At least 70,000 newly-born babies HIV positive in Nigeria: official | Look At Vietnam

At least 70,000 newly-born babies HIV positive in Nigeria: official

April 15, 2012

The Nigerian government on Thursday said about 70,000 newly born babies in the West African country are HIV positive.
Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) John Idoko disclosed this in Nigeria’s southwestern state of Ogun during a call on State governor Ibikunle Amosun in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Idoko also said HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria were prevalent among Nigerian pregnant women.
He stressed that the agency was ready to partner with the Ogun State government on preventive policy.
Idoko called for the improvement of the State Action Committee on AIDS (SACA) to be able to fight the spread of the scourge.
According to him, the agency was willing to collaborate with any agency to improve the health status of the Nigerian people.
Idoko urged all levels of government to assist the agency in strengthening the fight against HIV/AIDS and other related diseases, saying the agency would work hard to eliminate mother- to-child transmission.
VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

UK to give US$114 million aid to Vietnam

May 27, 2011 about Uncategorized

LookAtVietnam -
Before officially stopping its direct aid to Vietnam in 2016, the UK’s
non-refundable aid for Vietnam by 2015, will reach £70 million (around US$114
million), according to an agreement side on May 26.

Minister of State, Alan Duncan MP and Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc at the signing ceremony.

On May 26, UK
Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan and Vietnamese
Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc signed the UK-Vietnam
strategic partnership agreement for the 2011-2014 period in Hanoi.

Under the agreement, the UK
has committed itself to providing up to £70 million in aid to Vietnam until
2015.

The funding aims to support Vietnam in meeting the
Millennium Development Goals; achieving strong growth that is inclusive,
low-carbon and led by the private sector, along with strengthening efforts to
tackle corruption and enhance accountability.

The signing took place after the two governments stated to
heighten their relations to strategic partnership last September.

The UK
will replace Sweden as the
lead donor on anti-corruption in Vietnam.

“I am pleased to have agreed the next five years of our
development partnership. The aid commitment enshrined in the DPA Amendment
today, together with our new role as lead donor on anti-corruption in Vietnam, shows the great importance that the UK attaches to the bilateral relationship with Vietnam,” said Duncan.

The UK
and Vietnam
entered into a ten year DPA in 2006. By 2011, The UK, through the Department
for International Development (DFID), has granted over £380 million (US$619
million) in aid to Vietnam.

In addition, since 2006 nearly £19 million (US$30.95
million) in debt relief has been granted to Vietnam through the Multilateral
Debt Relief Initiative for humanitarian efforts.

In March 2011, the UK
confirmed that its aid to Vietnam
would end by 2016, marking the conclusion of the DPA.

Chung Hoang

Raising funds for Autistic Children & People with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam

 A group of five artists from Ireland will give traditional music and dance shows in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to raise funds for autistic children and people with HIV/AIDS.

American violinist Athena Tergis and Irish folk musician Mick Moloney will perform at the concerts in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

The All Star Irish Traditional Music and Dance Concert will feature Mick Moloney, John Murphy, and Frank Crocker from Ireland and Athena Tergis, an American violinist who specialises in traditional Irish music.

They will perform traditional Irish tunes and contemporary music on the violin, banjo, mandolin, and guitar and be accompanied by world champion dancer Niall O’Leary.

The first concert will be held at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh Cityon May 23 and followed by the other at the Youth Theatre in Hanoi on May 25.

The concerts are jointly organised by the Irish Embassy in Hanoi and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s Performing Arts Department.

Source: Nhan Dan

Denied access to HIV/Aids

Most gay men in Asia-Pacific region 'denied HIV care'

HIV-positive Indians have been campaigning for better healthcare Some 90% of gay men in the Asia-Pacific region are denied access to HIV/Aids help because of discriminatory laws in many states, a UN-backed report says. Almost half the region's countries criminalise gay male sex and the report says this is worsening a situation in which infection rates are climbing. Repressive laws "often take on the force of vigilantism", it argues. Governments were urged to reform legal systems and policing to ensure an effective response to the crisis. The report, produced jointly by the UN Development Programme and the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health, noted that several countries including Nepal, India, the Philippines and South Korea had brought in new laws and policies to address the problem. "However, these are exceptional developments and action is required to improve the legal environment in all countries," it added. 'Condoms seized' The report said the high-risk group, which includes homosexuals and bisexuals, can potentially account for between 10 and 30% of new HIV infections in a typical Asian country. Nineteen out of 48 countries in the region criminalised male-to-male sex and these laws often led to abuse and human rights violations, it said. Punishments for sex between men ranged from the death penalty in Afghanistan and north-west Pakistan to whipping in Malaysia and Indonesia's Aceh region, the report found. Even if punishments were not enforced, they provided the basis for extortion, harassment and violence, it said. Police enforced public order and prostitution laws selectively against gay men in some countries, the report went on. In Sri Lanka and the Philippines, for example, vagrancy laws were used in this way, the report said. Another abuse reported in countries such as Thailand and India was the confiscation of condoms as evidence of illegality. In China and Singapore, the report found, HIV education materials were censored. "The effectiveness of the HIV response will depend not just on the sustained scale up of HIV prevention, treatment and care, but on whether the legal and social environment support or hinder programmes for those who are most vulnerable," the UNDP's Mandeep Dhaliwal said in a statement.

HIV/AIDS likely to spread quickly in Vietnam - HIV/AIDS likely to spread quickly in Vietnam

HIV/AIDS likely to spread quickly in Vietnam

HIV/AIDS is likely to spread quickly in Vietnam, especially among children, warned the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Association at its congress in Hanoi on July 4.

Established on August 1^st, 2007, the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Association has set to work to raise awareness in the community of the importance of combating the deadly disease and assist HIV/AIDS carriers in getting access to medical treatments.

According to the association’s Vice President, Dr. Tran Thi Phuong Mai, the association has explored an approach to training healthy, volunteer HIV carriers to develop skills that they can later use to care for and give counselling to both others with the disease and families of the infected.

Adopting this approach, the association, in collaboration with the US ’s RAAS Company, organised two courses in Hanoi and the Mekong delta city of Can Tho for 73 HIV carriers.

It has also coordinated with the Health Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department to hold seven training courses for 700 health workers in Hanoi, northern Hai Phong city, central Da Nang city, Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho.
The association aims to open three more courses for HIV carriers in Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, and set up chapters in localities with high infection rates of HIV/AIDS by 2010 before expanding its operations to other cities and provinces.

The Health Ministry’s HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Department reported that as of June 16, 146,611 people in the country are carrying the HIV virus, among whom 31,889 have developed full blown AIDS. It also reported that 42,771 people have died of the disease. VNA/VOVNe

Nation urged to fight HIV/AIDS

Deputy PM Truong Vinh Trong has called for fresh efforts to curb the disease
Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong yesterday urged the whole nation to redouble efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Volunteers distribute leaflets on HIV/AIDS to migrant labourers at Ha Noi’s Long Bien Market. The move marks World AIDS Day which falls today.The deputy PM made the comments at a meeting held in Ha Noi on the occasion of the World AIDS Day, which is marked today.
"The success of our fight against HIV/AIDS will depend on awareness, responsibility and the actions of each of us," stressed Trong.
"More than ever, now is the time for us to lead, empower and deliver in the fight against HIV/AIDS."
More than 1.5 million people participated in events to mark the day held across the nation, with the theme ‘Lead – Empower – Deliver’.
Trong suggested that HIV/AIDS prevention activities focus on programmes that aim to change behaviours in regards to AIDS as well as support people living with HIV and HIV intervention in the community.
Trong also called for more financial resources and support from governments and international organisations involved in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Viet Nam.
Speaking at the meeting, Country Director of UNAIDS Viet Nam Eamonn Murphy also called on people to work together to help drug users and prostitutes have access to safe injection needles, condoms and HIV tests as well as treatment services.
"The message for next year will be about the need for further prevention against HIV," said Murphy.
At the event, Nguyen Thi Hai, who is HIV positive, talked about her struggle in coping with the disease as well as her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"I hope leaders at all levels would create more favourable conditions and further support people with HIV to get treatment and integrate into the community," said Hai.
"We at least need a chance to work and to take care of themselves."
Hai also called on all HIV/AIDS victims to get involved in useful work for themselves, their families and the whole society.
In mid November, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism and the Viet Nam’s Fatherland Front launched the National Action Month for HIV/AIDS prevention with the aim of improving knowledge about the issue at all leadership levels, ministries, branches, social organisations and across the society at large.
The campaign worked on reducing the stigma of HIV/AIDS victims and discrimination against them. The month was organised on the occasion of the World AIDS Day December 1 with the slogan ‘Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise’.
A movement aimed at getting everyone involved in HIV/AIDS control and prevention at the community level was also launched last moth in an effort to mobilise the whole nation to the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, by end of October 2008, Viet Nam had 135,171 HIV positive people, of them 29,134 had full-blown AIDS and 41,418 died from the disease. People with HIV live in all of the nation’s provinces and cities, most of its districts and nearly 70 per cent of all communes, wards, townships and local administrative units.
(Source: Viet Nam News)

Businesses In Cambodia Should Address Unsafe Practices In Commercial Sex Industry, AIDS Authority Says

As Cambodia's commercial sex industry increasingly moves away from brothels and into businesses such as karaoke bars and beer gardens, the country's National AIDS Authority is calling on private businesses to address unsafe sex practices in the industry, the Phnom Penh Post reports. According to NAA Secretary-General Teng Kunthy, a focus should be placed on ensuring that private businesses provide sex education and are more integrated into health services. "We think that the change of behaviors is a new challenge, as high-risk behaviors become associated with beer promotion and mobile work," Kunthy said, adding, "As a result, we need to make connections with the private sector." According to a recent report from NAA, although Cambodia in 2002 adopted HIV/AIDS-related legislation, "enforcement and implementation in workplaces and the private sector is weak." It added, "This is especially important to gain access to businesses where there is a high reluctance to implement HIV prevention measures."In particular, the construction industry in Cambodia poses an issue, according to NAA. The industry primarily is based on small companies that hire male workers who are mobile and work on short-term construction projects, making it difficult to ensure that the industry is providing workers with appropriate HIV/AIDS information -- including the risks of engaging in sex with commercial sex workers (Sokheng, Phnom Penh Post, 11/5). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org/. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Increased Crystal Meth Use Threatens Cambodia's HIV/AIDS Progress

Large-scale crystal methamphetamine use in Cambodia could present new challenges to the country's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, according to nongovernmental organizations working in the country, IRIN/PlusNews reports.According to IRIN/PlusNews, studies have found that methamphetamine use is associated with high-risk sexual behavior, which can increase the risk of HIV transmission. In addition, preliminary research data has shown that methamphetamine use might accelerate the onset of HIV-related dementia or interfere with the effectiveness of antiretroviral drugs. The increase in methamphetamine use in Cambodia "looms as a threat to reversing the HIV prevalence trend," Frederick Curtis, senior technical officer for drug use at Family Health International in Cambodia, said.Cambodia's HIV prevalence decreased from 3.7% in 1997 to 0.9% in 2006, according to UNAIDS. However, 35.1% of injection drug users in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Pehn were HIV-positive in 2007, an increase from 14% in 2006, according to statistics from the National Authority for Combating Drugs (IRIN/PlusNews, 10/30).

A little boy who dreams of school

The five-year-old boy lost all trace of his previously shy look as he reached out to the performance on stage, a show of dazzling coloured lights at the Friendship Cultural Palace in Hanoi.
Five-year-old Nguyen Van Nam is seen at the window of the Trade Union Guesthouse before taking part in the International Children’s Day event.A performance like this may be nothing new for city children, but for Nguyen Van Nam, an HIV-infected child from northern Thai Binh Province, it was like a fantastic dream.
It was the first time Nam, not his real name, had ever visited the capital city. He was here to enjoy International Children’s Day. It was the largest-ever celebration for HIV/AIDS children in Vietnam.
Organised by the Ministry of Health, it was attended by about 500 infected children between the ages of five and 15 from 35 of the nation’s 64 cities and provinces.
Nam was born HIV-positive in 2003. One year later, his parents died of AIDS complications and he was left in the care of his grandparents, who are farmers.
Nam was too shy to talk about himself. His grandfather, who prefers to remain anonymous, simply wanted to say: "Thank you."
According to the Viet Nam Administrators for HIV/AIDS Control, there are more than 3,500 children under the age of 16 years living with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. Of these, about 1,100 lack health insurance.
Deputy director of the ministry’s Treatment Department, Le Thi Huong, said about 80 per cent of the cost of their insurance would be paid by the Viet Nam Insurance Corporation, while the rest would be sought from other sources, such as the Viet Nam Fund for Poor Children – or funds for children infected with HIV/AIDS.
Simple things like eating and playing are very meaningful for children such as Nam, but something is missing. Nam’s grandfather, who took him to the Children’s Day, said the boy was stigmatised for carrying the virus.
Kept out
He said that discrimination from teachers and parents had blocked his grandson’s way to school.
Nam’s health has recently improved, thanks to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. However, no kindergarten in his area will enrol him.
"I know that the country’s law allows children infected with HIV/AIDS to study with normal children, so why is my grandson not welcome at school?
My wife and I are old. We worry about Nam’s future," said the grandfather. Nam is one of many children infected with HIV/AIDS who have been rejected by schools because of their health status.
A deputy principal of a Ha Noi-based pre-secondary school, who wants to remain anonymous, said she was willing to receive children infected with HIV/AIDS to her school as was required by Government’s regulation.
However, she said infected children would not receive special or separate treatment in class.
"If the children received special care, it would affect their integration. Besides, other children’s parents would boycott the kindergarten," she said.
Head of the Hai Duong Provincial Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, Doan Minh, who took three affected children to the special event, said direct talk between consultants and parents was very important because it would decide whether the infected children could study in school.
"Once I was asked by parents if I would bring my daughter into a classroom where there were children with HIV," Minh said.
"Fear of a disease is very natural. I think if people understood it and knew about prevention, their worries would be dispelled."
Minh said his centre’s staff regularly visited localities to solve problems for children living with HIV/AIDS. It was frequently necessary to invoke the Government’s regulation that allows infected children to study together with normal children – and then organise direct talk with parents about HIV/AIDS.
"To prevent stigma and discrimination from the community, especially at school, it’s necessary to improve the knowledge of the local authorities, parents and especially the teachers, who have direct communication with parents," said Minh.
Nam’s road to education remains long, but his grandparents live in the hope that, one day, he will be able to go to school and be treated as a normal child.
(Source: Viet Nam News