HIV+ pregnant women to receive full ART
By Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Thu 30 Jan. 2014, 14:00 CAT
COMMENT - This is a crime. Foetuses aren't supposed to develop while swimming in ARV's, which are failed chemotherapy pills, found too toxic in fighting cancer. When HIV diagnosis is based on a single positive ELISA P24 test, that's a crime. - MrK
THE government plans to introduce Option B+ in preventing mother to child transmission, which will entail placing pregnant women found to have HIV on full antiretroviral treatment regardless of their CD4 count.
In an interview, Dr Kebby Musokotwane, who is Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMCT) specialist at the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, said Option B+, to be initiated as a pilot project, would enable pregnant women with HIV to suppress the virus by accessing full treatment.
"We are rolling out Option B+, which will be piloted in some sites before we fully role it out. Option B+ entails a pregnant woman found to have HIV being placed on full antiretroviral treatment regardless of one's CD4 count as opposed to being offered a short course," Dr Musokotwane explained.
He said this would also help health workers in attending to clients placed on treatment as the current system entails one being placed on a short course and later on being placed on another course on the return visit.
Dr Musokotwane said the pilot sites were yet to be selected although site identification had been done.
Labels: FRAUD, HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS, SEBBY MUSOKOTWANE
Read more...
Don't force, encourage pregnant women and their partners to test for HIV - PPAZ
By Kombe Mataka
Mon 13 Jan. 2014, 14:00 CAT
COMMENT - Pregnant women have a tendency to test false positive on a single P24 ELISA. Another reason to be sceptical about HIV testing in surveys. - MrK
THE Planned Parenthood Association (PPAZ) of Zambia says public health practitioners must not force, but encourage pregnant women and their partners to test for HIV during antenatal.
PPAZ executive director, Edford Mutuma, said in an interview that health practioners that attend to pregnant women must exhibit professionalism in implementing the national policy that seeks to protect newly-born children from being infected by their HIV positive mothers through ensuring that their mothers are tested for the virus before they give birth.
"We have a mandate as a country to reduce to zero the transmission of new HIV infections. That means we are not supposed to have children being born with HIV, and they should not have exposure to HIV. The health providers are given mandate to give to the patient the best of care which is available which includes HIV testing and screening."
Mutuma said the testing of mothers and their partners for HIV was not mandatory.
"If you look at the option 'B plus HIV', it's not mandatory, it's opt-out, but it's the responsibility of a health provider to educate a woman and the partner about HIV and the need to prevent HIV infection from mother to child," he said.
"It has no legal backing, but it's a policy direction. The policy says it's an opt-out but the health of both the mother and the child has to be put into consideration."
Mutuma said testing was important, but that it must be done using laid down guidelines and procedures.
"I think we need to encourage the medical practitioners to engage mothers at every stage of antenatal on the need for them to be tested. We, however, agree that forcing people to test is illegal, just like any other medical procedures, even blood transfusion. As professionals, we don't force, but we encourage people about the benefits. So, this is where maybe we should call for professionalism in handling of such cases," Mutuma said.
"We know that most health centres are under-staffed; in fact, what we encourage is trained counsellors to help with the actual service providers, where the psychosocial counsellors handle the part of counselling and testing is provided by professionals."
On Saturday, during Manzi Valley Programme on Radio 4, Dr Francis Manda said it was illegal and wrong to subject the partners of pregnant women to forced HIV testing.
He said even expecting women were not supposed to be forced to be tested for HIV during their periods of antenatal.
Labels: HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS FRAUD
Read more...
Mabo wants circumcision con men brought to justice
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Mon 30 Dec. 2013, 14:00 CAT
MWINILUNGA Male Circumcision coordinator Hagai Mabo has appealed to police to bring to justice a group of men masquerading as service providers from the government after they circumcised a man using a kitchen knife.
A 34-year-old man of Mwinilunga's Kabanda compound whose name has been withheld by police and medical officers for professional reasons almost bled to death on Friday after he was brutally circumcised by four men using a kitchen knife.
The conmen ran way after they noticed that they had failed to stop the man's excessive bleeding.
In an interview yesterday, Mabo said the victim who was in a critical condition the time he was picked from his house around 16:30 hours where he was circumcised from, had since been admitted to hospital and his condition was stable.
"These men are going round communities in Mwinilunga and making men and parents pay for the circumcision of their children. They are charging in some cases K50 and K40. They must be arrested because this is a serious problem and a serious health risk for the people. We have since started sensitisation campaigns and making people understand that there are conmen masquerading as professionals of male circumcision from the Ministry of Health. We are telling people that circumcision must be done at the hospital and it's only at the hospital where it's very safe and it's done at no cost," Mabo said.
Mabo said such culprits must be brought to book as they were endangering the lives of unsuspecting members of the general public through such unprofessional acts.
He further appealed to members of the general public to visit the nearest health centres whenever they want to access male circumcision services.
And police sources in Mwinilunga confirmed the matter had been reported and police were already doing their investigation.
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
Zambia records 58% fall in new HIV infections
By Fridah Nkonde
Tue 03 Dec. 2013, 14:00 CAT
LOCAL government minister Emerine Kabanshi says the task of getting to zero new HIV infections, zero deaths, zero stigma and discrimination is daunting but achievable. And Kabanshi says Zambia is on the right track to reducing new HIV infections to zero.
During commemoration of the World AIDS Day 2013 under the theme 'Getting to zero in Zambia; zero new infections, zero AIDS deaths, zero stigma and discrimination,' in Lusaka on Sunday, Kabanshi said there was a national drop of 58 per cent in new infections.
"It will be interesting to see from the Zambia Demographic Health Survey how Lusaka district is fairing in reducing new infections to zero. There are, however, encouraging indications that with the 58 per cent decline in new infections countrywide, the HIV and AIDS prevalence may be averaging between 12 and 13 per cent," Kabanshi said.
She said there had also been an encouraging 56 per cent reduction in AIDS-related deaths since 2001 and a further 95 per cent reduction in the number of new HIV infections among children owing to the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme roll-out for pregnant mothers.
Kabanshi said the development was commendable and provided hope that with more concerted efforts, Zambia was on the right track towards reducing new HIV infections to zero.
"I am delighted to learn that Lusaka district has conducted an estimated 69,100 Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision as of August 31, 2013. This number represents 13 per cent of the estimated 531,323 national total of male circumcision undertaken as of August this year. This is commendable because medical male circumcision is said to have the potential of reducing HIV transmission by as much as 60 per cent," she said.
Kabanshi said the report from the Lusaka district community medical office showed that 98 per cent eligible persons living with HIV and AIDS had been successfully put on antiretroviral therapy.
She urged Zambians not to be complacent with the achievements made so far, adding that prevention of new infections was key to achieving the vision of having a friendly, green, healthy and prosperous city of Lusaka, free from the threat of HIV and AIDS.
Kabanshi said there was need to ensure that most vulnerable members of society such as young people, women, and girls are equipped with skills and knowledge that could help them abandon risky behaviours.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
L/stone has highest HIV cases countrywide - AIDS council
By Brina Siwale in Livingstone
Fri 29 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
THE National AIDS council says Livingstone has the highest cases of HIV infections in the country with the prevalence rate standing at 25.3 per cent as of 2010.
And Livingstone mayor, Aggrey Njekwa, says he is alarmed by the high prevalence rate, adding that the carefree attitude regarding HIV amongst the youths was not giving him peace.
After a German Society for International Cooperation organised HIV/AIDS awareness programme for councillors in Livingstone, District AIDS coordination advisor, Stephen Ndebele said that as of 2010, about 18,667 people were living with HIV in the district.
"As of 2010 Livingstone's prevalence rate stood at 25.3 which is the highest in the country. About 12,300 people are actively accessing ART. Out of all these statistics, women living with HIV have been on a high percentage," Ndebele said.
And Ndebele said out of all the townships in Livingstone, Sakubita had the highest levels of people infected with HIV, an issue which area councillor, Simasinti Simasinti was trying to address through sensitisations and free distribution of condoms.
"We thought we could work with councillors so that they can be very active in sensitising people in their wards because this is where activities are taking place. They are the people who know the hotspots in their wards," he said.
"Sakubita is an area that is very bad in the prevalence rate because every time we do HIV tests, that side the number of those that are reactive is high. So if we worked with the councillors, the better because they will be able to help in addressing the challenge."
And Njekwa said he was alarmed by the high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Livingstone. He said he was saddened by the lifestyles of young people at night.
"Livingstone prevalence rate is very high and this is a concern to me as the mayor of the city of Livingstone. The activities that go on, especially during the night, do not give me peace. Young people need to protect themselves from HIV by abstaining or condomising," said Njekwa.
Labels: HIV/AIDS, WORLD AIDS DAY
Read more...
Parry calls for one-stop shops on sexual health
By Edwin Mbulo in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tue 12 Nov. 2013, 14:00 CAT
HELEN Parry has called for the establishment of one-stop shops to integrate HIV, sexual and reproductive health in Africa.
Parry, a senior advisor on sexual reproductive health, told journalists during a training session ahead of the
International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP2013) to be held at the African Union Conference Centre starting today, that integration of reproductive health and HIV programmes would
help reduce costs of treatment and care.
"Integration is very much about practically joining up the services and interventions on the ground so that people get a full range of services; from HIV prevention, care, support and treatment if they are HIV positive and also looking at family planning and sexual and reproductive health needs such as contraceptive needs. In an ideal setting, one health care provider will be able to provide all of those things and we call that a one-stop-shop," Parry explained.
She said there was a clear link between reproductive health and HIV, in that most HIV infections globally are transmitted sexually or associated with pregnancy, child birth and breastfeeding.
"So obviously bringing these two things together can help address these issues. We know people living with sexually transmitted infections are more likely to be infected with HIV, so, looking at HIV and sexual reproductive health makes a lot of sense. Some of the root causes and the things that can impact on people's risk in relation to sexually transmitted infections, unsafe sex, potential HIV infections and some of the underlining issues such as poverty, gender norms, cultural practices are all the same," she said.
Parry said patients in rural areas walk long distances to access health care and everything must be done to ensure that a patient gets all the services at one visit.
"Joining services on the ground would greatly help because if a patient is coming for a health service, be it family planning or STI treatment or voluntary counselling and testing, the fact that the patient would have walked a distance to get there you would want to make sure that you provide her with all the services that she might possibly need as a patient in rural areas might not come again to the health centre in months," she said.
Labels: EUGENICS, HEALTHCARE, HELEN PARRY, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS FRAUD
Read more...
Stop politicising HIV issues, Scott urges opposition
By Allan Mulenga
Sun 22 Sep. 2013, 14:01 CAT
VICE-PRESIDENT Guy Scott has urged the opposition to stop politicising issues to do with HIV and AIDS.
During the consultative meeting on prison conditions, policy and legal reform held at Chaminuka Lodge in Chisamba, Vice-President Scott said HIV and AIDS programmes should be non-party political programmes.
"We want the whole Parliament union, if you like, to have commitment towards this problem. Because otherwise people just use it as a way of bouncing politics off each other. No, you are supporting homosexual; if you start talking about condoms...or these people are dying because God wants them to die because they have committed crimes. Now you are to save their lives, people talk nonsense. This must be a non-party political programme," he said.
Vice-President Scott said there was for a clear policy on HIV and AIDS issues in prisons.
"Early testing has not been applied in prisons yet. Somebody comes in there you test him or her. If they are HIV positive, you start treatment you don't wait for them for CD4 count to come down. So, you stop them from being infective immediately and that way you have got very nice trial population," he said. "They can't run away or disappear without taking their medicines. We can see that the system works; and we can be putting healthy people out of prisons in the general population."
Vice-President Scott bemoaned the high number of inmats suffering from HIV in the country.
"The danger at the moment is that more than a quarter of the people in prison are HIV positive. When they get released what they are going to do? Are they going to sleep? Are they going to work eight hours a day in the office? No, they are going to spread HIV. We need to implement that and we need to get a clear policy on other health care," he said.
"TB Tuberculosis is very much there because of congested prisons which are more than 100 over capacity. Diarrhoea diseases maningi too much and so forth and all these needs to be treated because some of these people are only there for one year or two years. Some of them are youngsters, you want them to die in prison or to come out and give diseases to other people? You don't."
Vice-President Scott hailed the partnership between the government and stakeholders in the fight against HIV and AIDS in the country.
"I think it is very good this meeting is taking place, the Commissioner of Prisons is here, PEPFAR is here that's the American donors on ARVs, and I am proud to be able to open it," said Vice-President Scott.
And African Union special rapporteur for prisons and conditions for detention Med Kaggawa said there was no need to be in denial on matters relating to HIV and AIDS.
Kaggwa urged Africans to get over the problem of HIV and AIDS.
"Where I come from Uganda, entire families were wiped out. So when we talk about HIV and AIDS, we talk about it with passion. When you see child-headed families, when we see people whose villages were wiped out. So, it is a matter that one should not put his head or her head in the sand and think he will get over this problem. HIV and AIDS is a no joking matter," said Kaggwa.
Labels: GUY SCOTT, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
Katema implores Zambian men to get circumcised
By Fridah Nkonde
Wed 24 July 2013, 14:01 CAT
COMMENT - Josph Katema is a fool. There is absolutely no evidence that circumcision prevents HIV infection of men, which is what it is touted as. Otherwise, circumcision is just an unneccessary and therefore unnecessarily risky medical procedure. It has the backing of hundreds of millions of dollars in donor aid, which should tell you all you need to know whose interests are being served with this continent wide campaign. To read about the fraud that is at the core of this universal circumcision drive in Africa, read here and here. The 'circumcision prevents HIV infection' claim is based on 3 surveys, 2 of which were 'stopped short for benefit', which is fraud. - MrK
COMMUNITY Development Mother and Child Health Minister Joseph Katema says all Zambian men need to be convinced to go for voluntary medical male circumcision. And Dr Katema says Zambia's National Male Circumcision programme is one of the most successful in Africa.
I'm sure the donors will be pleased to hear that. - MrK
Meanwhile, the ministry of Community Development intends to circumcise 45,000 males during the August campaign. During the launch of the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) August campaign in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Katema said there was need to dispel myths on male circumcision.
"We can only achieve this impact if we can convince all Zambian men to seek the service, while continuing other preventive measures such as correct and consistent condom use. We cannot continue to allow myths to prevent our men from undergoing a procedure which has the potential to save their lives. We need to dispel myths on male circumcision which does not: prevent pregnancy, cause impotence or erectile dysfunction, cure a man who is HIV positive," Dr Katema said.
He, however, said male circumcision had a number of other health benefits such as the reduction of urinary tract infections in infants, the reduction of penile cancer and protection against sexually transmitted infections in males.
Dr Katema said there was need to actively contribute to ensuring that Zambia achieved universal coverage of male circumcision.
Meanwhile, VMMC national coordinator Dr Albert Kaonga said to achieve universal coverage, Zambia needed to reach 1.9 million HIV negative adult males by 2015.
Dr Kaonga said over 400,000 VMMCs had been performed to date, adding that 107,000 males had been circumcised from January to July this year.
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS, JOSEPH KATEMA
Read more...
(NEWZIMBABWE, VOA) HIV circumcision drive misses targets
06/05/2013 00:00:00
by Slyvia Manika I VOA
THE Ministry of Health and its partners in the HIV/AIDS sector in Zimbabwe are worried about the low uptake of the male circumcision programme which was introduced as a form of HIV prevention method sometime last year.
The National Cordinator of the HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis Response in the Health and Child Welfare Ministry, Dr. Owen Mugurungi, says targets have not been met.
The country director of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe (UNAIDS) Tatiana Shomiliana said a lot of resources were mobilised in anticipation of the uptake of a large number of men following the circumcision of lawmakers at the beginning of the campaign.
She says feedback from stakeholders seems to suggest that the programme is not being taken seriously because of poor messaging.
Shomiliana says other research suggests that older men are less receptive to circumcision compared to young men or boys.
Dr. Mugurungi says the benefits of reducing one’s chances of HIV infection and risk of cervical cancer through circumcision should encourage men to take up the free service.
Interviews with a number of men reveal much more needs to be done by the government and its partners if they are to successfully sell the circumcision program to ordinary and suspicious Zimbabweans.
One man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, views the programme with suspicion. He thinks African men are being used as guinea pigs in some form of research.
Wellington Mberi says he will not get circumcised for the same reasons that the programme is being promoted for, adding it may just give him a false sense of security, leading him to indulge in dangerous sexual exploits.
But it is not every man who has negative perceptions about the practice. Moses Mutema was circumcised. He encourages friends and colleagues to go for circumcision.
Government plans to circumcise about three million people by the end of 2015 in its bid to reduce HIV infections in the country. But at the pace at which the programme is being implemented, it looks unlikely that that target would be reached.
The World Health Organisation is encouraging male circumcision saying research shows it can help prevent HIV infection in men by about 60 percent.
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
Katema says 300,000 males circumcised
By Fridah Nkonde
Thu 04 Apr. 2013, 14:00 CAT
ZAMBIA has so far circumcised over 300,000 males, with more than 50 per cent of these done during last year's three school holidays campaign, says community development minister Dr Joseph Katema.
During the official opening of the Eastern and Southern Africa regional meeting on demand creation for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) in Lusaka yesterday, Dr Katema who was represented by his deputy Jean Kapata said Zambia intended to circumcise 80 per cent of all HIV negative uncircumcised adult males aged 15 to 49 years.
"This, it is hoped, will avert close to 340,000 new infections by 2025. It is this challenge of converting knowledge into behaviour that we are here to address. It is a formidable challenge, but I believe that we have brought together a dynamic group of experts from across the world who are uniquely suited to the task at hand," Dr Katema said.
He said the meeting offered them a great opportunity to look at their programmes from new perspectives, adding that through engaging with researchers and communication experts, he was confident that they would generate new and innovative ideas.
He said the statistics alone were not sufficient to convince any individual adult man to get circumcised.
"I hesitate to ask how many of the men in this room have gone for the service, or how many of the women here have taken their husbands. Within the region, we have been working individually to try to answer some of the questions that hinder men from accessing services since 2007, but I dare to say that we haven't gotten it right just yet. We have identified many of the challenges, but I don't think we have measured or prioritised them. It is time for a more systematic approach that includes more coordination, and broader consultation," he said.
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, CORRUPTION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
COMMENT - I'm sick and tired of fact checking and disproving these jerks. The 28% number is based on the long ago debunked Ante-Natal Clinic Surveys (ANCs) of pregnant women only.
The 2011 Antenatal Sentinel HIV & Syphilis Prevalence Survey in South Africa
The DHS surveys consistently show much lower national infection rates, even though they too don't do the Western Blot confirmation test, which would reduce national infection rates down to (well) below 5%.
See this 2006 article in the Washington Post:
(WASHINGTON POST) How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated
Reliance on
Data From Urban Prenatal Clinics Skewed Early Projections
By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, April 6, 2006; Page A01
Also, the 260,000 South Africans died of AIDS last year is completely based on conjecture about how many people
should be dying given the presumptions about HIV infection, and presumptions about life expectancy, etc.
These 260,000 HIV deaths consistently do not show in the Death Notification Forms Survey, which consistently shows only 2.0 to 2.6% of deaths attributed to HIV/AIDS deaths. Also, the population decline that goes with 260,000 out of 600,000 death attributed to HIV/AIDS does not occur - South Africa's population has climbed to 52 million this year.
28pc of SA schoolgirls HIV+: Minister
14/03/2013 00:00:00
by BBC
AT LEAST 28% of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive compared with 4% of boys because "sugar daddies" are exploiting them, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has said.
Matsoaledi said 94,000 schoolgirls also fell pregnant in 2011, and 77,000 had abortions at state facilities. About 10% of South Africans are living with HIV, official statistics show. Motsoaledi has been widely praised for his efforts to curb the disease.
South Africa has run the world's largest anti-retroviral (ARV) programme since President Jacob Zuma appointed him health minister in 2009.
The number of HIV-positive people receiving life-saving ARV drugs more than doubled from 678,500 to 1.5 million after he took office, according to official statistics.
The government of former President Thabo Mbeki, who questioned the link between HIV and Aids, had argued it could not afford to roll out this treatment to all the South Africans who needed it.
Destroying children
Speaking at a public meeting in the town of Carolina in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, Motsoaledi said the large number of young girls who were HIV-positive "destroyed my soul".
"It is clear that it is not young boys who are sleeping with these girls. It is old men," a local daily quoted him saying.
"We must take a stand against sugar daddies because they are destroying our children."
Motsoaledi said some pregnant girls - aged between 10 and 14 years of age - also tested positive for HIV.
"[About] 77,000 girls had abortions at public facilities. We can no longer live like that. We want to put an end to it," he said.
More than five million people in South Africa are HIV-positive - about 10% of the total population.
Last year more than 260,000 people with Aids died - almost half the figure of all those who died in the country.
Labels: FRAUD, HIV/AIDS, SOUTH AFRICA
Read more...
Storella hails govt's efforts in improving health sector
By Brina Siwale in Livingstone
Wed 13 Feb. 2013, 14:00 CAT
US Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella says the PF government has made tremendous efforts in improving the health sector. And Ambassador Storella says the US government will continue to render support to Zambia's health sector.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Ambassador Storella said helping Zambia develop and improve the health sector would always remain a priority for the US government.
"The Zambian health sector is doing ambitious things and we have seen government doing so much to raise the health standards of the Zambian people," he said.
"One improvement is that here in Southern Province government will start scaling up cervical cancer screening; this will save a lot of lives. So we will begin to work together to construct some cervical cancer screening wards and expand to other areas. So my impressions are positive though we still have a long way to go."
Ambassador Storella said he was impressed that the country was working hard to get to zero new infections of HIV and AIDS. He said this was seen through the increase in the professional practice which would reduce the mother to child transmission of HIV.
"The US will always be a reliable partner for the Zambian health sector, and we have been increasing our funding in the last five years. In Southern Province, we spend US$5 million dollars every year and US$400 million every year on the Zambian health sector as a whole," Ambassador Storella said.
He said with First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba's commitment to fighting cervical cancer and President Michael Sata's award for spearheading the fight against malaria, the country was poised for a developed health sector
Labels: AMBASSADOR, CIRCUMCISION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS, MARK STORELLA
Read more...
COMMENT - UNAIDS writes down it's own numbers - claims victory and wants more people on ARVs.
Keep a close eye on any changes in methodology, like survey types and testing procedures that coincide with this write down.
UNAIDS reports a more than 50% drop in new HIV infections across 25 countries as countries approach the 1000 day deadline to achieve global AIDS targets
In addition, the number of people with access to antiretroviral therapy increased by 63% in the last 24 months—AIDS-related deaths fell by more than 25% between 2005 and 2011 globally.
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé announcing the 2012 World AIDS day report during the official UNAIDS press conference. Geneva, Switzerland, 20 November 2012.
GENEVA, 20 November 2012—A new World AIDS Day report: Results , by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), shows that unprecedented acceleration in the AIDS response is producing results for people. The report shows that a more than 50% reduction in the rate of new HIV infections has been achieved across 25 low- and middle-income countries––more than half in Africa, the region most affected by HIV.
In some of the countries which have the highest HIV prevalence in the world, rates of new HIV infections have been cut dramatically since 2001; by 73% in Malawi, 71% in Botswana, 68% in Namibia, 58% in Zambia, 50% in Zimbabwe and 41% in South Africa and Swaziland.
In addition to welcome results in HIV prevention, sub-Saharan Africa has reduced AIDS-related deaths by one third in the last six years and increased the number of people on antiretroviral treatment by 59% in the last two years alone.
“The pace of progress is quickening—what used to take a decade is now being achieved in 24 months,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “We are scaling up faster and smarter than ever before. It is the proof that with political will and follow through we can reach our shared goals by 2015.”
For example, South Africa increased its scale up of HIV treatment by 75% in the last two years—ensuring 1.7 million people had access to the lifesaving treatment—and new HIV infections have fallen by more than 50 000 in just two years. During this period, South Africa also increased its domestic investments on AIDS to US$ 1.6 billion, the highest by any low- and middle-income country.
The report also shows that countries are assuming shared responsibility by increasing domestic investments. More than 81 countries increased domestic investments by 50% between 2001 and 2011. The new results come as the AIDS response is in a 1000 day push to reach the Millennium Development Goals and the 2015 targets of the UN Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.
Declining new HIV infections in children
The area where perhaps most progress is being made is in reducing new HIV infections in children. Half of the global reductions in new HIV infections in the last two years have been among newborn children. “It is becoming evident that achieving zero new HIV infections in children is possible,” said Mr Sidibé. “I am excited that far fewer babies are being born with HIV. We are moving from despair to hope.”
In the last two years, new HIV infections in children decreased by 24%. In six countries––Burundi, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Togo and Zambia––the number of children newly infected with HIV fell by at least 40% between 2009 and 2011.
Fewer AIDS-related deaths
The report shows that antiretroviral therapy has emerged as a powerful force for saving lives. In the last 24 months the numbers of people accessing treatment has increased by 63% globally. In sub-Saharan Africa, a record 2.3 million people had access to treatment. China has increased the number of people on HIV treatment by nearly 50% in the last year alone.
There were more than half a million fewer deaths in 2011 than in 2005. The largest drops in AIDS-related deaths are being seen in countries where HIV has the strongest grip. South Africa saw 100 000 fewer deaths, Zimbabwe nearly 90 000, Kenya 71 000 and Ethiopia 48 000 than in 2005.
Impressive gains were also made in reducing tuberculosis (TB) related AIDS deaths in people living with HIV. In the last 24 months, a 13% decrease in TB-related AIDS deaths was observed. This accomplishment is due to record numbers of people with HIV/TB co-infection accessing antiretroviral treatment—a 45% increase. The report recognizes the need to do more to reduce TB-related AIDS deaths.
More investments
The report shows that countries are increasing investments in the AIDS response despite a difficult economic climate. The global gap in resources needed annually by 2015 is now at 30%. In 2011, US$ 16.8 billion was available and the need for 2015 is between US$ 22-24 billion.
In 2011, for the first time ever, domestic investments from low- and middle-income countries surpassed global giving for HIV. However, international assistance, which has been stable in the past few years, remains a critical lifeline for many countries. In 26 of 33 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, donor support accounts for more than half of HIV investments. The United States accounts for 48% of all international assistance for HIV and together with the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria provide the lion’s share of investments in HIV treatment. However, countries must take steps to reduce the high dependency on international assistance for HIV treatment programmes.
1000 days to go
An estimated 6.8 million people are eligible for treatment and do not have access. UNAIDS also estimates that an additional 4 million discordant couples (where one partner is living with HIV) would benefit from HIV treatment to protect their partners from HIV infection.
(L to R): Dr Bernhard Schwartländer, UNAIDS Director, Evidence, Strategy and Results Department , Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director, Annemarie Hou, UNAIDS Director of Communications presenting the 2012 World AIDS Day report. Geneva, Switzerland, 20 November 2012.
Of the 34 million people living with HIV, about half do not know their HIV status. The report states that if more people knew their status, they could come forward for HIV services.
In addition, there is an urgent need to improve HIV treatment retention rates; reduce the cost of second- and third-line treatment; and explore new ways of expanding and sustaining access to treatment, including domestic production of medicines and innovative financing.
Despite the encouraging progress in stopping new HIV infections, the total number of new HIV infections remains high—2.5 million in 2011. The report outlines that to reduce new HIV infections globally combination HIV prevention services need to be brought to scale. For example, scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision has the potential to prevent an estimated one in five new HIV infections in Eastern and Southern Africa by 2025.
The report shows that HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on sex workers, men who have sex with men and people who inject drugs. HIV prevention and treatment programmes are largely failing to reach these key populations.
“UNAIDS will focus on supporting countries to accelerate access to HIV testing and treatment. Now that we know that rapid and massive scale up is possible, we need to do more to reach key populations with crucial HIV services,” said Mr. Sidibé.
Labels: FRAUD, HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS
Read more...
"Sexual appetite shouldn't override need for circumcision"
By Moses Kuwema
Thu 22 Nov. 2012, 13:10 CAT
DR Francis Manda says Gwembe UPND member of parliament Brian Ntundu's sexual appetite should not override the advatages of male circumcision.
Commenting on Ntundu's fears about circumcision and the fears that 'sweetness' of sex is lost when one gets circumcised, Dr Manda, a urologist, advised the member of parliament not to only look at his sexual appetite but also other issues which in the end could affect him.
"People who are not circumcised, they are at the risk of getting cancer of the penis and two, most of the men because of their inner foreskin which harbours the virus called human papilloma virus, they are carriers of this virus and they pass it on to women and they end up with cervical cancer. His sexual appetite should not override the advantages of circumcision," he said.
Dr Manda said Ntundu's fears were based on ego and that he was not looking at what could befall him in terms of cancer.
"He is just being selfish by looking at his sexual appetite and not looking at other issues which in the end can even affect him. He could have cancer of the penis," Dr Manda said.
Dr Manda said it was only the sensation to the manhood that was lost when one got circumcised.
"Those people who have premature ejaculations, we use circumcision as one of the forms of treating them. If he says no I am going to lose this, that's being selfish, he is looking just at sex, he is not looking at other issues in the broader spectrum," he said.
Dr Manda however, said circumcision was voluntary and that Ntundu was free to remain the way he was if he so wished.
"If his main concern is his sexual behaviour, let him remain like that, but let him not discourage others because we have seen and it is proven beyond any doubt that circumcision is one of the tools which we use in mitigating not only HIV and AIDS but other sexually transmitted diseases," said Dr Manda.
During the voluntary medical male circumcision workshop for members of parliament on Monday, Ntundu, 50, laid bare his sex life and revealed that he struggled to do one round of sex on account of his age.
"When I was young…I had my first child at the age of 17 and during that time, I used to do more rounds but now I am 50 years old and I struggle to do one round of sex. Now if I am struggling at 50, what will happen if I circumcise…I am sure you know what I am trying to say," said Ntundu, sending the audience into laughter.
Labels: BRIAN NTUNDU, CIRCUMCISION, FRANCIS MANDA, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
(SUNDAY MAIL) Babies in HIV danger as mothers shun ART
COMMENT - Giving AZT to pregnant women and babies is an act of genocide. Especially as many of the women who have been labeled 'HIV positive' are not, because pregancy causes false positives on the ELISA screening test, which is all that is used, and why the Ante Natal Clinic Surveys give these huge national HIV prevalence rates. AZT kills grown men, let alone newborns and their mothers.
Babies in HIV danger as mothers shun ART
Saturday, 03 November 2012 17:43
At least 25 percent of children born with HIV in Zimbabwe are a result of mothers who would have shunned anti-retroviral Therapy (ART), a senior Government health official has said.
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare national Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) co-ordinator Dr Angela Mushavi said a further 75 percent of HIV-positive children were born to mothers whose CD4 count is below 350.
According to health experts, a CD4 count that is less than 350 is life-threatening for pregnant women.
“Seventy-five percent of the HIV born babies in the country are by mothers who have CD4 counts less than 350,” said Dr Mushavi.
“The other 25 percent is a result of mothers who delay initiation of ART because they would have undertaken HIV and Aids tests at a late stage of pregnancy.”
Dr Mushavi said some cultural norms and beliefs, long distances to health centres and unaffordable medical services were the major reasons why most pregnant women delayed registering their pregnancy and undergoing the routine HIV and Aids tests.
According to the PMCT programme, women should get tested for HIV and Aids as soon as they get pregnant.
The programme, to save the child, is effective for mothers who test HIV positive at least six months before giving birth.
“Most pregnant women are coming for HIV test when their pregnancies are more than three months, which becomes difficult to protect the baby from the virus,” Dr Mushavi said.
It is estimated that about 50 percent of HIV pregnant women in the country have CD4 counts less than 350.
Dr Mushavi said mothers on ART should breastfeed their children on milk alone for the first six months.
The rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission has declined from 30 percent in 2002 to 18 percent in 2011. - Sunday Mail Reporter
Labels: FRAUD, HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
COMMENT - SCAM ALERT!!! What is needed in HIV testing is not more sensitivity, but more specificity. We're not missing the 'false negatives', we are neglecting to eliminate the false positives, especially in the Ante Natal Clinic surveys (ANCs). What is needed, is the use of the more expensive and extensive Western Blot tests to confirm positive ELISA screening tests, because that will lead to greater accuracy of the data.
New test to improve HIV diagnosis
29/10/2012 00:00:00
by Reuters
SCIENTISTS have come up with a test for the virus that causes AIDS that is ten times more sensitive and a fraction of the cost of existing methods, offering the promise of better diagnosis and treatment in the developing world.
The test uses nanotechnology to give a result that can be seen with the naked eye by turning a sample red or blue, according to research from scientists at Imperial College in London published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.
"Our approach affords for improved sensitivity, does not require sophisticated instrumentation and it is ten times cheaper," Molly Stevens, who led the research, told Reuters.
Simple and quick HIV tests that analyse saliva already exist but they can only pick up the virus when it reaches relatively high concentrations in the body.
"We would be able to detect infection even in those cases where previous methods, such as the saliva test, were rendering a 'false negative' because the viral load was too low to be detected," she said.
The test could also be reconfigured to detect other diseases, such as sepsis, Leishmaniasis, Tuberculosis and malaria, Stevens said.
Testing is not only crucial in picking up the HIV virus early but also for monitoring the effectiveness of treatments.
"Unfortunately, the existing gold standard detection methods can be too expensive to be implemented in parts of the world where resources are scarce," Stevens said.
According to 2010 data from the World Health Organisation, about 23 million people living with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa out of a worldwide total of 34 million.
The virus is also spreading faster and killing more people in this part of the world. Sub-Saharan Arica accounted for 1.9 million new cases out of a global total of 2.7 million in the same year, and 1.2 million out of the 1.8 million deaths.
The new sensor works by testing serum, a clear watery fluid derived from blood samples, in a disposable container for the presence of an HIV biomarker called p24.
If p24 is present, even in minute concentrations, it causes the tiny gold nanoparticles to clump together in an irregular pattern that turns the solution blue. A negative result separates them into ball shapes that generate a red colour.
The researchers also used the test to pick up the biomarker for Prostate Cancer called Prostate Specific Antigen, which was the target of previous work that Stevens did with collaborators at University of Vigo in Spain.
That sensor used tiny gold stars laden with antibodies that latched onto the marker in a sample and produced a silver coating that could be detected with microscopes.
Stevens and her collaborator on the new test, Roberto de la Rica, said they plan to approach not-for-profit global health organisations to help them manufacture and distribute the new sensor in low income countries
Labels: FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
COMMENT - Only 0.7% of donated blood in Zimbabwe tests positive on HIV tests - not a scientific survey, but a lot lower than the tests on pregnant women. And very close to the DRC's 1.3% national prevalence rate. (I quote from
the DRC's 2007 DHS: " According to the EDS-RDC, 1.3 percent of the population age 15-49 years is HIV-positive. The prevalence is 1.6 percent for women and 0.9 percent for men. ")
This is another indication that there are big problems with the official data for the national prevalence rate of HIV.
HIV prevalence in donated blood down
Wednesday, 17 October 2012 00:00
Health Reporter
PREVALENCE of HIV in donated blood has decreased over the past years from
a high of 2 percent of the collected blood to
a low of 0,7 percent, a senior official with the National Blood Services Zimbabwe has said. Speaking at a function held at NBSZ in Harare recently, finance and administration manager Mr Zamile Musekiwa said about 2 percent of the collected blood had HIV.
He, however, said prevalence of HIV in donated blood has been decreasing over the years. According to 2011 statistics, only 0,7 percent of the collected blood was HIV positive.
“Blood collections have, however, been going up and down over the same years. We started off very well with about 75 000 units in 1995 but dropped to about 42 000 in 2009. Collections have picked up again between 2010 and 2011 to over 80 000 units,” Mr Musekiwa said.
Mr Musekiwa said NBTS carries out 100 percent screening on all donated blood for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and Aids.
He, however, said consumption of blood at hospitals is lower than before due to inadequate infrastructure and low budgets for blood products at the hospitals.
It is estimated that 40 percent of blood products are provided to women following complications of birth, 35 percent are used in surgery and trauma while 25 percent are used in other medical care and paediatrics.
He reiterated that fees charged by the organisation for a pint of blood were below production costs.
Mr Musekiwa said it costs about US$128 to produce a pint of blood but it is sold for at least US$50 to Government institutions.
“Of course, we receive some subsidies from Government, National Aids Council and other donors but these funds are inadequate for both recurrent and capital expenditure,” he said.
Government institutions pay US$50 for a pint of blood, mission hospitals US$65 while private institutions fork out US$105.
“With this financial crisis, our capacity to introduce new technology so as to improve blood products and safety is limited. Debtors are also unable to pay and a ‘stop supply service’ is not the first choice,” Mr Musekiwa said.
Labels: FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
COMMENT - The 'new response' we need, is to thoroughly examine the way we estimate national HIV prevalence rates. If only DHS surveys were used, which do not rely on the massive overrepresentation of positive results among pregnant women (which is what Zambia's HIV figures are largely based on), and then use a Western Blot confirmation test for positive ELISA (P24, P55) screening tests, then I would say Zambia's HIV prevalence rate will go from 13% to 1.3%, like the DRC's. (I quote
from the 2007 DHS of the DRC: " According to the EDS-RDC,
1.3 percent of the population age 15-49 years is HIV-positive. The prevalence is
1.6 percent for women and
0.9 percent for men. "
By contrast, Zambia's HIV data is heavily skewed to blood collected from pregnant women, who are not only not representative of the general population, but
whose pregnancy itself generates massive numbers of false positives on single ELISA HIV tests, as well as many other tests. (Read:
(Washington Post) How AIDS in Africa Was Overstated - Reliance on
Data From Urban Prenatal Clinics Skewed Early Projections, by Craig Timberg. This is what is skewing the Zambian data upwards.)
Men Tested 80,659 (15.7%)
Women Tested 430,607 (84.3%)
Pregnant Women tested 364,331 (71%)
Total Tested 511,266 (100%)
To quote from the research: "The high number of females tested was mostly from the PMTCT programme which accounted for 364,331". Source: ZAMBIA COUNTRY REPORT Monitoring the Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS and the Universal Access Biennial Report.
We need to improve data analysis/testing, and the 'epidemic' will disappear. Meanwhile, the diseases caused by the poverty that comes from free market economics will be addressed at it's root - the massive impoverishment of the people through the stealing of the people's resources, from copper to land.
The solution is: 1) only use DHS surveys, no more PMTCT data, and 2) use Western Blot to confirm positive ELISA screening tests. Those are the new responses we desperately need. And then we can address the diseases of poverty, by addressing poverty itself.
Also read, from the Boston Globe in 2004: (BOSTON GLOBE) Estimates on HIV called too high - New data cut rates for many nations, by John Donnelly, Globe Staff | June 20, 2004
Read more here.
We need new HIV responses
By The Post
Fri 12 Oct. 2012, 14:00 CAT
We have been dealing with the problem of HIV and AIDS for close to 30 years. But nothing much seems to have been achieved in fighting this problem.
We are being told the rate of infection has reduced from 16.1 per cent to 14.3 per cent. And this small reduction is being celebrated when the problem is far much bigger because this is a reduction among those who have been tested. What more those who are not tested?
And among those who are tested and have been found to be positive, it is believed that only about 20 per cent are receiving treatment. What is happening to the other 80 per cent?
It is very clear that we are approaching this problem in a very piece-meal and partial way. We are not in any way trying to uproot the whole problem and live without it. No amount of HIV is desirable or should be tolerated in a country. We are talking about not tolerating the virus and not the people who carry the virus. This needs to be clearly understood because while the virus should never be tolerated, the people who carry it are human beings deserving our love, understanding and compassion. They should not be discriminated against in any way. And stigmatisation should have no place in our country; it shouldn't be tolerated in any way.
We have to be innovative or creative in the way we fight HIV. So far, we have been heavily dependent on other people's approaches or formulas simply because they come to us with deep pockets. And whatever they tell us, we do because they have the money. They employ our own people to champion their formulas and programmes. And our people can't question even that which is wrong, that won't work simply because that's what their paymasters want. If they object to what the financiers want, they will simply be fired and new people will be recruited in their place.
And this runs through private and public HIV programmes. This is so because even what may be said to be government programmes are also funded by donors. And it is the donors who call the tune. It is time we started putting our own public resources in the fight against HIV to save the lives of our people. Yes, donations and help from others are highly welcome and we should be grateful for that. But while we should have a sense of gratitude, we should also accept the fact that the people who are helping us are not super human and do not possess the sum total of human knowledge on the issue of HIV and AIDS. Today, the ideas and programmes of donors dominate our entire HIV campaign.
It is time we started designing our own programmes and reduced our dependence on others. This is not to say we should not co-operate or collaborate with others. What we are trying to say is let's learn from others but at the end of the day, let our decisions and actions be our own. This is a problem that we cannot deal with totally by ourselves. It is a problem that calls for international co-operation. But international co-operation does not deprive us of the right to national initiatives.
There is something we have learnt over the last 30 years of fighting HIV, let's put it to use. If over the last 30 years we have learnt nothing and we know nothing other than what the donors tell us, then we stand no chance of conquering HIV in the near future.
We shouldn't be afraid to come up with our own initiatives, programmes we think can work for us. As Dr Kenneth Kaunda taught us, "Let us be bold and not be afraid of creating precedents, for more often than not, today's precedent may well show as tomorrow's stroke of genius" (address to the 40th annual congress of Rotary International, Kitwe, April 4, 1965).
And as Dr Manasseh Phiri has urged, Zambia needs to start looking for its own resources to deal with the HIV problem.
The suggestion by Prof Paolo Marandola of putting everyone positive on treatment makes sense. One doesn't need to be a scientist to see sense in what is being suggested by Prof Marandola. Yes, putting everyone who is positive on treatment is going to be very expensive for us; it's going to increase our expenditure on the HIV problem. But this cost is not going to continue rising.
It is a cost that is going to start dropping or decreasing. As more and more people who are HIV positive are put on treatment, the rates of infection and re-infection are going to start dropping. And with it the number of people who will develop full-blown AIDS is also going to go down and eventually our costs will also go down. Within a period of five to seven years, this cost can drop to below what we are now spending on giving treatment to the few we are giving the treatment to.
We can't be satisfied with very little achievements. There is very little that has been achieved in this fight. And we shouldn't fool ourselves that we are on our way to conquering the HIV problem. We are far away from it. Until we start to address the problem in its entirety, and not in the partial way we are doing, we will continue moving backwards in very long strides. We can't say we are giving universal treatment to all those living with the virus when we are just giving treatment to a few of them with full-blown AIDS. The majority of the people who are positive, whether they know it or not, are not on treatment.
And the starting point is to get every citizen tested for HIV. In that way, we will know the full scope of the work we need to do and the financial resources we need to mobilise. The number of people testing for HIV is not increasing and it's actually going down. Every citizen needs to know his or her status.
And capacity needs to be created for us as a nation to give treatment to every citizen who is HIV positive so that their potential to transmit the virus to others is reduced as far as possible to zero. And also so that those who have developed AIDS are given treatment to reduce the possibility of them dying as a result of this.
While it cannot be denied that the numbers dying from AIDS have reduced, this does not in itself mean that the spread of HIV has in the same way been arrested.
Let's pay a lot of attention to the need for testing every citizen and putting every positive person on treatment. It is expensive but it will be worth the expense and it is not something totally beyond our reach. But as Felix Mwanza says, we need political will to start owning the HIV response in our country. And all this is possible with political will.
Labels: FRAUD, HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS
Read more...
COMMENT - 'A HIV free Zambia' is not possible through circumcision. See my comment at the original link. There is no evidence whatsoever that circumcision prevents HIV infection. For all the links and details,
read here and
here.
HIV-free Zambia possible, says Storella
September 13, 2012 | Filed underLocal News | Posted by mitia
By NORMA SIAME -
UNITED States (US) Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella has said an HIV free generation in Zambia is a possible, especially if interventions like male circumcision are taken seriously. The ambassador was speaking during panel discussion on male circumcision which was preceded by a tour of Kasama General Hospital.
The ambassad or said the US had tripled its budget for male circumcision and was happy to see that Health Minister Joseph Kasonde and the Zambian Government considered it of high importance.
Mr Storella said he was happy to see that hospitals where no longer places people went to die and had now become places of hope.
“It’s also good to see that chiefs are now in the forefront of encouraging their subjects to under this procedure,” he said.
He said he had learnt a lot from the discussion on male circumcision and was happy it had been well received as an intervention to reduce the spread of HIV.
The discussion which was attended by Northern Province Minister Freedom Sikazwe, Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Mwamba and medical personnel drawn from different organisations also tabulated the challenges encountered in performing male circumcision such as stigma.
Mr Mwamba said it was gratifying that the US Government had continued to render aid to Zambia by supporting and providing much needed funds in areas relating to health.
ZPCT II provincial technical officer Michael Shamututu in his contribution said while male circumcision was mostly directed at HIV negative men and boys HIV positive men could also undergo the procedure if certain parameter where met.
“Even though there was stigma from the men in defence forces most officers are now coming round and voluntarily undergoing circumcision,” Lieutenant Colonel Shamututu said.
Other benefits of male circumcision include the prevention of cervical cancer in women which is associated with genital Human papilloma virus in their male partners.
Many African countries are now championing male circumcision to stop the spread of HIVs because research shows that circumcision can protect both men and their female partners from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The World Health Organisation concluded that universal male circumcision in sub-Saharan Africa could prevent close to six million new cases of HIV infection and three million deaths over a 20 year period.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, CIRCUMCISION, HIV/AIDS, MARK STORELLA
Read more...
Timothy Stamps rubbishes UN circumcision program
By Tidi Kwidini
Published: July 24, 2012
President Robert Mugabe’s personal health advisor, and former cabinet Minister for Health, Timothy Stamps, has rubbished claims from a UN backed study that has concluded that male circumcision reduces HIV transmission.
Stamps’ comments come at a time when the country recently embarked on a massive government sponsored foreskin cutting crusade with the hope of lessening the chances of HIV/AIDS transmission. The crusade this year has also seen more than fifty of the country’s male MPs being compelled to go under the knife.
Stamps told a Standard journalist that it did not make any difference to the adult prevalence rate. He further stated that the studies undertaken on circumcision had shown that countries such as the US with a higher number of circumcised men had a high HIV prevalence rate.
“Instead of channelling funds towards circumcision, the money must be used to save pregnant mothers who die in huge numbers in this country,” he said.
Dr Timothy Stamps
“When we are losing 960 mothers for every 100 000 pregnancies, should circumcision be a priority?” Stamps added.
A careful study needed
But in response to an article published by ZimEye in May, a senior HIV specialist based in London, Dr Charles Mazhude issued a caution against the arguments being brought forward against circumcision saying a careful study should be conducted before practitioners recommend the contrary.
“The UN recommendations for circumcision are based on several published studies which have been peer reviewed. Amongst my fellow clinicians and specialists in the area of HIV/AIDS, circumcision remains recognised as one of several interventions that could reduce transmission rates. The Ministry of health therefore seems to have taken an evidence based stance in promoting this intervention,” Mazhude said.
“I totally agree that recommending the opposite requires a clear and careful analysis – confusing the message could be counterproductive,” he added.
Contradictions and Evidence
Some practitioners who are opposing circumcision like Dr Stamps are concerned about the behavioural effects circumcision could possibly have on society as opposed to the biological. They say the current circumcision drive, encourages illicit sexual behaviour which actually increases peoples’ chances of contracting HIV.
Dr Stamps’ views and arguments are suspected to be motivated by a study conducted by Boyle & Hill (2011) who have been castigated by scholars for allegedly undermining findings from three landmark randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that demonstrated both individually and collectively that male circumcision reduces an individual man’s risk of acquiring HIV by 60 percent.
The Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the basis of current UN Health recommendations which have been suggested to high HIV prevalent African countries like Zimbabwe.
According to Webster Mavu and Dr Joshua Dziba of the US based HIV AIDS Zimbabwe Charity(HAZ), Boyle & Hill (2011) maintain that circumcision diverts resources from other known preventive measures such as condoms (which are 80 percent protective).
Webster Mavu and Dr Dziba however, reveal that circumcision is being promoted in conjunction with condom promotion not instead of it. “When WHO/UNAIDS recommended that Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision(VMMC) be implemented in countries with high HIV but low MC prevalence, they made 10 other recommendations, which have policy and programmatic implications for rolling-out VMMC,” says Webster Mavu.
A number of issues are handled by HAZ in which they state their evidence and arguments that apart from just being implemented, circumcision must actually be accelerated. HAZ has issued this study paper now accessible from their website and titled “To circumcise or not to circumcise: That is the question.”
Though research has concluded that circumcision does not prevent chances of being infected by the HIV virus it reduces the likelihood by about approximately 60%, showing that there is still at least a 40% chance of acquiring HIV; and the arguments together with a search for the truth continue. (ZIMBABWE, ZimEye)
Labels: CIRCUMCISION, FRAUD, HIV/AIDS
Read more...
