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HIV+ve couple poison their 3 kids, commit suicide
Mumbai, Aug 6 (IANS) A couple killed their three children by giving them poison early Wednesday morning and then committed suicide by hanging here after learning that the husband was suffering from AIDS, the police said.
Babu Eeshwar Tevar, who was a distributor for Tamil language films, and his wife Amuri took the extreme step after he was diagnosed with AIDS, Babus brother Arumugam told the police.
Arumugam, who returned home from the night shift, discovered the bodies at Babus home on Goregaon-Mulund Link Road in the northeastern suburb of Mulund, the police said.
SindhToday.net
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International AIDS Conference 2008 Mexico – Day 3
Hi everyone,
So today was Day 3 at the conference and a really good (though thankfully short) day. I had my poster to do today, so after that finished this afternoon I skipped the last sessions of the day to relax! But considering I was there at 6:30am, it felt like a pretty full day. So here's what I did/thought about today:
(1) I went to the early morning satellite session that Hans suggested on ARV Best Practices for IDUs run by the Open Society Institute. I had no idea that OSI was doing this session and found out after the fact that one of my really good friends back in NYC who works for OSI organized it. They are in the process of publishing a book based on the subject of this session (all the presenters have written a chapter), so I will make sure my friend gets that in my hands as soon as it's published (which should be very shortly). The session was really excellent and I left them my business card so they can send me the presenters' PPT slides, but here are the highlights.
- Background: IDUs are often put in the position of choosing between oral substitution therapy (OST) and ART because too often services are not integrated; however, ongoing injection has been found to be associated with non-adherence to ART. In addition, because IDUs generally do not seek out health and social services while using, harm reduction programmes serve an important role as a bridge between hard-to-reach drug using populations and these clinical and support services.
- A one-site model for comprehensive care is ideal. This approach should ideally include: treatment for psychological co-morbidities (depression), management of ART and OI side effects and pain (because IDUs are accutely sensitive to pain and this may push them back into medicating with injectable drugs), adherence counseling (which ideally also includes peers and family, when possible). There is also some suggestion that DOT (directly observed therapy - basically a community health worker administering/observing client taking daily ART) may improve ART adherence with this population, however, the drawbacks to this approach are increased staff time and further stigmatization of the IDU. In particular, programmes should also seek to reach out to women IDUs through reproductive health services, PMTCT, and OST for pregant women. -
Pvt physicians giving wrong medication to HIV patients
MEXICO CITY: Getting treated for HIV from your neighbourhood doctor could be seriously putting your life in danger. A first-of-its kind study, conducted by WHO for Indias National AIDS Control Organisation estimates that nearly 10,000 HIV infected people - being treated by private physicians in India - were following irrational drug combinations and faulty regimens.
This was making them resistant to the first line anti-retroviral (ART) drugs faster than usual. The study, presented at the 17th International AIDS Conference here, made another startling revelation - some Indian pharma companies were delivering the highly toxic ART drugs directly to the homes of HIV patients to overcome the patients reluctance to visit pharmacies, in fear of stigma and discrimination.
The survey, conducted in Delhi and Kolkata over three months from October 2007, also found that more than 1,500 patients being treated by private physicians had already been put on the second line ART. Around 17% of the drugs being recommended by these private practitioners to hapless patients were single ingredient drugs, while the standard international protocol to treat HIV patients is to give them a triple drug combination therapy.
Also, due to high cost of ART drugs, patients purchase them usually for 7-10 days before discontinuing treatment.
Kountenya Sinha, for TNN
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2.5m HIV patients to get NREGS cards
NEW DELHI: For 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, mostly shunned by society, the Centre has decided to play employer by promising to provide them with job cards and employment under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).
In addition, around one lakh people with HIV, who are receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) at 174 centres across the country, would be treated as belonging to the below poverty line (BPL) category, ensuring them 35 kg of foodgrain every month under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
These promises were part of the 19-point proposal made public for the first time by the Centre before the Supreme Court on Tuesday to make the lives of HIV positive people a lot better.
Dhananjay Mahapatra, for The Times of India -
Every month, 500 more kids to go on ART
MEXICO CITY: In a massive scale-up of life-saving anti-retroviral treatment (ART) for paediatric cases, 500 new HIV infected children are being placed on ART every month by India's National AIDS Control Programme, a top official told TOI on the sidelines of the 17th International AIDS Conference here.
Paediatric HIV drugs are also being made available in all the 174 ART centres in India so that children get equal importance against adults as far as treatment for the deadly disease is concerned.
ART will increase the lifespan of these infected children by 10-15 years. With a paediatric drug formulation guideline in place, which was created by the Indian Academy of Paediatrics for Naco in 2006, toxic HIV drugs are no longer being administered to children by dividing fractions of adult formulations according to the childs age, which often led to under- or over-dosage, causing resistance to the drug.
Koutenya Sinha, for TNN -
Fatal AIDS cases in Goa touch 466 mark
PANAJI - The Red Ribbon Express (RRE), a project of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) will witness a seven coach train stopping at the Margao rail junction on August 17 and 18 with an aim to spread awareness about the fatal disease in the rural areas, just as the figure of deaths from AIDS in the state reached 466, as on May 31, 2008.
The statistics provided by the monitoring and evaluation unit of the Goa State AIDS Control Society (GSACS) point out 91 such deaths during the year 2005, which climbed to 108 and 109 during the years 2006 and 2007, respectively, and were 51 this year, up to May 31, 2008.
The statistics also maintained that the state has registered altogether 10,752 HIV positive cases - 7,266 males and 3,486 females - from 1987 to May 31, 2008, with the state positivity rate being 6.32 per cent. The figures further inform that two HIV-TB co-infection cases were detected during the month of June 2008 at the Integrated Counselling and Test Centre (ICTC) in the state.
The Navhind Times
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Researchers moot daily pill to keep HIV at bay
Mexico City: Can a pill a day help prevent infection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS?
No one knows. But researchers in a number of countries are conducting trials and planning others to test the unproven strategy that a daily pill, or a combination of drugs, can prevent HIV.
By mid-2009, more people will be enrolled in such trials than in all of those for HIV vaccines and microbicides, the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition said in a report issued here on Sunday at the start of the 17th International AIDS Conference.
Lawrence K. Altman, for The New York Times -
International AIDS Conference 2008 Mexico – Day 2
Hi all,
Just wanted to send you another little update after my second day here at the International AIDS Conference. A few things that came up or that I was thinking of throughout the day:
(1) There was a young woman who spoke during the morning plenary session named Thembi Ngubane who does a radio diary of being a young person living with HIV. You can visit the website at www.aidsdiary.org. She was really great and her story is really moving. While I was listening to her, I was wondering if it would be possible for us to start a similar project for WUP. Like, could we find several young people who represent the different faces of HIV/AIDS in Pune (a slum dweller, a university student, a corporate professional, etc.) who would be willing to keep an audio diary or a blog that could be accessed through the WUP website? They wouldn't have to use their real names or show any photographs, just tell the story of their day to day lives both living with HIV and as just normal young people. I think this would really help to get the message out there that people with HIV are just like everyone else and would help address the stigma of living with the virus. It could also serve as a platform for moving young people who might otherwise feel discriminated against from the shadows and into advocacy and activism, which I think would be very personally empowering for them. What do you think? Has anything like this been tried before?
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International AIDS Conference 2008 Mexico – Day 1
Hey all,
Just wanted to send you a little update from Mexico. I made it here safely yesterday and ironically enough Azzi was on my flight just 5 rows behind me!! So we got to hang out some and are planning for margaritas later in the week. Nothing much really happened yesterday since it was the first day and the opening session wasn't until the evening. I did find some Indian NGOs in the Global Village, but there wasn't really anyone manning their booths yet so I will go back and stalk them later in the week. I did meet someone from Saheli though! Such a small world.
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