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Recent management and organizational changes at WHO TB and HIV Departments, UNAIDS, and the Stop TB Partnership have opened up important doors which can raise Rights & Responsibilities, and community participation, up the agenda as 'action points'. As we can now enter these doors to the (ex?) Ivory Towers and new partnerships are beginning, it's a good time to remind all where we are coming from. GIPT provides guidance, and is a declaration of the shared principles of thousands of people who have, or have had tuberculosis, and our many friends and allies in the struggle to stop TB. While we will be welcoming new colleagues to new jobs in Geneva, we would also welcome their 'signing on' to the Greater Involvement of People with Tuberculosis (GIPT), and to quickly move from words to new actions. GIPT is at the foundation of much of Component 5 of the WHO Stop TB Strategy, EMPOWER PEOPLE WITH TB, AND COMMUNITIES, the Component that has been either misunderstood, neglected or misdirected since 2006. At this moment of change at the top, it's a good time for a remind of the bottom line, and to build real partnerships. (...continues, click read more)

Dr Eric Goemaere is the medical coordinator of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in South Africa. His career in HIV and AIDS has spanned decades, moving from an era in which antiretroviral (ARV) drugs were beyond the reach of most, to a time where millions are living with HIV and on treatment. IRIN/PlusNews sat down with Goemaere to ask him about the future of funding, drugs and the fight against HIV. 


QUESTION: Has MSF experienced cuts in international funding and, if so, how is this affecting its programmes? 

ANSWER: Indirectly. In some of our programmes in Uganda and in Kenya we have seen patients coming to us – and sometimes from far away – and saying, 
'Where I used to get access to my drugs, I've been told, No'. By default, they come to an MSF programme where there are still treatment slots available. 

For the moment these numbers are limited, but in the future they might grow to the tens of thousands, and that would definitely put a strain on the programme. 

MSF is a very small fish in the pond ... we choose to be privately funded and we are extremely restricted in our funding. We are not in a position to absorb the withdrawal of funding, and we do not want in any way to pretend [to do] so.

African medical experts have realized they need to make a much bigger effort to educate rural communities if they want to effectively contain the continent's tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1.7 million people are infected with TB each year, which is almost a quarter of all global TB cases, according to the World Health Organisation. Until recently, TB testing and treatment was mainly offered in hospital settings, which meant that poor people who live in peri-urban or rural areas struggled to access those services. Moreover, many patients failed to adhere to the months-long course of treatment because they live too far away from their nearest hospital to go to regular follow-up visits and pick up their medication.
Responding with community-based care: To slow down infection rates, several Southern African countries have now launched community-based screening, treatment and care programmes, especially in remote areas where access to health education and care is limited.

This keynote speech from Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund, is brilliant! Human Rights must at the center of all discussions and actions, and pushed and monitored by all health activists.///

Dear members of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, Dear friends and colleagues in the fight against AIDS and fellow human rights advocates; Ladies and gentlemen, Good evening: Bonsoir: Let me first extend my very warm thanks to Richard Elliott and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network for inviting me to give the keynote address as part of this 2nd Annual Symposium on HIV, Law and Human Rights.2 And allow me to add my congratulations to the winner of the Award for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, Ralf Jürgens. It is always a pleasure to be among friends in the global health and human rights community who are doing such tremendously important work. I wish to dedicate my remarks to two champions for human rights. (...continues - click 'read more')

"Excellencies, honourable ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for this opportunity to address such a distinguished audience. Thank you, too, for the Communication on the European Union’s role in global health, and the other outstanding documents prepared to support this high-level conference. The countries represented in this room are among the most generous contributors, and the most deeply engaged partners for international health development. I place great stock in your views about the future as well as your experiences during decades of international health cooperation. Resources come with an expectation of results. It makes sense for you to seek the best possible return on your health investments. Your ambitions are high. In looking for ways to strengthen the EU’s contribution to global health, you are exploring some extremely complex issues that are likely to shape international health development for some years to come. This quest for a coherent global health policy is mutual. WHO is also addressing these issues, in dialogue with our Member States and development partners, as we think about the future financing of WHO in line with what we are expected, and best positioned, to deliver.

Finally, some good MDR-TB news: Boosted EXPAND-TB agreement will broaden access to diagnosis.
Friday 28 May marked the signing of an extension of the EXPAND-TB (Expanding Access to New Diagnostics for TB) Project, whose goal is to accelerate access to diagnosis for patients at risk of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). UNITAID funds the project, which is a collaboration between the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Laboratory Initiative (GLI), the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) and the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility (GDF). Dr Jorge Bermudez, Executive Secretary of UNITAID; Dr Giorgio Roscigno, Chief Executive Officer of FIND; Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the WHO Stop TB Department; and Dr Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership signed the agreement. Together, the partners engaged in this project have as their goal making available the new diagnostic technologies and laboratory services needed to diagnose MDR-TB, while rapidly transmitting know-how for technology transfer and ensuring new tools are properly integrated within TB control programmes.

We are soliciting nominations for COMMUNITY delegation members for the Global Fund Board delegation of the Communities Living with HIV, TB and affected by Malaria
For years 2011 through 2013

CLOSING DATE for all nominations is
TUESDAY 31st AUGUST 2010 at 1500 GMT.

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is perhaps the most important and innovative health initiative developed in the 21st century. The Global Fund was created to dramatically increase resources to fight these three devastating diseases, and to direct much needed resources to areas of greatest need. As a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities, the Global Fund represents an innovative approach to international health financing. 
The Communities Delegation is made up of individuals living with HIV, TB and affected by malaria, and its mission is to bring the voices and issues of people living with HIV, tuberculosis and affected by malaria to the deliberations of the Global Fund Board and its committees, and through this to ensure greater and sustained impact of the Global Fund at the community level.

The IMAXI Cooperative, hosted by the World Care Council, is pleased to announce that it will be observing and 'opening' the UNAIDS 26th Program Coordinating Board (PCB) Meeting in Geneva from the 22 -24 June, as part of its development of new mechanisms to increase civil society stake-holding in public health institutions and issues. In collaboration with the NGO Delegation to the Board (PCB) and other civil society partners, the UNAIDS for All pilot aims to make the 'decision-making' more accessible for those far away from the meeting.
'Live and direct' from Geneva, the IMAXI media team will act as 'rapporteurs' through RSS feeds into a web platform of friendly i-tools, designed by and for people in the communities. UNAIDS for All offers an SMS-based outreach for input system, 'low-band' video-conferencing, live chat, blogs, and non-stop tweets in targeted local languages, so that new stakeholders will have various options on how they want to 'be there' in real time, and to voice comments and opinions across all the media. The accessible web platform, specially designed for this event, will be linked to relevant documentation and background information from the NGO Delegation, and feature a number of video interviews to 'humanize' the online meeting.
Building on the success of the (beta version) first World Open Health Assembly (WOHA), held online in tandem with the recent 63rd World Health Assembly of WHO, the upcoming Board Meeting (PCB) will provide an opportunity for the UNAIDS 'extended family' to follow and contribute to decisions that will impact on their health. UNAIDS for All will warmly open the door for the greater involvement of new and diverse members of the community, and facilitate their entry into the model partnership in health that UNAIDS has developed.

The UNAIDS Program Coordinating Board (PCB) is the Governing Body of UNAIDS, and was the first UN agency to have civil society representation, in the form of the NGO Delegation. http://unaidspcbngo.org/ The next PCB meeting will be held in Geneva from the 22 -24 June, and major policy decisions are on the Agenda. Furthermore, based on a year long consultation and review of available resources, the official NGO Delegation will present their important report on stigma and discrimination. Apart from the Board members, there will be more than 40 Civil Society Observers are also attending this meeting, most representing NGOs and by their own cost. This Observers group also has the possibility to make a short presentation and to disseminate relevant information, reinforcing the role of civil society and its NGO Delegation. Recent global economic upheavals and political shifts means the drive for Universal Access will be longer and harder than we had thought last year. Each day brings new challenges for UNAIDS, and difficulties for the people it serves. This is an opportunity for those who are affected by UNAIDS policy but have not yet had the chance to 'have a say', to say it and to have it heard, clearly. As an observer to UNAIDS PCB I am going to Geneva to facilitate `greater involvement' of the community. I will be glad to present your views as well at the UNAIDS PCB meeting. http://www.imaxi.org/

Every afternoon in Beijing's Dongdan park, just east of Tiananmen Square, volunteers gather to hand out free condoms. They work for the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, an independent organisation that aims to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids. Along with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Aizhixing says it has recently come under increasing pressure from the government. Its workers complain of arbitrary police searches, new bureaucratic hurdles and general official interference. Aizhixing's founder, Aids activist Wan Yanhai, was so worried about his own safety that he fled to the United States with his wife and four-year-old daughter. "I believe the Chinese government is now launching a war against independent social forces" said Activist Wan Yanhai.