UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
======================================================== SEA-AIDSFLASH Number Twelve - 2 August 1996 The bi-weekly electronic news digest on HIV and AIDS in the South East Asia Region (Subscriber total today: 496) ________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS - Reducing HIV/AIDS in children - what can be done? - Media coverage of the HIV/AIDS from the region/Vancouver - New information and resources available in SEA-AIDSFiles - Forthcoming events, meetings and training in the SE Asia region - How to retrieve materials from SEA-AIDSFiles REDUCING HIV/AIDS IN CHILDREN - WHAT CAN BE DONE? Announcements about new effective drug combinations for the treatment of AIDS prompted much discussion about access and affordability of such drugs at the recent AIDS conference in Vancouver. The calls for better collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry and price subsidies for developing countries are shrouded with doubts about the real efficacy of new regimes though, and action in response to these requests will need further trial results and information at the very least. But there is one area (mentioned very little at the Vancouver conference) in which no further information or results are needed to understand the potential impact of immediate action: preventing the perinatal transmission of HIV. In South and South-East Asia around 500 children are born each day with HIV infection. Perinatal transmission of HIV can be reduced by a combination of voluntary pre-marital screening, anti-retroviral treatment, advice on breastfeeding, and evidence is also emerging to indicate that duration of labour can influence perinatal transmission rates. Such interventions are not widely implemented in the region, despite the fact that with AZT treatment alone preventing over 100,000 pediatric infections is possible. This issue of AIDSFlash focuses on mother-to-child HIV transmission, and provides the background information available on the extent and prevention of perinatal HIV transmission in the region, and recommendations for action that have been proposed by various organizations. MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE VANCOUVER CONFERENCE South East Asia news (news 19.txt; 41.5Kb): - A Shot in the Dark (HIV vaccine trials in Thailand) - Thai Government Unveils New Anti-AIDS Plan - Laos, Cambodia still on track to join ASEAN - Shared prosperity expected to be ASEAN theme - AIDS Cases Increase Rapidly in India - European Union expresses concerns to Burma - Thai workers protest against foreign worker plan - Burma cordially welcomed as ASEAN observer - Asian Members Seek "Functional Cooperation" - Family Planning, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and the Prevention of AIDS--Divided We Fail? - Japan health chief decries drug firms' AIDS effort - STD Control Plays Important Role In Reducing The Spread of HIV - Cambodia agrees to resettle Vietnamese refugees - Banharn unveils new plan to fight AIDS [Thailand] - Prenatal HIV tests proposed - Aids threatens future of Cambodia's military - AIDS a bigger danger to army than Khmer Rouge - Thailand cited for progress in controlling spread of virus - Rural migration to city fuels AIDS spread - AIDS forum will hold meet in August Late-breaking news and coverage from the Vancouver conference (news20.txt; 37.7Kb): - Scientists Display Substantial Gains in AIDS Treatment - Worry, Hope At AIDS Conference: Breakthroughs have too high a price for many - Message links AIDS and poverty, but action unknown - AIDS Experts' Plea - Help Women New forms of protection urged - Babies in poor nations need AIDS protection - World health officials warn of TB, AIDS symbiosis - AIDS Therapy Faces a Turning Point - Patients Challenge Drug 'Cocktails' - AZT Use Cuts HIV Births - Other STD's Foster AIDS Spread - Crisis of women, babies with AIDS focus of conference - AIDS's Economic Impact Contradictory, Complex NEW INFORMATION AND RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN SEA-AIDSFILES The following information/materials have recently been added to the SEA-AIDSFiles archives (see below for retrieval instructions): Outline of the Philippine National HIV/AIDS Strategy - June 1996 (plpub11.txt; 12.8Kb) Latest AIDS/HIV updates - Philippines (July 1996) >From The Health Action Information Network (esgen2.txt; 2.5Kb) Thailand puts people first - an interview with Thailand National, Economic and Social Development Board Deputy Secretary-General Thammarak Karnpisit - the Eight Social Development Plan for Thailand (plpub12; 5.7Kb) The Status And Trends Of The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic (Asia-related sections from the report of a two-day symposium held in Vancouver by AIDSCAP/FHI, the Frangois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights of the Harvard School of Public Health and UNAIDS (esgen3.txt; 28.5Kb) AIDS: A Global Response - Editorial from the July 1996 issue of SCIENCE magazine by Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS (plun35.txt; 5.1Kb) Opening statement by Dr. Peter Piot of UNAIDS, Vancouver XI Conference, July 1996 (plun36.txt; 6.9Kb) Remarks from the Opening Ceremony by Eric Sawyer of ACT-UP, XI International Conference on AIDS, Vancouver July 1996 (conf20.txt; 8.9Kb) AIDS and Tuberculosis Reproduced from The Newsletter of the Thai Business Coalition on AIDS (First Quarter 1996 edition) (care23.txt; 2.5Kb) Thailand needs baby boom - say researchers by Ampa Santimatanedol, Bangkok Post 22 July 1996 (popdm2.txt; 6.7Kb) Vancouver in Perspective by John S. James (Editor of AIDS Teatment News) (conf18.txt; 18.0Kb) Two articles from the final conference newsletter of the IX International Conference on AIDS, Vancouver. Globalisation responsible for increasing HIV vulnerability, and UNAIDS: High hopes, higher expectations greet revamped program structure by Mitchell Beer (conf19.txt; 10.1Kb) *** Resources on HIV/AIDS and children: Prevention of Perinatal HIV Infection by the Use of AZT Dr. Chaiyos Khunanusont, AIDS Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health (Thailand) (stdis15.txt; 9.4Kb) Overview of Pediatric AIDS in Thailand Dr. Damrong Boonyoen ,Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Bangkok, Thailand (stdis16.txt; 11.2Kb) Pediatric AIDS: The Thai Situation Nathan Shaffer, HIV/AIDS Collaboration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA), Bangkok, Thailand (stdis17.txt; 6.8Kb) Timing and Associated Factors of Perinatal HIV transmission Marc Lailemant, Harvard AIDS Institute, Boston, USA (stdis18.txt; 10.4Kb) Perinatal Transmission of HIV-1 [in Thailand] Anuvat Roongpisuthipong et al (stdis19.txt; 4.3Kb) Perinatal HIV Infection in Thailand Usa Thisyakorn et al (stdis20.txt; 13.9Kb) Preventing Perinatal Transmission of HIV in Developing Countries Richard Marlink, Harvard AIDS Institute, Cambridge, USA (stdis21.txt; 10.7Kb) Three articles linking duration of labour with perinatal HIV Transmission: "Broken water" linked to AIDS during birth - study June 20 (Reuter) Lifeline: HIV and Birth: USA Today (06/20/96) Efforts Target Prevention of Perinatal HIV Transmission, Journal of the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care - July 10, 1996 (stdis22.txt; 15.5Kb) Several sections reproduced from: Action for children affected by AIDS - a joint publication of WHO and UNICEF, 1994 Children and AIDS: a global perspective (stdis23.txt; 16.9Kb) Sitauation analysis and description of interventions In Thailand (stdis24.txt; 22.4Kb) Conclusions and lessons learned (stdis25.txt; 22.4Kb) The impact of HIV on children Brown T, Sittitrai W, Thisyakorn U, Mielke J, etal.. Program on AIDS. Research Report. Bangkok: Thai Red Cross Society, 1994 Sections presenting Recommendations for Action (stdis26.txt; 60.9Kb - a big file!) FORTHCOMING EVENTS, MEETINGS AND TRAINING IN OR FOR THE SE ASIA REGION The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) has made available the following resources that were presented at the XI International Conference on AIDS in Vancouver. If you are interested in receiving these resources, please send an e-mail to: mary@icrw.org and specify which one(s) you would like to receive. Fostering Linkages between the AIDS Community and the Violence Against Women Movement; Lessons Learned from Conducting Sexual Research; Women, Human Rights, and HIV/AIDS: Findings from the Women and AIDS Research Program. IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO ALREADY, WHY NOT send sea-aids details of forthcoming events and activities in the region. This might include meetings, seminars, forthcoming study tours, training opportunities or electronic events. Details should be sent to: tfran@mozart.inet.co.th INSTRUCTIONS FOR RETRIEVING FILES [YOU COULD PRINT THIS SECTION FOR FUTURE REFERENCE] The materials mentioned above are stored in a computer. The computer is like an electronic filing cabinet - it has drawers and files. You have to tell it which drawer to open and which file to select. Following each of the document descriptions above there is a number and a file name given in brackets. So for example, if you want to retrieve article Overview of Pediatric AIDS in Thailand (stdis16.txt; 11.2Kb). The number shows the size of the file (11.2 kilobytes in this case), and the filename first shows the name of the drawer (in this instance 'stdis') and then gives the file number (for this file it is 16). To obtain a copy of this document you send an e-mail to: ftpmail@inet.co.th with the following in the text of the message: open get /pub/sea-aids/stdis/stdis16.txt Other files can be retrieved using the same general format for your message. For example: open get /pub/sea-aids/drawername/filename Because these requests are answered automatically by computer, you must be very careful to copy the format of the message carefully (including spaces and slashes). If you would like further instructions for retrieving files in this way, send an e-mail to: majordomo@lists.inet.co.th with the following in the text of the message: get sea-aids retrev.idx Please let us know if you have any retrieval problems. FEEDBACK PLEASE! Please tell us what you like or do not like about sea- aids, or get in touch if you need any help using these services. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> AIDSFlash is produced as part of the sea-aids information support services by: UNAIDS Intercountry Team, UNESCAP Building (B359) Rajadamnoen Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200 Tel: (66 2) 288 2498 Fax: (66 2) 288 1092 Direct E-mail: tfran@mozart.inet.co.th >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>