Hope lies in today’s youth

Yesterday’s International Herald Tribune covered this month’s 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City and outlined many of the most difficult challenges we face in our work. At the conference Bill Clinton concluded that “with no magic bullet in sight… the need now is to combine efforts to advance prevention and treatment.” The article also goes on to note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a new test that can pinpoint new infections and control them more quickly in developed countries. However, this test still needs to be “refined for use in poor countries” and many participants were unhappy with an eight-month delay in reporting the test’s success.

Reading through the article, one part stood out to me. Even in the face of an often overwhelming crisis, there remains a tremendous glimmer of hope: young people.

There were calls for innovation and recruiting more young investigators to the AIDS field. As Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in Manhattan, put it, “The engines of discovery are new people.” Bernstein noted that recruiting new workers should be less of a problem than in the past because of an explosion of interest on university campuses about global health.

You can read the full article here.

Food To Fight AIDS

An opinion piece in the Guardian Weekly argues that it’s time Western donors regard food and nutrition as equally important elements to fighting AIDS and other illnesses as the drugs themselves.  

Some excerpts below, the full piece is here.

I wish that all the Aids experts and politicians who gathered in Mexico City last week could have been with me two years ago when I met a young man in a nameless, dusty village in Malawi. It was easily the most memorable encounter of my life – royalty, heads of state, and celebrities included. The man was in his mid-30s and badly emaciated. His eyes were pink at the edges and I remember thinking they were somehow on fire with rage.

But there was really no anger in him – just exhaustion, anguish, confusion. After gently pushing ahead of the others in the crowd, he asked: “Why are you keeping me alive? Why give me these Aids medicines? I am too hungry and weak to work and care for my family. Why torture me this way?”

Tens of billions of dollars have been pledged to combat the disease, yet donor countries have largely overlooked the role of nutrition, somehow managing to ignore both the scientists and the beneficiaries. The donors have been asked for help often enough and there are UN and NGO projects out there to fund, but they are not getting the cash they need to provide good, nutritious food to increasingly desperate people like the man I met in Malawi.

As food prices soar worldwide, poor families are already substituting less nutritious foods for higher-priced meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. For people who are already sick this can have drastic health consequences. The poorest families are being forced to choose between food and medicine for loved ones.

If we do not do a better job of helping poor HIV-affected families today, what chance will the next generation have for health and prosperity? It is time to change the way we help. Drugs alone are not a solution for Aids or TB. What doctor would admit patients to a hospital, give them the most advanced medications – and then leave them to starve

Bono On The Passage of PEPFAR

Yesterday afternoon, President Bush signed into law new PEPFAR legislation, finalizing months of work by ONE members, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, advocacy organizations, foreign policy experts and medical professionals who worked together to pass historic new funding levels to fight AIDS, TB and malaria.

ONE Campaign Co-founder Bono issued this response:

“Americans, whether they know it or not, are literally saving the lives of millions of people in the poorest places on the planet. In the last five years, America has prevented 1 million women from passing on HIV to their babies…funded care for 3 millions AIDS orphans…and provided desperately needed medicine to more than 1.4 million people suffering from HIV/AIDS. You are my heroes and not just for what you’ve done, but for what this new law promises.

This has more to do with hard heads than soft hearts. America’s global AIDS plan has proved to be a smart investment, paying dividends in live saved, communities stabilized and America’s reputation in the world growing a little bit brighter. This stuff works and leaders from left and right — leaders like Senators Biden and Lugar, Representatives Berman and Ros-Lehtinen, President Bush, Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid - put aside their differences and agreed to do more.”

Live Blogging From PEPFAR-Signing at White House

ONE’s Legislative Deputy Director Maryamu Aminu is sending in live updates from the PEPFAR signing at the White House.

3pm:

-Very exciting atmosphere in the east gold room. They usually have state dinners in here.

-The procession just arrived and are standing on stage. Primary cosponsors: Biden, Berman, Kerry, Payne, Sununu, Brownback, Lugar, Lee, Pence, Dybul, and Enzi.

-People in the room:

Africa diplomatic corps and 15 focus-country ambassadors
Mrs Lantos, for whose husband the bill is named
Malaria coordinator- Anthony Zeimer
The African Children’s Choir
Peter Piot, head of UNAIDS

-President and the First Lady just arrived - to applause. (more…)

President Bush Signing PEPFAR Today

President Bush is signing PEPFAR at an event at the White House today. This is a bill that will provide $48 Billion in funding in the global fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria for the next 5 years.

ONE’s Legislative Director Tom Hart sent in this post right after arriving at the signing event:

I’m sitting in the East Room of the White House, with its 3 massive chandaliers and gold trim, as the president signs a nearly $50b reauthorization of PEPFAR. I feel like this room couldn’t be big enough to hold all the support this effort has, especially from ONE members around the country. In DC, we read every day of conflict, partisan bickering and good things stalled. Not today. Republicans, Democrats, Congress, the White House - all found a reason to work together and get this lifesaving initiative done.

As I filed through one of the holding rooms prior to the event, I ran into ONE’s old friend, Agnes from Uganda. What a surprise. The President invited her to this ceremony as one of his “special guests”. Agnes works for this amazing organization in Uganda named TASO, where PEPFAR has supported many many people on ARVs. Agnes is also HIV+, making the signing of this bill all the more meaningful. In fact, the rest of the pomp and glitz don’t really matter…it’s really about Agnes and the millions of others this bill has touched and will over the next 5 years.

-Tom Hart

AIDS Death Drop 10%

More newspapers are picking up on the positive new global AIDS numbers we reported yesterday:

In today’s LA Times:

The number of AIDS deaths worldwide dropped 10% in 2007 because of increasing access to treatment, as did the number of new infections in children, the United Nations reported Tuesday.

Condom use and prevention efforts increased in many countries and adolescent sexual intercourse declined in some of the most heavily affected regions, the report says.

“In a surprisingly short period of time, there has been a tripling of prevention efforts in some countries,” said Dr. Paul De Lay, director of evaluation for UNAIDS…

“The lesson here is that where there is investment, prevention and treatment work,” said the Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha of the Hope Institute in Uganda.

Touring A Rwandan Clinic

Another video and post from ONE’s Tom Gavin from last week’s trip to Rwanda.

Monday, July 21:

The U.S. launched PEPFAR – the American global AIDS strategy – at the Masaka Clinic in 2004, so it made for a good place for the ONE delegation to visit and assess how things are going. Our delegation met with doctors, nurses, local officials, and patients seeking treatment and counsel from the clinic’s staff. We heard, time and again, the difference that America’s partnership in health care was making in Rwanda and throughout Africa.

The DATA Report, which ONE released earlier this year, shows the progress being made. It points out that, across Africa, nearly 2.12 million people were on antiretroviral therapy by last December, a huge jump from the 50,000 people on treatment in 2002. That means 30 percent of Africans in need of treatment are receiving it. But there remains a major challenge ahead. An additional 1.7 million Africans became infected with the HIV virus in 2007.

After touring the Masaka Clinic, some of the ONE delegation discussed the site visit and the overall trip with reporters.

-Tom Gavin

Bloomberg and Gates tackle Tobacco

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and philanthropist Bill Gates announced plans to raise $500 million for a campaign used to kick Big Tobacco – you guessed it – in the butt.

This is particularly significant for developing nations, as they are becoming popular targets for cigarette companies’ market demographic.

From the New York Times (Op-ed):

[Bloomberg and Gates’] target is a worthy one: tobacco companies and government-owned tobacco enterprises trying to addict hundreds of millions of new customers in the developing world as sales stagnate or shrivel in the industrialized nations…. The goal [of the campaign] is to reverse the rapid rise of smoking in such countries as China, India and Russia and to head off the epidemic in Africa before it can become entrenched.

Many countries have become addicted to the revenues generated by tobacco taxes or government-owned tobacco companies. They will have to be persuaded that the long-term health damage caused by tobacco far exceeds any short-term gain from tobacco revenues.

Bloomberg and Gates have already committed $375 to begin burning-out the competition – and plan on getting to the neediest countries before Big Tobacco does.

-Betsy Avila

UNAIDS Report Shows New Gains

Earlier today, UNAIDS released its 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic. The report, which is published every two years, takes a detailed look at the state of the epidemic and progress towards scaling-up access to treatment, prevention and care around the world.

An important finding in this year’s report is that some progress is being made on the prevention side. BBC reports:

“The report says prevention programmes have seen changes in sexual behaviour, and a drop in infection rates in countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Condom use is also increasing among young people with multiple partners in many countries. This has been seen in seven of the most affected countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia…. The report also reveals that the percentage of HIV-positive pregnant women receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission of the virus to their child rose from 14% in 2005 to 33% in 2007.”

The report also found that expanded access to life-saving antiretroviral treatment is helping to reduce deaths. In 2007, the number of AIDS-related deaths dropped to 2 million, down from 2.2 million in 2005.

Stay tuned here for a closer look some of the report’s findings.

-Nora Coghlan

Does PEPFAR Make a Difference? Ask Samuel and Pedro, Yonatan and Dagmawi.

Thanks to all the ONE members who rallied and contacted their elected officials in support of PEPFAR reauthorization. Last week’s action by Congress will bring hope to millions of children living in countries hit hard by the AIDS crisis. If you are curious about how your actions will trickle down to the country and community level, let me share the stories of four young boys orphaned by AIDS in Africa. PEPFAR is helping them cope with their loss and look to the future.

One country that has been particularly hard-hit by the AIDS crisis is Ethiopia, struggling to meet the needs of four million orphans nationwide. This year, a popular children’s television show, “Tsehai Loves Learning,” has helped orphans deal with grief, while changing attitudes among other young children about children made vulnerable by AIDS. PEPFAR funding made it possible for Whiz Kids Workshop, in partnership with Save the Children, USAID and other partners to produce and broadcast four episodes devoted to helping the youngest Ethiopians understand the issues faced by children orphaned and affected by AIDS.

You only have to see the changes in a little boy named Yonatan, now 8 years old, and his half-brother, Dagmawi, 16, to appreciate how PEPFAR funding is benefiting countless children in Ethiopia. Yonatan was only five when his mother died, but he recalls her death as if it happened yesterday. “He always remembers her, tells stories about her and cries,” says Dagmawi.

Through simple puppets, a little animation and a lot of imagination, “Tsehai Loves Learning” has taught both brothers some valuable life lessons. “That was emotional for me,” said Dagmawi, who watched the first episode about coping with grief with his younger brother. “Not to exaggerate, but tears came up. But it gave me the idea that whenever I’m sad about my mom, I can imagine that I’m talking to her and can tell her that I’m doing ok.” (more…)