Tagged: HIV
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FHI 360’s Deputy Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Robert Chiegil, spoke with Voice of America’s health correspondent Linord Moudou yesterday about reducing the impact of HIV and TB in Nigeria and other African countries. Watch the video below.
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More than half of the world’s population is under the age of 30 and has never lived in a time without AIDS. Despite the steady progress of our collective scientific and community efforts to end the HIV epidemic, the lives of young people continue to be especially vulnerable. To bring attention to this ongoing crisis and to commit ourselves to achieving an AIDS-free generation, today marks the first National Youth HIV and AIDS Awareness Day.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 50,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV each year. Of those, one in four is between 13 and 24 years old. Further, CDC reports that nearly 60 percent of new infections in youth occur in African Americans, 20 percent in Latinos and about 20 percent in whites. In 2010, CDC estimates that 87 percent of the 12,000 annual infections in youth occurred among gay and bisexual young men. Nearly half of all new infections among American youth occur in African American males.
In a CDC Vital Signs report released for World AIDS Day 2012, the agency noted that “about 60 percent of youth do not know they are infected and so don’t receive treatment, putting them at risk for sickness and early death. These youth can also unknowingly pass HIV to others.”
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Having multiple sexual partners, particularly when relationships overlap in time, is a major driver of the HIV epidemic. Overlapping, or concurrent, relationships increase the number of people who are connected in a “sexual network,” and HIV spreads more quickly the larger the sexual network. Although young people report having multiple sexual partners, few HIV prevention programs for youth tackle this topic.
FHI 360, on behalf of USAID’s Interagency Youth Working Group, recently helped address this gap with a new publication, Promoting Partner Reduction: Helping Young People Understand and Avoid HIV Risks from Multiple Partnerships. The late Dr. Doug Kirby of ETR Associates was a major contributor.
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In 2010, around 390,000 children under age 15 became infected with HIV, mainly through mother-to-child transmission. However, with effective interventions, mother-to-child transmission can be virtually eliminated to save the lives of thousands of children every year. One effective, evidence-based intervention is the preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) component of FHI 360’s Zambia Prevention, Care and Treatment Partnership (ZPCT). This USAID-funded program, which ran from 2004–2009 —and was renewed through 2014 as ZPCT II— serves as a model for other countries.The ZPCT I program increased the percentage of pregnant women in antenatal clinics who accepted HIV tests and received test results from 45 to 99 percent. Among women who tested positive for HIV, the program increased the percentage of women who received a full course of antiretroviral prophylaxis from 29 to 100 percent. Most importantly, observational data from ZPCT sites showed an HIV acquisition rate of 6.5 percent among children ages 0 to 6 weeks where the mother and infant received interventions, compared with 20 percent where no intervention was given to either mother or baby. The fact that this highly effective intervention costs merely US$113–126 per mother makes a compelling case for replicating it in other contexts.
To support program designers who wish to replicate this program, FHI 360 produced Preventing Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Implementation Starter Kit. This starter kit describes and provides access to all programmatic materials and tools (such as training materials and job aids) used by ZPCT and provides basic guidance on replicating effective programs. We hope that such an effective and low-cost intervention will be reproduced in other country contexts and that it will generate the same life-saving results.
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World AIDS Day 2012: A Shared Vision of Getting to Zero
FHI 360 has been partnering toward an AIDS-free generation since the beginning of the epidemic. As we approach World AIDS Day 2012, FHI 360 experts examine next steps needed to tackle HIV/AIDS for good. We’ll discuss new enhancements in the testing and treatment of women during pregnancy and in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We’ll also take a look at the HIV treatment cascade and how it can help people to take the initiative to learn their HIV status and close some of the gaps in treatment and service. Finally, we will share perspectives from the field with a program profile and success story.
As we look to the future, from our work in Cambodia to Kenya to the U.S., FHI 360 will continue to partner toward a shared vision of “getting to zero.”
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Cascade Helps Keep People Coming Back for HIV Treatment
Last year, we celebrated 30 years of progress in the fight against AIDS. This year, let’s celebrate World AIDS Day by looking forward.
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The road to elimination of new pediatric HIV infections: FHI 360’s contribution
We’ve been at this challenge of preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV for more than a decade, and the international community is looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of everyone’s efforts...
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One day at a time: A closer look at Zambia
FHI 360 supports Zambia’s Ministry of Health to create conditions in which newborns can enter the world HIV free. With support from USAID and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and under the Zambia Prevention Care and Treatment Partnership (ZPCT II), FHI 360 is working to...
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HIV early infant diagnostic: Opportunity and challenge to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV
The last decade has seen significant progress in the implementation of PMTCT programs. Success has been measured using process indicators, such as the number of pregnant women provided with counseling and testing services...
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Toward elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Zambia: Early infant diagnosis specimen referral system
Great progress is being made toward eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Zambia...
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FHI 360 Commends PEPFAR Blueprint Release; Reinforces Commitment to Shared Vision of ‘Getting to Zero’
FHI 360 applauds today’s release of the PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation.
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Expanding access to male circumcision in Zambia: The ZPCT II experience
Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) is among the most efficacious HIV prevention tools available, reducing the risk of acquisition by as much as 60 percent according to published data from randomized clinical trials...
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Building a strong partnership with community is essential to ending AIDS
This has been a tremendous year in the fight against AIDS. One year ago, at the National Institutes of Health, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a historic speech calling for an “AIDS-free generation"...
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A version of this post originally appeared on Natural Medicine. Reposted with permission.
A new study published in the on line journal Nature Medicine over the weekend brings exciting news in the race to find an AIDS vaccine. Researchers from the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) have found that a key change in the outer coating of the HIV virus allowed two HIV positive women to develop “broadly neutralizing antibodies,” which are antibodies that can be used to target and fight most strains of HIV.
The first broadly neutralizing antibodies were discovered over three years ago, and since then dozens more have been identified. But until now, researchers haven’t been able to pinpoint how they develop, which is critical to developing a vaccine. The new findings establish a link between a change in the virus after infection and the formulation of the antibodies that fight it.
According to Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the study is “an important step in trying to understand just how these broadly neutralizing antibodies evolve.”
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The past three years have seen tremendous breakthroughs in HIV prevention research. Since 2009, we have seen the first vaccine to show effectiveness, a microbicide that was found to be modestly efficacious and two studies demonstrating that an HIV medication could be used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis or could reduce new infections by treating those with HIV earlier. These advances have led many to herald a new era in our 30-year campaign to end the epidemic.
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Turning the Tide: Increasing Access to HIV Prevention and Care for Men Who Have Sex with Men in Ghana
An Interview with
Kim Green, Deputy Country Director for Ghana, FHI 360
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The Co-founder of National HIV Testing Day asks, “Why do we need a special day for HIV testing?"
Written by
Today, June 27, is National HIV Testing Day in the United States. It is an observance that is now recognized in many countries around the globe. Why set aside a special day for something that should be a routine part of medical care for people at risk of getting HIV? Because ending the stigma of HIV and creating multiple opportunities for testing is an urgent need in our effort to create an AIDS-free generation.
In the late 1980s, many of my friends had died of AIDS or were very sick. The decision to get an HIV test was not an easy one. But in 1986, I went for an HIV test at Whitman-Walker Clinic in Washington, DC, because it was important for me to know my HIV status. This was at a time when there were few treatment options, and the testing process involved a long and scary wait for your results. In 1995, I worked with my colleagues at the National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and we created National HIV Testing Day. This effort was designed to help reduce the stigma of HIV testing and to normalize it as a component of regular health screening. At that time, there was a lot of fear about testing. Because there were few treatments, many thought it unnecessary. People who were known to be HIV positive were subjected to being fired from their jobs or becoming victims of violence. At NAPWA, we believed it was important to confront this situation by encouraging people to “Take the Test, Take Control.” We also believed that the more of us who stood up, the less the world would be able to ignore the epidemic.
Last week, members of parliament in Zimbabwe provided the type of leadership needed in the United States and worldwide to end the stigma of HIV testing. Over 47 legislators, and 60 of their staff, underwent voluntary counseling and public testing for HIV in an effort to encourage other citizens to follow suit. As a result, Blessing Chebundo, chairman of the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against AIDS, told SW Radio Africa that, “181 people went through the doors for testing, and 23 men underwent circumcision (proven to reduce the risk of HIV infection).”
Today, there are dozens of treatments available to keep people with HIV healthy. There is excitement also about the progress we are making in biomedical prevention interventions such as circumcision, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and treatment as prevention. HIV testing itself is easier and quicker with results available in 20 minutes. The promise of these new opportunities begins with everyone knowing their HIV status without fear of discrimination, stigma or violence.
To learn more about National HIV Testing Day, visit the website here.