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AIDS: Importance of nutrition confirmed
In what may be the biggest study ever conducted in India, the Tamil Nadu State AIDS Control Society (TANSACS) has found conclusive evidence that providing micro and macronutrients to people living with HIV/AIDS greatly improves their health and quality of life.
The 18-month study undertaken in association with Duke University was started in September 2005 in the State. It was undertaken in three centres, covering 10 districts, that provide anti-retroviral therapy (ART).
It involved the supply of both micro and macronutrients to people, both adults and children, who were on ART as well as those who did not require it. The objective was to study how nutritional supplementation helped in improving the subjects health, which in turn improved the socio-economic parameters.
Macronutrient supplements (calories, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre) were provided to 10,780 people and micronutrient supplements (Vitamin A, B, C and folic acid, to name a few) in the form of tablets to 11,109.
The results are quite startling.
R. Prasad, for The Hindu -
Spread of HIV/Aids slows as awareness and drugs take hold
The HIV/Aids epidemic appears to be slowing, as evidence emerges of more cautious sexual behaviour and improved treatment in some of the worst-hit countries of the world, according to a new UN study.
Signs that work on preventing the spread of HIV is bearing fruit are flagged up today by UNAids' two-yearly report on the state of the epidemic.
In Rwanda and Zimbabwe, it finds, fewer people appear to be getting infected, apparently as the dangers of careless sex become better understood.
Sarah Boseley, for The Guardian -
No safe sex, condoms in books
In a country where 16 per cent of pregnancies include teenage girls and where sex education is still considered as a "taboo" to be mentioned in school curriculum, experts have decided to play it safe this time by deleting words like "condom" and "safe sex" from textbooks on the issue. Instead, it will be through "faithful to one's partner" and "abstinence" that students will be educated on the issue of sex education. And there will be not many illustrations and drawings on the issue in the new curriculum.
The revised module by National Aids Control Organisation (Naco) will have no mention of condom or safe sex on life-skill education programme and will focus on aspirations of youngsters. To achieve this, Naco is holding a meeting with NCERT to chalk out a revised syllabus, dealing with sex education. After meeting with NCERT, secretaries of all states will be consulted, followed with consultations with teachers and parents.
The Asian Age -
HIV/AIDS tragedy likely in northern states: NACO
Asking north Indian states not to wait till the number of HIV/AIDS cases rise for taking preventive measures, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) on Monday said respective governments in the region should take up proactive steps to control the epidemic or face a tragedy.
NACO Director General Sujatha Rao said many of the northern states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were "not paying attention" to the organisation and warned that they were going towards a tragic end.
"We keep reminding the northern states which have a low prevalence rate that they should not wait for the numbers to rise to take steps to control it. We keep reminding them that they should not go the tragic way," Rao said.
The Financial Express -
Queen of hills in HIV grip
New Delhi, July 28: Darjeeling, known as the queen of the hills, has emerged as a new HIV hotspot with two persons infected in every 100, according to the latest snapshot of Indias HIV epidemic from the National AIDS Control Organisation (Naco).
The northern Bengal district is among nine across India newly identified by Naco as emerging hotspots with HIV prevalence rates of more than 1 per cent - a cut-off public health experts say indicates that the infection is spreading from high-risk groups into the general population.
"Nine new districts (with a prevalence of over 1 per cent) have popped up," Naco director-general Kanuru Sujatha Rao said today. Patna, Banka and Sitamarhi in Bihar, Indore (Madhya Pradesh), Deogarh (Orissa), Kasargod (Kerala), Amreli (Gujarat), and Jangir-Champa in Chhattisgarh are the other additions to the club of 87 such high-burden districts.
G.S. Mudur, for The Telegraph -
AIDS widows honoured for fighting it out
MUMBAI: Widowed by AIDS, deserted by relatives and fired from her job after she was diagnosed as HIV positive, 40-year-old Reshma Koregaonkar (name changed) from Mangalwadi slum in Santa Cruz has had it tougher in life than most others. However, the mother of two, whose husband died of AIDS in 1996, hasn't been cowed down.
Soldiering on and diligently following her doctors' advice, she hopes for a brighter future someday.
"I look after myself now. I have to keep going, at least for my daughters' sake,'' she says. Koregaonkar has taken up a new job and is the sole breadwinner for her family.
Times of India -
Sex Trade Curbs in India Will Increase Violence, Exploitation and HIV/AIDS Rate
A top HIV/AIDS Indian official and a Cabinet minister on Monday strongly criticized the Central government's plan to punish clients visiting sex workers in a move to curb prostitution. The Bill to amend the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act (ITPA) was moved in Parliament in 2006 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development headed by Renuka Chowdhury.
Director general of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) K Sujatha Rao and Labor and Employment minister Oscar Fernandes said the amendments proposing to put clients of sex workers behind bars and imposing a fine of up to Rs 50,000 for those visiting brothels, would in no way curb the sex trade but only push it underground. That, in turn would make it more difficult to track down sex workers, who are most vulnerable to contracting the HIV/AIDS virus.
MedIndia.com
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Trends in HIV incidence in India from 2000 to 2007
India's HIV epidemic is of global interest. 2 years ago, we showed that HIV prevalence in young women declined by about a third between and 2004 in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.1 HIV prevalence at young ages (15-24 years) is a useful proxy for trends in HIV incidence. We now present trends up to 2007.
Among 423 842 women aged 15-24 years tested nationally at antenatal clinics, prevalence declined by 54% (95% CI −45 to −63; p<0.0001) between 2000 and 2007 in south India, and there was no significant change in north India (3%, −47 to 53; p=0.73) where HIV is less prevalent (figure).
National Center for Biotechnology Information -
Post-exposure prophylaxis
There is a lack of standardized programs for HIV counselling and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in the setting of sexual assault. Loutfy and associates conducted an 18-month prospective cohort study assessing universal HIV counselling for all sexual assault survivors presenting to 18 Ontario Sexual Assault Treatment Centres. HIV PEP was universally offered to those at risk of HIV infection (high risk or unknown risk) presenting < or =72 h after the assault, using Combivir (Lamivudine/Zidovudine) one pill and Kaletra (Lopinavir/Ritonavir) three capsules twice a day for 28 days. Those who accepted HIV PEP were monitored via a schedule of frequent follow ups. The primary outcomes were acceptance and completion rates, and their predictors were determined using multivariable logistic regression. Adverse events were categorized using a standardized toxicity grading system. Of the 900 evaluable participants eligible for PEP, 798 (69 at high risk and 729 at unknown risk) were offered treatment. Acceptance rates were 66.7% (n=46) and 41.3% (n=301) for participants at high risk and unknown risk, respectively. Participants at high risk were 2.2 times more likely to accept PEP than those at unknown risk (adjusted odds ratio 2.2; 95% confidence interval 1.2-4.0; P=0.01). Overall, 23.9% high-risk (n=11) and 33.2% unknown-risk participants (n=100) completed PEP (P=0.20). Predictors of acceptance and completion included assault by a stranger and participant anxiety. Adverse events were common, with 77.1% of participants reporting grade 2-4 symptoms. A province-wide standardized program of universal HIV counselling and offering of PEP to sexual assault survivors with frequent follow up was successfully implemented and feasible.
UNAIDS, HIV this week
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