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.