Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Reports, Initiatives From International AIDS Conference — Aug. 8

As part of its expanded coverage of the XVII International AIDS Conference, which is being held Aug. 3 through Aug. 8 in Mexico City, the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report will feature studies and initiatives released during the conference. Summaries of select publications and initiatives appear below.

• "The Changing HIV/AIDS Landscape," World Bank: The report examines how the HIV/AIDS pandemic and environment are rapidly changing and says that a localized, evidence-based response to the disease in Africa is needed. It also looks at various issues -- including transmission dynamics, economic development and the financial sustainability of HIV/AIDS interventions. The report concludes that countries, donors and communities should make efforts to understand their specific epidemics, use evidence to develop interventions and improve coordination when establishing priorities (World Bank release, 8/4).
  
  
• "Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy and Survival in HIV-Infected Injection Drug Users," Journal of the American Medical Association: Julio Montaner of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and colleagues conducted the study to compare survival rates among HIV-positive people initiating HAART with and without a history of injection drug use. The researchers conducted the study among 3,116 treatment-naive HIV-positive people in a treatment program in British Columbia, Canada. Of the participants, 915, or 29.4%, were IDUs; 579, or 18.6%, were women; and the median age was 39.4 years. HAART was initiated between Aug. 1, 1996, and June 30, 2006, and the researchers followed the participants up until June 30, 2007. They found that 622 participants died during the study period -- 232 of whom were IDUs and 390 of whom were non-IDUs. In addition, at 84 months after the initiation of HAART, the researchers found similar mortality rates between IDUs and non-IDUs. They concluded that in the study population, injection drug use was not associated with decreased survival among HIV-positive people initiating HAART (Montaner et al., JAMA, 8/6).
  
  
• "HIV Prevalence Estimates From the Demographic and Health Surveys," MEASURE DHS: The report summarizes the results of population-based HIV tests in 28 countries among more than 400,000 men and women. The MEASURE DHS project, starting in 2001, included HIV blood tests in its national surveys, leading some experts to readjust international estimates of HIV prevalence. The report also examines the international burden of HIV/AIDS with prevalence estimates ranging from less than 1% in Asia and West Africa to almost 26% in Swaziland. MEASURE DHS also has released reports on Azerbaijan, Liberia, Mali, Pakistan and Swaziland (MEASURE DHS release, 8/7).
  
  
• "New Advocacy Organization for the Global Fund in Latin America Launched," Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: A new group -- called Friends of the Global Fund Latin America -- was launched at the AIDS conference to promote the work of the Global Fund in the region. The group will be based in Bogota, Colombia, and will work to encourage private sector involvement in the funding of programs supported by the Global Fund. The Global Fund to date has provided antiretroviral treatment to 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS and HIV tests and counseling to 4.2 million people in the region (Global Fund release, 8/7).
  
  
• "The Power of Participation: Women Leaders Speak (.pdf)," UNIFEM/Athena Network: Although there have been repeated calls for women's increased participation in HIV/AIDS efforts, the report by UNIFEM and Athena finds that women's full participation in the response to the disease still has not been realized. The study says that this is "particularly true for women who are most affected by the epidemic as for far too long, HIV-positive women have been invited only after agendas have been set or policy decisions taken." The report is based on a nine-month global review of existing documentation and interviews with stakeholders. It includes a road map for action with recommendations for advancing women's leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide (UNIFEM release, 8/7).