activities of the platform through their financial contributions, expertise and commitment.

Partners: AIDS & Child, Bethlehem Mission Immensee, Caritas Switzerland, cinfo, CO-OPERAID, Déclaration de Berne, Doctors without Borders, FEPA, Fédération Genevoise de Coopération, Gemeinschaft St. Anna-Schwestern, HEKS, IAMANEH Switzerland, International Federation of the Blue Cross, INTERTEAM, medico international Switzerland, mediCuba-Suisse, mission, REPSSI, 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 Institute, Tear Fund, Terre des hommes Foundation, terre des hommes - Switzerland, World Vision Switzerland.