Monday 3 December 2007

Chilean Prostitute Auctions Sex For Charity

Chilean Prostitute Auctions Sex For Charity
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=44351
Robert Paul Reyes
December 2, 2007

"A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.

Maria Carolina became an overnight celebrity in the conservative Roman Catholic country, making news headlines and appearing on talk shows since she made her unusual donation...."

If prostitution is legal is a conservative Roman Catholic country, there is no reason it shouldn't be legal in a secular democracy like the United States.

In Nevada, where prostitution is legal in some municipalities, working girls are required to practice safe sex and to be tested for AIDS and other STD's on a regular basis. It's safer to have sex with a prostitute from a bordello in Nevada than to have a one-night stand with a girl you pick up in a bar.

Twenty seven hours of sex is enough to last me for the rest of my life -- with many hours left over. Maria Carolina is drop-dead gorgeous; it's no wonder the winning bid was $4,000.

Maria is a very rare individual: A prostitute with a heart of gold. I applaud her for raising so much money for a charity that benefits poor and disabled children.

Monday 26 November 2007

KENYA: HIV-positive and still sexy

KENYA: HIV-positive and still sexy
http://www.plusnews.org/PrintReport.aspx?ReportId=75357

Photo: Zanzibar International Film Festival "You can have your sexuality...you don't have to lose it because you have HIV"

MOMBASA, 16 November 2007 (PlusNews) - People tend to think that contracting HIV can spell the end of their sex lives, but HIV-positive Africans of all ages are now being urged to reclaim their sexuality and live healthy, normal lives.

"I got this [HIV] through sex, so [I thought] my sexuality was gone and I felt I needed to stop dressing attractively and wait to die," Florence Anam, 28, an information officer at the Kenya Network of Women with AIDS, told IRIN/PlusNews.

Anam said when she first revealed she was HIV-positive, many men avoided her, believing she was out to infect them; she herself had no interest in sex for several months after she was diagnosed. However, she has since discovered she can continue having and enjoying sex, despite being HIV-positive.

"My take on this is that you can have your sexuality ... you don't have to lose it because you have HIV, you just have to be responsible," she said, adding that sex "has to be good or I'm not having it".

At a recent workshop by the Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC), at its Sexuality Institute in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, participants heard that there was a need to rethink sexuality in the context of disease, particularly chronic infections such as HIV.

"HIV as a condition is highly moralised; people face stigma because they are perceived by society to have been sexually immoral," said Richmond Tiemoko, director of ARSRC.

"Women are particularly affected by this type of stigma because they are expected to be the keepers of society's morality, so contracting HIV is seen as a great failure on their part." He said it was important that people living with HIV recognised and claimed their right to sexuality and sexual intercourse.

The Sexuality Institute provides a forum for African health professionals to discuss ways of promoting more positive attitudes towards sexuality in the region.

"We believe that to reduce HIV and promote well-being, we need to adopt a positive discourse on sex and sexuality," said Tiemoko. "Discussing issues of sexual violence, stigma, self-esteem and HIV enables people to have a better understanding of their links with sexuality and to make them less taboo."

I am a human being with sexual needs and feelings, which need fulfilment without apologies to anyone. The workshop was attended by researchers, government workers and staff from local non-governmental organisations with a reproductive health or AIDS focus. They were encouraged to incorporate messages about healthy sexuality into their programmes for people living with HIV.

"When first diagnosed, I considered sex dirty and blamed it for my fate," Asunta Wagura, executive director of the Kenya Network of Women with AIDS, said in a recent interview with the Sexuality in Africa magazine, an ARSRC publication. "I suppressed this need for a long time, until I could suppress it no more and openly declared, 'I am a human being with sexual needs and feelings, which need fulfilment without apologies to anyone'."

Wagura, who has publicly declared her HIV status, caused controversy when she decided to have a child in 2006. Her son was born healthy and has so far tested HIV-negative.

"I was criticised all round ... the view is that people living with HIV/AIDS should not think along those lines, because having a baby involves sexual intercourse," she said.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr Sylvia Tamale, dean of law at Uganda's Makerere University, said there was a 'disconnect' between sex in a health or medical context, and sex in a pleasure context.

"There is a need to 'unlearn' and refine some of the lessons that society teaches us, and open people's minds," she said, adding that sexuality counselling could go a long way towards changing perceptions.

The ARSRC holds rotating workshops annually in Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The Mombasa workshop was hosted in conjunction with their partner organisation in Kenya, the Population Council, an international non-governmental reproductive health organisation.

kr/he

See also, Florence Anam: "HIV hasn't stopped me from enjoying sex"and, South Africa: Positive Prevention Themes: (IRIN) HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), (IRIN) PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews
[ENDS] Report can be found online at:
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportId=75357

Sunday 25 November 2007

A Time to Rethink AIDS’s Grip

A Time to Rethink AIDS’s Grip http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/weekinreview/25mcneil.html?ref=science
IN THE STORM An HIV support group walks past an AIDS ribbon in Lesotho, Africa, in 2005. By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.

Published: November 25, 2007IGNORE the fuss over the news last week — the United Nations’ AIDS-fighting agency admits to overestimating the global epidemic by six million people. That was a sampling error, an epidemiologist’s Dewey Defeats Truman.

Look instead at the fact that glares out from the Orwellian but necessary revision of the figures for earlier years. There it is, starkly: AIDS has peaked.

New infections reached a high point in the late 1990’s — by the best estimate, in 1998.

There must have been such moments in the past — perhaps A.D. 543, when Constantinople realized it would survive the Plague of Justinian, or 1351 in medieval Europe, when hope dawned that the Black Death would not claw down everyone.

Eleven years ago, there was a milestone moment in AIDS history when Andrew Sullivan wrote an article in The New York Times Magazine titled “When Plagues End.” It argued that a new treatment, the triple therapy cocktail, meant it was finally possible to envision AIDS as a chronic illness, not an inevitable death sentence.

Naturally, he was, in his words, “flayed alive” by the AIDS establishment. An end in sight implied that vigilance could relax — although he hadn’t actually argued that.

Mr. Sullivan’s view was solipsistic. It celebrated hope for gay American men still reveling in their sexual freedom and barely mentioned the wider reality of newborn babies and faithful wives in Africa who were never to enjoy any freedoms and still were doomed to die miserably in numbers that would blast the exit doors off every gay bar in North America.

Now, out of the mists of the old data, another such moment has emerged, one for the worldwide stage.

The first thing experts are again quick to say is that it doesn’t mean anyone can relax.
More than three million annual new infections in 1998, or an estimated 2.5 million for 2007, “is not a particularly happy plateau,” said Dr. Robert Gallo, a discoverer of the AIDS virus.

Dr. Mark R. Dybul, the Bush administration’s global AIDS coordinator, added: “I don’t think it radically shifts our thinking, at least not for 5 to 10 years. We still need to prevent 2.5 million infections, we still need to prevent 2.1 million a year from dying.”

Nonetheless, the disease is at last giving notice that it will behave like other pestilences.
AIDS has always been maddening. It moves more slowly than anything that rides sneezes or coughs or rats or mosquitoes. It permits years of symptom-free infectivity and kills, like a torturer, at its leisure.

Classically, all epidemics first strike down those in the vanguard: the Genoese merchants who fled the siege of Caffa in 1347, bringing plague to Europe; the conquistadors who “discovered” syphilis in the New World. If an avian flu pandemic emerges, it will be among poultry farmers and kindergarten teachers, who both herd flocks of little vectors. In gay America, it was flight attendants and rent boys.

Then epidemics typically surge into pockets where conditions are perfect: ports teeming with rats; populations weakened by famine; flooded Bengali streets; Thai brothels.

Finally, inevitably, they begin to burn out. Hosts die faster than new hosts can be found. And, crucially, the hosts get smarter. They flee cities, drain swamps, invent vaccines or accept self-restraint and condoms.

Until now, AIDS had defied that paradigm. Its dark spiral seemed to just keep widening — central Africa was worse than America, southern Africa was worse than that, India would be worse, China was next

But it now appears that the burnout has been underway for years.

In the year 2000, I wrote an article for this section trying to calculate how much it would cost to contain global AIDS, which was said to infect 30 million people in poor countries. (Last week’s revision drops that closer to 23 million.)

Officials of Unaids, the United Nations’ agency, declined to be quoted saying so at the time, but in their policy decisions, they had written off all who were already infected.

The agency was seeking $2 billion a year for Africa — simply for prevention. Triple therapy cost $12,000 a year per patient. Cipla Ltd., the Indian generic-drug maker, had not yet offered to supply the drugs for $350, which set prices tumbling; they are now $150. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria did not exist.

Undoubtedly, virtually all of those 23 million are now dead. Even now, most could not be saved — antiretroviral drugs reach only about one-tenth of those who need them.

But now we know that those falling legions were right at the cusp of the epidemic. Albeit imperceptibly at the time, things were improving. The sight of so many skeletons had scared a lot of Africans into changing their habits.

It’s still not clear why southern Africa was hit the hardest. There are theories — migratory mine labor, less circumcision, perhaps a still-undiscovered genetic susceptibility.

But the southern Africa explosion has not repeated itself as the virus moved on into Asia’s much greater populations. It has hit very susceptible pockets, like the red light district of Calcutta, but seems to have stalled in them.

“In the 90’s,” said Dr. Paul De Lay, director of monitoring and policy for Unaids, “we thought that if you had the crude signs that risky sex was going on, like brothels or refusal of condoms, then any country could erupt into a generalized epidemic. That’s not true any more. Now we’d never say China is likely to have an African-style epidemic.”

This does not mean that shrinking numbers are inevitable.

The disease is still rooting out new pockets; infections are rising in Vietnam, Uzbekistan and even Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most-populous country.

It can also lull its hosts into acting foolishly again; that has happened in San Francisco and Germany, Dr. De Lay noted, where new infections are ticking up again as young gay men revive the bar scene of the 1980’s.

And, Dr. Gallo warned, a mutation — a virus more easily transmitted or more drug resistant — could emerge. Epidemics traditionally move in waves; that could trigger a second.

Nonetheless, the new estimates mean the vision Mr. Sullivan had of the American epidemic is now possible for the global one: a day when AIDS is viewed as a chronic problem, another viral predator taking down the careless or weak members of the herd, as pneumonia takes down the old ones.

Also possible in the future — the very distant future, Dr. Dybul warned — is a day when the calculation I tried to do will have an answer that is actually affordable.

After all, even the Black Death is not dead. But it is cornered, and very cheaply. Its cause, Yersinia pestis, lives on in fleas and rodents, and there are about 2,000 cases each year, a handful of them in the American Southwest. But penicillin kills it.

Nothing yet kills AIDS. When that day comes, another rewrite of the epidemic’s history will begin.

Thursday 22 November 2007

A Bush Double-Cross on HIV Travel Ban

A Bush Double-Cross on HIV Travel Ban
http://www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19044628&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6

By: DOUG IRELAND
11/20/2007

President George W. Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, under the guise of cutting read tape, are doing so to use that tape to further tie up prospective HIV-positive visitors and immigrants to the US.

The Bush administration is trying to pull a fast one rushing through draconian proposed new regulations that will restrict even further the entry of HIV-positive people into to the US, just one year after having promised to ease them. On November 6, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued stringent proposed new regulations for HIV-positive travelers coming here which are pretty regressive and extremely troubling, according to Nancy Ordover, assistant director for federal affairs and research at the Gay Mens Health Crisis (GMHC). But the 30-day deadline for public comment imposed by DHS means a cut-off date of December 6 for reactions to the new regs, leaving little time for the AIDS advocacy community to mobilize. That, Ordover told Gay City News, is a departure from standard practice for proposed new federal regulations; the time frame for public reaction is usually much longer, she said.

The US is one of only 13 countries that completely ban incoming travel across their borders by the HIV-positive. The others, according to a list established by the leading German AIDS service organization, Deutsche AIDS Hillfe, for the most part have undemocratic regimes. They are Iraq, China, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Sudan, Qatar, Brunei, Oman, Moldova, Russia, Armenia, and South Korea. A waiver to the ban is required for HIV-positive travelers to or through the US. Even when a travelers US stay merely involves changing planes, a waiver is needed. Last year on World AIDS Day, President George W. Bush pledged to issue streamlined new regulations with a categorical waiver that would make it easier for the HIV-positive to receive exemptions. Unfortunately, despite using the terms streamlined and categorical, in reality these regulations are neither, said Victoria Neilson, legal director of Immigration Equality, which works on behalf of LGBT and HIV-positive asylum seekers and immigrants. Neilson told Gay City News, This is a big disappointment, given the rhetoric of the Bush administration that the US was making it easier because the new regs simply add more heavy burdens for the HIV-positive traveler. Among other provisions, under the new rules proposed by DHS, a visitor would need to travel with all the medication he would need during his stay in the US; prove that he has medical insurance that is accepted in the US and would cover any medical contingency; and prove that he wont engage in behavior that might put the American public at risk. The maximum term for any waiver would be 30 days. The new regulations purport to speed up the waiver application process because consular officers would be empowered to make decisions without seeking DHS sign-off. However, by using this streamlined application process, waiver applicants would have to agree to give up the ability to apply for any change in status while in the US, including applying for legal permanent residence. The purpose of fast-tracking the new regs and setting a super-tight December 6 deadline for public comment before they take effect was to catch the AIDS community busy with preparations for World AIDS Day on December 1 unawares. To a certain extent, the ploy has worked. When Gay City News telephoned the usually well-informed Kate Krauss who has worked for several AIDS advocacy organizations and now coordinates the Health Action AIDS Campaign for Physicians for Human Rights to find out what she thought of the proposed new regs, she hadnt yet heard of them. Wow, they just flew right by me they havent been on my radar screen at all, she said. After having been provided by Gay City News with a copy of the proposal, Krauss was appalled. Under the proposed regulations, the US travel ban remains a cruel violation of human rights for people with AIDS, Krauss said, adding, People with HIV would be made to jump through even more hoops than before, and the rules would make it particularly difficult for people from very poor nations to visit the US, with requirements for wealth, medical care, medications, and documentation that the applicant is HIV-positive. Moreover, Krauss said, People could be penalized if they became sick while visiting the United States and, if found to be out of compliance with these regulations, barred from ever visiting the US again. If President Bush cares about the human rights of people with AIDS, he should just ask Congress to abolish the travel ban. Anything else is just rewriting an unjust policy. GMHCs Ordover pointed out, As written, the rule could leave individuals with HIV who obtain asylum in the US in a permanent limbo; forever barred from obtaining legal permanent residence, and therefore cut off from services, benefits, and employment opportunities. Ordover added, It seems very disingenuous that the government is claiming to make things easier for people with HIV, but its really compelling them to forfeit their rights. As a result of the hasty release of the proposed regs and the arbitrarily truncated time frame for public comment, only a few AIDS advocacy organizations have so far taken a critical posture, and this only began to happen at the end of last week. GMHC was the first organization to release a lengthy analysis of the new regs, which it did last Friday, and began preparing a sign-on statement protesting them which it will ask other AIDS advocacy groups and immigrant rights organizations to join. But things were fairly sluggish at AIDS Action Council, the largest Washington, DC AIDS lobby, which bills itself as the national voice on AIDS and represents more than 3,000 local service organizations. When Gay City News this Monday asked Ronald Johnson, AIDS Actions deputy executive director, for his organizations position on the new regs, he would only say, we are in the process of developing our comments and we are still looking at the fine print. Johnson added, Well probably follow GMHCs analysis. When this reporter suggested to Johnson that AIDS Action organize a national conference call with executive directors of AIDS advocacy organizations to mobilize them quickly against the harsh new regs, he said theyd think about it. Fortunately, GMHC is already in the process of organizing such a conference call for next week, Ordover told Gay City News. However, said Ordover, these regulations are in general a distraction what we really need to move forward on is getting the HIV-positive travel bar overturned completely. In addition to her other duties at GHMC, Ordover is co-coordinator of Lift the Bar, a coalition of HIV, immigrant, human rights, and LGBT service and advocacy organizations working to overturn the HIV ban. At a Congressional hearing last November, Ordover detailed the negative consequences of the travel ban. The HIV bar rarely makes the news, and when we do hear about it, its usually because someone trying to attend some major event or forum being held in the US cant get into the country, Ordover said. This is not unimportant the International AIDS Conference hasnt been held on US soil for 16 years and the HIV bar is the reason. Despite our efforts in the global fight against HIV and AIDS, our standing in the international community has been grievously compromised by this policy. Ordover, who noted that one-third of GMHCs clients are immigrants, also pointed out, Many people first learn they are HIV-positive after they get to the US. Many contract HIV here. Some find out their status when they get the results of their Immigration Service medical examination. Under the current DHS regs in force, she said, Visitors either are actively deterred from seeking HIV testing and treatment, or avoid contact with providers out of fear of putting their immigration status in permanent limbo or worse. If they are low-income or poor, they either dont have recourse to the full slate of public programs and services they need to stay healthy or may be unaware of what services they are entitled to. At GMHC we view this policy as a violation of human rights and a threat to public health inside and outside the US. The proposed new regs do nothing to change this. And, Ordover added, The truth is, the bar undermines public health and drives up the cost of health care. It forces HIV-positive immigrants to go underground, discourages immigrants who dont know their status from getting tested, from seeking preventive care, from seeking any care until they end up in the emergency room with full blown AIDS all things that undermine individual health, public health and that ultimately put more strain on the public coffers.

Individuals who wish to protest the harsh new DHS regs on HIV-positive travel may submit comments online at click - but to do so you must include the docket number of the proposed regs, USCBP-2007-0084. Organizations wishing to join in signing on to the statement GMHC is preparing in protest of the new regs should contact Nancy Ordover at nancyo@gmhc.org or 212-367-1240. Doug Ireland can be reached through his blog, DIRELAND, at click.

GayCityNews 2007

Friday 16 November 2007

Early Puberty in Girls May Reflect Home Life

Early Puberty in Girls May Reflect Home Life
Findings Suggest Link Between Family Stress, Early Sexual Development
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/ReproductiveHealth/story?id=3871218&page=1

New research suggests that for girls, a hostile home environment could have physical, as well as psychological, effects. (ABCNEWS) By DAN CHILDS
ABC News Medical Unit
Nov. 15, 2007

While a stressful family environment in childhood has long been blamed for various psychological effects later in life, new research suggests that hostile situations at home may also have big physical implications for young girls.

In a study released Thursday, researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at families of 227 preschool children, following them as they progressed through middle school. Specifically, the researchers looked for the first hormonal signs of puberty in these children.

What they found was that parental support -- or lack of it -- may partially determine at what age young girls hit puberty. Specifically, young girls with families who were more supportive in preschool years tended to hit puberty later than their counterparts in less supportive family environments.

The research stops short of drawing a bold link between early stress and early puberty, as factors such as family income and other environmental factors may also be at play. But lead study author Bruce Ellis said that while it is still too early for parents to make solid conclusions based on the evidence, the findings hint at an interesting evolutionary link between sexual maturation and stress.

"Children adjust their development to match the environments in which they live," said Ellis, an associate professor in the Division of Family Studies and Human Development at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

"Children who grow up in environments that are dangerous and unpredictable tend to grow up faster," he said. "In the world in which humans evolved, danger and uncertainty meant a shorter lifespan, and going into puberty earlier in this context increased chances of surviving, reproducing and passing on your genes."

Julia Graber, associate professor of psychology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, said the study adds to a growing body of evidence linking early stress with the onset of puberty.
"It's an interesting topic, there has really been a lot of research coming out recently on this particular issue," said Graber, who was not affiliated with the research.

But she agreed with Ellis that too many unanswered questions still exist for definite conclusions to be drawn.

"As yet, there is no clear idea of why stress factors work in this way."

Consequences of Early Development

If one thing is certain, it is that early sexual development in girls is often a signal for other health consequences.

Past research has already shown, for example, that early puberty in girls increases the risk of various health problems, both physical and psychological.

"In today's world, early puberty in girls is a risk for many things, such as breast cancer, teenage pregnancy and depression," Ellis said. "Effective prevention strategies depend on understanding the factors that speed up puberty."

Graber said girls may be more susceptible to such environmental factors for the simple reason that, evolutionarily speaking, bearing children successfully goes hand-in-hand with favorable environmental conditions. Hence, she said, the female system is programmed to be more responsive to environmental cues.

Still, Graber added, the concept of stress leading to early puberty is in some ways puzzling.
"The body needs to be healthy in order to be pregnant, and stress seems to impact health negatively," she said. "What we're seeing is something that doesn't really fit in terms of what we'd expect."

Advice for Parents

So what should parents take away from this research? Ellis, for one, urged caution in overinterpreting the results.

"There are too many unanswered questions to translate this into a blueprint for parents," Ellis said.

But while Graber agreed that the findings are preliminary, they suggest that parents should take special care to ensure a nurturing environment for their children early on.

"The message for parents is that a stressful home environment really does impact children in many detrimental ways," she said.

"There will always be some minor conflicts between parents and children, but parents don't need to worry if there is still that warm, close relationship even as occasional issues come up.

But if these children are really in a stressful environment, it is really affecting their health."

Tuesday 13 November 2007

Female condoms: Shifting the burden of safe sex to women?

Female condoms: Shifting the burden of safe sex to women? http://www.infochangeindia.org/features457.jsp
By Rashme Sehgal
Hindustan Latex is all set to market the female condom, particularly to sex workers. NACO is partnering with 61 NGOs across six states to reach out to 60,000 female sex workers. Sex workers in Hyderabad, where the condom was tested, say it gives them a sense of control over their bodies The onus of responsibility for safe sexual behaviour has now shifted squarely onto the shoulders of women. NACO (National Aids Control Organisation) and the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT) have joined hands to promote the female condom as an alternative to the male condom, especially since there are innumerable cases being cited by housewives, sex workers and single women of male partners refusing to use condoms.

Hindustan Latex Ltd (HLL), a State-owned condom manufacturing company, is all set to market a female condom called ‘Confidom passion rings’. The 17 cm female condom is the same size as a male condom, but two flexible rings at both ends give it the appearance of a “basketball net”. That is how it was described by a sex worker in Hyderabad, who when she first saw it complained that the polyurethane condom with its large, lubricated pouch that is fixed to the vagina seemed much “too big and unwieldy”. Once the women were shown how it worked, however, they realised that it was not as difficult to use as it appeared.

Sex workers in Hyderabad, amongst whom the female condom was extensively tested, know that using it is their safest bet to prevent getting HIV/AIDS or sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Lakshmiamma, a sex worker, feels safe when she uses a female condom. “There are no more needless arguments with clients about using condoms. I have just learnt to protect myself,” she says.

In 2006, HLFPPT, the Chicago-based Female Health Company (FHC) and NACO carried out a social acceptability study on the use of condoms in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Maharashtra, among three sets of target groups namely female sex workers, men who have sex with men (MSM) and eligible couples. The total sample size of users was 717, of which 337 were female sex workers.

The objective of the study, which was spread over a period of two months in 2006, was to analyse perceptions and initial acceptability of the female condom in terms of efficacy, reliability and ease of use. It was important also to identify enabling factors affecting initiation and negotiation, and to find out whether the condom helped foster communication between partners.

Some sex workers who were part of the sample study spoke candidly about their experiences with the female condom.

Pushpamma, who works in the old city of Hyderabad, pointed out that she was happy to use it because it helped protect her from HIV/AIDS. She said: “The main reason for using a female condom is disease-prevention rather than as a means of contraception.”

Rosy, another sex worker, felt the female condom has several features in its favour. “Some clients felt its lubrication helped enhance pleasure. It also provided an effective barrier against drunken clients who refused to use condoms.”

Married women responded in much the same way. The female condom, they said, was an alternative when their husbands refused to use condoms. But a Delhi-based teacher felt that the large size of the condom and the hardness of its inner ring caused too much discomfort during insertion.

Kavita Patturi, NACO’s national programme manager, admits that use of the female condom between eligible couples dropped from 94% to 89% during the final week of the survey, while for MSM it dropped to 94% in the eighth week. Problems cited in using it included its large size, slippery nature, and the fact that privacy was required in order to insert it.

“Regular and timely counselling on potential problems is a must in order to ensure regular usage,” says Patturi who admits that wherever outreach workers were able to provide effective interventions, barriers such as discomfort and pain were easily overcome.

But the majority of women covered under the study said they were willing to use the product as it was seen as being woman-initiated and would lead to their empowerment. Many MSM had even switched to the female condom because of its reliability. Unlike the male condom, it does not tear easily, thereby increasing safety.

G Manoj, CEO of the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust, says: “Women have to be taught how to use it. Demonstrations on its use were first conducted on vagina moulds by outreach workers associated with different NGOs working in the area of HIV/AIDS. Female condoms can succeed only as part of a social marketing campaign, not if they are sold as mere condoms. This has been the experience around the globe.”

The female condom does have its drawbacks however. It requires time and privacy to insert, and these are not always available to a sex worker. But Jayamma, who has helped 1,500 sex workers come together to form a Hyderabad-based cooperative called Chaitanya Mahila Mandal, says: “Prior to the female condom we used to be stigmatised for spreading HIV. That situation has now changed.” A government study has shown that 14% of India’s 5.1 million HIV-positive people are sex workers; female condoms are aimed specifically at them.

Female condoms were introduced in India after two years of research and test-marketing. Confidoms are being given to NGOs for Rs 3; they are then sold to sex workers for Rs 5. Although the price is higher than that of a male condom, female respondents of the survey said they did not mind spending more because of its reliability.

Jayamma said: “If we can spend money every day on biryani and a gajra, we can also spend on a female condom.”

Patturi says NACO is partnering with 61 NGOs across six states in order to reach out to 60,000 female sex workers. NGOs with whom partnerships have been forged include SAATHI, Sapid, Vimochana, Changes, Jawahar, KAWW, RCTC, SARANG, Sex Workers Forum, Saheli, Sambhavan, Udaan, Vijay Krida Mandal and Yuvak Pratishtan. “So far we have not come across a single case of a customer rejecting a sex worker because she is using a female condom,” Patturi points out.

The female condom is not expected to replace the male condom. Presently, the male condom programme in India extends to over 1.5 billion male condoms. NACO imported 500,000 female condoms in 2006; the figure has gone up to 1.5-2 million pieces in 2007-08.

“We would like to adopt a cafeteria approach to contraception, with the male and female condoms playing complementary roles,” says Manoj.

The Indian market holds the key to the success of the female condom. HLL is presently in talks with FHC for transfer of technology to indigenise production of the female condom to help bring down the retail price.

Infochange News & Features, November 2007

Herbal Sex Pills Not Quite Safe

Herbal Sex Pills Not Quite Safe
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Herbal_Sex_Pills_Not_Quite_Safe_10596.html
by Anna Boyd 15:58, November 13th 2007

Pills marketed as safe herbal alternatives to prescription sex medication such as Viagra are not as innocuous as consumers may think, an investigation conducted by the Associated Press found.

Impotency products heralded as “all-natural” and bearing labels abundant in herbal ingredients also include unregulated versions of precisely the chemicals they are supposed to replace, the Associated Press reports.

These chemicals clash with nitrates millions of men around the world take in prescribed drugs for high blood pressure and heart disease, and often lead to a heart attack or stroke.

The AP says that its investigation emphasizes a growing public health concern that officials do not yet know how to track or ameliorate. This could prove difficult, as herbal impotency pills are much sought after – as sales worth approximately $400 million in 2006 prove.

At greatest risk are men who take nitrates and are well aware that prescription sex medication like Viagra, Cialis or Levitra is not recommended for them, should they wish to enhance their sexual performance.

James Neal-Kababick, director of Oregon-based Flora Research Laboratories, told the AP that about 90 percent of the hundreds of samples he has analyzed contained forms of patented pharmaceuticals. Some of these presented doses more than twice that of prescription erectile dysfunction medicine.

No deaths have been reported, yet all-natural sex pills have caused numerous emergency room visits, the AP notes.

Older men, more likely to have heart or blood pressure problems as well as erectile dysfunctions, are not the only ones that suffer unanticipated side effects of herbal pills.

The wire service reports that records of emergency room visits showed men in their 30s, in good health, nevertheless suffered after taking herbal sex pills, presenting side effects of the active ingredients in regulated impotency pharmaceuticals, such as difficulty seeing clearly or severe headaches.

Public health officials consider that these cases could be vastly underreported, with patients too embarrassed to share such experiences.

Sales of supplements marketed as natural sexual enhancers have been riding a good wave over the past years, rising $100 million since 2001, to an astounding $398 million last year, including herbal mixtures, according to estimates by Nutrition Business Journal, the AP reports.

Some encouragement comes from the fact that not all sellers advertising “magical” sexual enhancement are roaming freely on the Internet, where most “herbal” pills are sold. According to the AP, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration has been instrumental in eight recalls over the past year. The recalled products contained ingredients found in Viagra, Cialis or Levitra.

© 2007 - eFluxMedia

Friday 9 November 2007

Emotional eaters most prone to regaining weight

Emotional eaters most prone to regaining weight
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071109/emotional_eaters_071109/20071109?hub=TopStories
Updated Fri. Nov. 9 2007
CTV.ca News Staff

People who overeat when they are depressed or anxious tend to have the hardest time losing weight and keeping it off, finds a new U.S. study published in the journal Obesity.

The study, led by Heather Niemeier, an obesity researcher at The Miriam Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, may explain why even those people who are able to lose weight often gain it all back during times of stress.

"We found that the more people report eating in response to thoughts and feelings, such as, 'When I feel lonely, I console myself by eating,' the less weight they lost in a behavioural weight loss program," Niemeier said in a statement.

"In addition, amongst successful weight losers, those who report emotional eating are more likely to regain."

Having the finding confirmed in their study is important, the authors note, because one of the greatest challenges facing the field of obesity treatment remains the problem of regaining weight after losing it.

"Participants in behavioural weight loss programs lose an average of 10 per cent of their body weight and these losses are associated with significant health benefits. Unfortunately, the majority of participants return to their baseline weight within three to five years," Niemeier says.

For the study, 286 overweight men and women were asked to participate in a behavioural weight loss program. Niemeier and her team analyzed responses to a questionnaire, called the Eating Inventory.

Specifically, Niemeier and her team focused on the "disinhibition" component of the Eating Inventory, which evaluates impulsive eating in response to emotional, cognitive, or social cues. Emotional cues would include eating when feeling lonely; cognitive cues would include using food as a reward; while social cues would include overeating at parties.

The participants were compared to a second group that included 3,300 members of the National Weight Control Registry, an ongoing study of adults who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least one year.

Results showed that in both groups, emotional and cognitive cues were significant predictors of weight loss over time. For the first group of participants, the more a person ate for internal reasons, the less weight they lost over time. The same was true for the second group.

Interestingly, external factors did not predict weight loss or regain in either sample at any time.

"Our results suggest that we need to pay more attention to eating triggered by emotions or thoughts as they clearly play a significant role in weight loss," Niemeier said, noting that many current treatments provide minimal assistance with eating in response to feelings.

Disclosing infertility doesn't cause women stress

Disclosing infertility doesn't cause women stress
http://in.reuters.com/article/health/idINTON77772320071107?sp=true

Thu Nov 8, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - For women undergoing fertility treatment, the decision over whether to tell their employer seems to have little effect on their general stress levels, a study suggests.

Researchers found that among 267 women undergoing treatment at the same fertility clinic, stress levels seemed to be unrelated to a woman's choice to tell her boss and co-workers about the treatment.

Going into the study, the researchers had hypothesized that such disclosure might help ease stress for some women. Fertility treatment is time-consuming and bound to require taking time off from work; keeping the reason for work absences secret might, in theory, generate added anxiety for some women.

On the flip side, some women might be stressed by having to tell an employer about such a personal matter.

However, the findings suggest that whatever women decide to do, it has little effect on their overall stress, the researchers report in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Dr. Peter S. Finamore, of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, led the study, which included women undergoing treatment at the university's fertility clinic.

Of 267 women who responded to questionnaires, 43 percent said they had not told their employer or co-workers, while 32 percent said they had. The rest of the women were self-employed, not working outside the home or did not answer all the survey questions.

Whether the women informed their employer about the fertility treatments made no apparent difference in their reported stress levels, Finamore's team found.

Research suggests that stress, depression and anxiety may affect a woman's odds of having a successful pregnancy with infertility treatment. So it's important to understand the factors that either worsen or ease women's stress as they undergo treatment, according to Finamore's team.

"However," the researchers write, "results of this survey suggest that disclosure of one's infertility status is not a significant factor in either increasing or diminishing personal stress."

Instead, they add, the decision seems to be a matter of a woman's personal values, and appears to have few implications for treatment.

SOURCE: Fertility and Sterility, October 2007. © Reuters2007All rights reserved

Study: The Sexier the Walk, the Less Fertile the Woman

Study: The Sexier the Walk, the Less Fertile the Woman
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309417,00.html
Thursday, November 08, 2007

A sexy sway of the hips, long-believed to be a sign seduction from women, actually may mean back off, according to a new study.

A woman with a sexy walk is unlikely to be ovulating, which is typically when single women seek out male partners, according to a new Canadian study, French news service AFP reports.

A team at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, dressed female volunteers in suits which had light reflectors placed on the joints and limbs and filmed them walking in order to analyze their gait. Saliva samples were taken from the women to test their hormone levels.
Click here to read the AFP report

Researchers said women who were most fertile walked with smaller hip movements and with their knees closer together. The study is published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. A report appears in Saturday's issue of the British weekly, New Scientist.
Click here to view the full study

Forty male volunteers were shown the footage of the women and asked to rate their sex appeal. The men rated the least fertile women as having the sexiest walks.

Despite the baffling results, the researchers said there was no contradiction to the findings because women who are most fertile are much more upfront with their desires to find a mate.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309417,00.html

'Britons have unsafe sex abroad'

'Britons have unsafe sex abroad'
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9SIT31NtbF-mM6i6H3X5viVs1aA

Around a fifth of young Britons claim to have had sex with at least one new partner abroad over a five-year period, a research has shown.

The survey suggests that many young people in their teens and early 20s are throwing caution to the wind when it comes to holiday romance. Almost a quarter of men and one in six women between the ages of 16 and 24 said they had experienced sex with someone new while overseas.

Typically, men had two partners abroad in the five years covered by the survey, and women one. A few unusually active men had as many as 13.

Half of those questioned said their holiday partners were British, and more than one in three had sex with a person from another European country. Choosing a British or European partner was thought to minimise the chances of HIV infection, researchers were told.

But the young people were seemingly unaware of the risk of picking up other sexually transmitted diseases.

The findings emerge from interviews with a random sample of 12,000 men and women aged 16 to 44 who took part in the 2000 National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL).

Just under 14% of all the men questioned between May 1999 and February 2001 and just over 7% of the women said they had had sex with a new partner abroad in the previous five years.

This type of liaison accounted for a 10th of all men's partnerships and one in 20 of all women's.

The researchers, led by Dr Catherine Mercer from the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research at University College London, reported their findings in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

They wrote: "A substantial minority of young, unmarried people form new sexual partnerships abroad. Those who have new partners abroad are likely to have higher-risk sexual lifestyles more generally, and to be at higher risk of sexually transmitted infections."

Hosted by Copyright © 2007 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

Diwali, the festival of prosperity and wealth

Diwali, the festival of prosperity and wealth


By Binita Tiwari

Nov 08: Diwali, ‘the festival of light, prosperity and wealth’ is celebrated in the entire country along with some other parts of the world. Though it may be known as some different names but the celebration purpose is always same. To celebrate this festival in the name of joy, wealth and happiness, though there is also a scientific reason behind it to clean up the home after the end of rainy season, which becomes the major cause of the growth of insects and several microorganisms.


Diwali also known as Deepawali is a one of the major festival of Hindus, but it is also celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and several other communities irrespective of their faith. It is one of the social festivals of India like Holy, Eid, Christmas Day and Baishakhi. Besides India it is also celebrated in Nepal by the name of Tihar, in Malaysia, it is known as Hari Deepawali, Singapore and Sri Lanka celebrates it by the name of Deepawali and beyond the Asian subcontinent. Deepawali is celebrated by lighting diyas (Earthen lamp) with diyas. When all the diyas enlighten on the earth, the stream of light shows that a new sun rises on the horizon. The enlightened diyas express the spirit of fighting with the darkness despite of ‘Amavasya’ the darkest night of the month. Deepawali shows the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’, ‘light’ over ‘darkness’ and ‘knowledge’ over ‘unawareness’.


The mighty hurricanes we suppress in our heart welled up during night as festival is also about meeting and enjoying with our loved ones. In this day all the rival melts in the heat of the light and the people celebrate it with their hearts forgetting all the austerity.


Story behind this festival


This festival is celebrated to commemorate the returning of Rama in Ayodhya (the kingdom of Lord Rama), after 14 years of exile; the people of Ayodhya welcomed him back by lighting up the diya.


According to some other views, it is celebrated as the day when Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura and also as a victory celebration of Rama over Ravana. According to Jainism, on this day Lord Mahavira acquired ‘Nirvana’.


The Five days festival Day 1: Dhanterus: The celebration begins from the day of Dhanteras, two days before Diwali that bring good fortune and prosperity. Dhanteras is regarded as the origin day of god Dhanvantari, who originate during the churning of the great ocean by the gods and the demons. Dhanterus means Dhan+terus, in which Dhan denotes money and terus is the thirteenth day of the month. It is also known as Dhanvantri Jayanti or Dhantrayodasi because of the origin day of god Dhanvantri, the god of health and ayurveda. On this day people buy utensils and jewellery for performing tradition, as it is believed a symbol of fortune.


Day 2: Naraka Chaturdashi: The second day of Diwali is known as Narak Chaturdashi, the fourteenth day of the month on which demon Narakasura was killed. It signifies the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. It is the prime day of the festival in south India. The people perform puja of Lord Sri Krishna or Lord Sri Vishnu. The people enlighten the ‘Diya’ (earthen lamp) before the main door of their homes on this day. This day is also known as Roop Chaturdashi.


Day 3: Lakshmi Puja: In the north India, the third day of this festival is the most important day on which the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi and God of fortunate, Ganesha been worshipped across devotees. People enlighten the earthen lamp across the streets and homes, and pray for their prosperity and well-beings. Children play fireworks and massive crackers are fired to express their joy on this day.


Day 4: Govardhan Puja : The day after the prime day of Diwali is known as Govardhan Puja or Annakut. On this day Lord Krishna defeated Indra by lifting Govardhan Mountain on his little finger. On the other hand, Annakut denotes a mountain of food that is decorated as a symbol of Govardhan Mountain. The people present gifts to their wives on this day.


Day 5: Bhaiduj (also Bhayyaduj, Bhaubeej or Bhayitika) : The last day is for an auspicious relationship of brothers and sisters, especially married brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters express their love and affection for each other by tying a thread. This festival is very similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.


Scientific Significance: The festival of Deepawali always celebrated in October or November, when the rainy season completely finishes off. The rainy season becomes the cause of various insects and microorganism that are killed of earthen lighting, house cleaning and fireworks and provide us a healthy new winter season.


Importance of Deepawali for the small shopkeepers and businesspersons


According to Hindi Calendar (Vikrami Samvat), the day of Lakshmi pujan (Worship of goddess Lakshmi) is the last day of financial year. The businesspersons ended the account on this day and calculate the profit or loss. A new account begins from the next day for the next financial year.


Finally I along with our NewstrackIndia family wish you a happy and prosperous Diwali.
May this Diwali illuminates your life ….
Comfort your tears..Promises a new beginning
Lighten up your way…and gives you hope
Here is a wishing from the bouquet of NewstrackIndia
Wishing you a very happy Diwali….

Diwali, the festival of prosperity and wealth

Diwali, the festival of prosperity and wealth
http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/1413
By Binita Tiwari
Nov 08: Diwali, ‘the festival of light, prosperity and wealth’ is celebrated in the entire country along with some other parts of the world. Though it may be known as some different names but the celebration purpose is always same. To celebrate this festival in the name of joy, wealth and happiness, though there is also a scientific reason behind it to clean up the home after the end of rainy season, which becomes the major cause of the growth of insects and several microorganisms.

Diwali also known as Deepawali is a one of the major festival of Hindus, but it is also celebrated by Jains, Sikhs and several other communities irrespective of their faith. It is one of the social festivals of India like Holy, Eid, Christmas Day and Baishakhi. Besides India it is also celebrated in Nepal by the name of Tihar, in Malaysia, it is known as Hari Deepawali, Singapore and Sri Lanka celebrates it by the name of Deepawali and beyond the Asian subcontinent. Deepawali is celebrated by lighting diyas (Earthen lamp) with diyas. When all the diyas enlighten on the earth, the stream of light shows that a new sun rises on the horizon. The enlightened diyas express the spirit of fighting with the darkness despite of ‘Amavasya’ the darkest night of the month. Deepawali shows the victory of ‘good’ over ‘evil’, ‘light’ over ‘darkness’ and ‘knowledge’ over ‘unawareness’.

The mighty hurricanes we suppress in our heart welled up during night as festival is also about meeting and enjoying with our loved ones. In this day all the rival melts in the heat of the light and the people celebrate it with their hearts forgetting all the austerity.

Story behind this festival

This festival is celebrated to commemorate the returning of Rama in Ayodhya (the kingdom of Lord Rama), after 14 years of exile; the people of Ayodhya welcomed him back by lighting up the diya.

According to some other views, it is celebrated as the day when Lord Krishna defeated the demon Narakasura and also as a victory celebration of Rama over Ravana. According to Jainism, on this day Lord Mahavira acquired ‘Nirvana’.

The Five days festival Day 1: Dhanterus: The celebration begins from the day of Dhanteras, two days before Diwali that bring good fortune and prosperity. Dhanteras is regarded as the origin day of god Dhanvantari, who originate during the churning of the great ocean by the gods and the demons. Dhanterus means Dhan+terus, in which Dhan denotes money and terus is the thirteenth day of the month. It is also known as Dhanvantri Jayanti or Dhantrayodasi because of the origin day of god Dhanvantri, the god of health and ayurveda. On this day people buy utensils and jewellery for performing tradition, as it is believed a symbol of fortune.

Day 2: Naraka Chaturdashi: The second day of Diwali is known as Narak Chaturdashi, the fourteenth day of the month on which demon Narakasura was killed. It signifies the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. It is the prime day of the festival in south India. The people perform puja of Lord Sri Krishna or Lord Sri Vishnu. The people enlighten the ‘Diya’ (earthen lamp) before the main door of their homes on this day. This day is also known as Roop Chaturdashi.

Day 3: Lakshmi Puja: In the north India, the third day of this festival is the most important day on which the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi and God of fortunate, Ganesha been worshipped across devotees. People enlighten the earthen lamp across the streets and homes, and pray for their prosperity and well-beings. Children play fireworks and massive crackers are fired to express their joy on this day.

Day 4: Govardhan Puja : The day after the prime day of Diwali is known as Govardhan Puja or Annakut. On this day Lord Krishna defeated Indra by lifting Govardhan Mountain on his little finger. On the other hand, Annakut denotes a mountain of food that is decorated as a symbol of Govardhan Mountain. The people present gifts to their wives on this day.

Day 5: Bhaiduj (also Bhayyaduj, Bhaubeej or Bhayitika) : The last day is for an auspicious relationship of brothers and sisters, especially married brothers and sisters. Brothers and sisters express their love and affection for each other by tying a thread. This festival is very similar to the festival of Raksha Bandhan.

Scientific Significance: The festival of Deepawali always celebrated in October or November, when the rainy season completely finishes off. The rainy season becomes the cause of various insects and microorganism that are killed of earthen lighting, house cleaning and fireworks and provide us a healthy new winter season.

Importance of Deepawali for the small shopkeepers and businesspersons

According to Hindi Calendar (Vikrami Samvat), the day of Lakshmi pujan (Worship of goddess Lakshmi) is the last day of financial year. The businesspersons ended the account on this day and calculate the profit or loss. A new account begins from the next day for the next financial year.

Finally I along with our NewstrackIndia family wish you a happy and prosperous Diwali.
May this Diwali illuminates your life ….
Comfort your tears..Promises a new beginning
Lighten up your way…and gives you hope
Here is a wishing from the bouquet of NewstrackIndia
Wishing you a very happy Diwali….

Thursday 8 November 2007

Maternal Health Donations Overflow Bush Blockade

Maternal Health Donations Overflow Bush Blockade http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3378/context/archive

Date: 11/08/07 By Kara Alaimo
WeNews correspondent

A U.N. agency shunned by the Bush administration is one beneficiary of a major fundraising push behind maternal health initiatives. New online tools give citizens a personal handle on the progress and invite them to join the effort. (WOMENSENEWS)--On the heels of a major maternal mortality conference in London last month and a heightened international focus on women's health issues this year, foreign governments and large foundations are marshalling greater funding commitments for maternal health initiatives.

The U.N. Population Fund, for instance, picked up more than $200 million in new commitments over five years from the United Kingdom at last month's Women Deliver conference, which drew participants from 109 countries to harness support and resources to improve the health of women and infants. Since 2004, the U.K. has allocated more than $40 million per year to the fund.

Contributions to the U.N. Population Fund are voluntarily allocated at the discretion of 180 U.N. member nations. The fund received $269 million in contributions in 2001, $389 million in 2006 and projects contributions of $411 million in 2007.

The money is flowing into an organization that since 2002 has been shunned by the administration of George W. Bush. The White House withholds funding via a policy loophole that had its genesis in 1985 during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Congress passed an amendment giving the president discretion to withhold funding from any group or agency involved in coercive abortion or sterilization. Since then, GOP administrations and the U.N. Population Fund have battled over whether the U.N. agency matches that description.

The White House has refused to release funding for the agency that was appropriated by Congress. The amount withheld now totals $204 million, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development; $34 million has been authorized in funding each year since 2002.
The withheld U.S. funding since 2002 would have allowed the U.N. Population Fund to prevent 244,000 maternal deaths, help 68 million women delay pregnancy and prevent 2.4 million women from suffering adverse health effects during pregnancy and childbirth, said Anika Rahman, president of New York-based Americans for UNFPA. The group formed in 1998 to generate support for the U.N. agency and help cushion the effects of the U.S. de-funding
Online Citizen ConnectionsAt the same time as other nations and foundations are increasing donations, private citizens are being encouraged to support the U.N. Population Fund through a new Web service designed to assist Western women in relating more directly to the agency's mission.

Developed by the advocacy group Americans for UNFPA, the Web service Lifelines allows a user to enter information about her schooling, work, relationships and children with the idea that women around the world can begin to compare their common experiences.

For example, when a 45-year-old married woman in the United States logs on to Lifelines to check on her statistical counterpart in Uganda, she will find some stark contrasts. She marrried at age 39 to someone she chose and had 17 years of education, starting at age 5, as well as paid work starting in high school. Her counterpart has not attended school or ever worked outside her home. She is married and will have been chosen by her husband. She had her first of 10 children at age 18.

"When we see the reality of women's lives around the world, we begin to see the role each of us can take to make a difference," said Rahman of Americans for UNFPA.

Another new online tool to better connect Westerners to the developing world is the MDG Monitor Web site, launched Nov. 1 by the United Nations along with technology giants Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., and Cisco, in San Jose, Calif.

The site uses data to track progress in meeting the U.N. millennium development goals, established by international leaders in 2000 to eradicate global poverty by 2015. Improving women's status is a keystone of the targets. Visitors can quickly check global comparison of data that include maternal mortality rates and girl-boy ratios of school enrollments. A Google Earth map locates ongoing projects to improve women's health, pulling up information with a click on the map.

Criticism Linked to ChinaThe Bush administration contends that because the U.N. Population Fund provides financial and technical resources to China's National Population and Family Planning Commission, it supports the Chinese government's program of coercive abortion and involuntary sterilization.

Sarah Craven, chief of the Washington office of the U.N. Population Fund, says the agency's program in China promotes a voluntary approach to family planning and does not fund coercive abortions. Last year, the agency spent $3.69 million in China.

Abortions declined by 18 percent between 2003 and 2005 in the counties in China where the U.N. Population Fund worked, according to a study by the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute at the University of Southampton in England and other groups.

At least 200 million women worldwide lack access to the contraceptives they desire in order to plan their families or space their children, according to the U.N. Population Fund. The agency also says reproductive health conditions are the leading cause of death and illness among women of childbearing age, with one woman dying every minute due to lack of adequate care during pregnancy and childbirth.

The agency works in 154 nations providing maternal and reproductive health services, distributing contraceptives, implementing HIV-AIDS prevention services and advocating for women's rights and gender equality. Demand for family planning services is expected to increase by 40 percent over the next 15 years.

Maternal Health PledgesOther major donors who attended the Women Deliver conference and the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September promised to devote more than $1.4 billion to the overall cause of reducing maternal mortality.

The funding push comes amid a growing recognition that progress has been too slow for the world to meet the millennium development goal that calls for reducing maternal deaths.
The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which in 2006 received a gift of $31 billion from money manager Warren Buffett and has so far pledged $563 million to maternal health, vowed to take further action. Over $486 million has already been paid out.

The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation pledged $11 million in new technology to Pathfinder International, a reproductive health organization in Watertown, Mass., to fight blood loss after childbirth in Nigeria and India.

Japan promised to focus prominently on global health when it hosts the Group of Eight economic summit in Hokkaido Toyako in July 2008.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF, Exxon/Mobil and GlaxoSmithKline all pledged to take some form of unspecified action as well.

At the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September, Norway pledged $1 billion for the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals to improve child and maternal health and reduce disease; the Netherlands pledged $178 million for gender equality and maternal health; and Denmark pledged $21 million for reproductive health and HIV-AIDS.

Kara Alaimo is a New York-based writer.
Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org.

Sunday 4 November 2007

Precautions for Nepali Women in Foreign Employment

Precautions for Nepali Women in Foreign Employment
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0711/S00088.htm
Monday, 5 November 2007, 1:59 pmColumn: Mohan Nepali

Precautions for Nepali Women in Foreign Employment
by Mohan Nepali

“Agents in Saudi Arab trade women from other countries; housemaids are mostly exploited,” spoke a Nepali man working in Saudi Arab for more than 10 years in a discussion program co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Samanta (an NGO working for social and gender equity). Now on leave in Nepal, he added, “People generally assume that private employers did not pay their workers for several months in Saudi Arab, but the major truth is that agents who trade human beings take five or six month’s remuneration of the concerned workers. This is the main reason why employers refuse to pay illegal workers for several months.”

Women organized under a social institution Pourakhi trained by the UNIFEM and Samanta conducted the discussion program Friday in Lalitpur with special reference to foreign employment and HIV-AIDS. “Precautionary awareness is required before going abroad for employment,” said Manju Gurung, the Chairwoman of Pourakhi (a social institution working for the awareness of Nepali women going to different countries for employment). She stressed on the need to understand legal procedures regarding pre-departure, during-departure and post-departure stages. “Many are victimized as they are uninformed about the exact procedures,” she added. Referring to her own experience as a worker in Japan, she said many women sexually victimized in foreign countries do not like to expose their sufferings due to the patriarchal-conservative structure of society. “Even male workers are prone to sexual exploitation in a closed society such as Saudi Arab,” Gurung added. She blames on the Nepalis’ culture of silence for not being able to expose innumerable incidents of human rights violations against the Nepali workers in Arab and other countries. She said both male and female workers in foreign countries need to follow prescribed guidelines for safer sex and protection from the HIV-AIDS.

Another speaker in the discussion program Nirmala Bhattarai from the Pourakhi expressed her views that women compared to men are at a higher risk in foreign employment due to patriarchal mindset, state’s discriminatory laws, illiteracy and poverty. She said, “Many Nepali women departing for foreign employment do not know that they have been supplied to a sex market against a proposed normal labor market,” Bhattarai said. She referred to an estimated data that 13,000 Nepali women have been sold in Malaysia alone. She, therefore, emphasized on precautionary awareness.

Many participants in the discussion program agreed on the point that there are various women-selling channels in Nepal and it starts from the channels of women’s own relatives. Participants pointed out that most of the Nepali women are not directly flown to Arab countries but are taken through India with the help of their own relatives. In so many cases women’s relatives themselves are either victimized or are involved in illegal business themselves.

The participants of the discussion program concluded that those interested in foreign employment should have an orientation course to be familiar with the likely circumstances and possibilities in their target countries. There was consensus among the participants that people should go for foreign employment only through legal channels with all legal records so that violations of labor laws could be exposed and compensations and workers’ security sought. However, their emphasis was on having proper awareness on HIV-AIDS as a growing number of Nepali women and men are returning to Nepal with the HIV positive.

"Punjab: The enemy within" documentary screened at Chandigarh Press Club

"Punjab: The enemy within" documentary screened at Chandigarh Press Club
Punjab Newsline Network
http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/6388/38/

Sunday, 04 November 2007 CHANDIGARH: A documentary film "Punjab: The Enemy Within" was Sunday screened to an select audience including few journalists. Majority of media was kept away from the show.

The documentary takes the rampant menace of drug by horns. This documentary was first premiered in Los Angeles in 2006. Without blaming anyone the aim of movie, is to generate awareness in minds of addicts, police officials, couriers of drugs, vendors who have set up stalls. It is also meant to sensitize the general population of Punjab as to how drugs are all set to wipe out generations and leave youth virtually crippled.

It features people from all walks of life associated with the problem – addicts, state police, people working on de-addiction and those creating awareness at the grass root level. The movie calls upon for an integrated approach of all three states – Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Editor-in-chief, HK Dua was the chief guest at occasion. He called for a multi-pronged approached to solve the problem. He said that sensitizing youth was need of hour, which can save generations to come.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion. Panelists included Tejinder Walia (a self-confessed drug addict for 23 years, who is on path of de-addiction for last eight years), Dr Jitendra Jain (DIG Bathinda working extensively on this issue), Dr Deepinder Singh (has worked with UNODC projects on addiction), Prabhjot Singh (bureau chief The Tribune) and the filmmaker Reema Ananad.

All experts of the view as to catch the young children, who can be saved from getting into clutches of this menace. It was also emphasized that an addict cannot be changed without bringing a change in atmosphere that surrounds him or her. Need for inculcating values in children right from the beginning.

Even the Punjabi songs, aired on TV, were held responsible for glorifying the drug addicts and sending messages that addicts get the best in world from car to relation.

Panelists were of the view that when national policies for AIDS, education and other issues have been drafted, why not have a national policy to counter drug abuse. Audience opined that forthcoming MP elections in Punjab will witness a heavy inflow of drugs and both addicts and peddlers will have a busy time. They proposed special check on inflow of this thing in Punjab.

AIDS can be a ground for divorce, Court says

AIDS can be a ground for divorce, Court says
http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=57114

NEW DELHI Nov 2: Marriage without sex is 'anathema' and an AIDS affliction in a life partner could be a valid ground to grant divorce to the spouse seeking it, a local court has held.

Observing that a person cannot live 'happily' with a HIV positive spouse, the court granted divorce to a man from his wife suffering from the dreaded disese saying her ailment had prevented him from leading a 'happy married life'.

"The disease being sexually communicable, therefore, the petitioner(husband) cannot be reasonably expected to live with the respondent (wife) and lead a happy married life," Additional District Judge Rajnish Bhatnagar said while passing the judgement in favour of the husband who had sought divorce.

The Court further said that sex was an integral part of marriage and the husband was deprived of that enjoyment as the wife was suffering with the communicable disease.

"The HIV status of the wife no doubt resulted in non enjoyment of sexual intercourse between the parties and marriage without sex is anathema," the court said.

In this case the couple belonging to Kerala got married seven years ago in October 2000 and moved to the national capital.

Five months after their marriage the wife was found HIV positive in a medical test conducted during her pregnancy.

The husband, however, was found HIV negative when he underwent the test.
PTI

You Might Lose Your Job If You Smoke or Eat Junk Food

You Might Lose Your Job If You Smoke or Eat Junk Food
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/03/you-might-lose-your-job-if-you-smoke-or-eat-junk-food.aspx

In an effort to reduce health care costs, employers are beginning toscrutinize the lifestyle habits of their employees -- even those thathappen outside of business hours.

It's commonplace for insurance companies to question clients abouttheir smoking habits, weight, or other health issues. However, a newtrend has employers screening employees and new job applicants forthese same factors. The following factors could now put your job onthe line:

1. Smoking
2. Blood pressure
3. Blood glucose levels
4. Body mass
5. Bad cholesterol levels

Currently only a small portion of U.S. employers have taken actionagainst what they deem unhealthy behaviors, but the list is growing.For instance, in September 2007 The Cleveland Clinic began screeningpotential employees for nicotine. If any is found in their systems,they're denied employment.

In 2009, another company, Clarian Health, plans to start chargingemployees $5 per paycheck if they are found using tobacco or to haveabnormal levels of cholesterol or high blood pressure.

Meanwhile, employees at Weyco Incorporated can be charged $50 feesper paycheck not only if they smoke, but if their spouse smokes aswell.

Privacy advocates are concerned that these monitoring trends will getout of hand, with employers charging fines for eating fast food orvisiting a tavern. Most experts believe, however, that as health carecosts continue to rise, employers will continue to enact penaltiesfor unhealthy behaviors.

Sources:The Business Shrink September 27, 2007

Saturday 3 November 2007

Mangalore: Well-known HIV/AIDS Activist Veenadhari is No More

Mangalore: Well-known HIV/AIDS Activist Veenadhari is No More
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=39814&n_tit=Mangalore%3A%20Well-known%20HIV%2FAIDS%20Activist%20Veenadhari%20is%20No%20More

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (VM)

Mangalore, Nov 2: Well-known social worker and an ardent activist for the rights of HIV infected, Veenadhari passed away on Friday evening in Bangalore.

After a brief term of illness, the Mangalorean former school teacher, a HIV +ve herself, breathed her last in Manipal Hospital, Bangalore.

Veenadhari, who followed and advocated the ayurveda and naturopathy approach to living with HIV/AIDS, was in news when she led a mega drive against the ‘stigmatizing of persons with HIV’ using the red ribbon symbol.

By dedicating her life to the cause of persons with HIV and fighting a daily battle against a society which ostracizes HIV-infected, Veenadhari’s great achievement was the Karavali Positive Women’s and Children’s Network.

Having voiced the concerns of persons with HIV/AIDS at thousands of forums and in national and international seminars, Veenadhari who hailing from a rich family, led a simple life by choice. A full time social worker, Veenadhari was instrumental in identifying women who are infected with HIV and providing them help.

Veenadhari broke up with her husband who unknowingly had passed on the HIV virus to her. When her husband's health deteriorated and he was diagnosed as HIV +ve, it was a deadly blow to Veenadhari. She soon found out that she too had contracted the disease.

The medical fraternity and sections of the government machinery was unhappy with her campaign against the commercialization of the Anti-Retroviral Drug.

"I am HIV +ve, does that make me a lesser human being?" questioned Veenadhari as people pointed fingers at her when she boldly revealed her HIV status.

During her life time, she worked day-and-night offering emotional and psychological support to thousands of persons infected with HIV.

Crossing all boundaries of social secrecy and stigma, Veenadhari with the infrastructure and support from Valored, a social service organization, was responsible for forming numerous groups of medical practioners, advocates, social workers and journalists working for the rights of persons with HIV/AIDS.

A great loss to the society and to the HIV/AIDS awareness movement, Veenadhari’s death has shocked al those who have interacted and known her work.

Also read exclusive story on Veenadhari:
"I AM HIV +VE, DOES THAT MAKE ME A LESSER HUMAN BEING?http://www.daijiworld.com/chan/exclusive_arch.asp?ex_id=16

Friday 2 November 2007

Estranged women turn HIV+

Estranged women turn HIV+
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Estranged_women_turn_HIV/articleshow/2510416.cms

2 Nov 2007, 0202 hrs IST,Roli Srivastava,TNN

HYDERABAD: So far, promiscuous men have been held largely responsible for fuelling the HIV epidemic in India, but HIV/Aids experts now say men alone cannot be blamed.

Promiscuity among women is on the rise, they say, with an increasing number of women reporting to be HIV positive while the status of their spouses is negative.

Doctors working closely with HIV/Aids patients at government hospitals say they are seeing more HIV positive women among discordant couples (where one is positive and another negative). Statistics of such cases from state-run maternity hospitals in Hyderabad are perhaps not only a social indicator but also confirm the trend.

"In discordant couples, women are HIV positive in around 30 per cent cases and the husbands are negative," says Dr G Shailaja, superintendent of the Government Maternity Hospital, Koti, who has been studying the issue closely.

These cases started coming to light over the past two to three years when expectant mothers started undergoing HIV tests. Dr Shailaja says such a high number of HIV positive women among discordant couples was "unexpected." The average age of the infected women is around 30 years.

Doctors also note that most women cite "blood transfusion" as the reason that led to the infection. Globally, 80 per cent of the women are infected with HIV through their spouses or life partners. "But now we are told there are more reported cases of discordant couples with women positive and their partners negative," says K Padmavathi, deputy director of the Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society.

Those working in the field of HIV/Aids say such cases are not really city-specific. Doctors working with HIV/Aids cases for over a decade note that if earlier, the percentage of HIV positive men was 90 per cent (among couples who approached them), the percentage has dropped to 65 per cent now.

"It may have dropped further," says Dr P Balamba, obstetrician and gynaecologist and former additional superintendent of Osmania General Hospital.

She says the while the trend has been there for some time now, the numbers have started increasing only over the past few years.

Dispelling a myth before it takes form, Dr Balamba says the trend is not as prevalent among working women but is being reported from all walks of life across social classes.

"From workers to the highly educated," she says, her observations based largely on her experience at the Government Maternity Hospital, Nayapul and now from her private practice.

"Promiscuity is increasing among girls not just in urban but even in rural areas," she says, adding that perhaps this was being brushed under the carpet and is now coming forth with HIV statistics as the indicator.

Another gynaecologist, who did not wish to be named, said women were more susceptible to the infection (compared to men) given that the concentration of the virus is higher in semen.

Interestingly, doctors observe that families and husbands in particular have been "considerate and supportive" of their HIV positive wives, but they point out this observation is not really applicable to the more educated class where some cases have ended in divorce. However, in most cases families have been supportive, doctors say.

Saturday 27 October 2007

India bank aids prostitutes-Many hope that investing will end a cycle of poverty

India bank aids prostitutes-Many hope that investing will end a cycle of poverty
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5249975.html

By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM
Associated Press Oct. 27, 2007,
MUMBAI, INDIA — In the heart of Mumbai's red light district, several prostitutes sit on brown plastic chairs in a narrow room waiting to do something many have never been able to do before: deposit their savings in a bank.

The small bank is the initiative of the sex workers and aims to help them break the vicious cycle of poverty and exploitation that keeps them indebted to brothel owners.

The simple act of squirreling away some money was previously out of reach for many customers of the Sangini Women's Cooperative Bank.

Prostitutes are often shunned by regular banks or lack residence documents or birth certificates officially required to open an account in India.

Now, for the last three months, they have been able to enter the bank daily to deposit an average of 10 to 20 rupees (25 to 50 cents) and dream of things they will do as their savings grow.

"We may not have house papers, but we also dream," said Indra Jai, 40, who was lured from a southern village 20 years ago with promises of a job in Mumbai and then forced into prostitution. "We should get respect; our money is also good."

Jai said she dreams of buying a small house and a tailor shop in her village and paying for her 19-year-old son's college education.

The government estimates there are 3 million prostitutes in India, many of whom start as children lured by traffickers. Others are teenagers sold by impoverished family members to brothel owners.

They spend up to five years working for free in dingy, airless rooms to repay the brothel owner's investment. To survive they often turn to moneylenders charging exorbitant interest rates and drive themselves further into debt and dependence.

Thoughts of breaking the cycle drive the bank's more than 900 customers.

"If we fall ill who will look after us? We must save when we are still earning," said Jai, a founding member of the bank.

The bank — three narrow rooms that also house a cooperative store — is filled with women, some queuing up in front of a teller, others shopping for soap, food, grains and condoms.

Mumbai's prostitutes began a women's cooperative group two years ago with support from PSI, a Washington-based nonprofit organization.

The bank and store were launched with $40,000 in funding from PSI.

"We thought it would take a year to get 100 customers, but we opened more than 100 accounts on day one," said Shilpa Merchant, PSI's Mumbai director.

Guided by PSI, the bank invests daily deposits totaling 25,000 rupees ($625) in fixed savings schemes with state-run banks earning 9.5 percent interest per year.

The women say entering the bank every day helps them hold onto their dreams.

"Sometimes I think my life is a waste," said Gulabja Sheikh, 35, who was sold at 15 by her parents. "But now I have my house to work for."

Friday 26 October 2007

India's gay prince appears on Oprah show

India's gay prince appears on Oprah show
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/oct/26look1.htm
October 26, 2007

Manvendra Singh Gohil, scion of the Rajpipla royal family from Gujarat, sure has come a long way.

In 1995, he got married with fanfare but it soon ended owing to his homosexuality. Manvendra Singh faced confusion, personal pain and tensions within his family, and even had a nervous breakdown.

On October 24, he was a guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show, talking about his past.
Manvendra's traditional, conservative and feudal background made his personal story interesting and eye-catching. Oprah would have never heard of Manvendra but for his 'royal linage'. Till 2002-03, he was a quite unknown, fearful, and shy but sensitive homosexual trying to do his bit for gays in India, largely to help himself.

Surprisingly, he could not name his sexual urge for almost three decades. Unbelievably, he claims that in Mumbai during the 1980s and early 1990s, where he was a student, he could not find useful information or literature for gays.

He agreed to marry a princess from Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, because, he claims, "I thought after marriage I will be alright because I never knew and nobody told me that I was gay and [that] this is normal. Homosexuality is not a disease. I tremendously regret for ruining her life. I feel guilty."

He even took up yoga to pacify his agony. In the library, he read about homosexuality in a book under the heading of `sexual deviation.' In the book, it was described as a mental disorder. A few years after the painful divorce, he came across a column by gay activist Ashok Row Kavi. He bought Kavi's magazine for gays Bombay Dost and quickly got in touch with Kavi. Through him and the magazine Manvendra met many likeminded people. He got deeply involved in a social network to help gays in Gujarat.

"In America I have been interviewed five times, including [by] The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times because I am from a former royal family, and Westerners have respect for people like us," Manvendra says. He says ABC made a film on him and his trust Lakshya, (Gay prince to form sexual minorities forum http://www.rediff.com/news/2006/dec/07prince.htm

Top Emailed Features

• Daily sex improves male fertility: Study
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December 07, 2006 10:16 IST

Manavendra Singh Gohil, a member of the Rajpipla royal family, who is known as the 'gay prince' for his outspoken stand on his sexual orientation, is planning to form a national forum for the sexual minorities.

The non-governmental organisation chaired by Gohil, Lakshya Trust, has recently won the 'UNAID Civil Society Award 2006' for its contribution in preventing HIV/AIDS among homosexual men.

The front, which will be known as India Forum for Sexual Minorities, will bring several issues faced by the sexual minorities at the national level, Gohil said.

Lakshya Trust is engaged in spreading AIDS awareness in Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot.
The organisation is also planning to extend its activities to other cities in Gujarat like Porbandar, Jamnagar and Vapi, with the support of Gujarat State AIDS Control Society.) which works for HIV/AIDS awareness among the gays of Gujarat.

Rajpipla, where his ancestors were kings, is in the lap of the Saputara range of hills in south Gujarat. To reach the green and beautiful Rajpipla town -- with a population of 75,000 -- one has to cross either the Narmada river or its tributary Karjat. In this tribal district area, Manvendra is known as Yuvraj Shri Manvendra Singhji Raghubir Singhji Sahib. He is into organic farming and selling manure made of earthworms. His father Raghubir Singh's beautiful 35-room pink palace has been converted into a heritage hotel.

"I belong to a very conservative and traditional family," says Manvendra. "It was difficult to be gay in my family. The villagers worship us and we are role models for them. My family didn't allow us to mix with ordinary or low-caste people. Our exposure to the liberal world was minimal. Only when I was hospitalized after my nervous breakdown in 2002 did my doctor inform my parents about my sexuality. All these years I was hiding my sexuality from my parents, family and people. I never liked it and I wanted to face the reality. When I came out in the open and gave an interview to a friendly journalist, my life was transformed. Now, people accept me."

But his mother Rukmini Devi has still not come to terms with her son's sexual preference. Mother and son hardly talk. Father Raghubir Singh has reconciled after seeing his son's work in the field of HIV-AIDS awareness. Lakshya has reached 17,000 gays on Gujarat and won a 2006 UNAIDS award. Manvendra plans an exclusive nursing home for HIV/AIDS patients in Rajpipla.

But, his "people" -- the tribal people and villagers -- want "yuvraj" (prince) to have an inheritor to the "throne of Rajpipla," claims Manvendra. He is thinking of adopting a son. Before granting him a divorce, his wife told him, `Never do this to any other woman.' He has vowed not to marry again under family or public pressure.

Text: Sheela Bhatt Photograph courtsey: The Oprah Winfrey Show

Sunday 21 October 2007

Woman With AIDS Virus Sent to Prison

Woman With AIDS Virus Sent to Prison
http://www.missourinet.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=B87C72D0-C49A-6718-7CE9FA2011255EA1
Friday, October 19, 2007, 8:34 AM
By Bob Priddy

A woman with the AIDS virus convicted of having unprotected sex with aboyfriend has been sent to prison for a decade. 27-year-old AngelaHarris could have been sentenced to prison for life if the boyfriendhad tested positive for HIV. But so far he's negative.

Police say Harris' mother has told them the woman had sex with as manyas 100 people. Harris' lawyer says that's not correct. Investigatorshave found at least three of Harris' partners. One has tested positive,but can't be sure he got it from her.

Harris has known since she had a miscarriage at age 14 that she has thevirus.

Aids counsellor tried to rape me: student

Aids counsellor tried to rape me: student
'I was surprised by the nurse's response'
http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=125&art_id=vn20071020085919413C235847
October 20 2007 at 11:25AM
By Nondumiso Mbuyazi

A young Durban student's routine visit to a clinic because she was not feeling well turned into a terrifying experience after she said an Aids counsellor there tried to rape her.

The 23-year-old woman, of Krans-kop, said she went to the clinic in Lancers Road, Umbilo, where she was advised to have an HIV test.

After taking her blood sample, the counsellor told her to wait in his office while he fetched her results. "He then came back and locked his office door. I thought this was strange but then thought maybe he didn't want other people to hear my results. He then asked me whether I knew how to use a condom," she said.

She told him that she did know how to use one since she was studying through Unisa to become a social worker, but it seemed the counsellor was adamant on showing her how to use the condom.

"I was shocked when he pulled down his pants and demanded I show him how a condom is used. I declined because I know the rules of being a social worker or a counsellor and they definitely do not include you or a counsellor doing a physical or practical demonstration," the woman said.
What frightened her even more, she said, was when the counsellor told her to get on the bed so he could show her how people contracted Aids. "I refused to do this.

"By now I could see he was getting annoyed and that's when we got into a tussle. I kept on demanding he open the door and let me out but he wouldn't hear of it until I gave in to his demands," she said.

A case of attempted rape has been opened against the counsellor, although a senior nurse at the clinic advised her not to. "I was surprised by the nurse's response when I told her what had happened in the counsellor's office.

"She told me to calm down and she would sort everything out, but she pleaded with me not to report the matter to the police because the man could lose his job," she said.

The traumatised woman said she still did not know how she managed to push her way out of his office and escape because she could see that the counsellor "meant business" and was not going to let her go.

Police confirmed that a case had been opened against the counsellor, but nobody had been arrested.

Thursday 18 October 2007

Consultation of PLHA, Law and Media for Obtaining Positive Outcome of NACP-III for Sustainable Development of the Community - Chandigarh

Consultation of PLHA, Law and Media for Obtaining Positive Outcome of NACP-III for Sustainable Development of the Community - Chandigarh
Chandigarh Network of People Living With HIV, 18th October 2007,
at CYP Asia Center, Sector 12, Chandigarh , India
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveandaids/message/5006

On October 18, of this month Drop-in-centre has completed two years of existence. Past few years were successful years in terms of achievements and obtaining results pertaining to Advocacy, IEC activities and issues related to care and support. On the advent of NACP-III, PLHA thought that participatory approach of including important stakeholders can help the community obtaining positive outcomes of NACP III objectives.

One day workshop on ‘Consultation of PLHA, Law and Media for Obtaining Positive Outcome of NACP-III for Sustainable Development of the Community - Chandigarh’ was conducted by Chandigarh Network of People Living with HIV on 18th October, 2007 at the CYP Asia Centre. Last year State Consultation on ARV Treatment Access, Care, Support and Rights of PLHA – Chandigarh was organized by INP+ and CNP+ on 18th and 19th October, 2006 at the CYP Asia Centre, Chandigarh, India for detail report visit:
http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/aids/comm_update/res-0 6-191006-02.doc

This year also we initiated the same and invitations for participation and Facilitation were sent to different organizations and individuals in Chandigarh. Around 40 PLHA and their family members from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, they were facilitated by trained facilitators who were actively working in the field. This workshop was well received by the media. All the participants appreciated the arrangements made for the conduct of this Workshop and participated in various sessions of Workshop and deliberated on the Consultation of PLHA, Law and Media for Obtaining Positive Outcome of NACP-III for Sustainable Development of the Community. The key issues, suggestions and commendations on different issues are described below.

PLHA, Medical Professionals, Para Medical, lawyers, social activists, NGOs, academicians and others took part in this Workshop. The Workshop was open to all, by way of information through invitation.

The participants, facilitators and others were welcome to workshop by Commonwealth Youth Ambassador for Positive Living Ms. Pooja Thakur, President CNP+ and she shared that with regular initiative the members of network have 178 member families of the PLHA and a majority of them are struggling to get employment. Moreover, they are unable to find jobs, which are easier on their fading health and the network also supports 72 children and has been requesting the UT Administration to give them space to build a hostel for thechildren. Children who are on Anti-Retroviral Treatment need special care. They have to be given nutritious diet and regular medicines. Most of them, however, live with their relatives, who cannot take care of the children this way, Pooja focused. The members of network are from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. She added the increasing awareness about HIV/AIDS, however, has not helped the PLHA to lead a normal life. They still face discrimination in society and many have lost their jobs due to the disease, and an expensive second-line treatment that majority of them cannot afford. Moreover, there is no concrete policy for HIV/AIDS orphans in the city

The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Raj K. Mishra, Regional Director, CYP Asia Centre. He exhorted the participants to organise themselves, and work for the development of the Community. This can be done by first empowering themselves through education and skill building. After the inauguration Mr. Nawendu Jha highlighted the Objectives of the Consultation and Brief on Agenda of Workshop was also discussed.

PLHA had come from far off areas like Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh along with them were their HIV positive children — some who have been on treatment at the PGI for as many as seven years and have been healthy.

The technical sessions were conducted by different facilitators Mr. Raj K. Mishra, Regional Director, CYP Asia Centre - Understanding NACP-III, Dr. Vinita Gupta, Jt. PD, SACS, Chandigarh - Role of SACS for Strengthening PLHA with Reference to NACP-III , Dr. Kavita Chawan – Goals of NACP-III on Rehabilitation, Care and Support, Strategies of SACS for Positive Out Comes, Dr. Avnish Jolly – Understanding PLHA , Dr. Archana Singh, Department of Mass-communication, Panjab University, Chandigarh- Role of Media in context to PLHA and Mr. Raman Chawla, Lawyers Collective, New Delhi - HIV /AIDS Bill. Open Discussion on Economic Empowerment of PLHA was also conducted by Mr. Nawendu Jha, Project Coordinator, Drop-In Center, Chandigarh.

Sessions on Group Discussion / Initiatives, Issues and problem Sharing and Role Play were conducted by Anil Kumar, Member CNP+. Panel Discussions and Different Questionnaires were in detail discussed in interactive sessions by Ms. Meena Vij, Founder and Former President, Chandigarh Network of People Living With HIV.

Throughout the workshop the speakers discussed in detail with the participants the skills required to be good peer educators. They were advised how to form network in their areas and villages, and how the members could derive the maximum benefit from them. The participants were also empowered on different health related issues and different guidelines and home remedies were discussed with them in length to cope-up with stress, maintain their activity of daily life and whom to contact during illness.

The workshop was concluded by Ms. Meena Vij with hope that the public can show love to PLHA and not only allow them to rebuild their lives in the community but work upon GIPA.

“Together we stand’, to symbolise unity in challenging HIV/AIDS stigma. Stigma, ‘a powerful and discrediting social label that radically changes the way individuals view themselves and are viewed as persons’, can be felt (internal stigma), leading to an unwillingness to seek help and access resources, or enacted (external stigma), leading to discrimination on the basis of HIV status or association with someone who is living with HIV/AIDS.

Because stigma has an impact on prevention and care it is important to address it directly. However, stigma-mitigation practice has not been well informed by theory and research. An urgent need was identified for indicators of stigma, which can be used to develop interventions and measure their success.

Drop-In Center - CNP+ Project (Funded by SACS, Chandigarh under NACO Scheme) thus aims to pave the way for a stigma-mitigation process by developing well-researched indicators of HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination. The project has focused on three key areas essential to HIV/AIDS:

Faith-based organisations and communities as important sources of support to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs)
National government departments as workplaces committed to dealing with stigma through good policy and practice
The relationship between PLHAs and the media as an example of how empowered individuals can impact positively on perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS.

A comprehensive review, two consultative workshops and the establishment of reference groups in the focus areas of the project ensured that a diverse range of opinions and experiences were reflected.

The project consists of six aspects:

A literature review to provide a theoretical understanding of stigma
The development of indicators of internal and external stigma through this fieldwork and in consultation with experts in the field
The documentation of promising practices which mitigate HIV/AIDS stigma
A qualitative study of stigma experiences and perspectives through focus-group discussions and key-informant interviews across the community.
A media scan to contextualise and locate the fieldwork in a particular time and place
The development of guidelines to assist those who wish to develop interventions to impact positively on HIV/AIDS stigma.

It is very important to address HIV/AIDS stigma in order to improve the quality of the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and to address prevention effectively. Powerful negative metaphors related to HIV/AIDS reinforce stigma and create a sense of otherness. Bothering occurs when blame and shame are assigned to people living with HIV/AIDS. This sets a moral tone that contributes towards people conceptualizing PLHAs as different, and guides thinking toward a ‘them’ and ‘us’ division. When this division occurs, a person is less likely to identify with the other group, in this case PLHAs. For example, metaphors those refer to HIV/AIDS as a plague – and PLHAs by association as the carriers – present PLHAs in a dehumanizing and alien light. The consequence of bothering is that certain groups may feel that they are immune to the risk of HIV infection. Stigma also influences how we respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Instead of using resources and energy effectively to provide a caring, compassionate response, PLHAs, people representing risk groups, and people affected by HIV/AIDS have become targets for blame and punishment. This has only heightened their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and pushed them into a vicious cycle of stigmatization and discrimination.

As part of the qualitative exploration of HIV/AIDS stigma, collected many personal experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS who have started to heal emotionally because of supportive and non-stigmatizing environments. PLHAs mentioned particularly the value of proper pre and post test HIV counseling, the provision of factual information about the virus and opportunistic diseases, and counseling about disclosure. PLHAs highlighted the importance of acceptance by their family, faith group, friends and colleagues in helping them to overcome the initial shock of discovering their status. Acceptance also helped them to accept their status and to live positively. Where PLHAs have not been able to find such support, they have also been more likely to internalize societal stigma.

These guidelines highlight the importance of such an accepting environment – not only for the healing of PLHAs, but also for creating an environment that allows open discussion and disclosure. It also reduces the sense that HIV/AIDS is somebody else’s problem.

These guidelines were developed to provide leaders of PLHA organizations with user-friendly recommendations on training for PLHAs, to strengthen their media advocacy roles in HIV/AIDS stigma-mitigation. Additional sets of guidelines are available for the faith and national government workplace sectors. The guidelines are not exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other guideline documents on HIV/AIDS and stigma within the three sectors.

The purpose of these guidelines is:

To share the findings of in a user-friendly way
To provide recommendations on training for PLHAs to strengthen their media advocacy roles in stigma mitigation.

“Acceptance is the key to many doors. And acceptance is probably one of the keys to the stigma door too.” Ms. Pooja Thakur, President CNP+

The National AIDS Control Programme Phase III aims to go beyond the high risk behavior groups covered by Targeted Interventions. This would entail extension of interventions to populations.

Objectives of the Social Assessment

· To undertake a comprehensive Social Assessment that documents the prevalence and risk of HIV/AIDS,
· To understand their levels of knowledge, social and behavioural causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS (including stigma),
· To assess current strategies used for PDTC of HIV/AIDS in order to ensure appropriate programme design and implementation to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and improve its management.
· To provide information for pre-project stakeholder consultations and to design continuous stakeholder consultations in the programme.

Assessment Methodology

· Review of literature
· Primary assessment among tribal population; and programme implementers and service providers
· Relevant literature survey
· Analysis of the various policy documents
· Analysis of NACO Project documents and assessment reports available

Basic Information

The following are the salient findings regarding behavioral and other practices that are relevant to the programme planners:

· Low awareness and knowledge regarding STI/HIV/AIDS
· Widely varying sexual practices (high level of pre-marital and extra marital sexual practices) and contact with external high risk population make them vulnerable
· Specific communication strategy designed to suit the needs and culture of the target group in local dialects would be necessary. The choice of medium for communication would also be critical. Folk media, Inter Personal Communication and messages through influencer groups could be main choices
· Non-availability and/or lack of access to health care facilities were one of the main factors discouraging health seeking. Trust in faith healers and non qualified private practitioners and easy accessibility made them rely on these sources for seeking treatments for illnesses. Role of such providers in referral needs to be reckoned in programme design
· Gender bias towards males for health care seeking needs to be addressed
· Knowledge regarding STI and symptoms are low and misconceptions that exist
exasperates this situation
· High level of stigma associated with STI and HIV/AIDS is a challenge that needs to be addressed
· Youth are emerging as a highly vulnerable group in these areas

Policy Environment

The following some of the policies have been examined and analyzed for their implications on the Prevention-
· National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Policy
· National Health Policy 2002
· National Population Policy 2002
· National Rural Health Mission-Vision Document
· National HIV/AIDS Bill
· Manipur State Level Policy on HIV/AIDS
· The National RCH and RNTCP Program Documents

Institutional Issues

· A special function at the National and State level needs to be created and positioned to deal with issues relating to policies, coverage and implementation of interventions among the tribal population and other socially disadvantaged sections of the population who are vulnerable to HIV.
· The district level planning envisaged during NACP III needs to identify the vulnerable and socially disadvantaged populations as well as the tribal population that need to be covered in the different districts of each state.
· The Governing Board and Executive Committee of each SACS can be expanded to include members from the Social Welfare Board and Tribal Development departments for better understanding of the requirements of the populations and appropriately plan for intervention and services in those areas.
· The convergence with RCH II especially in the areas of Tribal Plan, Rural, Urban Poor and the approaches to mainstreaming gender and equity can be attempted in order that the service availability and service provision can be linked. The policy and goals can be studied and the same be tied up with in the state PIP for serving the tribal population and other marginalized and socially excluded population.
· Behavioral studies using a ethnographic approach need to be carried out in different tribal and rural belts to better understand the risk and vulnerability factors of the specific population in order to design programme and interventions for these populations.
· Capacity building of the NACO and SACS staff on the Social Development issues, gender, equity and Social Exclusion needs to be provided in order that the staff are sensitized and appreciate the necessity to include and mainstream such aspects into the programme.
· District level structures need to be created for planning the district level HIV/AIDS intervention with evidence for planning and capacity needs to be built on different aspects of programme planning and management

Recommendations

· Review of laws and policies and make them specific to tribal population
· Policy on specific interventions to be taken up with the tribal population and the necessity for the state and the district plans to reflect these over the initial period of NACP III
· Provision of clear budgetary allocation for working with the tribal population to emphasize the importance
· Convergence as a strategy with other programmes needs to be worked out in order that cost-effective interventions can be initiated
· Introducing a function of social development within NACO and train and sensitize staff of NACO on these issues in order that it can be mainstreamed
· Inter-sector collaboration with ministries such as Environment & Forests, Tribal
Development, Social Welfare and Tourism to arrive at certain common minimum
programme
· Constitute a working group at the national level for identifying strategies to work with the tribal population
· Initiate mapping exercise at the state level in order to prioritize
· Expand the Governing Body and The Executive Committee at the state levels to include representatives of tribal development and social welfare
· Develop communication material in the local dialects and languages with a clear focus on changes that are intended to be brought about
· In states strengthen the NGO advisor with a support unit to effectively handle such Interventions
· Develop appropriate structure at the district levels to implement HIV/AIDS programmes and also plan for priorities at the district level
· To have mechanisms to generate the disaggregated information regarding tribal population at the district level at different service provision centers
· Research studies to establish the relationship between migration and tribal risk factors needs to be initiated for evidence to plan for these
· Initiation of training programmes for service providers to sensitize them to issues of tribal population in order that their attitudes are conducive to the tribal population
· Carry out a detailed assessment of the private sector organizations that are working in the tribal areas and plan for their involvement through consultations
After understanding NACP-III insight on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights are very important. For many years since the advent of HIV/AIDS, various intergovernmental, non-governmental and governmental bodies have recognized the important connection between the protection of human rights and effective responses to HIV/AIDS.
The most valuable document on Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights (Geneva, 23-25 September 1996) Report of the Secretary-General which advocates Public health interests do not conflict with human rights. On the contrary, it has been recognized that when human rights are protected, less people become infected and those living with HIV/AIDS and their families can better cope with HIV/AIDS; A rights-based, effective response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic involves establishing appropriate governmental institutional responsibilities, implementing law reform and support services and promoting a supportive environment for groups vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and for those living with HIV/AIDS. According to it there are many steps that States can take to protect HIV-related human rights and to achieve public health goals. The 12 Guidelines elaborated by the Consultation for States to implement an effective, rights-based response are summarized below.

Guideline 1: States should establish an effective national framework for their response to HIV/AIDS which ensures a coordinated, participatory, transparent and accountable approach, integrating HIV/AIDS policy and programme responsibilities across all branches of Government.
Guideline 2: States should ensure, through political and financial support, that community consultation occurs in all phases of HIV/AIDS policy design, programme implementation and evaluation and that community organizations are enabled to carry out their activities, including in the field of ethics, law and human rights, effectively.
Guideline 3: States should review and reform public health laws to ensure that they adequately address public health issues raised by HIV/AIDS, that their provisions applicable to casually transmitted diseases are not inappropriately applied to HIV/AIDS and that they are consistent with international human rights obligations.
Guideline 4: States should review and reform criminal laws and correctional systems to ensure that they are consistent with international human rights obligations and are not misused in the context of HIV/AIDS or targeted against vulnerable groups.
Guideline 5: States should enact or strengthen anti-discrimination and other protective laws that protect vulnerable groups, people living with HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities from discrimination in both the public and private sectors, ensure privacy and confidentiality and ethics in research involving human subjects, emphasize education and conciliation, and provide for speedy and effective administrative and civil remedies.
Guideline 6: States should enact legislation to provide for the regulation of HIV-related goods, services and information, so as to ensure widespread availability of qualitative prevention measures and services, adequate HIV prevention and care information and safe and effective medication at an affordable price.
Guideline 7: States should implement and support legal support services that will educate people affected by HIV/AIDS about their rights, provide free legal services to enforce those rights, develop expertise on HIV-related legal issues and utilize means of protection in addition to the courts, such as offices of ministries of justice, ombudspersons, health complaint units and human rights commissions.
Guideline 8: States, in collaboration with and through the community, should promote a supportive and enabling environment for women, children and other vulnerable groups by addressing underlying prejudices and inequalities through community dialogue, specially designed social and health services and support to community groups.
Guideline 9: States should promote the wide and ongoing distribution of creative education, training and media programmes explicitly designed to change attitudes of discrimination and stigmatization associated with HIV/AIDS to understanding and acceptance.
Guideline 10: States should ensure that government and private sectors develop codes of conduct regarding HIV/AIDS issues that translate human rights principles into codes of professional responsibility and practice, with accompanying mechanisms to implement and enforce these codes.
Guideline 11: States should ensure monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to guarantee the protection of HIV-related human rights, including those of people living with HIV/AIDS, their families and communities.
Guideline 12: States should cooperate through all relevant programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, including UNAIDS, to share knowledge and experience concerning HIV-related human rights issues and should ensure effective mechanisms to protect human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS at international level.

GUIDELINES ON HIV/AIDS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Preamble

This document contains guidelines adopted at the Second International Consultation on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, held in Geneva from 23 to 25 September 1996, to assist States in creating a positive, rights-based response to HIV/AIDS that is effective in reducing the transmission and impact of HIV/AIDS and respectful of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The elaboration of such guidelines was first considered by the 1989 International Consultation on AIDS and Human Rights, organized jointly by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights and the World Health Organization. (1) The United Nations Commission on Human Rights and its Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities have repeatedly reiterated the need for guidelines. (2) Increasingly, the international community has recognized the need for elaborating further how existing human rights principles apply in the context of HIV/AIDS and for providing examples of concrete activities to be undertaken by States to protect human rights and public health in the context of HIV/AIDS.
The purpose of these Guidelines is to translate international human rights norms into practical observance in the context of HIV/AIDS. To this end, the Guidelines consist of two parts: first, the human rights principles underlying a positive response to HIV/AIDS and second, action-oriented measures to be employed by Governments in the areas of law, administrative policy and practice that will protect human rights and achieve HIV-related public health goals.
The Guidelines recognize that States bring to the HIV/AIDS epidemic different economic, social and cultural values, traditions and practices - a diversity which should be celebrated as a rich resource for an effective response to HIV/AIDS. In order to benefit from this diversity, a process of participatory consultation and cooperation was undertaken in the drafting of the Guidelines, so that the Guidelines reflect the experience of people affected by the epidemic, address relevant needs and incorporate regional perspectives. Furthermore, the Guidelines reaffirm that diverse responses can and should be designed within the context of universally recognized international human rights standards.

It is intended that the principal users of the Guidelines will be States, in the persons of legislators and government policy-makers, including officials involved in national AIDS programmes and relevant departments and ministries, such as health, foreign affairs, justice, interior, employment, welfare and education. Other users who will benefit from the Guidelines include intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), networks of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs), community-based organizations (CBOs), networks on ethics, law, human rights and HIV and AIDS service organizations (ASOs). The broadest possible audience of users of the Guidelines will maximize their impact and make their content a reality.

The Guidelines address many difficult and complex issues, some of which may or may not be relevant to the situation in a particular country. For these reasons, it is essential that the Guidelines are taken by critical actors at the national and community level and considered in a process of dialogue involving a broad spectrum of those most directly affected by the issues addressed in the Guidelines. Such a consultative process will enable Governments and communities to consider how the Guidelines are specifically relevant in their country; assess priority issues presented by the Guidelines and devise effective ways to implement the Guidelines in their respective contexts.

In implementing the Guidelines, it should be borne in mind that achieving international cooperation in solving problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character and promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all, is one of the principal objectives of the United Nations. In this sense, international cooperation, including financial and technical support, is a duty of States in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and industrialized countries are encouraged to act in a spirit of solidarity in assisting developing countries to meet the challenges of implementing the Guidelines.
Among the human rights principles relevant to HIV/AIDS are, inter alia:
· The right to non-discrimination, equal protection and equality before the law
· The right to life
· The right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
· The right to liberty and security of person
· The right to freedom of movement
· The right to seek and enjoy asylum
· The right to privacy
· The right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to freely receive and impart information
· The right to freedom of association
· The right to work
· The right to marry and found a family
· The right to equal access to education
· The right to an adequate standard of living
· The right to social security, assistance and welfare
· The right to share in scientific advancement and its benefits
· The right to participate in public and cultural life
· The right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
· The rights of women and children.

The application of specific human rights in the context of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Examples of the application of specific human rights to HIV/AIDS are illustrated below. These rights should not be considered in isolation but as interdependent rights supporting the Guidelines elaborated in this document. In the application of these rights, the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural and religious backgrounds must be remembered. It remains the duty of States, however, to promote and protect all human rights within their cultural contexts.
1. Non-discrimination and equality before the law
2. Human rights of women
3. Human rights of children
4. Right to marry and found a family and protection of the family
5. Right to privacy
6. Right to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications
7. Right to liberty of movement
8. Right to seek and enjoy asylum
9. Right to liberty and security of person
10. Right to education
11. Freedom of expression and information
12. Freedom of assembly and association
13. Right to participation in political and cultural life
14. Right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
15. Right to an adequate standard of living and social security services
16. Right to work
17. Freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

After understanding these we must understand the following issues and work accordingly for betterment:
Institutional responsibilities and processes:
States should establish an effective national framework for their response to HIV/AIDS which ensures a coordinated, participatory, transparent and accountable approach, integrating HIV/AIDS policy and programme responsibilities, across all branches of Government.
Depending upon existing institutions, the level of the epidemic and institutional cultures, as well as the need to avoid overlapping of responsibilities, the following responses should be considered:
· Education
· Law and justice, including police and corrective services
· Science and research
· Employment and public service
· Welfare, social security and housing
· Immigration, indigenous populations, foreign affairs and development cooperation
· Health
· Treasury and finance
· Defence, including armed services
Supporting community partnership:
States should ensure, through political and financial support, that community consultation occurs in all phases of HIV/AIDS policy design, programme implementation and evaluation and that community organizations are enabled to carry out their activities, including in the fields of ethics, law and human rights, effectively.
Public health legislation:
States should review and reform public health legislation to ensure that they adequately address the public health issues raised by HIV/AIDS, that their provisions applicable to casually transmitted diseases are not inappropriately applied to HIV/AIDS and that they are consistent with international human rights obligations.
· The HIV-positive person in question has been thoroughly counselled
· Counselling of the HIV-positive person has failed to achieve appropriate behavioural changes
· The HIV-positive person has refused to notify, or consent to the notification of his/her partner(s)
· A real risk of HIV transmission to the partner(s) exists
· The HIV-positive person is given reasonable advance notice
· The identity of the HIV-positive person is concealed from the partner(s), if this is practically possible
· Follow-up is provided to ensure support to those involved, as necessary.
Criminal laws and correctional systems:
States should review and reform criminal laws and correctional systems to ensure that they are consistent with international human rights obligations and are not misused in the context of HIV/AIDS or targeted against vulnerable groups.
· The authorization or legalization and promotion of needle and syringe exchange programmes;
· The repeal of laws criminalizing the possession, distribution and dispensing of needles and syringes.
Anti-discrimination and protective laws:
States should enact or strengthen anti-discrimination and other protective laws that protect vulnerable groups, people living with HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities from discrimination in both the public and private sectors, that will ensure privacy and confidentiality and ethics in research involving human subjects, emphasize education and conciliation and provide for speedy and effective administrative and civil remedies.
A national policy on HIV/AIDS and the workplace agreed upon in a tripartite body
Freedom from HIV screening for employment, promotion, training or benefits
Confidentiality regarding all medical information, including HIV/AIDS status
Employment security for workers living with HIV until they are no longer able to work, including reasonable alternative working arrangements
Defined safe practices for first aid and adequately equipped first-aid kits
Protection for social security and other benefits for workers living with HIV, including life insurance, pension, health insurance, termination and death benefits
Adequate health care accessible in or near the workplace
Adequate supplies of condoms available free to workers at the workplace
Workers' participation in decision-making on workplace issues related to HIV/AIDS
Access to information and education programmes on HIV/AIDS, as well as to relevant counselling and appropriate referral
Protection from stigmatization and discrimination by colleagues, unions, employers and clients
Appropriate inclusion in workers' compensation legislation of the occupational transmission of HIV (e.g. needle stick injuries), addressing such matters as the long latency period of infection, testing, counselling and confidentiality.
Non-discriminatory selection of participants, e.g. women, children, minorities
Informed consent
Confidentiality of personal information
Equitable access to information and benefits emanating from research
Counselling, protection from discrimination, health and support services provided during and after participation
The establishment of local and/or national ethical review committees to ensure independent and ongoing ethical review, with participation by members of the community affected, of the research project
Approval for use of safe and efficacious pharmaceuticals, vaccines and medical devices.
Regulation of goods, services and information:
States should enact legislation to provide for the regulation of HIV-related goods, services and information, so as to ensure widespread availability of qualitative prevention measures and services, adequate HIV prevention and care information and safe and effective medication at an affordable price.
Legal support services:
States should implement and support legal support services that will educate people affected by HIV/AIDS about their rights, provide free legal services to enforce those rights, develop expertise on HIV-related legal issues and utilize means of protection in addition to the courts, such as offices of Ministries of Justice, ombudspersons, health complaint units and human rights commissions.
Women, children and other vulnerable groups:
States should, in collaboration with and through the community, promote a supportive and enabling environment for women, children and other vulnerable groups by addressing underlying prejudices and inequalities through community dialogue, specially designed social and health services and support to community groups.
· The role of women at home and in public life
· The sexual and reproductive rights of women and men, including women's ability to negotiate safer sex and make reproductive choices
· Strategies for increasing educational and economic opportunities for women
· Sensitizing service deliverers and improving health care and social support services for women
· The impact of religious and cultural traditions on women.
Changing discriminatory attitudes through education, training and the media
States should promote the wide and ongoing distribution of creative education, training and media programmes explicitly designed to change attitudes of discrimination and stigmatization associated with HIV/AIDS to understanding and acceptance.
Development of public and private sector standards and mechanisms for implementing these standards
States should ensure that Government and the private sector develop codes of conduct regarding HIV/AIDS issues that translate human rights principles into codes of professional responsibility and practice, with accompanying mechanisms to implement and enforce these codes.
State monitoring and enforcement of human rights:
States should ensure monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to guarantee HIV-related human rights, including those of people living with HIV/AIDS, their families and communities.
International cooperation:
States should cooperate through all relevant programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, including UNAIDS, to share knowledge and experience concerning HIV-related human rights issues, and should ensure effective mechanisms to protect human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS at the international level.
· Support translation of the Guidelines into national and minority languages
· Create a widely accessible mechanism for communication and coordination for sharing information on the Guidelines and HIV-related human rights
· Support the development of a resource directory on international declarations/treaties, as well as policy statements and reports on HIV/AIDS and human rights, to strengthen support for the implementation of the Guidelines
· Support multicultural education and advocacy projects on HIV/AIDS and human rights, including educating human rights groups on HIV/AIDS and educating HIV/AIDS and vulnerable groups on human rights issues, and strategies for monitoring and protecting human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS, using the Guidelines as an educational tool
· Support the creation of a mechanism to allow existing human rights organizations and HIV/AIDS organizations to work together strategically to promote and protect the human rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and those vulnerable to infection, including through implementation of the Guidelines
· Support the creation of a mechanism to monitor and publicize human rights abuses in the context of HIV/AIDS
· Support the development of a mechanism to mobilize grass-roots responses to HIV-related human rights and implementation of the Guidelines, including exchange programmes and training among different communities, both within and across regions
· Advocate that religious and traditional leaders take up HIV-related human rights concerns and become part of the implementation of the Guidelines
· Support the development of a manual that would assist human rights and AIDS service organizations in advocating for the implementation of the Guidelines
· Support the identification and funding of NGOs and ASOs at country level to coordinate a national NGO response to promote the Guidelines
· Support, through technical and financial assistance, national and regional NGO networking initiatives on ethics, law and human rights to enable them to disseminate the Guidelines and advocate for their implementation
For more details
http://www.hri.ca/fortherecord1997/documentation/commission/e-cn4-1997-37.htm#CONTENTS#CONTENTS
The acronym “GIPA” was first orated during the preparatory meetings for the Paris AIDS Summit, held in December 1994. GIPA stands for the Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS coming directly from the text of the Declaration[1]. The text suggests an initiative to strengthen the capacity of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA), networks of PLHA and community based organisations to participate fully at all - national, regional and global - levels, in particular stimulating the creation of supportive political, legal and social environments.

In particular it described the 1983 Denver Principles which are the first documented words of PLHA seeking greater respect and involvement. The exact principles are as follows:

· A refusal to be “victims”.
· A request for support from all people.
· A plea against stigma and discrimination.
· A call to arms of all people with HIV to choose:
ü To be involved at all levels of decision-making.
ü To be included in all AIDS Forums.
ü To be responsible for their own sexual health and to inform their partners of their HIV status.
The Denver Principles further to identify and demanded the following five human rights:
· A full and satisfying sexual and emotional life.
· Quality medical treatment and social service provision.
· Full explanations of medical procedures and risks and the right to choose or refuse treatment.
· Privacy and confidentiality of medical records and disclosure.
· To die and live in dignity.

The specific objectives were as follows:

To generate an operational understanding of the GIPA principle.
To share experiences of various mechanisms of enhancing GIPA.
To explore opportunities and obstacles related to the implementation of GIPA activities.
To explore future perspectives and mechanisms for enhancing GIPA
PLAN OF ACTION
The overall Plan of Action is outlined in the section on Objective 4. Beyond these key strategic areas of Stigma and Discrimination; Communication and Information Sharing; GIPA at Institutional and Policy Levels; Empowerment of PLHA and Groups of PLHA and Advocacy, a few additional areas to focus action on are listed below.

· Survival: The strong will to survive leads to people being involved.
· Success: Successes that have been seen on the ground encourage people to go further.
· Self-determination.
· Networking through the internet and other electronic means.
· Donors have the power to influence policy and programmes and they should try to impact positively on national level programmes through encouragement of GIPA.
· The opportunity to address the environment for safe disclosure through GIPA must not be missed.
· UNAIDS, through GIPA, should include PLHA in high level press briefings and meetings with Presidents and other national level leaders.
Declaration of the Paris AIDS Summit - Important to understand the GIPA visit: http://www.unaids.org/whatsnew/conferences/summit/index.html
PLHA and their Children shared their experiences and concerns on issues that ranged from social isolation, being orphaned, denial of services, access to education, emotional distress and their dreams and aspirations for the future.

The group recognized that Treatment, care and support were addressed comprehensively and key activities and indicators developed in programs providing care, support for children infected and affected with HIV and AIDS ensures improving the quality of lives. While the document deals with most of the key components relating to children affected by AIDS, it is suggested the following issues can be incorporated to make it comprehensively responsive to the needs of PLHA and their family members while collecting different data for

Advocacy paper for PLHIV issues
http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/aids/resource/res-01-250607-02.doc http://www.solutionexchange-un.net.in/aids/resource/res-01-250607-01.doc

The guideline was developed in several phases:

First, an analysis was conducted of the findings of focus-groups and key informant interviews with an overall focus on enabling factors for stigmamitigation, and the relationship between PLHAs and the media.
Next, there was broad consultation with reference-group members and participants in a consultative workshop. All participants involved in these processes had a wealth of HIV/AIDS knowledge and experience. Participants were representatives of the three chosen sectors – the workplace sector, faith organisations, and PLHAs with media experience.
The third phase drew on the experience of PLHAs who had interacted with the media. In different focus groups were held and involving participants. An effort was made to have gender-specific and race-specific groups, although this was not always possible.
A draft guideline document was developed and the document was circulated amongst selected key HIV/AIDS experts for comment. Their feedback is reflected in this final set of guidelines.

The workshop and other interactions advocate the following components for effective implementation of NACP-III:
policy
leadership
interventions
partnership.
follow-up

Interactions between PLHAs and the media

According to the focus- group participants who were living with HIV/ AIDS, the media lack a sufficient number of empowered PLHA voices. PLHAs felt that they should be consulted to assist with awareness messages and storylines for television and radio programmes. PLHA participants in the focus - groups believed that the media perpetuate certain perceptions of

“If they hear it from the horse’s mouth, then they listen. It’s much better than to just read a story. I think that’s where the media can improve – they [television media] all have the opportunities to do that.” Ranbir Singh, Vice President, CNP+ (Siti Cable Chandigarh – AIDS Day, 2005)

HIV/AIDS and Label PLHAs.

Specifically, PLHAs were represented as sick and dying, ‘immoral’ and/or as only women. Some PLHA focus-group participants had had empowering interactions with the media, while others had had disempowering experiences. According to some PLHAs, media practitioners have selected only aspects of their stories in order to make their reports more newsworthy, or to make the story fit into their perspectives. Most PLHAs mentioned that they were asked inappropriate questions, such as:

• “Who infected you?”
• “Since when have you been positive?”
• “Are you on ARV?”
• “What about your Children and who is caring them?”
• “What was your reaction when you came to know about your HIV status?”
• “Since when have you been positive?”
• “Have you been sleeping around?”
• “Does your partner know that you are HIV positive?”
• “How does it fees when you sleep with someone?”

Recommendations that emerged from the Consultation of PLHA, Law and Media for Obtaining Positive Outcome of NACP-III for Sustainable Development of the Community – Chandigarh are following;

Capacity building and involve PLHAs for effective implementation, monitoring and improvement of NACP-III at organizational level:

Definitions of Core Groups, Bridge, Status etc.,
Develop strategy for enabling environment and effecting sustained behaviour change.
Linkage with BCC, STI, Condoms, Migration trafficking and enhancing rural.
Outreach including Slum population
Develop strategies to empower target communities:
Emerging issues of IDUs.
Sub group for MSMs
Design strategies for convergence and sustainability of interventions.
Convergence between social sectors, Health and Development.
Technical assistance, Capacity Building to NGO, SACS
Sub group on Monitoring and Evaluation of Targeted Interventions
Enabling Environment Sub group
Community Mobilization and Empowerment
Mainstreaming and Partnerships
Human Rights and Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS
Surveillance
Research
Programme Management
Resource Mobilization, Planning and Resource Management
Programme Organization
Coordination and Institutional Arrangements
Decentralization
Monitoring, Evaluation and Implementation Tracking
Involvement at all levels

Involve PLHAs in the media:

People living with HIV/AIDS should be involved in the media to a greater extent. PLHAs have unique experiences and expertise, which could be used as a resource. By involving PLHAs, credibility can be given to HIV/AIDS programmes and reporting.

PLHAs could also be effective spokespersons for stigma-mitigation. The principle of the Greater Involvement of People living with HIV/AIDS commonly referred to as the GIPA principle, encourages organisations to involve PLHAs in addressing the pandemic and so enable PLHAs to act as HIV/AIDS advocates for positive living.

“It is high time that our voices are heard. Let us not have other people telling us what they think should happen to a person who is living with HIV when we are here and know what it is like.” Narayan Dass, Founder and Former Coordinator, Kiran (Knowledge for Information, Rights, Advocacy and Network) Help Line, Chandigarh

Specifically, PLHAs could be involved in the:

• Development of guidelines for media practitioners
• Development of television and radio programmes that are HIV/AIDS stigma-sensitive
• Development of HIV/AIDS educational materials that are HIV/AIDS stigma-sensitive
• Training of media workers on HIV/AIDS and stigma-related issues
• Monitoring of the codes of conduct.

Although HIV/AIDS affects some groups disproportionately because of preexisting social inequalities, recognition of this fact should not be at the cost of stigmatizing such groups and creating the perception that HIV/AIDS only affects these groups, with others perceived as immune to the disease. The media may be able to show that HIV/AIDS affects us all by ensuring a broader representation of PLHAs in terms of demographics such as race, gender, age and geographic location.

Empower PLHAs to interact with the media in an assertive manner

In order for PLHAs to become more actively involved in media advocacy to reduce stigma, effort needs to be made to build the capacity of PLHAs. It is suggested that the training of PLHAs include:
• Raising awareness of PLHAs’ rights
• Improving awareness of good practices for media interacting with
PLHAs, including codes of conduct
• Developing awareness of good media practices for representing
PLHAs – this should include using empowering language and images
• Enhancing awareness of possibilities for redress
• Developing skills for good communication and for sustaining good relationships with the media
• Developing skills in effective public disclosure of HIV status
• Creating a supportive environment among PLHAs involved in working with the media
• Improving skills for handling; leading questions, sensitive questions and difficult questions
• Sensitizing to issues of stigma
• Consent regarding the implications of working with the media. Participating PLHAs gave this advice to PLHAs who intend to interact with the media:
• PLHAs need to first come to terms with their HIV-positive status and past experiences.
• PLHAs need to be prepared for possible stigmatisation and discrimination, which may also affect those related to or associated with the PLHA.
• PLHAs need to be prepared for possible shock reactions of their family and friends in response to public disclosure.
• PLHAs need to be assertive when interacting with media practitioners to ensure that their story is told in the way they intend it to be.

Advocate that media regulatory bodies accept ethical guidelines

PLHA organisations could play an active role in advocating for the integration into the existing media ethics. Following manuals are milestones:

HIV/AIDS in News-Journalists as Catalysts published by UNDP India and Population Foundation of India in 2005.
HIV/AIDS- Media Manual India -2007 published by The EU-India Media Initiative on HIV/AIDS
Mass Communication in prevention and control of AIDS- Strategies for Adolescents written by Dr. Archana, Rakesh Singh, Department of Mass Communication, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

PLHA organisations could approach editors and sub-editors of different Media Houses and Development of guidelines for media for the advocacy in all the languages.

Produce HIV/AIDS stigma-mitigation messages

One way in which a PLHA organisation or others can mitigate stigma is through the production of stigma-mitigating messages using various forms of media – print, television and radio. Some positive examples of stigma-mitigation messages in the media include:
My Brother Nikhal and Phir Milaga are two very useful movies for masses to understated different issues related with HIV/AIDS.
Living Openly – a book highlighting the lives and experiences of People living with HIV/AIDS in India, commissioned by the NACO News letter.
Jina Kada Na Mani Har (Positive Living of HIV+ People) – A weekly article in Punjabi Tribune on Positive Speakers by Dr. Avnish Jolly from December 2006 to March 2007.
Soul City – television, radio and print media campaigns are researched to ensure that the information and messages they broadcast are sensitive and correct.
Bush Radio’s daily Positive Living show, which is presented by a PLHA
Steps for the Future (a range of short documentaries addressing HIV/ AIDS which have been aired on television, in cinemas and are available on video)
Beat It and Positive – both television programmes with a stigmamitigation message and presented by PLHAs

Address stigma with members of PLHA organizations

PLHA organisations can target stigma directly by addressing the topic with members and running training courses on the topic. Knowledge of the nature and effects of stigma can enable members of PLHA organisations to effectively address the topic with others in their own capacity.

Dr. Avnish Jolly