Dodo's Diary

Warming World, Potent Poppies

2011-11-26T09:44:00.001+05:30

Rising carbon dioxide levels lead to higher concentrations of opiates in poppies.

Greater concentrations of carbon dioxide in a warming world may have a drastic effect on the potency of opium poppies, according to a new study. While this increase might mean more morphine available for legal pharmaceutical uses, the painkiller is also the main ingredient in heroin.

[Picture : Taken somewhere in SouthEast Asia- Dodo's Diary-TNI-NEIHRN-initiatives]

The current crop of poppies is twice as potent as those grown at carbon dioxide levels seen in 1950, says Lewis Ziska of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory. If projections hold, the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide will increase morphine levels three-fold by 2050 and by 4.5 times by 2090.

“I was surprised to see that the alkaloid levels changed so quickly,” says Ziska. Morphine is part of a class of chemicals called alkaloids, which plants produce to ward off bugs, birds and other natural dangers. While toxic to some animals, humans use hundreds of plant alkaloids in various ways. Cocaine, caffeine, capsaicin (which makes chili peppers hot), lysergic acid (a precursor for LSD) and the anti-malarial drug quinine are all examples of alkaloids.

The speed of the biological changes affecting plants’ alkaloid levels suggests that the climate may have a greater impact on plant life than computer models had generally predicted, Ziska says. Earlier studies by Ziska had shown that certain alkaloids decrease in some plants as carbon dioxide increases, including lower concentrations of nicotine in tobacco.

The net result, according to Ziska, is that climate change’s impacts on plants are likely to be chaotic and difficult to predict. For example, he says, “wheat may make more seeds, but we may have stronger poison ivy and poppies.”

Changes in alkaloid levels may pose a challenge to public health as carbon dioxide continues to build up in the atmosphere. The World Health Organization estimates that over 3.5 billion people rely on plants for part of their primary health care. This includes the U.S. population, where 25 percent of prescribed drugs contain an ingredient derived from plants.

Ziska’s research illustrates just how little we know about the biological effects of climate change. While predictions of increased drought and insect infestations in a warmer world are bad news for plants, the carbon-enriched atmosphere would give them more fuel to burn, helping many species grow bigger and produce more seeds. Meanwhile, a secondary set of chemical reactions not related to plant growth may also be influenced by levels of atmospheric carbon. These reactions create many of the chemicals used in medicines and are so complex that, for many plants, says Ziska, “we don’t have any idea how climate change will affect them.”

To learn what global warming would mean for some plants important to the pharmaceutical industry, Ziska, in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, grew the wild poppy, Papaver setigerum, inside growth chambers from seeds to mature plants. Resembling large stainless steel refrigerators, the chambers are sealed environments in which researchers can carefully control the light intensity, temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide concentration.

Once the poppies were ready for opium harvesting, researchers used a razor blade to score the bulbous capsules at the base of each flower and collected the excretions for analysis. When a poppy is cut it excretes a white sticky substance similar to a rubber plant or milkweed. This substance is the opium gum, which can be dried and smoked or refined into pure morphine, codeine or other drugs.

After collecting the opium gum, Ziska measured its constituents and compared them to a reference collection kept by the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Special Testing and Research Laboratory. Ziska found that not only did poppies produce more opium gum when grown in chambers with higher carbon dioxide levels, but the concentration of morphine in the gum also increased. He published his results in the May 2008 edition of the journal Climatic Change.

Climate change experts called the study’s results intriguing, but they point out that plants in the wild may behave differently. “This study shows the potential of individual plants,” says Peter Reich, an ecologist at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study. But, he adds, “competing with the same species, or with other wild plants, changes the [growing] conditions.”

In real world conditions, Reich says, the effects of higher carbon dioxide are probably not as extreme as Ziska’s results suggest. “Interactions between plants and competitors, diseases, decomposers and bacteria affect fertility,” and the compounds plants produce, says Reich.

Ziska doesn’t dispute Reich’s comments, and is hoping that future studies will model real-world growing conditions more closely. He also advocates studying other plants, including the poppy P. somniferum. Large scale commercial poppy operations, both legal and illegal, collect opiates from P. somniferum. Since this species is closely related to P. setigerum, Ziska expects to see morphine increases in this plant as well.

Although climate change’s effects on plant biology are unpredictable, public pharmaceutical and medical reliance on these crops remains as important as ever. “What I find particularly surprising is not the science,” says Ziska, but the question: “Why aren’t people looking at this?”

[courtesy : http://scienceline.org/2009/08/environment-ortlip-poppies-opium-climate-change/ ]

The End of AIDS?

2011-11-24T05:54:00.001+05:30

http://vimeo.com/32317889

An end to AIDS is within our reach

2011-09-22T22:57:00.000+05:30

By Desmond Tutu

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month has demonstrated that antiretroviral treatment can prevent the spread of HIV, in addition to saving those infected from sickness and death.

Armed with this new data, President Obama should lead the world in a massive effort to expand access to treatment and rid humanity of AIDS — the most devastating disease of our time.

But just as the end of AIDS has finally come within reach, we are witnessing an unprecedented drop in financial and political support for the cause.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation reported in August that donor funding for HIV/AIDS leveled in 2009 and then declined — 10 percent — in 2010 for the first time ever. The United States, which accounts for more than half of global contributions to fight the disease, disbursed $700 million less in 2010 than in 2009. And projected U.S. funding in 2011 is roughly $28 million less than in 2010.

This is a great shame, as millions of people receiving treatment worldwide depend on these funds to stay alive.

Our support should be increasing. AIDS remains the leading cause of orphanhood and of death among women of reproductive age. It is a major driver of opportunistic infections — particularly tuberculosis — and keeps tens of millions of Africans mired in poverty.

Barack Obama has achieved great things thus far in his presidency. He has helped reform the U.S. health-care system to ensure that all citizens have access to the medical attention they may need. He has implemented the Global Health Initiative to streamline U.S. development aid programs. Last year he announced a $4 billion commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the premier multilateral funding instrument dedicated to controlling these diseases.

He is in a position to make a game-changing impact on the war against AIDS.

The Lancet medical journal recently modeled new investments in that fight and a strategic shift to proven prevention methods. It was demonstrated that doing so could yield dramatic progress and reduce overall costs within just a few years.

The new HIV-prevention study supports this plan. Early treatment reduces the chance of passing HIV to an uninfected sexual partner by 96 percent — conferring near-total protection. A single treatment course could prevent multiple infections, reducing the need for additional treatments and saving countless public health dollars.

Since its founding, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief has put 3.2 million people around the world on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment. Nine million more people desperately need these drugs.

Obama should increase PEPFAR’s treatment goal from 4 million to 6 million people by 2013. He should then issue a challenge to other leaders — of donor nations and those countries most affected by HIV/AIDS — to scale up their contributions. South Africa, my home, and other African nations have recently initiated commendable reforms in addressing the AIDS pandemic. For example, South Africa’s National AIDS Council is lowering the HIV treatment threshold in line with World Health Organization’s recommendations. And in light of the new prevention study, Rwanda will provide treatment to newly tested HIV-positive individuals with uninfected partners. Such efforts to destigmatize, treat and prevent HIV/AIDS should be emulated across the continent.

Since the pandemic became public 30 years ago, nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS. At least 30 million others are living with HIV, and another 30 million are likely to become infected in the next decade if nothing more is done.

Yet now, the world finally possesses affordable tools and scientific knowledge that could stop HIV/AIDS in its tracks. President Obama has a profound opportunity to lead the world to this conclusion. He must take it.

Desmond Tutu is the archbishop emeritus of Cape Town.

[Courtesy : http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-end-to-aids-is-within-our%20-reach/2011/09/18/gIQABAbGjK_story.html ]
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Scientists find way to "disarm" AIDS virus

2011-09-22T15:41:00.000+05:30

Scientists have found a way to prevent HIV from damaging the immune system and say their discovery may offer a new approach to developing a vaccine against AIDS.

Researchers from the United States and Europe working in laboratories on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) found it is unable to damage the immune system if cholesterol is removed from the virus's membrane.

"It's like an army that has lost its weapons but still has flags, so another army can recognize it and attack it," said Adriano Boasso of Imperial College London, who led the study.

[ Pic Courtesy : Reuters/Alexander Demianchuk ]

The team now plans to investigate how to use this way of inactivating the virus and possibly develop it into a vaccine.

Usually when a person becomes infected with HIV, the body's innate immune response puts up an immediate defense. But some researchers believe HIV causes the innate immune system to overreact. This weakens the immune system's next line of defense, known as the adaptive immune response.

For this study -- published on Monday in the journal Blood -- Boasso's team removed cholesterol from the membrane around the virus and found that this stopped HIV from triggering the innate immune response. This in turn led to a stronger adaptive response, orchestrated by a type of immune cells called T cells.

AIDS kills around 1.8 million people a year worldwide. An estimated 2.6 million people caught HIV in 2009, and 33.3 million people are living with the virus.

Major producers of current HIV drugs include Gilead Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline.

Scientists from companies, non-profits and governments around the world have been trying for many years to make a vaccine against HIV but have so far had only limited success.

A 2009 study in Thailand involving 16,000 volunteers showed for the first time that a vaccine could prevent HIV infection in a small number of people, but since the efficacy was only around 30 percent researchers were forced back to the drawing board.

An American team working on an experimental HIV vaccine said in May that it helped monkeys with a form of the AIDS virus control the infection for more than a year, suggesting it may lead to a vaccine for people.

HIV is spread in many ways -- during sex, on needles shared by drug users, in breast milk and in blood -- so there is no single easy way to prevent infection. The virus also mutates quickly and can hide from the immune system, and attacks the very cells sent to battle it.

"HIV is very sneaky," Boasso said in a statement. "It evades the host's defenses by triggering overblown responses that damage the immune system. It's like revving your car in first gear for too long -- eventually the engine blows out.

He said this may be why developing a vaccine has proven so tricky. "Most vaccines prime the adaptive response to recognize the invader, but it's hard for this to work if the virus triggers other mechanisms that weaken the adaptive response."

HIV takes its membrane from the cell that it infects, the researchers explained in their study. This membrane contains cholesterol, which helps keep it fluid and enables it to interact with particular types of cell.

Normally, a subset of immune cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) recognize HIV quickly and react by producing signaling molecules called interferons. These signals activate various processes which are initially helpful, but which damage the immune system if switched on for too long.

Working with scientists Johns Hopkins University, the University of Milan and Innsbruck University, Boasso's team found that if cholesterol is removed from HIV's envelope, it can no longer activate pDCs. As a result, T cells, which orchestrate the adaptive response, can fight the virus more effectively.

[ Courtesy : http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/19/us-aids-hiv-disarm-idUSTRE78I5O820110919 ]
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Lou Majaw Live at GM Hall, Imphal, Manipur, India after 40 years.

2011-09-09T23:22:00.006+05:30

Awakening As One

2011-08-26T02:00:00.003+05:30

The Quickening

Titles: “The time has come…” “Our Evolution has begun.”

All around the planet, people are awakening to the reality that Humanity and the Earth are now entering a heightened phase of activity, on their inseparable journeys of growth and expansion.

This acceleration is marked by the increasing intensity of global events and by the rising temperature of nearlyevery planet in our solar system; while here on Earth, Time, itself, seems to be speeding up, and chaos mounting, as phenomenal shifts occur in our physical and perceptual realities with increasing rapidity.

The simplest explanation behind this sense of ‘speeding up’, is that our planet’s vibrational frequency is rising. This event, which many ancient cultures have prophetically termed “the quickening” has begun… and it is the greatest opportunity of our times. Beat Drops

For, we are living in a period of tremendous change, where humanity’s “truths” are shifting with exponential rapidity, as today’s more-advanced technologies, and awareness, are working to reveal the new “truths” of tomorrow.

And just as the perspectives of those who were born 50 or 100 years ago have had to shift to allow for our present version of reality, so too, ARE WE required to expand our perspectives of “what is possible”, to allow for the unfathomable changes that will come with the Turning of the Age, and the birth of a new world.

That said, one very real possibility that our research into the work of other seekers and sages indicates is becoming increasingly probable, is that the world-changing events that so many are consciously or sub-consciously waiting to occur in 2012; could actually happen as early as October, of this year, 2011.

And though we have awakened to the possibility that our world could be greatly altered before 2012, it is NOT our intention with this presentation to prophecy events “as they are going to occur”, but rather we intend to merely present some possibilities that might serve to expand peoples’ perspectives of what could be.

For, we believe that by expanding our imaginations to explore possible future events, we may prevent ourselves from REACTING in fear should the previously unimagined become manifest. And as a result of having already experienced these events in our minds we will be more centered, and able to see the opportunities they present should they, or something similar occur.

And so, with this understanding of the power of Imagination as a means by which we may navigate the unknown, this presentation will not only explore what sorts of events could occur between now and October that might lead to the end of “the world as we know it”, but we will also look at how such events (regardless of how challenging they may seem) could serve to bring humanity to a global experience of Unity Consciousness that would then lead us into a harmonious new existence, and to our return to the long prophesied experience of ‘heaven on earth.’

Titles: “Return to One”

All around the planet hundreds of millions of people are waiting for events to unfold in the year 2012, that they believe will bring either the birth of a harmonious new reality… or ‘the end of the world.’ But what if those world-altering events were actually to take place THIS YEAR, in 2011?

This anticipated period of great change, and purification, which many believe will happen sometime between now and 2012 is referred to as “The Shift of Ages”. And though there are those who believe that ‘The Shift’ is some grand event that is going to occur in the OUTER physical world, or in the cosmos, at some point in the not-too-distant future; bringing either salvation or destruction to the world.

There are others who believe that “The Shift” is happening right now, and in fact, that it has been, and will always be happening. For these people believe that “The shift” can be experienced at any moment by anyone, who is willing to make The INTERNAL Shift back to One; where instead of seeing all Beings and events of the world as separate and Chaotic, the seeker learns to see that every aspect of existence is serving the Divine Plan ‘by urging humanity to reestablish its Faith and Connection with the Divine Original Source of creation, known to many as God, or Great Spirit.

For it is commonly understood both in the realms of science and spirituality, that everything has come from one, and that to One we shall return. However today, our thoughts and awareness have moved about as far from One as it is possible to get; as humanity’s dualistic perspective, and “survival of the fittest” mentalities, have served to divide the world into dueling pairs of opposites where many believe that they are “good” while others are “evil”, that they are “light” while others are “dark”, and that they are “right” while others are “wrong.”

As a result, this divided perspective of existence has every human living for themselves, operating by his own Personal Will in an attempt to find INNER peace by shaping the OUTER WORLD according to his own likes and dislikes. However what so many people are realizing today is that the peace we seek cannot be found by creating change in the world OUTSIDE oneself, for true peace can only be found within.

And we may see the truth of this when we consider that all around the world there are nearly 7 billion people who are trying to affect change in the world OUTSIDE of themselves, in order to make others, and the world, match their vision of what is ‘right’, so that they can then find peace INSIDE.

However, when we realize that there are 7 billion people, with 7 billion different visions of what the world should look like; then we may see that that peace we seek can never be attained by trying to shape the physical world according to our dualistic Ideals of “right” and “wrong”; as our conflicting views will always result in the paradoxical need to “fight for peace.”
And thus we may see that the only way to find TRUE everlasting PEACE, is to learn to be at peace with the way things are. And it is this holistic perspective that “all is perfect as it is” that is taught in the ancient practices of Buddhism, Taoism and yoga, as well as certain native spiritual traditions; and which is echoed in the words of the Taoist master Lao Tsu who says in the Tao te Ching “true perfection seems imperfect, but is perfectly itself.”

Faith is the Key to finding this perfection in all, for when one learns to see that all Beings and events exist for the Divine Purpose of encouraging us to seek and find that eternal Peace INSIDE, then we may learn to see that all is, in fact, serving the divine, and therefore All IS divine.
And by thus establishing Faith that every event that happens in one’s life occurs to assist their soul’s evolution, one may come to see that Salvation is not a person, place or prize… it is a state of mind. For in this faithful state, and the love that accompanies it, one is able to face and flow through all of life’s challenges in grace and gratitude. Thus it is this ability to SEE ALL AS ONE, and all as DIVINE, that marks the individual’s Inner Shift and Return to One. (Big Bang.)

And so, while some people believe that the approaching Shift will be an external earthly, or cosmic event; and others, an internal evolution; there are still others who believe that The Shift that is about to happen will be both. These people find truth in the familiar phrase “conflict breeds consciousness”, and believe that many humans needs some major shifts in their outer physical reality in order to encourage them to make the Inner shift that will enable them to Return to One.

Thus, it is thought by some adherents to this perspective that the physical events that are set to unfold in the next few months leading up to the end of October 2011, have been designed to escalate to such a dramatic level, that most of humanity will be faced with the possibility of their own death, and the loss of everything that they have worked to achieve in the material world, all of which would occur for one Divine Purpose.

For in a world where so many are living only for material achievement and survival, it will not be until that material reality is threatened with extinction, and when money and luxury fail to satisfy our needs for peace and comfort, that the majority of people will awaken to the worthlessness of material wealth and success, and thereby be inspired to seek INWARDS to find a new purpose and meaning for life. And in doing so, many will finally understand the words that they have been uttering for so long which state, “that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but rather we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

And thus, when the events of the next few months have served their Divine Purpose, when the death and destruction have shaken us from our material obsessions, and given birth to our awareness of the Eternal Spirit that connects us all, we will learn to see the world in a new way; where even Death and Destruction, which humanity has denied and feared for so long, are seen to have a place and a purpose for which to be thankful and loving.

And as these increasingly intense events unfold in the coming months, they will teach humanity the lessons of pride and humility, by demonstrating the futility of our efforts to control the world outside of ourselves. And when people finally tire of wishing that the world was something that it isn’t, and when they learn to be at peace with the way things are for they see it all as part of the Divine Plan, then may they also learn to see that exerting one’s personal will to try to stop these events from happening would be like trying to stop others from having the same opportunity for learning.

For, it is our selfishness, and our ignorant use of free will that has brought us collectively into our present state of existence. Therefore, perhaps it is only by a 180 degree reversal, through selflessness, through the complete and utter surrender of ourselves and our personal will to the divine Will of the Tao, that we may allow the forces of true Change, and Redemption, to work through us and liberate us completely from the unholy illusion of this world.

And for this reason, some believe that it will be the tremendous Shifting of Outer events in the months between now and October 28^th, 2011, that will inspire humanity’s INNER shift; helping them realize that we cannot, nor are we meant to change our outer world in order to find peace; but rather we are urged to turn inwards to seek and find the eternal peace that comes when one learns to see the Divine purpose and perfection of All.
And it is with this unified perspective of existence that one learns to relinquish ‘my will’ for Thy Will; thereby realigning themselves with The Divine Will, and marking their long-awaited ‘Return to One.’

Titles: Shifting Perspectives
So when will these major changes occur in our outer reality that will encourage humanity to make its INNER Shift, back to One?

For the past few years, 100s of millions of people around the world have been preparing themselves for an event that they believe will occur on December 21^st, 2012 that will either bring the ‘end of the world’ or the ‘birth of new reality’. However an understanding of the Mayan Calendar discovered through Swedish researcher Carl Calleman’s study of ancient Mayan Monuments, when compared with the escalating intensity of upcoming global events, shows the probability that those world-altering events could happen in the next few months between now and October 28^th, 2011.

Considering the recent development of upcoming earthly and cosmic events that are set to unfold this year, which we will discuss shortly, this shift of perspective from 2012 to 2011 is one that people all over the world are starting to awaken to; while even the Mayans themselves who have never given a specific date for when we could expect these Big changes to occur, as they see “the Shift” more as a process that occurs over time, than an event that occurs on a given day, even the Mayans are now saying “That Great Change will come in 2011.”

And thus, it is our intention with the presentation of the following information, to encourage people to prepare for the possibility that the world could be greatly changed this year; for the magnitude of shifting events that are set to unfold in the next couple of months could be so great, that anyone caught still waiting for things to happen at the end of 2012, might be so shocked by the suddenness of events that all they will be able to do is react in fear; thereby making them more easy to control while at the same time blinding them to the divine purpose and opportunities that are present in the moment.

That said, let us explore Calleman’s work and how it illustrates October 28^th, 2011 as the end of the Mayan Calendar… and the birth of a new reality. Though to many, the Mayan Pyramid is simply a monument used for ceremonies and sacrifice, Calleman’s research reveals that the Mayan Pyramid is in fact a calendar of Evolving Consciousness; where each of its nine steps, also known as Waves, or Underworlds, are related to a specific type of consciousness that is learned during the period of time that it takes us to move from the beginning of each step towards its end. Which in doing so, it is said we are moving from seed to fruition of the consciousness that is the focus for that level.
Interesting to note, is that each step of the pyramid (or underworld) is divided into 13 equal segments, comprised of alternating dark and light energies (referred to as ‘days’ and ‘nights’; which are as necessary for the growth and expansion of our consciousness as the cycles of night and day are for the harmonious growth of our earth’s surface-dwelling ecosystems.

These 13 equal segments of time are referred to as ‘Heavens’, or Stages of Creation; each of which is related to a specific Mayan Deity (7 Lords of Creation) and a stage of growth or learning that occurs during each period of time. Also essential to note here, is that each time we step up a level on the pyramid, things speed up by 20 times; which it is said occurs because as we learn the lessons towards the end of each step, the vibrational frequency of our collective consciousness and therefore our reality rises by 20 times.

Thus, to illustrate how the Mayan Pyramid is a calendar of evolving consciousness, and how it relates to the birth of a new reality by October 28^th, 2011; let us look at the bottom step of the pyramid, referred to as The Cellular Underworld. This step charts the evolution of Cellular consciousness from the time of the Big Bang to the creation of the first highly organized Cells, and finally, to the full realization of Cellular Consciousness.

The period of time that it takes to move from seed to fruition of this consciousness is 16.4 billion years, divided into 13 equal segments of 1.2 billion years; which means that during this phase of creation, there occurred a subtle shift in consciousness every 1.2 billion years that brought the collective mind to a deeper experience of the Cellular Underworld.

To explain this further, let’s move to the 8^th step on the pyramid, known as the Galactic Underworld, and whose focus for learning is Ethical Consciousness. Remember here that each time we move up a step on the pyramid that things speed up by 20 times. And so, where consciousness at the bottom of the pyramid was changing roughly every 1.2 billion years; when we moved up to the 8^th step, which began on January 5^th, 1999, consciousness, which on the step just below was changing every 19.7 years, then on the 8^th step began to shift every 360 days; with a focus on the collective development of our ethical consciousness.

This development of our ethics can be seen quite clearly when we look at the new perspectives that have arisen in the Collective mind since January 1999. For it has been since this time that Humanity has taken its greatest strides to purify its ethical perspective, by realizing the impact that our choices have on the healthy harmonious existence of ourselves, the earth and all living things.

And as a result of our growth and learning during this period, we have been raising the frequency of our collective consciousness, and thus the vibratory rate of existence; thereby resulting in the speeding up of everything by 20 times that occurs as we near the fruition of learning on each step of the pyramid.

And it is this increase in the vibration of consciousness that is responsible for the sensation of “The Quickening” that so many people are experiencing around the world. For as the Vibratory rate of our consciousness speeds up, so does everything in creation, including time and the Awareness.

To get a better understanding of the process of this quickening that is leading us to its climax on October 28^th, 2011, let us consider the 7^th Wave that began in 1755 AD, at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution; at which point consciousness began shifting roughly every 19.7 years, until January 5^th 1999, when it sped up again, and began shifting every 360 days.

This is why we had what were referred to as “Generation Gaps” in the time before January 1999, because prior to that date our consciousness shifted at a slower rate. When a new thought was introduced to the world it would take a longer period of time for our consciousness to assimilate that concept. For instance, when the perspective that women are equal to men was presented to the western world, it took roughly 20 years for that seed of an idea to take root; however for those who were alive for 40 or 60 years before that idea was presented, it could take longer for their perspective to switch, if it did at all, because they had spent so long seeing the world in a way that was different to what was now being presented.
However, that all changed when we moved up to the 8^th Wave in January 1999, at the same time as the global proliferation of the internet; for human consciousness then began to expand at an accelerated rate as any new idea or concept that was created or realized could be immediately learned by anyone around the world, regardless of how young or old they were. And because our perspective of the world was accelerating at a speed relative to the phenomenal global growth of the internet, many people around that time experienced a sensation of “quickening”.

And though this quickening is perceived by many as a speeding up of time, still others believe that it isn’t time that is speeding up, but rather that it is the amount of change and information that we are able to process in that time that is accelerating.

Thus aware of this concept of the “quickening of consciousness” let’s now look at the 9^th step, or Wave, which began just recently on March 9^th, 2011, two days before the earthquake in japan; at which point consciousness, which was previously shifting every 360 days is now shifting every 18 days, which it will continue to do until October 28^th, 2011; when it is said that we will come to the simultaneous completion, and full realization, of all nine underworlds at once.

Which, in other words means that around the end of October every living thing, which is an individual thought of the collective mind, would somehow come to the Simultaneous full realization of every level of creation from the moment of the Big Bang, to the completion of the Mayan Calendar on October 28^th.

And here it is thought that the only way that we could come to the Simultaneous Full realization of every aspect of creation is to become One with it. For no one knows you like you know yourself, and therefore in order to truly KNOW every aspect of creation, some believe that we will be given the opportunity to experience our oneness with everything that has and will ever exist, as if it were ourselves. And it will be through this experience of Oneness that we finally realize truly, who, what, when, how and why we really are.

This Return to One is reflected in the scientific and spiritual teachings around the world which uniformly agree in the expansion and contraction of the universe; and which also state that “Everything has come from One, and that to One, we shall return.” This concept of our Return to One is also supported in the focus for learning during our current experience of 9^th wave; which is dedicated to the collective development of our Unity Consciousness, which, Calleman’s research indicates will be fully realized by October 28^th, 2011.
Titles: The Nature of Prophecy

Another strong indicator that the world-altering events which so many people are expecting to occur in 2012, could happen before October 28^th, 2011, has come from our recent understanding of what are known as “the Hopi Prophecies of the Blue and Red Star Kachinas”, and how they relate to events that are unfolding right now, and which will culminate in the days and months before the end of October, 2011.

However, before we relate the story of the Blue and Red Star Katchinas it is imperative that people have an understanding of the changeable nature of prophecy.

For not all prophecies exist to tell us “what is to be”, but rather they tell us “what we need to hear”, in order to inspire us to make changes to our Inner Being and perspectives that will ultimately assist our spiritual evolution.

This is why, in many cases, prophecies such as the Hopi’s story of the Blue and Red Kachinas speak of tragic events, including the collapse of the material world and its systems and even the ultimate demise of humanity; for it is a fact today, that most humans in their obsession for material success and survival do not spare a second thought for their soul, or spiritual self, until they are faced with death, suffering and the inevitable collapse of everything they have come to depend on in the material world.

Thus, we may see that these prophecies exist for the sole purpose of assisting humanity’s evolution from a purely material-based consciousness to one of spirit. For it is by hearing these end-time prophecies, and by seeing the signs of these prophecies fulfilled in current day events, that one is given the opportunity to fully realize the temporary nature of our physical reality, and thereby be inspired to seek out an understanding of the greater spiritual purpose of our existence.

And though many in the world today will ignore these prophecies and stories of destruction because of their fear of contemplating the end of the material world as we know it, what so few people understand, is that prophecies can be changed.

For if it can be understood that the destructive stories and events detailed in prophecies exist for the sole purpose of encouraging a shift in consciousness, then it may be realized that once the collective mind has made that inner shift, the cataclysmic events that are no longer needed will eventually give way, as the group mind’s vibrations are raised to match those of a harmonious new experience of reality, where there will be an entirely new set of lessons to be learned.

Meanwhile, those who out of fear, choose to deny our spiritual purpose and cling to the material world, will be required to experience increasingly more destruction at an intensity that exactly matches that of their attachment to their material-based perspective of existence.

For some, it will not be until they’ve experienced the complete destruction of the planet and all its life, that they will finally be inspired to surrender their hate, fear and pride and see the spiritual purpose and Oneness of everything in existence. Having thus awakened to the spiritual reality of All as One, their soul would then rise to the spirit level, at which point they would join all of the other souls, energies and entities who have made the same choice to Return to One.
And here it is essential to realize that our reality is not, nor can it be changed by our fearful efforts of self will, (such as “let’s focus our will to stop this from happening”); for in any such efforts, the lower limiting vibrations of fear that motivate people to try to control events, will create blockages that prevent the free movement of the higher vibrations of divine love, will and wisdom throughout the body.

That said, we may see that through proper attention and an understanding of prophecies such as the Hopi Story of the Blue and Red Kachinas, people are given the opportunity to make a Choice that will greatly affect their spiritual evolution. And it is the importance of this “choice” in our soul’s journey that is reinforced by the appearance of the Glyph representing the word CHOICE on the Hopi Monument known as Prophecy Rock.

Thus the choice, which will become increasingly prominent in the days and months approaching October 28^th, 2011 is; will we choose to cling to our material perspective of existence and live in fear and hate as our physical world crumbles around us? Or will we, like a phoenix rising from the flames, choose with faith and love, to see the divine purpose of the decline of our material existence; whose passing, will inspire a once material-obsessed humanity to Shift to a more spirit-based perspective of existence.

For it has been said, in another message given to us by the Hopi people that “this could be a good time!” And for anyone who sees the spiritual purpose of the events that are set to unfold in the next few months, it probably will be; while those who wish to hold on to the old world and it ways might find the next few months extremely challenging.

With this understanding of the divine purpose and the changeable nature of prophecy let us now look at some information that has been surfacing from NASA in the past couple of months, and how it relates very clearly to the HOPI Prophecy of the Blue and Red Star Kachinas; thereby indicating that the world-altering events that so many people are expecting might occur in 2012, could happen as early as October, 2011.

Thus, the Hopi Prophecy of the Blue and Red Star Kachinas, which may be read in its entirety at the link below, speaks of four celestial bodies that will appear in our skies announcing that we have entered “the end times”. These four bodies are referred to in the prophecies as: Poganghoya and Palongawhoya, the guardians of the North and South Poles; Nan ga Sohu, referred to as the Blue Star Kachina, and The Red Star Kachina also known as “The Purifier”.

It is said in the prophecy that “In the Final days we will look up in our heavens and we will witness the return of the two brothers Poganghoya and Palongawhoya who helped create this world in the birthing time. In the final days the Blue Star Katchina will come to be with his nephews, and they will return the Earth to its natural rotation which is counter clock wise.”

It is also stated in the prophecy that “The return of the Blue Star Katchina who is also known as Nan ga sohu will be the alarm clock that tells us of the new day, and a new way of life; that a new world is coming. This is where the changes will begin.”

Now of extreme interest, is the fact that NASA has recently, albeit quietly, released that there are three, what are presently being called “Comets”, heading to earth right now; all of which will be visible (and in very close proximity to the Earth) between the dates of Aug 15th, and Sept 26th, 2011.

Though the first body to make its pass will be “Comet” Honda coming in from the south – and at its closest approach to earth on Aug 15th, 2011; of particular note is the body that people are referring to as “Comet” Elenin; which much research is showing is either a super massive Brown Dwarf star, or is being followed very closely by one.

This conclusion has been derived from the fact that there have been three alignments with this “Comet”, the Earth, and at least one other celestial body over the past year and a half, and each alignment has resulted in a major earthquake on earth. To see the dates of these alignments for yourself you may visit Nasa’s jet propulsion laboratory webpage at the link below. Here you will see that The first alignment with Elenin occurred on Feb 23, 2010, on the same day as the massive earthquake in Chile; the next alignment on Sept 4, 2010, which corresponds with the recent earthquake in New Zealand, and there was a third alignment around March 11^th, on the same day as the major earthquake in Japan.

The fact that these alignments all occurred when Elenin was at a great distance away from the earth indicates the Incredible Mass of the object, and the probability that it is not a comet, but rather a super-massive brown dwarf star, or that it is being followed very closely by one.

During our last alignment with this object, which was at the same time as the massive earthquake in Japan, Elenin was at a distance of 2.155 Astronomical Units – roughly 2 times the distance from the earth to the sun.

And now, we will have our next alignment with this object around Sept 26th, 2011; however this time rather than being on the other side of the sun, it will be much closer, and in between the Earth and the sun, at a distance of 0.396 Astronomical Units. AND this time it will be an alignment of four bodies, rather than just three; which will include Mercury, the Sun, Elenin, and earth.

It is very possible that around this day we will have some major earthquake activity – the likes of which we have never seen before; which will be accompanied by the appearance of a third comet in our skies, known as Levy.

Also, worth mentioning here is that many of our sources suggest that around this time, we will see the fulfillment of the prophesied three days of darkness; where the light from the sun will be obscured for approximately three days, after which time the sun will rise again. Though this may be possible, it is also possible that the three days of darkness will occur a little closer to the October 28^th, date, when we are nearer in proximity to the Red Star Kachina.

That said, after our next alignment with Elenin around Sept 26th, there will be a series of other close passes between Sept 26th and November 23rd, that could cause further Shifting; including our closest pass with the object which would occur on October 17^th, 2011, at a distance of 0.232 Astronomical Units, and an interesting event around November 3th, when we would pass through the tail of Elenin. Worth noting here, is that these dates will probably change somewhat as it is assumed that Elenin will speed up significantly as it slingshots around the sun before passing the earth.

Considering the approach of these celestial bodies, one possible interpretation of this information and how it relates to the Hopi Prophecies of the Blue and Red Kachinas is that Honda and Levy are “The Nephews” referred to in the Prophecy as “the guardians” of the North and the South Poles (as Levy is coming from the north and Honda from the south); while Elenin is the Blue Star Kachina, which will be seen in the sky before and during the major Earthquake at the end of September, and whose appearance in our heavens the prophecies say would “mark the beginning of the changes” and “signify that we were in the end times”.

For the Prophecies state that “Not far behind the twins will come the Purifier, The Red Star Katchina, who will bring the Great Day of Purification”. Having accounted for Comets Levy and Honda as “the guardians” of the north and south, it is our belief then that Comet Elenin, the Blue Star Kachina, is not a brown dwarf star, but rather that it is being followed very closely by one, or some other super-massive celestial body.
And according to our understanding of the prophecies, this super massive body that is following Elenin would be The Red Star Kachina, known as the Purifier; whose passing due to phenomenal gravitational and electromagnetic forces would change the existence of humanity and the earth forever.

For, it is said in the prophecies that on the day of purification “the Earth, her creatures, and all life as we know it will change forever. And that “Every living thing will be offered the opportunity to change from the largest to the smallest thing. It tells us that “The way through this time is to be found in our hearts, and through reuniting with our spiritual self.”

And then it reminds us that “Everything we experience is all a matter of choice”; thus echoing the choice of whether we will face the end of the material world as we know it with fear and denial, or whether we will choose to see its divine purpose, with love and faith; and thereby return to the original way, where everyone and everything is seen as One, and Divine.

Thus, with this understanding of how the approaching comets relate to the Hopi Prophecies of the Blue and Red Kachina’s; one may also note how the dates of Elenin’s closest interactions with earth, occurring on Sept 26^th, October 17^th and November 3^th,of 2011, strongly supports Calleman’s research which indicates that around October 28^th, 2011, we will experience the long-prophesied end of the Mayan Calendar… and the birth of new reality.

Titles: The Darkness Before the Dawn

Having explored the possibilities of how the world could be greatly changed by October 28^th, 2011, let us now consider how the events that are set to unfold in the next few months could assist humanity in its evolution from a purely material-based perspective of existence to one more rooted in spirituality.

As mentioned before, there are many people in the world today who because of their focus on material success and survival, will not spare a second thought for their soul or spiritual self, until they are faced with death, suffering and the inevitable collapse of everything they have come to depend on in the material world. Thus, in accordance with the familiar phrase that “it is always darkest before the dawn” it is our belief that in the coming months the world will be required to experience a level of death and destruction that will encourage its material-obsessed inhabitants to return to a more spiritual-based perspective of existence.

And though it’s understandable that the collapse of our material world and its systems could be quite a frightening experience; it is essential to understand here that those who learn to have Faith in the spiritual purpose of these events, will be given the tools and awareness that will allow them to face and flow through all of the challenges of the coming shift in relative grace and ease.

We have been told that “Faith is the Key.” For when one learns to see that all Beings and events exist for the Divine Purpose of encouraging us to seek and find that eternal PEACE INSIDE with ‘the way things are’, then we may learn to see that all is, in fact, serving the divine, and therefore All IS divine. And with this perspective, one may learn to move through the events of the coming months with a heart full of love and gratitude, rather than being consumed by hate and fear.
And it is the power of this Faith to bring us peace, that is being referred to in the Hopi Prophecy of the Blue and Red Kachinas when it says “Life will get very perverted, and there will be little social order in these times. Many will ask for the mountains themselves to fall upon them, just to end their misery. While still others will appear as if untouched by what is occurring. For they are The ones who remember the original teachings, and who have reconnected their hearts and spirit.”
Having thus remembered the divine role that destruction may play in our spiritual evolution, let us now explore some of the potential challenges that could unfold in the next few months that might assist our soul’s journey ‘back to one.’

And remember here, that it is not our intention with this presentation to prophecy events as they are “going to occur”, for it is our belief that our future is always changing, in accordance with our willingness to learn new lessons and perspectives. That said, our intention herein is to merely present some possibilities of what eventscould occur that might lead to the collapse of the material world as we know it, and to humanity’s subsequent return to a spirit-based consciousness.

Though to many people, whose perspective of the state of our world is molded by popular news and media, the idea that our entire material reality could collapse in the months between now and October 28^th, 2011, might seem like a sensationalist Hollywood film; what so few people realize, is that the process is already well underway.

In truth, a simple series of events whose elements are already in place, could cause the toppling of our existing world systems within as little as a week, or ten days. And though it may not look exactly like this, this is one possibility of how it could happen.

All it would take is another staged terrorist attack in an American city, similar to that of 9/11; except this time rather than airplanes, the damage would be delivered by a device called a Suitcase Nuke, which is a hypothetical suitcase-sized nuclear bomb, which has begun to receive a lot of mention in films and news reports within the popular media.

If such a bomb were to go off in an American city, and the authorities were to link its creation to Iran, whom the US is wrongfully accusing of developing Nuclear Weapons, in the same way that it accused Iraq of developing Weapons of Mass Destruction, this would pave the way for a US-Led Allied attack on Iran; which would then mark the official beginning of World War III.

In truth this war has already begun with US-Led Trade Sanctions against Iran being imposed by the United Nations, in an effort to cripple the country’s military and economic production while the US and its allies make preparations for war. It is also known that for some months now the US has been amassing troops and weapons in Israel, in preparations for a massive offensive in the middle east.

However, with the US having recently reached its 14.3 trillion dollar debt ceiling, with a possible decline of extension being decided on August 2^nd, 2011; with the dollar flagging, and the Euro near collapse, and with the US already over-extending itself in wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan it’s decision to engage in a world war, along with the crippling effects of the staged terrorist attack, would crush whatever faith remained in the US Markets and result in the collapse of the American Dollar; which would in turn begin the spiraling collapse of all of the world economies.

With world Oil Prices hovering at record highs, the Iranian President has promised that as soon as the first bomb drops on Iran he will set the oil fields on fire. Thus, with the value of the Euro and the Dollar dropped through the floor, the flaming oil fields would result in the sky-rocketing of Gas Prices; which would then lead to the inability to transport food and other goods around the world.

Statistics indicates that without steady transport, most urban centers would be depleted of food and resources within 3 days… and as quickly as that, the world would be changed forever.

However, there is much research, which we will post on our webpage, that indicates that these are just the beginning of a series of progressively intense, and unfathomable events that have been designed to be so shocking that many people who are completely unaware of them will be desperate for any form of salvation. And it will be at the point of humanity’s greatest desperation, that those who have orchestrated these events will provide one self-serving solution. And that is to Unite the globe under the authority of a New World Order.

Here, our existing political, economic and military institutions would unite under a One World Government, One World Economy and One World Religion; which would offer to meet the immediate needs of humanity, providing food, money and medicine, and even ‘miracles’; in exchange for complete obedience and subservience to the system.

However it is essential to understand here, that even though the voice calling people to the New World Order may use the appealing words of Unity, Truth and Service; it will only be offering a temporary solution to the symptoms of humanity’s suffering, along with promises to preserve a degree of comfort and security within a familiar system; where people are divided by the old-world perspectives of good and evil, rich and poor, strong and weak. This voice will speak to people’s fears, and to their desires to protect and preserve the self.

And all those who choose, out of fear, to cling to the material, and continue their support of a ruling elite who have proven their lack of caring for the world and its inhabitants; will by the quality of their own thoughts and emotions, be required to experience increasingly more hardships until such a time that they are willing to put their Faith in the Divine Spirit, rather than the corrupt institutions of Man, or his false gods.

So what sort of events could unfold in the next few months that might bring the world to such a state of desperation, that it would agree to Uniting the planet under the authority of a New World Order?

Should events similar to those mentioned previously occur, it is possible that the desperation caused by global food shortages and the collapse of the world’s economies, could lead to worldwide pandemonium as cities erupt in mass riots and looting, while people rise against each other and their governments, in a desperate attempt to acquire food and resources for themselves and their families. This violence would be greatly compounded by the threat of nuclear war and invading forces that would be escalating around the world.

Add to this, the hysteria that would be caused if the Earth was shrouded in three days of darkness, that most people didn’t know would end. And then add another devastating earthquake, which would cause the meltdown of 30 nuclear reactors around the planet; whose radioactive wastes would spill into the earth’s air and oceans.

And then, at the point when the entire world seemed divided and at war with each other, and when the state of humanity seemed all but lost, we would hear news reports of a strange object approaching from space, which was previously thought to be a Comet; but which upon its approach news reports would deceivingly tell us, is actually a Spaceship.

And to the world’s surprise, from this Ship would come fake alien invaders to attack the earth. Whose superior weapons and technology, actually created by our own world’s military, would cause much damage and loss of life. And the world’s leaders professing themselves to be greatly overmatched would have only one choice to save the planet… and that would be to unite the world’s military forces.

With the entire planet reeling from war and the effects of the devastating earthquakes caused by the Prophesied approach of the Purifier, people all over the world would be praying for a miracle; when all of sudden their prayers would be answered. Somehow the earth’s allied forces would miraculously defeat the aliens in a staged final battle; seemingly through their own military might, or with assistance from other aliens, either “real or fake”, or even through the supernatural assistance of a False Messiah-like figure.

And when the world’ allied forces, destroy the approaching ship which was once thought to be a blue comet, we would see the fulfillment of the ninth and last sign of the Hopi Prophecies, indicating that we have arrived at the end times, which reads: “You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of my people will cease. For very soon afterward, The Red Star Kachina will return, and he shall bring with him the dawn of the fifth world.” Google “Elenin Intelligent Control.”

With the Alien threat defeated, a broken and battered humanity would still have to deal with the wrath and destruction caused by the approaching Red Star Kachina. And thus, in the wake of humanity’s staged victory, and in the face of oncoming threats, the world’s United Nations would, in show of false goodwill, speak of the Oneness of Humanity and call for the unification of the world under a One World Government.

All of the world’s debts would be erased, and a new global currency would be created, of which everyone would be offered a set number of credits, in exchange for their willingness to keep working for the selfsame system of governance and authority. Anyone wishing to receive these cash credits, food supplies and medical care from this One World System would be required to get a microchip implant that would allow their movements and I.D. to be tracked, and all those who do not comply with the rules and regulations of the system would simply have their chip deactivated.

And at the top of this New World Order, at the capstone of its pyramid of control, would be the “false saviour”; which could appear either as an alien being, or as a luminous messiah-like figure who would perform signs and miracles so great that they may deceive, if that were possible, event the elect. And though this figure may have played a role in assisting humanity through its hardships, either with the fake alien invasion, or by performing miracles of medicine or technology its deception will be obvious.

For rather than inspiring humanity to see the Divine In All, this god with all its wonders and miracles would have humanity focus its worship on one supposedly divine being, or institution; thereby reserving a space for the old world divisions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, ‘good’ and ‘evil’; and the worship of this thing would be most likely controlled by our present day ruling elite and popular spiritual leaders who would place themselves in between humanity and this fake god.

As fantastical as all this may sound there is much compelling evidence that points to the possibility of such events occurring, even those as extraordinary as the “fake alien invasion”; the possibility of which is being planted in peoples’ minds through the noticeably high number of alien invasion movies and television shows that have come out in the last year, including the Recent National Geographic Series called “When the Aliens Attack”; which shows how the world’s military forces would face and defeat a hostile alien invasion, not if… but when it happens.

And here it is essential to realize that compliance with the New World Order is a trap, just as surely as wishing harm upon those responsible for its creation. For both are reactions of fear. However if one is able to remember that all of this death and destruction is actually serving the divine purpose of shifting us from a material-based consciousness, to one founded more on spiritual awareness, then we may break away from the fearful reactions of compliance and resistance and take our first steps down the path towards the “original way” mentioned in the Hopi Prophecies, where everything is seen as One and sacred.

For if we can learn to see that those whom we would perceive as dark, or evil, are in fact serving us, by providing experiences that are essential on our path to self-realization; then perhaps it is also possible to see that in fact they are us, or at least an essential part of us, just as we are a part of them.

This vision of Oneness is reflected in the words of Rumi when he says: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make sense anymore.”

With this perspective, one may realize that all of the world’s heightened chaos and conflict isn’t actually the creation of one diabolical individual or organization, but rather in accordance with the Universal Wisdom “As above, So Below”, it is an exact reflection, or projection, of the mounting conflict raging in the hearts and souls of the collective mind; where so many individual souls, who are wishing to move beyond this meaningless material existence, still feel powerless do so.

However, when we see the destruction of these systems which will no longer be able to support our needs, and when our leaders whom we have relied on to keep us safe, start a war that we realize could destroy the entire planet, those who have felt trapped by the system will finally ‘let go’ of their dependency on it, and seek a new way of living that is more in line with their inner heart’s urge for peace and harmony. And thus, through the actions of those whom we would perceive to be ‘dark’, or ‘evil’, we will have learned, and been freed.

And in accordance with the perfection of this divine plan, our ability to love and recognize our oneness, with those whom some would call our oppressors, will be the power that sets those ‘oppressors’ free as well. For the prophesied return of the Purifier will open up the Book of Life, where the thoughts and deeds of every living being throughout creation are recorded for all to see.

And here every soul will have the opportunity to experience the suffering that it has caused through the course of its lives. And as those whom many would call their oppressors scan through their experiences, they will see how the hurt that they have caused is met with hate, anger and with thoughts of revolution and murder, and they will feel justified in their cruelty. However, as they continue their search deeper into the Book of Life, they will come across those, who even though they suffered greatly at their hands, have felt only love.

And it will be at this moment, that those souls which previously knew only hate, will learn the spiritual truth that a person can be redeemed just as surely by getting love, as they can by giving love. And by thus learning to love and be loved, we will rise above the challenges of this dark night of the soul, to meet the dawn of the glorious resurrection, together… as one.

Titles: The New Dawn

With this glimpse of the dawning rays of our rising Unity consciousness, let us now consider when and how the first major events might unfold that will bring us to such a profound experience of Oneness with everything, that we will come to full realization of every level of creation. For it is our intention that by presenting the potential dates that things might unfold, that when people see some of these first events actually happen, it will enable them to believe that the material world is on the verge of collapse, and thereby inspire them to let go of their attachment to it.

And in a world where so many have no idea that these changes are coming, we would encourage those who have awakened to the What’s and Why’s of events, to resist the urge to focus primarily on how one may save themselves, and to consider instead what one may do to help others.

For if one is consumed with the need to save themselves through these days of great change and challenge, they will be driven primarily by the energy of fear; whereas, if one is able to turn their focus towards helping others, they will change their motivation, and therefore their vibration from one of fear, to one of Love. And it will be this love for ALL, and faith in the divine purpose of all that is occurring, that enables one to move through all of the challenges of the coming days in relative grace and ease.

That said, there are some interesting indicators revealed in Calleman’s research of the Mayan Calendar that show the potential dates when things might unfold. Of particular interest are the periods known as the 5^th Day and the 5^th Night that occur on each step of the pyramid.

For it is understood that during the 5^th Day of each Underworld, we typically experience a global event that marks a great leap forward towards our deeper understanding of the consciousness being learned on that level. And past trends show that typically the 5^th night brings a great global challenge; which then gives the collective mind the opportunity to put the lesson it has just learned into practice.

Looking at events that occurred during the 5^th Day and Night over the past few Steps on the Pyramid, we can see that during the National Underworld the positive values and teachings of Christ, were followed in the 5^th Night by the appropriation and perversion of those teachings during the Dark Ages. While during the Planetary Underworld, the 5^th day brought us World War I, along with the Automation of Industry and the expansion of our perception of reality through Einstein’s theory of Relativity. The end of the 5^th Day was marked by the beginning of the Great Depression, which then continued throughout the 5^th night, accompanied by World War II and the use of the first nuclear weapons against Japan.

During the Galactic Underworld the 5^th Day saw a profound shift in consciousness towards peace and harmony with a tremendous rise in the number of conscious groups sprouting up all over the world; while the 5^th night was marked by the 2008 Collapse of the American and European Economies; which now brings us to our current step on the pyramid, known as the Universal Underworld.

Based on this understanding of the unique energies and experiences that typically accompany the 5^th Day, and the 5^th Night one could expect that the major shifting of consciousness, and world events, would begin during these periods. Thus, it is possible that during the 5^th day, which extends from July 31^st to August 18^th, we could see a creative expression of Unity Consciousness, manifested through an event as spectacular as the presentation of some major medical or technological breakthrough, created to benefit mankind.

It is also possible that during this time we could see the beginning of another great depression as we saw at the end of the 5^th day of the Planetary Underworld. This is a very likely possibility; which could be catalyzed by The flagging faith in American markets caused by the US having recently reached its 14.3 trillion dollar debt ceiling would result in a crippling of the American Economy; which could then fully collapse during the 5^th night, which extends from August 18^th to September 5^th.
During the 5^th Night, it is very possible that an economically fragile America could be hit by another staged Terrorist attack, which would be the final blow that causes the collapse of the American Economy and sends the Economies of the World into a downward spiral. And just as we saw during the 5^th day and night of the Planetary Underworld, the world’s slump into another Great Depression would be followed by the start of another Great War; that of World War III.

The dates of the events following the 5^th day and Night, including the fake alien invasion, three days of darkness, and the major earthquakes caused by the approach of The Red Star Kachina, are impossible to guess apart from saying that they will probably happen near the end of September; for it is our belief that things will occur faster than anyone can imagine, as hinted by the age old prophecy that “the end will come like a thief in the night”.

And for this reason, we would encourage all of our viewers to use the decline of the economy, or any major event that might occur during the 5^th night, as the sign by which they will choose to let go of their attachments to the material world and its systems, and to leave the cities and return to nature, where the mountains, water and trees will support their return to the “Original Way” mentioned in the Hopi Prophecies.

For we are told in the Prophecy of the Blue and Red Kachinas that “Life will be so bad in the cities that many will choose to leave this plane. Some in whole groups.” And that, “Only those who return to the values of the old ways will be able to find peace of mind. For it is in returning to a simple life, with and upon the Earth, amongst her forests and mountains, that we shall find relief from the madness that will be all around us.”

That said, it is essential to understand, that we are ALWAYS exactly where we are meant to be, when we are meant to be there; and even if one cannot make it out of the city, it is important to remember that one can always connect to the earth and its elements by turning their thoughts to a glass of water or the ground beneath their feet, or to a tree, a lit candle, a even a light breeze.

And so, with this understanding of when events might unfold, let us consider how the increasing intensity of world events has been divinely orchestrated to bring us all to such a profound experience of Oneness that we would come the full realization of every level of creation by October 28^th, as suggested in Calleman’s research of the Mayan Calendar.

According to Calleman’s work, the focus for learning during the 9^th wave, from March 9^th to October 28^th, 2011, is Unity Consciousness. And therefore, it is thought by some, that the increasing intensity of events that are set to unfold in the next few months will move us through progressively deeper experiences of Unity and Oneness; which would peak sometime around October, 28^th, when the Earth will Return into high vibrational electromagnetic field of “The Purifier”.

For many, this process will be experienced as an expansion of consciousness; which extends from the personal to the universal, where one’s first experience of Unity might occur through a realization or connection that happens within Oneself.

Next, an increase in the intensity of world events, such as food shortages and the collapse of the economy, could inspire people to expand their understanding of Unity beyond the Self, by encouraging them to seek out other like-minded friends and individuals with whom they might share resources and understanding that could help them meet the increasing demands of the moment.

A further intensification of the global situation through events as extreme as a “fake alien invasion”, and the complete collapse of world systems, could then cause some to perceive the formation of a New World Order as the Ultimate expression of Unity; while others, will see Ultimate Unity as the mobilization of the world’s citizens in a revolution against such a System.

However, as people across the face of our broken and battered planet, rise to the peak of polarity, with the forces of the New World Order grasping for control, and the masses rising in revolt, the Earth’s return into the higher vibrational field of the Purifier, around October 28^th, 2011, will bring the collective mind to a fully realized experience of Unity Consciousness; which will show the world that true Unity is not the desire to gather large masses of like-minded people, to support or oppose an idea; but rather true Unity is the soul’s realization that All is One already.

For the passing of the Purifier with its phenomenal gravitational and electromagnetic forces will cause such intense shifting of our outer and inner experiences of reality that we will have one of two choices; we may choose to see ourselves as separate from the events we are experiencing, which could rise to such a peak of intensity that our increasingly fearful desire for things to change would drive us insane.

Or we could choose, with love and faith, to surrender our personal will to the Divine Will of the Tao, and realize that All that we are experiencing is a projection of our minds, and that it is Divine. And in accordance with the divine wisdom given to us through “The Tibetan Book of the Dead”, we will see that Recognition is simultaneous with Liberation. For just as the soul’s journey through the bardos encourages one to recognize that everything we experience is a divine projection of our mind; so too are we urged to realize the same during our brief journey through the material world.

Although such spiritual seeking is met with little success in today’s world, because of the extreme difficulty in reaching integration in a vibrational field that is as psychically polluted as that of the Earth, during the revolving course of the cosmic cycles, there arise periods when great redeeming energies return to the Earth allowing the process of Integration to proceed more easily and rapidly.

All around the world, their exist ancient cultures and wisdom keepers whose texts and teachings reveal knowledge of such periods having happened in the past; while some even hold prophecies telling of the impending Return of these forces of salvation.

However, here it is essential to understand that this Returning Redeemer is not a physical personality of majestic stature residing somewhere outside the dense material world, but is essentially an impersonal, Divine Unifying Consciousness, manifesting itself as Light, Love and Wisdom in a field of cosmic rays emanating from the center of our galaxy via the Purifier. Thus, the Return actually refers to the Earth’s cyclic reentry into the Purifier’s higher vibrational field, at which point we are anointed by its divine light and influence.

And it is because of this divine “anointing” that the Return is widely referred to as the Return of Christ, which stemming from the Greek word ‘Kristos’ means ‘the anointed one’. Thus we may see that Christ Consciousness is not exclusively available to Jesus, but is available to every human being who experiences the infinite, changeless reality that lies at the core of each one of us.

For just as the Christ through Jesus displayed only Faith and Love during experiences of great suffering, so too will all those who wish to follow Christ’s narrow path, be urged to face the challenges of the coming months with Faith, Love and Wisdom; willingly sacrificing their fears, and attachments to the Self, so that they may open themselves up to the fully expanded realization that All is One… and Divine.

For, in this period of purification, the mirror of Truth will be held up for all to see, at last, what we have become, and which master we have truly served. And when humanity is left with no other choice but to face the Truth and ourselves in utter honesty, to look, to see and to weep in genuine repentance; then can Love open our hearts and reveal to us the way of true devotion and holiness. It is thus, through humble surrender, that each person is given the opportunity to hasten their own spiritual growth, and simultaneously transition into a bright new era.

So how might our interaction with the purifier, bring us to such a profound experience of oneness with everything, that we would come to the full realization of every level of creation by October 28^th, 2011?

The answer to this may be summed up in one word: Vibration. For if Nasa’s information suggesting that Comet Elenin is, or is being followed by a Super-Massive brown dwarf star, is true; then we will be greatly affected by the extremely high vibrations of its electromagnetic field upon passing; whose frequencies will be so great that some people say they could alter our experience of reality by raising our vibrations to the point where we will experience other dimensional planes, as evidenced in the Hopi Prophecies of the Blue and Red Kachinas where it says:

“When the Purifier comes, many things will begin to occur that will not make sense, for reality will be shifting back in and out of the dream state. Things unseen will be felt very strongly.

“There will be many strange beasts upon the Earth in those days, some from the past and some that we have never seen. The nature of mankind will appear strange in these times we walk between worlds, and we will house many spirits even within our bodies. After a time we will again walk with our brothers from the Stars, and rebuild this Earth But not until the Purifier has left his mark upon the universe.”

That said, it is widely accepted in both the realms of science and spirituality that the human body, comprised mostly of water, is, a conductor of sound, light, and information, all of which travel through our bodies as vibrations. Aware of this, we may now imagine that as the higher vibrations of The Purifier move through us, they will cause our bodies to resonate with their frequency.

Thus, as our vibrations rise and match the never-before-experienced frequency levels of the Purifier, we will be able to perceive higher levels of the electromagnetic spectrum, at which point we will be able to perceive all of the sounds, images, and entities that exist within our newly achieved range of frequency.

Vibrating at this level, the spirits of the dead may be seen and heard, rising to meet the coming dawn, as humanity expands its senses and consciousness to perceive the forgotten fifth element of Ether; that which connects us all. Here too, we may perceive the parallel realms of the astral planes, and share encounters with mythical beings, all of whom will attend us, and the rest of humanity, as our increasing frequency brings us all closer to a collective experience of Oneness.

As we reach the peak of frequency, the voices of others that we have begun to hear in our heads, will rise in numbers, and climax at the point when we hear all the thoughts of creation, and experience all actions, as if they were our own. So too, may it seem like all the events of these lives are happening at once, and that all places, are this place.

As one may imagine, this expanded perspective of Oneness could be quite an intense experience; and for those who choose to hold on to their ‘knowledge’ of what ‘is’ and ‘is not’ possible, such events will threaten to shatter their psyches; as every sense is simultaneously overloaded.

Thoughts of ‘good’ or ‘evil’, will give rise to those of their dualistic opposites and attract like energies that further threaten the Traveler’s ability to stay safe and sane. And here we will have a choice; to either clutch to the banks of that raging river, and be dashed against the rocks, or to simply ‘let go’ and surrender to the roar and the flow.

Some will try to hide from this experience. Some will try to escape it. Some will welcome it. Some will recognize it. And some will have known all their lives that the end would be like this. Exactly like this.

As the Truth of Oneness – followed by Divine Love – returns to our ailing planet, those who love the Truth and who are therefore consecrated to serving the Truth without compromise or self-concern, will greatly rejoice at the shattering of the illusion of separation.

And when at long last humanity has Awakened to its Oneness with the Earth and all living things, we will raise our voices as One and join the eternal song of the Universe.

Have faith, for we are… Awakening As One.

[Courtesy: http://awakeningasone.com/seek-the-truth/the-quickening-transcript/ ]

HIV/AIDS: Treatment as Prevention – The Road Ahead

2011-07-26T14:53:00.000+05:30

The sixth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention started optimistically as the hype surrounding the use of antiretroviral treatment to prevent HIV infection gained momentum. But the focus of much discussion in Rome from 17-20 July will undoubtedly be on how to transform the recent promising research findings into workable policy.

The most significant of these is the HPTN052 randomized control trial, which found that earlier antiretroviral treatment can reduce the risk of heterosexual HIV transmission by as much as 96 percent; other studies have proven the efficacy of ARVs for prevention in HIV-negative people.

"We need to ensure that the advances we are making in research – such as the now proven concept of antiretroviral treatment as a means of HIV prevention – are translated into action for people in developing countries," said IAS local co-chair Stefano Vella, research director at Italy’s Istituto Superiore di Sanità, at the official opening of the conference.

But translating the research into action will require money, and if recent trends are any indication, that will be difficult, and there is much scepticism about the ability to significantly increase the numbers on treatment with such limited funds.

Donor pressure

"We need to keep up the pressure on donors... Donors are used to seeing costs rising year after year, but now we can show them a light at the end of the tunnel... We can show them that investing today will lead to lower costs tomorrow," Brenda Waning, coordinator of market dynamics with the health financing mechanism, UNITAID, said. "We also need to learn how to do more with limited resources."

Treatment as prevention will mean putting significantly more people on treatment earlier; at present, 15 million people are estimated to need ARVs – only 6.6 million have access to them.

"Treatment as prevention is possible, it is feasible, but we must not fool ourselves into thinking it's going to be easy," said Paul de Lay, deputy executive director of UNAIDS. "We put an additional 1.4 million new people on treatment in 2010 – if we maintain that momentum we will not achieve the goal of 15 million on treatment by 2015.

"We need to get to US$22 to $24 billion a year from the $15 billion a year we are currently spending; we need African governments to abide by the Abuja Declaration commitment to spend 15 percent of national budgets on health and we need donors to meet their commitments," he added.

"If we can convince donors that we can stop the epidemic within a finite amount of time, the money will be found," said Brian Williams, an epidemiologist with the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

Scaling-up HIV testing

Key to putting more people on treatment earlier will be finding those who need it; according to De Lay, most countries with hyper-endemic epidemics are testing just 4 percent of their populations.

"We can't rely on VCT alone; there has to be a massive push for provider-initiated counselling and testing," he added. However, "we have seen some classic human rights violations when it comes to HIV testing: lack of confidentiality, stigma and discriminatory practices and mandatory testing... we must ensure testing is done with respect for human rights."

According to Reuben Granich, medical officer for TB and HIV at WHO, testing will have to expand in innovative ways to achieve the levels necessary for treatment to be effective as prevention.

We have to remember that history will judge us not by our scientific breakthroughs, but how we apply them“We have to go beyond the health facility to community-based testing; for example, household testing, multi-disease prevention campaigns – malaria, safe water, HIV testing and so on," he said. "None of this will work without community demand and engagement."

UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibé said his organization was working with Jeffrey Sachs and the Earth Institute to mobilize more than one million community health workers in Africa by 2015.

Monitoring, drugs

Millions more people on treatment will create a need for increased monitoring – including CD4 testing, which measures immune strength, and the more accurate but more expensive viral load testing – to keep tabs on treatment failure and prevent drug resistance.

In sub-Saharan Africa, most tests are conducted at centralized laboratories, often taking weeks and losing patients needing treatment in the process.

"New diagnostic technology will help overcome barriers to treatment and testing," said UNITAID’s Waning. "We are hoping to see disposable CD4 tests and expect the first viral load point-of-care tests to be available by 2012 at an affordable price."

Pharmaceutical companies will have a role to play, both in lowering the cost of drugs and in ensuring new ARVs. "Pharmaceutical companies need a new business model – one in which they can make profits and continue to conduct research and development while keeping the price of drugs affordable," said De Lay.

"We must oppose trade agreements that seek to limit TRIPS [Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights] flexibilities. I want to salute the government of India for refusing to accept provisions on data exclusivity. And I want to recognize the leadership of the BRICS [ http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2011/july/20110711bchinabrics ] [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] ministers of health in ensuring that trade does not undermine access to medications, especially generics," said Sidibé.

He pointed out the importance of using all the prevention tools available, and the need to keep using tried-and-tested methods like condoms. HIV prevention has also recently received a boost in the area of pre-exposure prophylaxis, with a number of studies – including a large randomized control trial based on daily oral ARVs and a separate study involving a microbicide gel – also showing efficacy in preventing HIV.

"Even if treatment as prevention is rolled out in the most optimum way, it is unlikely to capture everyone infected... PrEP does have a role, especially microbicide gels in hyper-endemic countries," said De Lay.

"We have to remember that history will judge us not by our scientific breakthroughs, but how we apply them," Sidibé.
[Courtesy : http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93251]
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Loathing of heroin users behind approach

2011-07-13T10:21:00.000+05:30

From Chris Middendorp

We treat people on drugs as criminals first and people second.
Heroin's most notable effect on the long-term user is not insanity, disease or moral turpitude - it's constipation. Regular users of opiates find it difficult to go to the toilet. This restricted state is an apposite metaphor for drug policy in Australia.
We remain stuck in antiquated law-and-order responses, when drug taking is actually a health issue. Police can do nothing to remedy addiction, all they can do is treat drug users as criminals first and people second. Nowhere is this more apparent than in their dealings with heroin use, the drug most feared by the community.
Let's get one thing over with right away. When we say that a heroin addiction is bad, what we should really mean is that the bad things associated with heroin come about because the drug is illegal.
The fact that some heroin users turn to burglary or prostitution to finance their habit is a consequence of the legal system rather than the drug itself.
The purveyors of heroin operate outside the law. This makes the drug expensive and widely varying in quality. People overdose because they don't know how potent their supply is going to be. Users become sick and sometimes homeless because all their money and resources are directed towards the ceaseless maintenance of this costly addiction.
I've heard drug educators explain that a kilogram of heroin is no more expensive to produce than a kilogram of household sugar. Yet a heroin addict may need to spend hundreds, even thousands, of dollars a week on a substance that's worth no more than a few bucks. Most of the crime associated with heroin is the unfortunate byproduct of its high price.
Dr Alex Wodak, director of the drug and alcohol service at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital, maintains that heroin-related crime is perpetrated by only about 5 per cent of heroin users, who have a serious dependency. Many heroin users have jobs and function responsibly in the community. Wodak's proposed solution for severe addiction is to allow the user to obtain heroin safely and cheaply by medical prescription. It's the kind of response that has been recommended by many doctors and social commentators for decades. It's also a response that never fails to ignite a controversy. We're not ready for tolerance. The real question is, why?
It is impossible to have a polite debate about heroin. Right now there's a clamorous argument in Melbourne about whether we might save the lives of heroin users and benefit the community by introducing a safe injecting facility in Richmond. The debate has exposed the extent of the community's ignorance about drugs and revealed an ugly but widely held loathing of heroin users. If we continue to depict users as depraved souls, we'll never be able to solve this social problem.
Heroin use in the City of Yarra is so prominent that councillors have voted six-to-one in favour of trialling a safe, medically supervised injecting room. Their goals are to stop users from dying in public toilets and lanes and take drug use (and discarded syringes) off the streets. These were the same good reasons why the Wayside Chapel established an injecting room in Sydney's Kings Cross so successfully a decade ago.
Talkback radio can be a shrill arena, but it can also be a good place to find out how the community responds to putative social change. In Melbourne the inevitable question was put to listeners by several broadcasters: ''Are you for or against safe injecting rooms?''
Mary, a caller to 774 last Wednesday, articulately summed up the case against tolerance. She was adamant: heroin users are ''very frightening people'' who ''don't have normal empathy of people in the community''. There were more callers quick to support Mary's view by evoking the classic epithet ''junkie''. Junkies were ''horrible'', ''antisocial'', ''angry'', ''abusive''.
Ted Baillieu, a generally fair-minded and progressive Liberal, has spoken out against Yarra Council's advocacy of safe injecting rooms in terms that amplify and reflect the trepidations that were broadcast on talkback.
''We don't support the normalisation of this kind of behaviour,'' the Premier said. In other words, a safe injecting room was tantamount to moral failure and only encouraging people to use narcotics.
Police Minister Peter Ryan thought he had the solution to this moral panic. More police. The constipated law and order approach.
The Americans are hopelessly addicted to their war on drugs - a war they've never won. This wretched conflict is also being fought in Australia. A more enlightened approach is blocked by our tendency to see heroin users as the enemy, to demonise and describe them as the embodiment of all social ills.
The more aberrant heroin users seem, the easier it is to ignore their rights and accept their deaths and their violated lives as somehow unavoidable.
There's a bigoted and vindictive flavour to Melbourne's debate about injecting rooms. It's not really a discussion about whether we can save lives by building responsive support services. It's a debate about whether heroin users should be counted as human beings.

(Chris Middendorp is a Melbourne community worker.)

[Courtesy : http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/loathing-of-heroin-users-behind-approach-20110522-1eys1.html]
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Happy International Kissing Day : 6 July

2011-07-06T20:32:00.000+05:30

Kissing Day

On this day, all who want have good reasons for "exchanging their souls": on July 6 the International Kissing Day is celebrated, set in the United Kingdom for the first time. Two decades ago, the holiday was adopted by the UNO. On this day different kissing contests are organized in many cities, and the participants of such contests have a chance to win various prizes and gifts. So, go ahead and set the "kissing record"!
How did a kiss appear? Most competent persons argue that the author of the first kiss is not identified. It was not invented like a phone or electricity. It was not named after a person who first closed his lips, opened them at once with a particular sound, and left a wet print on his girlfriend's cheek.
Although, the origin of the word defining the act is not so important. The most interesting fact is the reason why the act appeared, and scientists, anthropologists, historians and philosophers have no single vision of it. There are many theories.
Why do people kiss? Firstly, it is a cultural tradition. Almost in the whole world people getting into a romantic situation feel an unperceived necessity to kiss. There is such a feeling the representatives of the opposite sex are programmed to kiss and are waiting for the moment. When you understand it, you will get both more kisses and more satisfaction from them.
This program works day by day. People see actors kissing on TV screens, in movies and advertisements, they are told their friends are kissing someone and they see people kissing in the streets. As a result, in particular situations a kiss is perceived as an essential part. That's why in any romantic situation the unconscious stereotype comes into force, and people feel almost an irresistible desire to kiss, no matter if they want to do it or not.

Famous kissers:
An American A. E. Wolfram from Minnesota on September 15, 1990 kissed about 8001 people in 8 hours during the festival held in his state. In this way, he managed to kiss a new person every 3.6 seconds.
The first kiss in the movie: 1896 - by May Irvin and John S. Reye in a 30-second demonstration by Thomas Edison named The Kiss, counting 191 kisses.
The longest kiss in movie history: Regis Toomey and Jane Wyman were kissing for 185 seconds in the movie You're in the Army Now (1940), which is 4 % of all the movie length.

[Courtesy : http://www.worlds-holidays.com/international/kissing_day/]

India’s 12th Five Year Plan to Focus on ‘Inclusive Growth’

2011-07-03T08:56:00.000+05:30

As India’s government prepares to submit its approach paper for its 12th five-year plan (a plan which covers years 2012 to 2017), the Planning Commission’s focus on instilling “inclusive growth” is making headway. The plan is expected to be one that encourages the development of India’s agriculture, education, health and social welfare through government spending. It is also expected to create employment through developing India’s manufacturing sector and move the nation higher up the value chain. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, however, warned that maintaining fiscal discipline is important as well.

The commission will likely strive to enact policies that will achieve somewhere around a 10 percent growth rate in factories and a 4 percent growth rate in farm produce, though Prime Minister Singh has asked the plan to set the nation’s growth rate firmly at 9 percent to 9.5 percent.

Come May, a view into the implementation of these goals should be apparent. A question that India’s government will have to grapple with, much like that of any emerging market, is whether to continue to focus on GDP growth in the face of soaring food prices and economy-wide inflation.

An important aspect of generating “inclusive growth” is shifting the target of government aid to rural areas. Typically, large projects such as power generation, roads whereby freight can travel, and airports receive the lion’s share of government subsidies, while rural infrastructure receives comparatively little.

A recent op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal by Saurabh Tripathi, a partner with Boston Consulting Group, echoed these sentiments.

“Rural infrastructure, which serves 70 percent of the population, doesn’t get the attention it deserves. As the Planning Commission sets out to draft the country’s planned investments for the next five years, it is important to take note of this gap, and the innovative solutions needed to fill it,” Tripathi wrote.

As indicated from the planning commission’s presentation to the prime minister on April 21, the quantitative metrics known thus far in the early stage of the five-year plan are:

A target of GDP growth in the 9 percent to 9.5 percent range
An increase in literacy rates to 100 percent between the plan’s period from 2012 to 2017
An increased expenditure on health from 1.3 percent to 2.0 percent of GDP
In a boon for industry, the planning commission indicated that it aims to have industry and manufacturing-related activities grow by 11 percent over the next five years, contrasted to 8 percent over the previous 11th five-year plan. It also aims to undertake somewhat vaguely defined, but certainly well-intentioned, structural and regulatory reforms to facilitate investment.

The presentation highlighted the planning commission’s views that commercial energy demand is expected to increase by 7 percent per year over the next five years.

To address that increase in demand, the planning commission recommended that all methods of current energy production and distribution be developed, from coal to nuclear energy to solar and wind, and proposed that existing taxes on electricity should not be raised.

Interestingly, the Planning Commission envisioned an expansive role for Indian SOE Coal India:

“Coal India must become a coal supplier and not just a mining company. Should plan to import coal to meet coal demands. This requires blending of imported and domestic coal as supplied by Coal India.”

All told, in its early stages, the 12th five-year plan promises a lot for rural development and growth. In that sense, it is similar to China’s latest iteration of its five-year plan, which seeks to improve the lot of rural Chinese peoples by increasing urbanization and industrial efforts in central and western China. But, by contrast, while the Chinese government seems to be continuing with nation-wide industrialization efforts, the Indian government may be attempting to promote a policy of reverse migration by making rural living more attractive with some access to modern amenities, but hopefully without the accompanying chaos that goes with it.

(Courtesy : http://www.2point6billion.com/news/2011/04/25/indias-12th-five-year-plan-to-focus-on-inclusive-growth-9151.html)
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30 Years On : Why we need a cure for HIV now more than ever before (Functional cure/Sterilizing cure)

2011-07-01T05:31:00.000+05:30

By Elly Katabira, IAS President

Thirty years ago this month, health agencies in the US began monitoring unusual clusters of diseases that would later be identified as the first cases of AIDS. A year later, a young medical officer working at a Health Center documented and reported to the Ministry of Health the first cases of AIDS in Uganda found on the shores of Lake Victoria in the Rakai district.

Over the past three decades, I have worked extensively in the field of care and support for people living with HIV, watching the story of AIDS unfold in my own country and around the world. I have witnessed some of the devastating consequences of silence and stigma, as well as the incredible results that translating scientific evidence into action can produce.

Today, HIV experts are in agreement that “prevention”, “treatment” and “care” are the three pillars to successfully responding to the HIV epidemic. Lessons learnt, and in particular the compelling new evidence that HIV treatment is also HIV prevention and that expanding antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage has preventative benefits for the entire community, also show us that these three pillars must not be approached separately, but as three interconnected efforts.

Here at the International AIDS Society (IAS) however, we are convinced that the three pillar approach to ending the HIV epidemic is incomplete and, to mark this historic month, the IAS is calling for the addition of a fourth pillar -- “cure” -- to the international response to the HIV epidemic.

Under no circumstances should the inclusion of “cure” into the global response direct funding away from treatment, prevention and care programmes. The IAS will continue to advocate for increased funding across each of these pillars. The IAS does believe however, that it is imperative that donors, governments and the AIDS community make a viable economic investment in HIV cure research, and right now.

Globally, there are currently 33.3 million people living with HIV. Although significant progress has been made towards scaling up access to antiretroviral treatment, the increase in new infections in certain regions, a decrease in funding, and the fact that under new WHO guidelines HIV patients should be starting their treatment regimens much earlier, means that universal access targets are way off track. As new infections continue to outstrip numbers on treatment by 2 to 1 in resource-limited settings, the scale of unmet need can only increase.

Furthermore, while ART has greatly improved the quality of life of people living with HIV and reduced AIDS-related mortality rates, the virus remains persistent in certain cells even in patients being successfully treated. In turn, patients have no option but to undertake life-long treatment to keep the virus under control. Life-long adherence to these drugs remains both costly and tiring for the patient, while side-effects associated with ART usage can be severe. Lastly, resistance to treatment can occur for a number of reasons.

Funding research to develop a functional1 or sterilizing2 cure for HIV which could offer people living with the virus an alternative to the burden of a difficult life-long ARV regimen is therefore not only important for the health and human rights of people living with HIV, it is in our collective economic interest.

Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV, Nobel Laureate and IAS President-elect, is currently guiding the development of a global scientific strategy, Towards an HIV Cure. This strategy aims at building a global consensus on the state of the art research in the field of HIV reservoirs and defining scientific priorities that must be addressed to tackle HIV persistence in patients undergoing treatment, the key hurdle impeding any alternative to long-term therapy.

Thirty years after the first cases of AIDS, if we are ever to envisage the remission of the disease in infected individuals, or even the eradication of the virus, then we must invest in and aggressively pursue an HIV cure.

Dr Elly Katabira is President of the International AIDS Society, the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals.

1 Functional cure some HIV genetic material remains in the body, but the patient’s immune defense fully controls any viral rebound, allowing patients to be free of antiretroviral treatment

2 Sterilizing cure no HIV genetic material can be found in the body, HIV infection is eradicated.

(Courtesy: http://www.iasociety.org/Default.aspx?pageId=561)
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First Civil Society Consultation for NACP 4

2011-05-09T08:22:00.002+05:30

Dear members and well wishers,

FYI and sorry for cross-posting.

Dear Civil Society Friends,

As we draw closer to the 12th of May, when the First Civil Society
Consultation for NACP 4 will take place at Delhi, we must say the response has been significant.

The group of organizations that met at Delhi on 21st April, that drafted the memorandum to NACO had mooted the Civil Society
Consultation and went ahead with booking of the venue ( Constitution Club Delhi) through contributions raised in the very meeting anticipating that about 80 people from all over the country will participate.

Many of you have seen the announcement appear in this forum and have written back to Lalit Mohan confirming your participation. Lalit has been collating the list as well as written back to you.

We are posting a registration form seeking some information from you so that we can be sure of the number, organize the logistics, set the agenda and organize group work.

We request you all to take a few minutes and fill up the attached form and send it back to Lalit Mohan through email (lalit.mohan@lawyerscollective.org).

Since many of the participants are people living with HIV and women with small children or requiring language translation - since meeting will be in English, we wanted to know if there may be such special requirements. Hence the registration form is important.

If you can please send in the filled in registration form by Tuesday 4 pm latest, it will help us in organizing ourselves better. The Address of the Venue and Contact Details are furnished below once again.

Please do send this final announcement to all people you think should know about it so that we have a wide consultation.

First National Civil Society Consultation for NACP IV, India

12th May, 2011

Contact: Lalit Mohan, Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS Unit
Email: lalit.mohan@lawyerscollective.org

Venue: Dy Chairman Hall Constitution Club of India,
Vithal Bhai Patel House, 63/2, 1st Floor, Masjid Road,
Rafi Marg, New Delhi 110014
Jangpura, New Delhi - 110014
Phone 011-23327337
Phone - 011-46805555

As we had already mentioned earlier, this meeting is not funded and
therefore participants will have to organize their travel and accommodation if required. What we will be able to provide are, during the day, 2 rounds of refreshments with tea and lunch.

We all look forward to participation and involvement, not only in this meeting but throughout the process of NACP4 preparation and implementation. The epidemic is not over. It is still posing
clear and present danger. We have been responsive in the past and we need to be so in the future. Mitigating the impact of HIV is critical and "Together We Can"

Yours In Solidarity

Civil Society Group that met on 21st April 2011
(Courtesy: AIDS-INDIA)

Alcohol kills 2.5 million globally

2011-03-29T09:02:00.001+05:30

For the first time, delegations from all 193 Member States of World Health Organization (WHO) reached consensus at the World Health Assembly on a resolution to confront the harmful use of alcohol - which contributes to poor health globally, can devastate families and damage the structure of communities.

Facts on alcohol

Every year, the harmful use of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 320 000 young people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the eighth leading risk factor for deaths globally, and harmful use of alcohol was responsible for almost 4% of all deaths in the world, according to the estimates for 2004.

In addition to the resolution, a global strategy developed by WHO in close collaboration with Member States provides a portfolio of policy options and interventions for implementation at national level with the goal to reduce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide. The resolution endorses the strategy and urges countries to complement and support national responses to public health problems caused by the harmful use of alcohol.

Ten target areas

Ten recommended target areas for policy options include health services' responses, community action, pricing policies and reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol. WHO was also requested to support countries in implementing the strategy and monitor progress at global, regional and national levels.

"The resolution and the strategy set priority areas for global action, provide guidance to countries and give a strong mandate to WHO to strengthen action at all levels on reducing harmful use of alcohol" says WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Ala Alwan.
Harmful drinking is also a major avoidable risk factor for noncommunicable diseases, in particular cardiovascular diseases, cirrhosis of the liver and various cancers. It is also associated with various infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and TB, as well as road traffic accidents, violence and suicides.

Implementation

Successful implementation of the strategy will require concerted action by countries, effective global governance and appropriate engagement of all relevant stakeholders. To this end, WHO will also encourage that the strategies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol are included as an integral part of work on global development and in related investment decisions.

(Courtesy :http://doctor.ndtv.com/storypage/ndtv/id/4491/Alcohol_kills_25_million_globally.html)
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From 5.2 to 2.5 – how much HIV do we have in India anyway?

2011-03-29T08:58:00.002+05:30

From Dr LM Nath

The National AIDS Control Organisation announced that there was good news, the HIV prevalence had come down in India. They also reported an estimated 2.5 million persons infected with HIV in India. The first message that HIV infection in India was either stable or even coming down in some significant groups was by and large acceptable.

However, the announcement was over-shadowed by a release of the HIV estimates for 2006. People learnt with some surprise that the estimates for the year 2006 was now just over 2.5 million when the data for the year for the ending December 2005 had been processed to conclude that there had been 5.2 million infected persons living with the virus in India. The reduction in HIV prevalence to half the earlier value did not appear to be believable.

The general impression created was that that the new figure was a result of some mathematical jugglery that produced a figure half of the value that NACO had been vociferously defending over the past many months, and was not due to an actual reduction in prevalence. In fact both occurred – there was probably a fall in the estimated number of HIV infected persons and at the same time a new method of estimating the total infected was used. The new method based on a household survey gave a much lower value than the method based on ante-natal clinic surveillance which was the basis of the estimates made earlier. This lowering of the estimated total has occurred in every country where the basis for the HIV estimate has been changed to use household survey data rather than clinic based surveillance data.

It is worth noting that we have known for many years that using data from ante-natal clinics gives higher values during HIV estimates. (By definition pregnant women are sexually active and not using condoms – both factors that are not true of the general population). An alternate source of data to give us an estimate of HIV prevalence in the general population was not available because of the need for eliminating the possibility of leakage of the identity of those that tested positive by using unlinked anonymous surveillance. In unlinked anonymous surveillance, the blood is tested and not the individual. In other words the blood sample is identified only with a code number that cannot be traced back to the identity of the person giving the blood. As the person is not tested and only blood is, it is also not necessary to take the permission of the person whose blood is tested. Therefore an essential part of the unlinked anonymous testing protocol is the use of a small portion of the blood drawn for some diagnostic procedure. Such groups are hard to find.

The only valid way to compare the estimates for two separate years is to use the exactly same estimation process over the two years being compared and then compare the value for the total infected in the population under consideration. As in this instance in we must remember that both the methods only give estimates and not true values and the consensus amongst experts is that the new method used this year is likely to be closer to the truth India, it is fruitless to compare the 5.2 million of December 2005 with 2.5 million of December 2006. The figures do not show that the number of HIV infected in 2006 was half that of 2005.

When the method used in 2005 was also applied to the 2006 data we arrived at an estimate of roughly 4.84 million. The good news is that the actual prevalence if HIV in India has fallen and the epidemic is at least stabilising even if not actually falling. Next year we will be in a better position to comment and to see if we succeed in consolidating the advantage we have gained in this war against HIV. As to the question of how much HIV infection there is in India.

(Courtesy :http://doctor.ndtv.com/storypage/ndtv/id/3749/type/feature/From_52_to_25-how_much_HIV_do_we_have_in_India_anyway.html)
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Afghanistan Dispatch: Addicted

2011-03-18T20:13:00.000+05:30

Pics : Top : “It is very common for people in this area to give opium to children when they cry."
Below: Nurses at Dawlatabad hospital resuscitate Abdul Bashir, 15 days old, who suffered an opium overdose. Image by Anna Badkhen. Afghanistan, 2011.

From Anna Badkhen

Abdul Bashir survived his first opium overdose on Tuesday. He was 15 days old.

He thrashed against the soiled hospital cot and gurgled the horrible, rhythmic wheezes of the dying. Nurses pressed an oxygen mask to his tiny face, blue from asphyxiation, and tourniqueted his convulsing limbs to inject an antidote. From the corner of the drafty hospital room, Abdul Bashir’s young mother fixed her child with a drugged stare. It was she who had given him the opium that morning, to hush his crying. It’s what all women in her village always do.

These are some well-known verities: Afghanistan’s poppy fields supply nearly all of the world’s opium and approximately half the budget of the Taliban, which uses the estimated half a billion dollars per year in drug money to fund their insurgency. The opium trade in Afghanistan is worth as much as $4 billion a year—the second-largest source of revenue after Western aid.

But far less known than the Afghan economy’s addiction to opium is the addiction of its people. Its extent is opaque, its consequences lost in the penumbra of physical and cultural isolation of entire constellations of villages not marked on any map, often not reachable by car, and virtually unchanged for centuries.

A United Nations survey last summer showed that one million adult Afghans between the ages of 15 and 64 may be addicted to drugs—twice the average global rate. A U.S. State Department study of air, hair, and surface samples in the houses of Afghan opium abusers concluded that “inhalation of second-hand smoke, as well as contact with contaminated surfaces (third-hand exposure) are endangering women and children living in households where opium or other drugs are abused.”

But these studies do not account for children like Abdul Bashir, who are growing up with no access to electricity, health care, clean water, and education—but with easy and constant access to cheap opium. The drug is used as the traditional remedy for every kind of ache or illness. In dozens, perhaps hundreds of villages in northern Afghanistan, most pregnant mothers introduce their children to opium prenatally, when they dilute specks of the sweet black paste in their morning tea to ease muscle aches, stupefy hunger, and dull depression. After the children are born, mothers typically give them infinitesimal amounts of the drug to chew in their hand-sown cradles strung from thatch ceilings, in lieu of a pacifier.

Untold thousands of people are trapped in the generations-old dependence in the plains of the ancient Khorasan. No one seems to know when the addiction took root in this parched soil. Some credit the armies of Alexander the Great with introducing the drug after he conquered the majestic city-state of Balkh in 327 B.C. In many ways, the landscape of today’s Bactria remains the same as the Macedonian must have beheld: eroding walls of mud and straw; jackknifed farmers in unbleached robes tilling hand-sown fields with wooden tools; unpaved and unmarked clay roads.

Some of these roads lead to Dawlatabad, a dull and flat market town that unshutters its stores twice a week, on bazaar days. Dawlatabad is home to the only hospital that serves several hundred villages to the north of ancient Balkh—some just a couple of miles away, like Abdul Bashir’s Joi Arab, some a day’s trek by donkey or camel. A team of six doctors and ten nurses work at the grimy one-story walled compound. Dr. Mohammad Akbar, the sole pediatrician here, told me the hospital receives approximately 1,000 child patients each year. Every single one of them, he said, has some degree of opium poisoning. “Most of them have other diseases—tuberculosis, dysentery, pneumonia,” the doctor explained. “But all of the children in our area are treated with opium first. Only after that fails do their parents take them to the doctor.”

After the nurses resuscitated Abdul Bashir with a shot of naloxone, an opiate receptor blocker, the doctor took me through his ward. The cots along the green walls streaked brown with old blood, or maybe excrement, were mostly empty. In two different rooms, three mothers sat cross-legged on cots next to their children. The doctor made macabre introductions: A two-year-old child with meningitis and opium addiction. A seven-month-old baby with pneumonia and opium addiction. A month-old baby with giardiasis and opium addiction. “They are either giving opium to them when they cry, or the child is ingesting it with the mother’s milk,” the doctor said. “We will treat them here, but when they go home…”

The doctor looked at Abdul Bashir. The infant, hooked up to a drip of IV fluid, was asleep and breathing normally. “Every month we receive two or three babies like this, not breathing, overdosed,” he said. “It is very common for people in this area to give opium to children when they cry. If he had gotten here twenty minutes later, he wouldn’t have lived. Last year, we had three children who were brought here dead.”

The other day I lunched on rice and desert dove with a hunter in Oqa, a tiny cluster of low hand-slapped houses about 30 miles east of Dawlatabad—a five-hour donkey ride, since no one in Oqa has ever owned a car. Forty-knot wind blew bits of sand and dry desert scrub, and Oqa appeared to be an island floating in a moving sea of dust.

The wild meat was dark and cottony. Dessert was green tea and an opium pipe, an implement of soldered metal brought in by my host’s seven-year-old grandson. Men took turns reclining before the pipe, supplicants before a fickle deity that enslaves and grants analgesia both. Sour smoke wafted toward the door, where half a dozen children had assembled to watch.

The men smoked and talked about life. In the last decade, it has gotten worse. Western aid has not reached the village, but the wealth that has accumulated in cities has complicated the existence of Oqa’s residents: The proliferation of cars in Mazar-e-Sharif, for example, means they can no longer take caravans with firewood their sons collect into northern Afghanistan’s largest city, because the cars startle their camels. The Taliban’s steady progress through the region means their village may once again become ensnared in fighting. The Afghan government has clamped down on the illegal trade of artifacts, which means fewer smugglers are willing to buy the small objects the men sometimes loot from the crumbling Kushan castles that rise out of their desert like ossified dragon spines.

A child by the door hawked dreadfully, a dark, sinister cough. What about doctors, I asked. Are there any doctors around, for when the children get sick? “The nearest doctor is in Dawlatabad,” the men replied. “But we rarely take the children there. Mostly, we give them opium.”

(Courtesy : http://pulitzercenter.org/articles/afghanistan-opium-addicted)
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Not just junkies: the stigmatising of drug addicts

2011-03-15T15:16:00.000+05:30

Treatment can help problematic drug users but unless we stop judging them and offer kindness and empathy instead it will fail

Drug addicts have a lot in common with other marginalised groups, such as sex workers, people with disabilities and asylum seekers in that many people have never met them and know very little about the realities of their lives. Where there is a void of factual information, stigma and prejudice often rush in to fill the space. This week's report from the UK drugs policy commission, Sinning and Sinned Against: the Stigmatisation of Problem Drug Users, confirms this. The report finds that many people don't like drug users and that this dislike hinders the prospects of social integration and future employment for this group.

This stigma is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of drug users and the nature of drug use. Problematic drug use often develops as a result of many and complex issues such as childhood abuse, dysfunctional family life, social exclusion and various emotional traumas. Class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine can provide a convenient form of chemical oblivion for those who want to blot out pain. Many who become addicted to these drugs are self-medicating to deal with this emotional and sometimes physical pain.

It is easy for those who have never experienced these problems to apportion the "undeserving" tag to drug users, but a failure to understand the starting point for addiction means that policies that spoon-feed attractive soundbites to Middle England about getting all addicts off drugs are unlikely to translate into successful outcomes for users.

Some people who use drugs problematically may stop using them by engaging with a variety of different treatments, such as methadone maintenance or residential rehab, while others stop without any conventional treatment because circumstances in their lives, such as the promise of getting back children previously removed by social services or a relationship with a new partner who encourages them to become drug-free, motivates them to change.

There is a huge emphasis on treatment but those who stop using drugs without treatment are not recorded in the official statistics. The statistics also don't comprehensively record those who relapse months or years after treatment – a common problem because addiction is a chronic, relapsing condition.

It's important to recognise that addiction, once it takes hold, is not logical. I used to edit a magazine for an HIV charity that did outreach work with drug users, providing clean needles and other paraphernalia. I'll never forget the woman who limped into the outreach van with a horrific abcess on her leg from repeatedly injecting into it. Drugs workers warned her that she needed to get down to A&E immediately otherwise she was in danger of losing her leg. She declined the offer of a staff member to drive her to the nearest hospital, said that her priority was not her leg but her next fix and limped away.

Many drug users are able human beings who, with the right support, can make a contribution to society. This means emotional, as well as practical, support, including housing and employment opportunities, rather than a three-line whip to "get clean or else". Treatment can help problematic drug users but without kindness, support, empathy and an absence of judgmentalism it will fail many.

People often stop using class A drugs because something or someone better comes into their lives. But for those who are leading truly wretched lives they may feel that there isn't anything better than crack and smack. The government needs to address this uncomfortable reality for which there is no quick, cheap fix and beware of coercing people into a vacuum. If they really want to help drug users, they need to look beyond drug use.

(Courtesy : http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/24/stop-stigmatising-drug-addicts)
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Thousands protest against EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

2011-03-02T15:29:00.000+05:30

"DON'T TRADE AWAY OUR LIVES IN THE EU-INDIA FREE TRADE AGREEMENT"

More than two thousand people living with HIV (PLHIV) from across India and Asia marched to Parliament Street in New Delhi today alongside the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. They urged the Indian government to stand strong amid pressure from the European Union (EU) to accept provisions in a free trade agreement (FTA) that would restrict access to affordable medicines. The sensitive negotiations are taking place in Brussels today.

"We all rely on affordable medicines made here in India to stay alive," said Nepal-based Rajiv Kafle of the Asia Pacific Network of Positive People. "We don't want to go back in time, to when our friends and loved ones just died because they couldn’t afford the medicines they needed. We're taking to the streets today, and many of us have come to Delhi to send a very simple message to the Indian government: Don’t trade away our lives in the EU-India FTA."

The EU is pushing for intellectual property (IP) provisions in the FTA that exceed what international trade rules require. The most damaging measure to access to affordable medicines is so-called 'data exclusivity' which would act like a patent and block generic versions from the market, even for drugs that are already off patent, or do not merit a patent to begin with under India’s strict patent law. The EU continues to claim – falsely – that these provisions will not harm access to medicines.

"Data exclusivity has proven to be damaging to public health in free trade agreements in other countries," said Anand Grover, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health. "It would be a colossal mistake to introduce data exclusivity in India, when millions of people across the globe depend on the country as the pharmacy of the developing world."

Affordable medicines produced in India have played a major role, for example, in scaling up HIV/AIDS treatment to more than five million people in developing countries. India was able to produce more affordable versions of medicines patented elsewhere because it did not grant patents on medicines until 2005, when World Trade Organization rules required it to do so. But when India designed its 2005 patent law, it prioritized public health over company profits, limiting patents to drugs that are new, and not just improvements of older medicines.

"India's patent law has long annoyed multinational pharmaceutical companies, and Novartis and Bayer have even tried to overturn the law in the courts," said Loon Gangte, of the Delhi Network of Positive People. "Having failed so far, companies have now lobbied European governments to take up their fight for pharmaceutical profits. But we’re in this fight for the long haul and will resist any threat to our access to medicines whatever shape or form it comes in."

The fact that India does now grant patents on medicines is already having a chilling effect on generic production. Several newer medicines to treat HIV, hepatitis-C and cancer have already been patented in India and their more affordable generic versions cannot be produced for several years to come.

"We have not been able to get generic versions of treatment for hepatitis-C that affects people who currently and formerly used drugs and many people living with HIV because the medicine is patented in India," said Abou Mere of the Indian Drug User's Forum (IDUF). "And I don't know any one of us who can afford the Rs. 7 lakhs (over US$15,000) it costs in India for the full treatment."

The IP provisions the EU is pushing would make this difficult situation significantly worse, by imposing even more restrictions on the production of affordable generic medicines in the future.

Intellectual property in FTAs can undermine the right to health in many ways. For example, tobacco companies are using FTAs with intellectual property in investment chapters to sue governments directly for their efforts to bring in measures to protect public health.

"As we speak, Philip Morris is using the Switzerland-Uruguay trade agreement to sue Uruguay for its decision to introduce larger and more graphic health warnings on cigarette packs," said YK Sapru, of the Cancer Patients Aid Association, which has long advocated for tobacco control measures in India. "The Indian government and the World Health Organization should wake up to the fact that the Convention on Tobacco Control is also under attack in these FTAs."

"What the EU wants with this FTA places trade interests over human rights and, in effect, may not be compliant with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other international instruments concerning the right to health," added the Special Rapporteur. "Provisions pertaining to intellectual property in the draft FTA should be urgently reconsidered."

- Citizen News Service (CNS)
(Courtesy : http://www.citizen-news.org/2011/03/thousands-protest-against-eu-india-free.html)
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Top Scientist unite to develop Global Scientific Strategy towards an HIV cure

2011-03-01T10:38:00.000+05:30

An HIV Cure.....
28 February, 2011 (Boston, United States) – More than 30 scientists gathered for a one-day meeting prior to the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) to launch an international working group on HIV reservoirs and strategies to control them. Under the auspices of the International AIDS Society, the scientists will guide the development of a global scientific strategy Towards an HIV Cure. The strategy aims at building a global consensus on the state of the HIV reservoirs field and defining scientific priorities that must be addressed by future research to tackle HIV persistency in patients undergoing antiretroviral therapy, the key hurdle impeding any alternative to long-term therapy. This global scientific strategy will help mobilize and focus resources to fund the most promising strategies towards a sterilizing or a functional cure*, and stimulate international research collaborations.

The international scientific working group will be co-chaired by Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, International AIDS Society (IAS) President-elect and 2008 Nobel Laureate for Medicine, and Professor Steve Deeks, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Positive Health Program (AIDS Program) at San Francisco General Hospital. The working group will work closely with an advisory board composed of leading advocates and major research stakeholders in HIV cure, including representatives of people living with HIV, funders and clinicians from high prevalence settings. The advisory group will be co-chaired by Pr. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Dr. Jack Whitescarver, Director of the Office of AIDS Research at the National Institutes of Health.

“Antiretroviral therapy has greatly improved the quality of life and reduced mortality rates of people living with HIV. However, even in successfully treated individuals, HIV remains dormant in certain cells, obliging patients to undertake life-long treatment to keep these viral reservoirs under control. If we are to envisage a successful discontinuation of treatment, we need to better understand why and how HIV infection persists despite treatment and to develop new therapeutic strategies,” said Pr. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi.

This initiative comes on the back of the successful workshop Towards a cure: HIV Reservoirs and strategies to Control Them, held in conjunction with the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) in Vienna in July 2010. The International AIDS Society (IAS) decided to continue to mobilize the scientific community and guide the development of the global scientific strategy Towards an HIV Cure, which will be presented at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), to be held in Washington DC in July 2012.

In line with the International AIDS Society’s strategic plan for 2010-2014, the IAS Governing Council has prioritized an HIV cure as one of its four key policy areas. “It is our mission to mobilize the scientific community and advocate for increased investments in HIV cure research, in order to develop short-term and cost-effective treatment strategies,” said Bertrand Audoin, IAS Executive Director.

“As a physician, I am fully aware that HIV persistence remains a daunting and complex challenge,” said Elly Katabira, IAS President. “But we need to offer people living with HIV an alternative to the burden of a difficult life-long ARV regimen.”

Given the current economic situation and the pace of new infections that, in resource-limited countries, are still outstripping numbers on treatment by five to two, long-term remission of infected individuals, or even eradication of viral reservoirs is a time sensitive priority.

*Functional Cure HIV genetic material remains in the body, but the patient’s immune defense fully controls any viral rebound, allowing patients to be free of antiretroviral treatment;
Sterilizing Cure no HIV genetic material can be found in the body, HIV infection is eradicated.

About the IAS
The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's leading independent association of HIV professionals, with over 16,000 members from more than 196 countries working at all levels of the global response to AIDS. Our members include researchers from all disciplines, clinicians, public health and community practitioners on the frontlines of the epidemic, as well as policy and programme planners. The IAS is the custodian of the biennial International AIDS Conference and lead organizer of the IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, which will be held in Rome, Italy in July 2011.
www.iasociety.org | www.ias2011.org

For more information about this release:
Sian Bowen (Geneva, Switzerland)
Senior Communications Manager, IAS
Email:Sian.Bowen@iasociety.org:
Tel: +41 22 710 0864

Lindsey Rodger (Geneva, Switzerland)Communications and Media Officer, IAS
Email:Lindsey.Rodger@iasociety.org
Tel: +41 22 710 0822

PLHIV to hold protest against India-EU FTA

2011-02-28T15:11:00.000+05:30

IMPHAL, Feb 26: Representatives of PLHIV Networks, Network of People who use Drugs and health activists from across India are holding a protest against the India-EU Free Trade Agreement at New Delhi on March 2.

Patient groups and civil society representatives from other countries, including Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines are also coming to India to seek meetings with the Indian government to express their concerns.

The rally will starts from Ramlila Ground at 10 am and concludes at Jantar Mantar and is being held by health groups to voice their concerns against this FTA.

The protest is directed against the stronger intellectual property provisions being demanded by the European Commission in the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, which may hamper access to cheap, life-saving, quality medicines for patients not just in India but many other developing countries around the world.

The groups are demanding that the following provisions be removed from the negotiations which included the data exclusivity, as it will not permit the placing of affordable versions of new formulations like pediatric doses of "off-patent" medicines on the market by the Indian Drug Controller. And also removal of investment rules, as it will enable foreign companies to take Indian government to private courts over domestic health policies like tobacco warnings and measures to reduce prices of medicines, Border measures, as it will deny medicines to patients in other developing countries with custom officials seizing generic medicines in transit, Injunction, as it undermines the independence of the Indian judiciary to protect right to health of patients over pharma profits, Other IP enforcement measures, as it put third parties like treatment providers at risk of police actions and court cases. The next round of negotiations between India and European Commission will take place during March and April in Brussels.

The EU-lndia FTA negotiations are set to be concluded by spring 2011. The protest will be followed by a Press Conference at Foreign Correspondent Club from 2pm onwards where in Anand Graver, UN Special Rapporteur on Health will address the media and share his concerns about the grave danger this FTA may bring to the countless human lives in developing countries by drying up the source of good and affordable medicines.

The other panellists will include representatives from International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, Oxfam India, Asia Pacific Network of Positive People, Care Foundation, Social Awareness Services Organisation (SASO) and Manipur Network of Positive People (MNP+). In solidarity, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, Asia Pacific Network of Positive People, Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD), World Vision, Lawyer's collective, Oxfam India and Medicine Sans Frontiers - Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines are calling for a global day of action against the EU-lndia FTA on 2 March 2011.

(Courtesy: http://ifp.co.in/shownews.php?newsid=15432)

Dumping violence on the poor

2011-02-26T18:53:00.001+05:30

The great challenge to ending the war on drugs is finding a way to give American parents the protection they want for their children.

From CASEY B. MULLIGAN

The war on drugs sends middle- and upper-class American problems to the residents of poor areas. Nevertheless, the federal government continues the war in earnest.

Almost 20 years ago, an infamous memo by Lawrence H. Summers, at the time the chief economist of the World Bank, stirred a debate as to whether it was appropriate for the United States and other developed countries to pay poor countries to accept dirty industries, toxic waste or other garbage from the developed world.

Both sides in the debate seemed to agree that it would be inappropriate to force poor countries to accept our garbage, without compensation. But that’s very much what the war on drugs does.

The war is an outright prohibition on the sale and consumption of contraband substances in the United States. That prohibition is enforced domestically by federal and local law enforcement and abroad by the United States military.

Some of the most violent battles are fought in Mexico, Guatemala and other countries poorer than the United States (see especially the comments of Gary Becker of the University of Chicago on this topic). The war also foments violence in our poorer inner cities.

Yes, the war makes it more costly for Americans to obtain the prohibited substances. Yet plenty of people in the United States are willing to pay the higher prices – prices far in excess of what it costs to grow, harvest and manufacture the drugs.

The gap between the prices consumers pay and the production costs creates a profit opportunity for someone willing to break laws, battle law enforcement and deliver drugs to Americans.

Some of these contraband entrepreneurs – drug smugglers and dealers – are from poor countries or poor neighborhoods in the United States, so in this way some American consumer dollars make it to poor areas.

Of course, most people in poor areas are not in the contraband business and have no part of the drug industry’s revenue. Yet they suffer enormous harm from the violence and the drug activity.

The war on drugs thus pushes the “toxic waste” of America’s drug consumption into poor neighborhoods with no compensation.

Middle- and upper-class parents are unlikely to witness personally the war’s violence, and they want to discourage their own children from taking drugs. So many of them appreciate that the war makes it more difficult, or at least more expensive, for their children to obtain drugs.

And their appreciation is an important reason why our federal government has yet to legalize drugs and strongly discourages states from doing so.

Legalizing and taxing the use of what are now illegal substances would remove the profit motive for dealers and smugglers, and the revenue might be used to help the residents of poor neighborhoods, as Professor Becker notes. The great challenge to ending the war on drugs is finding a way to give American parents the protection they want for their children.

(Casey B. Mulligan is an economics professor at the University of Chicago)
(Courtesy : http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/dumping-violence-on-the-poor/?src=busln)
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AIDS RESPONSE : Are we heading in the right direction ?

2011-02-05T10:00:00.000+05:30

By Kishalaya Namaram
(As published by AHRN newsletter December 2010 issue- www.ahrn.net)

Over the past decades, various intervention programmes have been conducted to reverse the epidemic of HIV and the harms associated with drug use in various parts of north east of India. Though the epidemic amongst people who inject drugs and those identified as risk group populations has been on the decline, observations from various frontline and grassroots workers dealing with the issues directly indicates that the rate of HIV transmission and drug use is continuing to increase amongst the general population.

The north east of India has been identified as one of the hotspots for high levels of prevalence of HIV infection in India. Various programmes and interventions are being conducted by agencies and supported by donors. However, the population, especially those residing in fringe areas are still reeling under the lack of essential services, medicines, besides care and treatment for people living with HIV and for those who are still using drugs.

For instance, Manipur, a border state along the Indo-Myanmar border, which has the largest concentration of people living with HIV in the country, where especially young people and children, both affected and infected, bear the brunt of the epidemic the most. Children who were born with the virus and are not aware of their status are now becoming sexually active and spreading HIV. This is also one of the most important vectors for HIV transmission amongst people who do not belong to identified risk groups.

While a certain groups benefitted under targeted intervention programmes, India’s national initiative, the vast majority of the population was not covered. Despite the various interventions in place, HIV and hepatitis C infections continue to grow. This is particularly true for people who are very young and not aware of their health status.

While some refuse to take antiretroviral medicines, others are not able to access such services as well as necessary counseling and other investigative procedures required to initiate treatment. Meanwhile, those who require immediate health support are living across the border and accessing essential services not available in their country. Many drug users and people living with HIV from Myanmar are acquiring their life saving drugs from across the border in India.

While the existing services available in the state are not adequate even for their own population, several other factors have also contributed to an increasingly important dilemma faced by those affected and infected.

Frequent unavailability of essential commodities, such as food, fuel and fodder, due to disruption along the national highway connecting the state to mainland India have caused havoc. For example, the much required CD4 test at times cannot be performed due to non-availability of reagents.

New drug use trends, such as smoking of methamphetamine tablets is being observed in the state, particularly in the India–Myanmar border town of Moreh. This new trend is rapidly gaining momentum and thus has a high potency to gain a strong hold over the young and vulnerable generations who have already started using Spasmo Proxyvon (Dextropropoxyphene). Reports of injecting raw opium has also been reported. On the other hand, cultivation of poppy plants are increasing and have become visible in most of the local districts, particularly those bordering Myanmar. This trend is also likely to increase due to factors such as volatile political environments low economic income and rural locations.

The state already has an HIV/AIDS policy but no drug policy is currently in place . The current state mechanism to control and prevent illicit drug use and trafficking is solely under the purview of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (amended in 2001).

However, of late, certain groups of individual and organisation have come together and started to discuss on the critical need to pressure the government to revisit the existing drug laws and to initiate the development of a separate state policy on drugs- a sensible drug policy that would ensure access to adequate health car amongst drug users and facilitate enhancement of much needed harm reduction programmess in the state. The need to formulate and enact a state drug policy has long been felt by many in the state, as well as other partners in the region.

However, this will require enormous efforts both from the government , non-government and other key stakeholders from outside and within the state and the country.

Meanwhile, those who want to access harm reduction services from beyond and across the border continue to suffer and will suffer until and unless concerted efforts are initiated.

(Courtesy : as published on Dec 2010 issue AHRN newsletter- www.ahrn.net)
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HIV+ may get medical insurance soon

2011-02-02T14:44:00.002+05:30

Union health ministry officials said that HIV/AIDS which was earlier regarded as a ""incurable" "has now become a "manageable health problem" and, therefore, should be included in medical insurance policies.

From Kounteya Sinha, TNN, Feb 2, 2011, 12.09am IST
NEW DELHI: India could soon see a national medical insurance policy for people living with HIV (PLHIV).

In a meeting with insurance companies and the Insurance Regulatory Development Agency on February 3, the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) will press them to make insurance "inclusive and universal for PLHIV".

Currently, HIV is excluded from all insurance policies available in the country "violating the national mandate of providing stigma free care and support services".

Union health ministry officials said that HIV/AIDS which was earlier regarded as a "incurable disease" has now become a "manageable health problem" and, therefore, should be included in medical insurance policies.

"Right now, there are individual health schemes in some states which cover certain healthcare related costs of PLHIV. Many health insurance policies exclude services to PLHIV and there is need for a package designed specially for such people. We will discuss global best practices to see how a viable insurance policy can be created for them," joint secretary Aradhana Johri told TOI.

Another ministry official said, "Those living with HIV are living longer and have less morbidity cases, thanks to the increase in anti-retroviral therapy (ART) coverage. With timely initiation of ART, PLHIV may live a normal life up to 20 more years. Companies need to realize that covering HIV patients with a medical policy is no more a loss making proposition."

India with a HIV prevalence rate of 0.31% is home to the third largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world -- 23.9 lakh.

Some countries with higher prevalence rates of HIV have already taken measures to mainstream HIV through commercial health insurance cover. These include South Africa (17.8), Namibia (13.1), Uganda (6.5), Guyana (1.2) and United States (0.6).

K K Abraham, chief of Indian Network of People Living with HIV, said, "Insurance is life saving for us."

At present, only Star Health and Allied Insurance has an insurance policy for PLHIVs in four states -- Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. More than 7,000 PLHIVs have subscribed to this insurance which provides a health cover of Rs 30,000 with a yearly premium Rs 1,511.

NACO says that with about 89% of all HIV/AIDS infections being in the 15-49 age group, it effects in the most productive years. Currently, the financial burden of treatment and care is shared by NACO and PLHIVs. While NACO pays for ART, PLHIVs face economic burden of travel, nutrition and loss of wages.

Recently, India launched the national health insurance scheme, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), for BPL. It is to be rolled out in 366 districts in 29 states. As on December 23, 2010, a total of 22,354,462 smart cards have been issued across 260 districts in 27 states.

NACO says, "HIV has been taken out from the exclusion list making it possible for poor PLHIVs to be covered under health insurance, which can make them entitled to one time hospitalization for nearly 700 in-patient procedures with costs up to Rs 30,000 by paying a minimal registration fee of Rs 30 per annum."

(Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/HIV-may-get-medical-insurance-soon/articleshow/7406401.cms)
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Drug overdoses on the rise in most age groups

2011-01-06T13:56:00.001+05:30

By Genevra Pittman

(Reuters Health) -- More and more people are dying from abusing or misusing drugs, including both prescription and illegal drugs, new research suggests.

In some groups, deaths from "accidental poisonings" -- most the result of drug overdoses -- are more than ten times higher than they were in the late 1960s, the study found.

While the notoriously drug-loving baby boomers account for part of the recent increase as they age and embrace prescription medications, death from accidental poisoning is higher across almost all age groups than it was a few decades ago, especially among white Americans. And the upward trend doesn't appear to be leveling off.

"I went in expecting to see a blip (in increased accidental poisonings) with the baby boomer(s)," Dr. Richard Miech, the study's lead author and head of Health and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Colorado Denver, told Reuters Health. After all, he said, "you've seen pictures of Woodstock."

Miech was surprised that the boomer generation's impact on the death rates was overshadowed by a "huge increase" in accidental poisoning deaths overall -- an increase he attributes to the growing number of prescription drugs being taken in the United States by all age groups.

Miech and his colleagues analyzed data from the U.S. Census, which counts all people in the country, as well a register that tracks the number of deaths from different causes every year. Putting them together, the researchers could calculate the percentage of people of different ages and races dying from accidental poisonings annually.

Overall, white men and women were more than nine times as likely to die from an accidental poisoning in 2005 through 2007 than they were in 1968 and 1969 according to the analysis, which is published in the journal Addiction. Black men and women were about three times more likely to die from the same cause in recent years than they were 40 years ago.

Because of changes in the body or changes in drug use, the greatest proportion of overdoses happen in people in their 40's and 50's -- and that age group, which currently includes the tail-end of the baby boom generation, is where some of the biggest changes in poisoning rates over time showed up.

In 1968, for example, about one in every 100,000 white women in their early 50's died from accidental poisoning. In 2007, 15 out of 100,000 did so. Among black women of the same age, accidental poisoning deaths during the same timeframes increased from about two people in 100,000 to almost 17 in 100,000. Both white and black men had even larger jumps.

While the increases weren't quite as striking in younger adults, the study found that deaths from accidental poisonings are significantly higher for almost every age group. That trend that was particularly clear among white Americans.

Although the authors couldn't tell what drugs were responsible for the most accidental poisonings, the majority of prescription drug abuse involves painkillers, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Vicodin (containing acetaminophen and the opiate drug hydrocodone) is the most commonly abused prescription drug in the U.S.

Such medications having become so common is likely one of the major drivers behind the increasing deaths, Miech said. According to a 2004 government report, almost half of all Americans take a prescription drug. With more prescriptions come more opportunities for people to get addicted, to take drugs that aren't theirs, or to use drugs for non-medical purposes, all of which can have dangerous consequences.

Theodore Cicero, who studies drug abuse at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees. In general, he said, a certain percentage of the prescription drugs that are given to patients will be used for non-medical purposes. "Even if it's a very small percentage, when the number of people (getting prescriptions) grows, obviously you're going to have more drugs in the illicit market," he told Reuters Health.

But it's hard to tell someone with chronic pain, for example, that the risk of abuse or misuse isn't worth a drug's benefit, Miech said. And that leaves researchers and policy makers stuck.

What's needed is for people to be more aware of the dangers these drugs pose, Miech said. Yet even with the deaths of celebrities like Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson, he pointed out, the public still hasn't stopped to take a closer look at how prescription drug use can go wrong.
"You can, in fact, overdose on prescription meds just as easily as you can overdose on illegal drugs," Cicero said. "Addiction is addiction no matter what the drug source is. That message has not yet come across."

Death from prescription painkiller overdose has "been an epidemic in the last ten years," Dr. Wilson Compton, director of the Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told Reuters Health.

But figuring out how to stop prescription drugs from ending up in the wrong hands is harder than it looks. The government, Compton said, can't encourage people to flush their extra drugs down the toilet -- that could harm the environment -- and pharmacies aren't set up to take them back.

Miech has the same fears. "Ultimately, I don't have any silver bullets to come up with a way to reduce this huge increase" in deaths from accidental poisoning, he said.

[courtesy: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BN1VV20101224]
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Microbicide Gel offers protection against HIV transmission

2011-01-05T08:11:00.000+05:30

By Lee Claypool, USAID Biologist

Microbicide. That’s kind of a funny-sounding — perhaps even scary — word for something pretty powerful. It certainly has a scientific “ring” to it, and that tends to turn people off. It’s complicated, it’s detailed, and it’s… boring, right?

If you think something that can empower women, save lives, and possibly change the course of history is boring, then yes. Here at USAID, we actually think it’s pretty exciting. For nearly 50 years, we’ve been investing in science, research, and innovation to enable game-changing interventions and breakthroughs to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods. This year, such an investment provided the first-ever proof that a microbicide, Tenofovir 1% vaginal gel, can safely and effectively protect women from HIV transmission.

An estimated 33.3 million people are living with HIV globally. Nearly 23 million of these individuals, 60 percent of whom are women, live in sub-Saharan Africa. In many countries, women lack the power to negotiate the use of prevention tools and approaches to protect themselves from exposure to HIV through conventional methods such as condom use, partner reduction, and negotiating delay of sexual debut.

The results of the USAID and South African-supported Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) 004 trial are encouraging, and provide hope that a new method that will enable women to have greater control over HIV prevention will soon be available.

The next steps are to confirm these results in further studies; once this happens we could have on our hands a unique HIV prevention tool for women who are not able to negotiate other HIV prevention methods with their male partners. Once this new technology is ready, USAID will work with all our partners to make it available to vulnerable women and girls as soon as possible.

But, since everyone is different, we know that we need a variety of HIV prevention methods to choose from. For just this reason, other next-generation ARV-based product leads are in the pipeline and will be tested clinically if they continue to show good results in preclinical testing. We will continue to support clinical studies of promising products.

We are thrilled our Administrator thinks microbicide is an exciting word as well. Just two weeks ago he convened a meeting to determine the next steps following the success of CAPRISA. There will also be an additional meeting with technical experts in the field to discuss how to aggressively roll out microbicide treatments to those most in need.

Microbicide: Does one word say it all? Perhaps not. Is the word off-putting? Even a little too scientific? Perhaps. We just see it as the future of HIV prevention.

Want to know more about USAID-supported innovation and breakthroughs for global health? Stay tuned to www.usaid.gov and the IMPACT blog! We’ll be posting updates to highlight a variety of new research findings over the next several weeks as we roll out the 2010 Health Research Report to Congress.

[courtesy : http://blog.usaid.gov/2010/12/microbicide-gel-offers-protection-against-hiv-transmission/]

Monkey Matters

2010-12-23T13:51:00.000+05:30

Nonhuman primate researchers gathered in New Orleans to discuss the growing number of models for HIV infection and pathogenesis

By Andreas von Bubnoff

Almost 200 participants gathered for this year’s 28th Annual Symposium on Nonhuman Primate (NHP) Models for AIDS, held October 19-22 in New Orleans. The meeting was scheduled to take place here three years ago but was relocated to another primate center because of the devastating effects Hurricane Katrina had on the city.

Andrew Lackner, director of the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC), which hosted the conference, said New Orleans has rebounded quite strongly. “There are actually more restaurants in the city than there were before Katrina,” he said. In addition to the opportunity to savor the fine restaurants of the Big Easy, attendees were also served a diverse selection of research updates, including insights from using NHPs as models for many different aspects of HIV infection and pathogenesis, as well as genetic characterization of NHP hosts.

Monkey models of transmission

An increasing number of NHP models are now available that can mimic different aspects of HIV transmission, and these models are important for testing vaccine, microbicide, or drug candidates.

An important component of these NHP models is the choice of challenge virus, and one characteristic of the challenge virus that is useful to understand is how sensitive it is to neutralization by antibodies.

To accurately predict the immunogenicity of candidate vaccines in challenge experiments, a challenge stock should ideally be moderately sensitive to neutralization by antibodies, said Katharine Bar, an assistant professor for infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A challenge stock that is too resistant to neutralization—as appears to be the case for the commonly used challenge stocks simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)mac239 and 251—might make it difficult to show protection even with good vaccine candidates, she said. Conversely, if a challenge stock is too sensitive to neutralization, a candidate vaccine that shows protection in animal experiments might not be protective when tested in humans.

Bar reported on the neutralization sensitivity of SIVsmE660, a challenge stock for which the neutralization sensitivity is still poorly characterized. “Characterizing the neutralization sensitivity of this virus will be helpful in figuring out if it’s an appropriate challenge,” said Bar. “Just understanding what we are dealing with is important for us to figure out how to interpret the results of past studies, and then going forward how to create a model that most closely recapitulates HIV-1.” SIVsmE660 is similar to HIV in that it is a swarm, which means it contains many different virus variants. Bar and colleagues used single genome amplification (SGA) to isolate different variants from SIVsmE660 stocks, as well as the transmitted founder viruses of animals rectally infected with SIVsmE660. They then determined the neutralization sensitivity of several variants to monoclonal antibodies directed to different parts of the SIV Env protein, and to serum taken from macaques that were infected with SIVsmE660. Preliminary results suggest that most variants are rather sensitive to neutralization, while others show intermediate or high resistance. This suggests that SIVsmE660 is a mix of variants with varying degrees of resistance to neutralization, and could explain some of the variable pathogenicity of this challenge stock after low-dose mucosal challenge.

Researchers are also trying to develop animal models of different viral transmission routes. Brandon Keele, head of the viral evolution and genomics core at the National Cancer Institute, gave an update on the development of an NHP model of penile HIV transmission he is working on in collaboration with Chris Miller at the University of California, Davis. In the model, the penises of male rhesus macaques were exposed to different doses of SIVmac251 by immersing their flaccid penis in a virus solution for up to 20 minutes; in some cases, the researchers also put a small amount of the solution onto the foreskin at the tip of the penis. According to Keele, SGA showed that all seven animals that were infected this way with three different doses (the lowest dose required multiple challenges) had just one transmitted founder virus, indicating this model of penile infection allows for single variant infections like most of the heterosexual transmissions of HIV in humans, Keele said.

At similar doses, vaginal infection of rhesus macaques is more likely to result in several transmitted founder viruses, the number of which is more likely to vary, Keele said. One possible reason for the difference could be that female rhesus macaques may be in different stages of their menstrual cycle. It is also possible that when immersing a penis in a virus solution, not all of the viruses in the solution touch the penis, whereas solution put inside the vagina might have more time to interact with the inner surface of the vagina. “You need a lot of virus to infect in the penile route,” Keele said, “which means that the penile mucosa is a good anatomical barrier to infection and recapitulates human infection because you get a single infection, but it’s difficult because you have to use a lot of virus.”

Co-infection models

NHP models are also useful in modeling co-infection of HIV with other pathogens. A better understanding of HIV/tuberculosis (TB) coinfection in humans is especially important because TB is thought to be a leading cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS (see Deadly Synergy, IAVI Report, Sep.-Oct. 2009). In many cases, TB becomes latent when the TB bacteria hide in granulomas in places such as the lungs, but HIV infection, by weakening the immune system, can lead to reactivation of latent TB infection, said Smriti Mehra, a research scientist at the TNPRC, adding that she and her colleagues are developing the first HIV/TB coinfection model in rhesus macaques.

Mehra and her colleagues were able to induce SIV-induced reactivation of TB in rhesus macaques. They infected the macaques by letting them breathe in tuberculosis bacteria, which is how humans become infected. Once the infection had become latent for nine weeks, the researchers infected the animals intravenously with SIVmac239. They found that the animals developed clinical signs of TB within two weeks. The researchers want to use these animals to study the gene expression in the granulomas in the lungs and see which genes are expressed when TB is reactivated.

NHP models of HIV co-infection with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are also important because STIs are associated with an increased risk and rate of HIV infection. Tara Henning, a postdoctoral fellow at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported that she and her colleagues did the first successful triple infection of female pigtail macaques (PTMs) with the SIV/HIV hybrid SHIVSF162P3, the single-celled protozoan parasite Trichomonas vaginalis, and the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, with clinical presentation of genital STI symptoms that were similar to those observed in humans. An NHP model of STI-HIV coinfection would make it possible to investigate how STIs might contribute to enhanced susceptibility to HIV infection, and to test prevention strategies that target the genital mucosa in the context of STIs, Henning said.

Clues about pathogenesis

NHPs are also studied as a model of the pathogenic effects of HIV. One important hallmark of HIV infection is chronic immune activation. Structural damage to the gut is thought to contribute to this immune activation because of translocation of microbial products from the gut into the blood. Although the underlying mechanisms of this are still unclear, some clues are coming from studying the pathogenic effects of SIV infection in NHPs.

Nichole Klatt, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Jason Brenchley at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, reported on the identification of NK17 cells, a type of cell in the gut that can produce interleukin (IL)-17, a cytokine that is concentrated in mucosal tissues and produced in response to bacterial and fungal antigens. These cells had not been described before.

Klatt showed evidence that in SIV-infected rhesus macaques, loss of IL-17 producing CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells in the colon is associated with damage to the colon epithelium and with immune activation. However, loss of NK17 cells actually shows the strongest association with damage of the colon epithelium and with immune activation. This suggests a role for these IL-17 producing cells in maintaining the structural barrier of the gastro-intestinal tract and in preventing chronic immune activation, Klatt said.

Loss of NK17 cells in the gut might also play a role in causing the bacterial translocation and chronic immune activation that is often observed in PTMs, even if they are not SIV infected, according to Klatt (Mucosal Immunol. 3, 387, 2010). Chronic immune activation is thought to be one reason why PTMs that are infected with SIV, such as SIVmac239, progress to disease more quickly than rhesus macaques. Klatt reported that in SIV-uninfected PTMs, only loss of NK17 cells, but not of IL-17 producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, was significantly correlated with damage of the colon epithelium. This suggests an important role for NK17 cells in the maintenance of the tight epithelial barrier of the colon, Klatt said. “Taken together, this study really is one of the first potential mechanisms showing why or how this damage may possibly occur during SIV pathogenesis,” she added.

Controlling infection

Researchers are also studying NHPs infected with live-attenuated versions of SIV as a model for how the immune system can control viruses like HIV. One live-attenuated SIV that has been studied for many years is SIVmac239?nef, which has a deletion in the nef gene. Andrea Jordan, a research specialist in the laboratory of James Hoxie, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, reported on studies with another live-attenuated version of SIVmac239 called ?GY, where just two amino acids are deleted from the cytoplasmic tail of the Envelope protein.

Given that PTMs progress to disease more quickly than rhesus macaques when infected with SIVmac239, it was surprising that Jordan reported that PTMs infected with ?GY control this live-attenuated virus better than rhesus macaques. The researchers found that all nine PTMs they had intravenously infected with ?GY had undetectable or extremely low viral loads for several months to years, whereas in ?GY-infected rhesus macaques, viral loads were low, but still detectable in all cases. In addition, ?GY-infected PTMs were not only protected from homologous intravenous challenge with SIVmac239, but could also bring viremia from a heterologous intravenous challenge with SIVsmE660 to very low or undetectable levels. In contrast, SIVmac239?nef only provides partial or poor control from intravenous heterologous E660 challenge in rhesus macaques, Hoxie said.

This suggests that ?GY-infected PTMs could serve as an interesting model system to identify immunological correlates of protection. “We have a very interesting puzzle here why an animal species that is prone to early deaths and AIDS faster than the rhesus appears to be our preferred model for complete control and protection with ?GY,” Hoxie said. “We’ve made a very small change and have totally changed pathogenesis. We’ve rendered a highly pathogenic virus to be totally controllable.”

When the researchers depleted the CD8+ T cells in the ?GY-infected PTMs, they found that this led to reappearance of ?GY, after two years in which ?GY RNA was undetectable in plasma, suggesting that cellular immunity has a role in the protection, although it’s also possible that antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) plays a role, Jordan and Hoxie said. Hoxie said the ?GY-infected PTMs also resemble elite controllers, HIV-infected individuals who control virus replication below detectable levels without treatment, because ?GY initially replicates similar to wild type levels of SIVmac239 but is later rendered controllable by host immune responses.

Cristian Apetrei, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Pittsburgh, described the development of another NHP model of elite controllers. Apetrei and colleagues intravenously infected five Indian rhesus macaques with SIVagm, the SIV that naturally infects African green monkeys without causing disease. The SIVagm-infected rhesus macaques resembled human elite controllers, in that they had undetectable viral loads for four years, completely recovered levels of mucosal CD4+ T cells by four years after infection, and no disease progression. Depletion of CD8+ T cells four years after infection resulted in a transient rebound of viral loads, suggesting that SIVagm was controlled by the immune system. Apetrei said that having such a model is important because it makes it possible to study how elite control develops early after infection.

SNPs and genomes

Another theme of this year’s meeting was efforts to genetically characterize NHP hosts. When it comes to the availability of genetic tools, NHPs have a long way to go compared to mice or fruit flies, according to Jessica Satkoski Trask, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of California, Davis. “If you want a knockout mouse, you call the knockout mouse store and they send you the mice,” she said, referring to mice that have a gene knocked out. In contrast, “rhesus macaques and primates are not set up as a genetic model yet. There is going to be a need for a more and more diverse set of genetic tools.”

One such tool is called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), variations in the genetic code that geneticists use to find candidate genes for certain genetic traits or phenotypes. This could be important to identify, for example, the genetic factors that are the basis for different responses of Chinese and Indian rhesus macaques to infection with SIV.

Traditionally, most studies that use NHPs as a model for HIV infection have used Indian rhesus macaques, and Chinese rhesus macaques are also gaining in popularity, Satkoski said. However, she said, until recently just a few hundred SNPs were known for Chinese and Indian rhesus macaques, while over 25 million are known for humans and about 14 million for mice. Now Satkoski and colleagues have identified more than 4,000 additional SNPs in Indian and Chinese rhesus macaques that are unique and consistently observed with different frequencies in the two groups. They also made a linkage map, which means that they determined where those SNPs are located on the chromosomes and which SNPs are likely inherited together.

The availability of more SNPs on a linkage map will accelerate the process of finding candidate genes for inherited traits, Satkoski said. She and her colleagues have already used their more detailed SNP linkage map to identify some candidate genes, including one that likely has an impact on elite controller status in Chinese rhesus macaques.

The newly identified SNPs will also allow researchers to screen animals that are going into research protocols, allowing them to determine the degree to which an animal is really a Chinese and not an Indian rhesus macaque. In the future, it may also be possible to use the new SNPs to determine the likelihood that a Chinese rhesus macaque is going to be an elite controller. “[This] will allow you to have a more uniform research population,” Satkoski said.

Chinese rhesus macaques might be the more relevant model for AIDS in humans than Indian rhesus macaques because they don’t progress to AIDS as quickly, said Bianca Mothé, an associate professor of biology at the California State University San Marcos. In addition, a larger percentage of Chinese rhesus macaques become elite controllers, Mothé said. One possible explanation for the different disease progression in Chinese rhesus macaques could be their MHC class I alleles. MHC class I alleles are important for the cellular immune response because antigen presenting cells use MHC class I to present antigens to CD8+ T cells, but so far these MHC alleles have not been well characterized in Chinese rhesus macaques.

Mothé and colleagues sequenced the MHC class I alleles of 50 Chinese rhesus macaques from different primate centers and found that Chinese rhesus macaques have a more varied MHC composition than Indian rhesus macaques. In addition, when Mothé and colleagues predicted the peptides that can be bound by these MHC alleles, they found that three of the four most frequent MHC alleles in Chinese rhesus macaques bind the same peptides as the three most common HLA motifs in humans. Together, this suggests that Chinese rhesus macaques are more similar to humans in their MHC class I alleles than Indian rhesus macaques, which may explain why Chinese rhesus macaques are more similar to humans than Indian rhesus macaques in their disease progression to AIDS (Immunogenetics 62, 451, 2010).

(http://www.iavireport.org/archives/2010/Pages/IAVI-Report-14%286%29-Monkey-Matters.aspx?utm_source=iavireport&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=IRNovDec2010)

ATS - synthetic drugs-Yaba situation worsening

2010-12-21T16:18:00.001+05:30

ATS situation worsening in Myanmar

According to the latest Myanmar Situation Assessment on Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS), the manufacture, trafficking and consumption of synthetic drugs in the country and region is worsening.
(Pic by: UNODC)

Published by UNODC, the report indicates that the impact of methamphetamine and other ATS trafficked from Myanmar affects not only the country's immediate neighbours but also parts of East and South-East Asia. Speaking on this, Deepika Naruka, East Asia and the Pacific Regional Coordinator for the Global Synthetics Monitor: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme, noted: "There are indications that the methamphetamine problem in Myanmar is becoming more severe. In 2009, large seizures of high purity crystalline methamphetamine were made in Myanmar. Authorities in both Myanmar and Thailand confirm that the manufacture of crystalline methamphetamine is now occurring in the Golden Triangle."

Home to between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of the estimated total number of ATS users in the whole of Asia, the issue of amphetamine-type stimulants in East and South-East Asia region is a major concern.

Over the past decade, Myanmar has become a key ATS producer in the region, particularly with regard to methamphetamine pills. In 2009, seizures of pills in Myanmar and the countries immediately bordering Shan State tripled compared to the previous year, a trend which has continued in 2010. Between January and September 2010, more than 44 million pills were seized in Thailand alone, while over 22 million pills were confiscated in Lao PDR.

While most of the drugs produced in Myanmar - both in terms of opiates and methamphetamine - are mainly destined for the international market, domestic use of ATS in the country is increasing. Exacerbating this worrying trend is the lacking resources for drug treatment facilities in Myanmar. As in other countries in the region, capacity on this front is low, with no treatment facilities specifically focusing on ATS dependency..

The report is a critical tool in the fight against illicit drugs in general and ATS in particular in the region. Speaking at the launch of the report in Bangkok, Gary Lewis, UNODC Regional Representative for East Asia and the Pacific noted: "This Situation Assessment is the first of its kind. It aims to provide a clearer understanding of the ATS situation in Myanmar, in order to design effective and evidence-informed responses."

(Courtesy : http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2010/December/myanmar-ats-situation-worsening.html)
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The Year That Was - 2010 - Dodo's Third-Eye

2010-12-19T15:51:00.003+05:30

Wishing Well..Time is a never ending journey..

A Brush With Death

2010-12-17T13:10:00.008+05:30

Close Encounter with Wagon-R !!!

(Pic: The Angel of Death.....I SAW !!!)

What Happened ?

an "AMAZING" accident... a Cab driver (drunk) inadvertently lost control.
He pleaded; he was trying to avoid hitting an "irritant-child-beggar/rag-pickers", begging around from vehicles/owners near the zebra crossings. It was well after 10 PM in "Sin City".

The Maruti Wagon-R (red) struck me after skidding uncontrollably, bruising/hitting me on my right hips and calf. I fell, but with no pain/pains at first, but only for a few moment !!! I must be strong, I said to myself.

Luckily, the vehicle's front left tyre got stuck at the drains/sewers opening, saving me from a direct impact with full force.

For the first time in my life, a person literally knelt on his knees and begged me "Sir-Maap Keegiye, ye har*m*-jaade buccha....."
For a brief moment, despite all the pains and anger, reminded me of a scene from the film "The Proposal" where Sandra Bullock (as Margaret Tate) asking/proposing Ryan Reynolds (as Andrew Paxton) to marry her....on her knees!!!

The driver dropped me back to my hotel and gave me all his details. He wanted to take me to a hospital, but I knew, my injuries were not grievous/fatal/serious....luckily...and with God's grace.

What Will Not Happen .....(Will Not Happen)
Actually, it's from an old adage "Que Sera, Sera (whatever will be, will be...and hence kind of playing with words - what will not happen, will not happen)..

I thought I would be dead or rather should have been dead and gone a long time ago. But, destiny has it's own way...saving me/giving me a totally different facet of life and livelihood.
Actually, yesterday was the third major life-threatening accident in my whole/entire life..and I came out of it, though with a little bruises here and there and a sprained ankle.

He/She saved me and refused to take my life away from me and from my only dear family-Mom and Dad.
I will live up to Your expectation...will give my best shots...

I also thought, maybe, I still have a purpose or maybe not...but I am here, now, once again...alive and kicking and even sharing with all my friends in Facebook !!!

Be safe.....enjoy life.

Today I will sign off here/now...saying sayonara/goodbye/khurumjaree to you all out there !!!
I must leave here....you might need a medication after you have read my open diary... :-)

'Media should be trained, sensitised in HIV reporting'

2010-12-15T05:30:00.000+05:30

A story in the media can act as a powerful communicator of an important message, while a misrepresentation can cause irreversible damage. For reporting on the sensitive and important issue of HIV, the media should be trained and sensitised, experts said at conference here Thursday.

The conference which saw the participation of the Press Council of India (PCI), NGOs and people suffering from HIV/AIDS, was organised by the NGO Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR).

'Sexual minorities are facing a lot of problems today. We need to recognise these problems and find ways to solve them. For this, the media must be trained on how to help. Also, wrong depiction by the media causes a lot of damage, so it has to be sensitised,' said PCI chairman Justice (retd) J.N. Ray.

The PCI had formulated guidelines in 1993 on HIV reporting and updated them in 2008. Among the guidelines were no usage of the term 'scourge', no hidden camera to show people living with HIV, no images of the sick and dying, and no graphics of skulls and crossbones while reporting on HIV and AIDS.

Jotin, a former drug user, from Manipur said: 'I was tonsured for being a drug user and the next day my photograph appeared in the local newspaper with details of my family, locality I lived in and my caste.

'I felt so terrible that I did not want to go back to my locality or family. Even the reputation of my father who is a simple, social worker was ruined by the report,' he added.

Sudha, who works with the AIDS Initiative Programme in Tamil Nadu gave another example of misreporting by the media.

'Last year there was an incident in Chennai in which a young boy was abducted and trafficked to Mumbai. The report on this incident alleged that transgenders were trafficking young children. When the parents complained the police arrested a transgender,' Sudha said.

'Hearing the news a group of us rushed to the police station. The news reports the next morning said that a group of transgenders had attacked the police station. Similarly, when a DGP (director general of police) who was appointed to investigate the matter visited the community the media reported that we had kidnapped him- criminalising the community instantly,' she added.

Melody Lalmuanmpuii, who works in an NGO in Manipur added: 'Self-stigma in this group is very strong and negative stories in the media can have severe implications that can crush them and push them underground'.

The conference was also attended officials of UNAIDS and various NGOs working on the issue of HIV/AIDS.

(Courtesy : Indo-Asian News Service)

"AIDS stigma more injurious than AIDS virus"

2010-12-10T07:28:00.002+05:30

AIDS stigma more injurious than AIDS virus declares Manipur’s AIDS ambassador

(Pic: MACS Ambassador, and former Mr India, Pradeep Kumar on WAD 2010 MR ground)

IMPHAL, Dec 9: ‘It is not HIV/AIDS that kills people but the stigma and discrimination of the society’ said Pradeep Kumar, Mister Manipur ’07, and ambassador of Manipur Aids Control Society on HIV/AIDS.

Pradeep Kumar who himself is HIV positive, stated this during a one day constituency level convention on HIV/AIDS of the Manipur Legislative Forum on HIV/AIDS (MLFA) held today at Sugnu Makha Leikai organized by the CREDEO.

Official sources said that Sugnu area also falls under the list of high rate of HIV/AIDS.

Works minister K. Ranjit, graced the function as the chief guest, Oinam MLA cum secretary MLFA, Dr. I. Ibohalbi as the guest of the honour and the president of the CREDEO presided over the convention.

Besides officials of MACS, which included Deputy Director, Dr. S. Manikanta, UNAIDS co-ordinator, Sushil Huidrom, district level medical officers etc also attended the convention.

While delivering his chief guest speech, Works minister, K. Ranjit, informed the motive of the convention as not only to reduce the stigma and discrimination attached with HIV/AIDS but to give care and support to the PLHA.

He also urged the gathering not to participate and listen only but to share the knowledge with friends and family.

In his guest of honour speech, Dr. Ibohalbi, secretary of MLFA, revealed that there are about 36,000 PLHA in Manipur and scores who have died before the invention of ART.

Today with the introduction of ART the disease becomes manageable adding it is available in almost all the district free of cost. Besides that to get consultation and necessary assistance to the PLHA 61 places is identified which included CHCs, District hospital, PHCs etc.

While giving the reason of the need of the involvement of legislators or political leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Dr. Ibohalbi asserted that it was a set up of the UN nation. The UN felt it was must for the political leaders to intervene on HIV/AIDS for the alarming rate of fatality by the disease. According to him about 49 millions people were killed during the two world wars while of the 65 millions of PLHA about 35 millions died of the disease and still counting.

He revealed that the rate of HIV/AIDS in the state is consistent adding about 2 to 3 thousand children are living with the virus and there are similar rate of widows with the virus.

Dr. Ibohalbi maintained that the involvement of the legislators not only aims to prevent or reduce HIV/AIDS but also aims to provide the proper need and care for the parentless children and widows with setting up economic generation programmes under the Government undertaking.

The recent release of a revision policy of Government on HIV/AIDS by the Governor was one glaring example of the commitment of the political leaders to fight against the disease and asserted that the MLFA is targeting to complete the constituency level convention by January 2011.

Pradeep Kumar, the Ambassador of MACS, in his testimony stated HIV/AIDS is manageable with the introduction of ART. He recalled how he once live in fear to disclose his status which had slowly landed him on his bed barely able to walk. ‘Later I decided to do something for the society instead of rotting on the bed so that no one should suffer any more like I did’, said Pradeep Kumar adding with strong determination he moved on and took up body building coupled with the Anti Retro-viral Treatment. He also advised those PLHA to take ART regularly without any gap.

According to him ‘it is not HIV/AIDS that kills but the stigma and discrimination of the society’ and appealed those hiding with the virus to come to the main stream instead and join the fight against the disease. With strong determination one can also live a normal life again like he is doing and set encouragement for those living in fear, said Pradeep Kumar.

(courtesy: http://kanglaonline.com/2010/12/aids-stigma-more-injurious-than-aids-virus-declares-manipurs-aids-ambassador/)
(http://ifp.co.in/shownews.php?newsid=13922)

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"......challenge is to fit Harm Reduction within the political zeitgeist"

2010-11-18T07:10:00.003+05:30

A harm reduction approach to drug use is still relevant

[Pic: Prescribing methadone for heroin addicts has been portrayed by the UK media as 'parking people on methadone, says Gerry Stimson. Photograph: PA]

A new government means a new strategy on drug use. But decision-makers are putting politics before evidence, says Professor Gerry Stimson

Harm reduction aims to reduce the risks of drugs, and to mitigate impacts on the individual and the wider society. It is basic good public health and social policy. So, why doesn't everyone support it? Conservative party ideologues have rewritten the history of harm reduction. They blame it on Labour. But harm reduction has a long history.

One of the commonest measures is the control of product quality and strength. If you drink alcohol in much of Europe you are pretty sure what is in the bottle. Drink driving legislation is also harm reduction, as is smokeless tobaccos. The first controls of drug possession were introduced in the first world war, and in the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1920. Then, prescribing heroin and morphine was regarded as legitimate medical treatment for people who were unable to withdraw; a medical forerunner of the harm reduction we know today – acting cautiously to help the patient lead a useful and fairly normal life.

Margaret Thatcher's government introduced harm reduction into policy in 1988 in response to the HIV epidemic. A report on Aids and Drug Misuse, from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, stated that "the spread of HIV is a greater danger to individual and public health than drug misuse". Since then, harm reduction programmes for HIV prevention have been adopted in more than half of the 158 countries where people inject drugs.

In the case of alcohol, 82 countries have maximum legal blood alcohol levels for driving and 104 have minimum age limits for consumption.

Drugs harm reduction programmes were guided by the public health model embodied in the World Health Organisation's 1986 Ottawa charter for health promotion. It stated that health promotion requires supportive environments, strengthening of community actions, developing personal skills and reorienting health services.

Yet prescribing methadone has been portrayed by the UK media and some treatment providers as "parking people on methadone" and giving up on recovery. In developed democracies, drugs policy has to fit with the political zeitgeist. Under Labour – with the idea of "rights and responsibilities" and of being "tough on crime and the causes of crime" – we had an expanded methadone programme for drug users because they were seen to be criminals. Now, harm reduction is seen by the coalition government as part of a Britain broken by Labour, burdened by debt, and over-dependent on the state.

The advocacy challenge is to fit harm reduction within the political zeitgeist. The coalition will shape drug treatment based on a premise that users are a burden on the state. Most treatment providers have already been busy redefining their work as driven by the goal of abstinent recovery.

We need to influence decision-makers so it becomes risky not to promote harm reduction. For too long, public health advocates have focused on the powerless, trying to get drug users to change their risky behaviour. Our target should be the decision-makers who put politics above evidence and are prepared to take risks with other people's lives.

• Professor Gerry Stimson is retiring executive director of the International Harm Reduction Association. He is giving the Alison Chesney and Eddie Killoran Memorial Lecture tonight at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. The lecture is organised by the Conference Consortium, a social enterprise working in the field of drugs and alcohol.

(Courtesy : http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2010/nov/17/harm-reduction-strategy-drug-use)
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For these kids, life is all questions, no answers

2010-11-14T19:59:00.002+05:30

New Delhi: They are chirpy, confident and full of the energy - like all children are - but for one difference. They are HIV-positive, and some are even afflicted with AIDS.

"My father died in 2005, I was very young," says David Ramso, a 10-year old boy from Manipur. My mother told me that he died of some illness. When I grew up, I found out that he died of AIDS. My mother is also suffering from AIDS," his voice starts breaking, and his eyes are brimming with tears.

"I don't know what will happen to us when she dies," he says, staring vacantly. Ramso is one of the many children supported by Chaha, a programme started by the international non-governmental organisation HIV/AIDS Alliance.

"After Chaha supported us, I was able to go to school regularly. Earlier, I did not pass in many
subjects, but now I get good marks," he says. But his childhood experiences have matured him
beyond his years.

"I wonder what will happen to us if this programme ends," he says.

His fears are echoed by his friends at the centre. Even as the country celebrates Children's Day Nov 14, Chaha is set to shut down March next year, owing to lack of funds.

"We have reached nearly 60,000 children in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Manipur. There are so many more children who have to be reached, but the programme is set for a closure," says Sonal Mehta, the programme director.

An interactive session organized by Chaha Friday saw representatives from National AIDS Control Society (NACO), National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, and UNICEF agreeing on the needs for a more comprehensive policy to protect the children - the worst sufferers of both the disease and the stigma.

"We did not give them a choice while bringing them to the world. At least we should have the decency to allow them to live," says Bollywood director Nagesh Kukunoor, who attended the meet.

"A lot of programmes depend on international funding. But with our own economy doing so well, why do we need money from abroad," he asks, saying that his next film will be on the topic of child
trafficking.

For the children, however, these discussions on policy and financing make no sense. What matters is the stark reality of their existence.

"I study in class 10th," says Ranjit Rao Sahib Patil from Maharashtra. "I was three years old when my father died. I was in 3rd standard when I came to know that I was HIV-positive. Chaha people came to my house, and gave me medicines," he says.

"I am shorter than my classmates. I wish they also gave some medicine for growing tall," he smiles.

As many as 3.8 percent of Indian children below 15 years are HIV-positive. That translates to over 70,000 kids.

More than 21,000 of them are infected through their parents. According to NACO estimates, 33,000 newborns contract HIV every year from their mothers. Of this, over 50 percent die within two years of birth.

The children at Chaha may not be aware of these statistics. But they, more than anyone among us, know the real costs of suffering from HIV.

(Courtesy : http://sify.com/news/for-these-hiv-kids-life-is-all-questions-no-answers-news-national-kloilPaigcc.html)
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EU-India deal could threaten access to essential life saving medicines

2010-11-10T09:02:00.001+05:30

NAIROBI, 9 November 2010 (PlusNews) - As Indian and European officials meet in Brussels to thrash out the details of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), civil society activists are concerned the deal could mean tighter intellectual property protections that could reduce access to cheap Indian generic drugs.

"The European Union is pushing for data exclusivity, which means Indian generics manufacturers would no longer be able to use existing studies to make identical drugs, a practice recommended by WHO [UN World health Organization] – they would have to conduct their own clinical trials, which would be unethical and redundant since we already have evidence that the drug works, but also, the data exclusivity could last anywhere between five and 10 years, delaying poor countries' access to these drugs for long periods," Michelle Childs, director of policy and advocacy for Médecins Sans Frontières' campaign for access to essential medicines, told IRIN/PlusNews.

More than 80 percent of all donor-funded antiretroviral drugs used in developing countries are Indian generics; the availability of cheap ARVs has enabled more than five million people globally to access essential HIV treatment. Until 2005, the country did not grant patents on medicines, but World Trade Organization (WTO) rules now require India to grant patents. Indian law only grants patents on drugs that show a therapeutic benefit over existing ones; activists fear that trade agreements like the EU-India one could override these public health concerns.

According to a 2010 study published in the Journal of the International AIDS Society this year, "future scale-up using newly recommended ARVs will likely be hampered until Indian generic producers can provide the dramatic price reductions and improved formulations observed in the past". The authors recommend that rather than agreeing to inappropriate intellectual property obligations through FTAs, India and its trade partners "should ensure that there is sufficient policy space for Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers to continue their central role in supplying developing countries with low-priced, quality-assured generic medicines".

Childs accused Europe of employing "dirty legal tricks" to circumvent India’s public health protections and boost its own pharmaceutical industry, which could have fatal consequences.

However, European officials deny that the FTA with India will interfere with the capacity of India’s generics industry. The EU spokesman for trade, John Clancy, told IRIN/PlusNews by email that the EU intended to follow the Trade Related Aspects of International Property (TRIPS) laid out by the WTO, which include – under the Doha Declaration - provisions for countries to override intellectual property rights in the interests of public health.

For example, TRIPS gives countries the right, in specific situations such as public health emergencies, to issue compulsory licences - an authorization given by a government to a third party to produce a patented invention without the permission of the patent-holder.

"Data exclusivity is an issue we are discussing with India but taking fully into account India's specific needs and interests - such as India's legal system, its policy developments, its developing country status and the role it plays in producing generic medicines for the developing world," Clancy said. "The [European] Commission explicitly recognizes India's right to issue compulsory licences for life-saving medicines."

But Childs says on its own, data exclusivity is an example of TRIPS-plus, which refers to tougher or more restrictive conditions than required by TRIPS.

"Europe is using the fact that few people understand the technicalities of TRIPS and the implications of data exclusivity to appear virtuous by claiming that they will abide by the Doha Declaration while at the same time tying India into an agreement that could make generics more expensive and delay their access to people in the developing world who need them," she said.

ames Kamau, who has lived with HIV for more than a decade and heads the Kenya Treatment Access Movement, says if India "got into bed" with Europe, it could have catastrophic consequences for people living with HIV in Africa.

"This would be a marriage of convenience with a child called profit, but this marriage would also result in death for many Africans, particularly those who need newer, second-line drugs that may now take years to reach them," he said. "This would not only affect HIV – most of the drugs we take here are Indian generics, so anything that harms that industry harms the health of millions in Africa."

kr/mw

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Early Warning, Economy, HIV/AIDS (PlusNews), PWAs/ASOs - PlusNews,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
(Courtesy : http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91030)
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Alcohol more harmful than heroin, crack cocaine: Study

2010-11-01T23:03:00.002+05:30

LONDON: Alcohol is a more dangerous drug than both crack and heroin when the combined harms to the user and to others are assessed, British scientists said on Monday.

Presenting a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to users themselves and to wider society, the scientists rated alcohol the most harmful overall and almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco.

According to the scale, devised by a group of scientists including Britain's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and an expert adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), heroin and crack cocaine rank as the second and third most harmful drugs.

Ecstasy is only an eighth as harmful as alcohol, according to the scientists' analysis.

Professor David Nutt, chairman of the ISCD, whose work was published in the Lancet medical journal, said the findings showed that "aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy". He said they also showed that current drug classification systems had little relation to the evidence of harm.

Alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults in Britain and many other countries, while drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis and LSD are often illegal and carry the threat of prison sentences.

"It is intriguing to note that the two legal drugs assessed -- alcohol and tobacco -- score in the upper segment of the ranking scale, indicating that legal drugs cause at least as much harm as do illegal substances," Nutt, who was formerly head of the influential British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), said in a statement about the study.

Nutt was forced to quit the ACMD a year ago after publicly criticising ministers for ignoring scientific advice suggesting cannabis was less harmful than alcohol.

The World Health Organisation estimates that risks linked to alcohol cause 2.5 million deaths a year from heart and liver disease, road accidents, suicides and cancer -- accounting for 3.8 percent of all deaths.

It is the third leading risk factor for premature death and disabilities worldwide.

In an effort to offer a guide to policy makers in health, policing, and social care, Nutt's team rated drugs using a technique called multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) which assessed damage according to nine criteria on harm to the user and seven criteria on harm to others.

Harms to the user included things such as drug-specific or drug-related death, damage to health, drug dependence and loss of relationships, while harms to others included crime, environmental damage, family conflict, international damage, economic cost, and damage to community cohesion. Drugs were then scored out of 100, with 100 given to the most harmful drug and zero indicating no harm at all.

The scientists found alcohol was most harmful, with a score of 72, followed by heroin with 55 and crack with 54.

Among some of the other drugs assessed were crystal meth (33), cocaine (27), tobacco (26), amphetamine or speed (23), cannabis (20), benzodiazepines, such as Valium (15), ketamine (15), methadone (14), mephedrone (13), ecstasy (9), anabolic steroids (9), LSD (7) and magic mushrooms (5).
(Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Alcohol-more-harmful-than-heroin-crack-cocaine-Study/articleshow/6852482.cms)
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Use light to highlight rights this World AIDS Day

2010-10-26T04:09:00.001+05:30

[Pic :UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaking at the "Light for Rights" event during the World AIDS Day celebrations in New York City in 2009.]

The first Light for Rights: Keep the light on HIV and human rights event was held on 1 December 2009 in New York. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined leaders in the AIDS response and entertainment stars to commemorate World AIDS at the City’s historic Washington Square Park Memorial Arch.

Lights on the arch and other landmarks around the city were turned off to remember family and friends lost to AIDS, and to represent how stigma, discrimination, fear and shame can drive people living with HIV into darkness. Then, the lights were re-lit to show how shining a human rights light on HIV can help people living with HIV emerge from the shadows, to seek the information, treatment, care and support.

Light for Rights was inspired by Night without Light, a project organized by Visual AIDS in the early 1990s in which the skylines of New York and San Francisco were darkened, by turning off the architectural illumination on key landmarks, as a symbolic reflection for the lives lost due to HIV.

The Light for Rights campaign compliments the theme for this year’s World AIDS Day: human rights and universal access. This year, it encourages 100 cities around the world to dim the lights on public landmarks to remember the devastating affect AIDS has had, and to turn the lights back on to illuminate the fundamental human rights shared by all but often denied people living with HIV.

“The Light for Rights campaign sends a message of hope to the world,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The power of light can convey the message that human rights are essential to the AIDS response.”

(Courtesy : http://unaidstoday.org/?p=1450)
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Building Bridges, Dismantling Walls

2010-10-25T20:42:00.003+05:30

From Seth Berkley

The development of a vaccine to prevent HIV infection is one of the most daunting scientific challenges of our time. Yet, for all its complexity, this field of research seeks to answer a relatively simple question: how do you get the immune system to detect and disable HIV before it has a chance to insert itself into the human genome and establish an intractable infection? Most vaccines against viruses, such as those that prevent measles and polio, do so by teaching the immune system's B cells to generate neutralizing antibodies - exquisitely targeted protein missiles that bind to invading pathogens and tag them for destruction. HIV, however, is no ordinary adversary. It has evolved multiple strategies to flummox the immune response. Not least among these is a nearly unparalleled mutability that has vexed vaccine designers for the better part of three decades.

Any vaccine devised to seriously curb the AIDS pandemic will, at a minimum, have to protect against those HIV subtypes that predominate in developing countries, where some 90 percent of new infections occur. It should also thwart multiple variants of those viruses. This poses extraordinary scientific and logistical challenges. But it also has significant implications for the policies that guide and shape AIDS vaccine research and development. First, it requires that candidate HIV vaccines be tested in developing countries, which entails the establishment of the requisite human resources and technical capacity in such places. Second, in light of the unique scientific challenges of AIDS vaccine development, funders and policymakers need to find ways to encourage innovation and the application of hitherto untapped technologies to solve the toughest problems in the field. Finally, global efforts to develop AIDS vaccines would benefit from greater participation from the private sector. The market disincentives and risks - most prominently high failure rates and opportunity costs - inherent to HIV vaccine development have traditionally discouraged industrial participation. But appropriate incentives and funding policies could do much to change that.

This is especially true today. Following the failure of two AIDS vaccine candidates over the past decade, some commentators had begun to suspect that AIDS vaccine researchers might be tilting at windmills. But significant breakthroughs in the past year have countered such doubts. Late last year, a clinical trial in Thailand demonstrated - for the first time ever in humans - that a vaccine can prevent HIV infection (though this particular vaccine candidate provided only modest protection). A few weeks prior to that, researchers at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and in the Neutralizing Antibody Consortium (NAC) it oversees reported in the journal Science that a highly collaborative effort involving some 1,800 HIV-positive volunteers in eleven countries on four continents had resulted in the isolation, from a single African volunteer, of a pair of novel antibodies capable of neutralizing a wide spectrum of HIV variants. The two broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) - PG9 and PG16 - were found to be exceptionally potent neutralizers of HIV. This discovery was closely followed by the isolation of equally potent bNAbs by the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and several others from IAVI's antibody project.

Why should these findings matter? In short, because they clear a path to solving one of the most pressing problems of AIDS vaccine development - the elicitation of sufficiently potent antibodies against many of the subtypes of HIV in circulation.

Most of the experimental AIDS vaccines that have been put into clinical trials in recent years have been devised to primarily harness cell-mediated immunity (CMI). This is the branch of the immune response that depends on the recruitment of specialized soldiers known as T lymphocytes to detect and destroy cells already infected by HIV. But most researchers believe that an effective vaccine will also need to activate a neutralizing antibody response. In this view, the ideal vaccine would first deploy antibodies to prevent HIV from infiltrating cells, and would then mobilize the CMI response to mop up any viruses that slip past that biologic barrier. One of the major difficulties with this strategy has been in designing immunogens - the active ingredients of vaccines - that can teach B cells to produce broadly and potently neutralizing antibodies.

Researchers have long known that some HIV positive people produce just such antibodies. And animal experiments suggest that these bNAbs, if elicited by a vaccine, would block HIV from establishing an infection in the first place. This is why researchers had exhaustively studied four particularly versatile - though not especially potent - bNAbs that were isolated more than a decade ago. But it was clear that more such antibodies were sorely needed to inform vaccine design.

Antibodies attach with exquisite precision to unique folds and surfaces on large molecules. These shapes are known as epitopes. The careful study of purified bNAbs, and the epitopes they target, is the first step to devising strategies to elicit similar antibodies via vaccination. One approach to the neutralizing antibody problem - known as reverse vaccinology, the driving objective of the NAC - is to study these shapes in atomic detail, recreate them in the lab (or at least find similar structures) and use the synthetic epitopes as immunogens. Of course, the more such antibodies researchers have to scrutinize, the more likely they are to find an epitope that can be replicated to make a broadly effective vaccine.

NAC researchers have found that the newly discovered bNAbs, PG9 and PG16, have several potentially valuable traits. They latch on to a relatively unchanging patch on its endlessly mutable spike - a roughly toadstool-shaped scrum of proteins on its surface that HIV uses to invade its target cells. This epitope may prove an Achilles heel on HIV, given that it appears to be relatively accessible compared to the target sites of previously isolated bNAbs. This means scientists might have an easier time devising immunogens to elicit similar antibodies. Finally, the antibodies are notable for their potency. This is of great practical significance because candidate HIV vaccines have historically failed to elicit vigorous antibody responses, and the more potent an antibody the less of it is needed to block infection.

Beyond the elegance of the science, IAVI's antibody project provides a lesson in how well-conceived policies can drive the development of drugs and vaccines that may have questionable market prospects but are of critical significance to global health. For one thing, it confirms the value of cultivating biomedical research capacity in developing countries and working in partnership with local scientists and institutions to conduct vaccine trials and HIV research. A network of clinical research centers IAVI supports in five southern African countries played an indispensible role in the antibody project. The network, along with a half-dozen other research centers worldwide, provided the NAC with well-characterized cohorts of HIV positive volunteers who could be studied for the project. And it allowed IAVI to cast a wide net in the antibody hunt: there's no guarantee that a single, small cohort of volunteers would have yielded even a single antibody of interest.

The IAVI-supported clinical trials network continues to contribute to the antibody project, especially through cohorts participating in Protocol C, an IAVI study of HIV positive volunteers that tracks how the virus and the immune response to it evolve from the earliest phases of infection. Thanks in part to their access to these cohorts, IAVI researchers recently received a major grant from the NIH to explore why it is that only some HIV-positive people make potent bNAbs.

The antibody project also illustrates how practices that promote partnerships with the private sector can advance science in the public interest. The detection and isolation of bNAbs were accomplished through close collaboration between IAVI and affiliated scientists and researchers at two biotech companies - Monogram Biosciences in San Francisco, and Theraclone Sciences in Seattle. The former adapted its existing screening technology to evaluate hundreds of blood serum samples for their ability to neutralize a panel of HIV variants selected by IAVI researchers.

Theraclone, one of four laboratories charged with isolating antibodies from IAVI's blood samples, was the first to succeed, successfully isolating PG9 and PG16. It was the recipient of a grant from the Innovation Fund, which IAVI supports in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to underwrite the novel application of existing technologies to AIDS vaccine development. Until it became involved in the antibody project, the company had applied its technology primarily to discover drugs for autoimmune disorders. By participating in the project, it got to showcase the versatility and power of its technology, which is just the sort of thing a start-up needs to generate new streams of revenue. In fact, Theraclone's success with PG9 and PG16 helped it win new business from a Japanese drug company.

IAVI continues to work with Theraclone and Monogram to isolate new bNAbs from several other serum samples collected in the antibody project, and has engaged other biotechs in vaccine design through the Innovation Fund. Other policy approaches that might draw more private sector participation in AIDS vaccine development include the fashioning of better incentives, advance market commitments and even public sector support to lessen the financial risk of tackling such a formidable problem.

Finally, policies that support long-term rather than project-by-project financing for research would benefit AIDS vaccine design. The NAC, for example, funds labs that have a long track record of success and a demonstrated ability to innovate. This not only gives researchers the time they need to pursue the painstaking business of designing vaccines. It also frees them to adapt their strategies to respond to advances in the swiftly evolving fields of HIV pathogenesis and immunology. It is noteworthy that the NAC and the VRC, which takes a similar approach to funding, have both made several significant contributions to AIDS vaccine design. By providing a measure of financial and professional security, such policies also create a space for young HIV researchers to hone their skills in vaccine-related research, and ready the best of them for future scientific leadership.

Thanks to the recent renaissance in R&D, the outlook for an AIDS vaccine is more promising today than ever. The progress was achieved in laboratories and in clinical testing centers, but was made possible by policies and practices, beyond the domain of pure science, that encourage collaboration, capacity-building, innovation and private-sector engagement. Those practices must be extended and expanded if we are to reach the goal of making an AIDS vaccine a reality.

Dr. Seth Berkley is president, CEO and founder of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

(Courtesy : http://www.globalhealthmagazine.com/cover_stories/dismantling_walls)
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Being young and HIV-positive in Manipur

2010-10-21T09:53:00.002+05:30

Senjenbam Noinoisana died recently. He was just 18 years old. Brutally murdered on April 7, 2010, his death was the culmination of all the discrimination he had faced in his short life.

Being young is not easy. Being HIV-positive and young in Imphal, state capital of Manipur, is perhaps as difficult as it can get. Allegedly killed for his property, Noinoisana was the HIV-positive child of AIDS-affected parents who died leaving him in the custody of his paternal aunt and uncle who mistreated him to the point of even denying him his ART (antiretroviral therapy) medicines.

Noinoisana’s case is common enough in Manipur which has the dubious distinction of having the largest HIV-positive population in the country. Children and young people bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic, which is further compounded by insurgency issues in the state.

The condition of children in Manipur is, in many ways, representative of HIV-positive children and young people all across India.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS recently declared that a large percentage of AIDS patients in India were not receiving timely treatment, and that this would soon pose a huge challenge as the country attempts to fight the virus. For the rising number of children affected by HIV/AIDS in the state, ART and the right to a life free of stigma and discrimination is imperative.

A number of reasons including the fact that they are too young to understand the disease and that they are usually left to fend for themselves hinder access to care and ART. While adult and mother-to-child transmission is highlighted, affected children and their unique problems receive very little attention in Manipur. The rising numbers are testimony to the fact that the response to HIV and children must take into consideration all three aspects of children living with, vulnerable to, and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Youth at risk

The Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates four guiding principles of survival, development and protection, non-discrimination and the best interests of the child, and participation as key principles in protecting and treating children with AIDS. Young people in Manipur deal with the same issues of discrimination that HIV-positive youth in other parts of India face. And some more. CRY’s (Child Rights and You) Jhilam Roychowdhury, who has worked on HIV in Maharashtra and Manipur, says: “Yes, I’d definitely agree. This was the first time I had heard of a child actually getting murdered because of his HIV-positive status! In Manipur, you’ll find small hamlets on the outskirts of villages where HIV-positive mothers and their children, who have been thrown out of their homes by relatives, try to eke out a living. We are creating a new group of ‘untouchables’, all because of the ignorance surrounding AIDS and the scarcity of medicines.”

Yet, children don’t ignore the reality of HIV/AIDS. After 14-year-old Bijay’s (name changed) father died of AIDS complications, he and his mother were unceremoniously thrown out of their home by relatives, with all their rights to home and property illegally revoked. His relatives got away with this because the boy and his mother were not aware of the legal recourse they could take. Also, the advancing disease was the main concern at this stage. Since he is a teenager, Bijay is able to go to hospital on his own, and is very particular about continuing his ART course. The family subsists on a stipend paid to his mother by another project. “My father’s family only allowed my elder sister to stay with them as she is not positive,” he says matter-of-factly.

Bijay’s views back up what Dr Priscilla Akwara, Unicef statistics expert, has to say. Recently awarded the IAS/CCABA Prize for Excellence in Research Related to the Needs of Children Affected by AIDS, at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Akwara and her team believe that not just HIV-positive children but children living in families of affected people must be considered vulnerable. Her research clearly states: “If an adult falls ill or dies, for instance, the child may have to leave school and work to support the family. Meals may not be available regularly, and the child’s access to healthcare may be limited. That’s why children who are orphaned or living with a chronically ill adult are frequently considered vulnerable.”

AIDS and child rights

Ashim Ghosh, who has been working with children’s rights in Manipur for the last two years, explains: “Three thousand children are HIV-positive in Manipur. Since public services like government-supported healthcare, the public distribution system, and anganwadis are almost non-functional in Manipur, children who are HIV-positive are practically left to fend for themselves, often with mothers who are infected as well. Without ART, survival is difficult. And ART is not easily forthcoming as there are exactly two hospitals offering the course. The one in the capital, Imphal, gets crowded because people from all across the state go there.”

Besides the scarcity of hospitals, practical factors like distance also play an important role. CRY volunteers working with HIV-positive children point out: “Patients have to travel up to 40 km, in a place where public transport is non-existent, to the central hospital. An added problem is that since these children are living in poverty, their diet during the therapy is not adequate.”

Take the case of 11-year-old Martina who lives with her HIV-positive mother. She contracted measles and had to be taken to a hospital in Imphal, some distance away. After the initial treatment and medicines, the doctors referred her to the isolation ward of a neighbouring hospital. When Martina and her mother reached that hospital, they discovered that the isolation ward had been converted into staff quarters. Martina is back home now, even though her condition demands hospitalisation. As a result, she cannot access her ART course either.

Understanding ART

Access to ART isn’t the only issue. Very often young children don’t understand why they have to take so many medicines. An important factor that is overlooked is counselling. Counsellors from the Wide Angle Social Development Organisation say: “Many don’t understand that even children have to know why they are being medicated when their friends don’t have to be. Children do not agree to take ART easily, even though they have to take orally administered drugs not injections. The benefits of counselling can’t be overlooked just because they are young. In fact, they need it the most.”

Activists and volunteers in Manipur believe that community-based support groups could play an important role in helping deal with such issues. “We call them mutual support groups, or safe spaces where HIV-positive community members can talk about and trace solutions to their specific problems,” explains Ghosh.

Roychowdhury seconds this view. She says: “We explain to the grown-up children who have the ability and the capacity to understand. They are told that HIV is a manageable disease and that the ART medicines are used to battle the HIV infection. We first talk to the parents and then we try to convince the children by saying that the medicines are like vitamins which are good for health and very necessary for them.”

Although organisations like the Kripa Foundation, based in Imphal, Manipur, are pitching in to enrol more young people in ART programmes, much more needs to be done. For, as the Kerala Children Advocacy Group (KCAG), affiliated to the Kerala Positive Women Network (KPWN+), findings have shown, children are willing to take their prescribed medicines but are often put off by the attitudes of caregivers administrating the doses.

Articulating needs

One strategy that seems to help combat the situation is CRY’s children’s collectives.

“Both positive children and those not affected are in the same group processes designed to erase discrimination among peers. It is a space for interaction using the ‘play way’ method; it later helps them disclose their status to their peers,” Roychowdhury explains.

In a state battling insurgency, the government often shifts focus to defence areas to the extent that vulnerable populations have little options to escape risk. A 2003 briefing paper from the World Bank estimated that India had the largest number of AIDS orphans in the world. It predicted that this “number is expected to more than double in five years, and the proportion of orphaned children will remain exceptionally high until 2020 or 2030”.

Ghosh warns that this might just come true, and says: “State authorities must invest in public facilities, infrastructure, and rights-related services such as primary healthcare, provision of ART for children, and schooling. This approach needs to be prioritised above the military approach to problem-solving in Manipur.”

Till informed awareness translates to proactive action, making treatment options cheaper and more readily available, cases like Senjenbam Noinoisana’s won’t remain rare.

(Paromita Pain is a senior reporter and sub-editor with The Hindu and its feature supplements Young World and NXg)

Infochange News & Features, October 2010
(Courtesy : http://infochangeindia.org/kids/news_38.php)

Race Against Time: Activists call for more research on aging and HIV

2010-10-21T05:33:00.003+05:30

From David Evans

With the ranks of HIV-positive people older than 50 growing rapidly, AIDS activists with the Coalition for HIV and Aging Research and Policy Advocacy (CHARPA) are demanding that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) devote more attention and resources to the issue of aging and HIV. Will the NIH respond, and will it respond in time?

Think of old age. Chances are that various forms of disease and disability come to mind. Brittle bones, the relentless exchange of muscle for fat, weak hearts, and forgetfulness—while all of these conditions are unpleasant and unwelcome when they strike, they are almost expected by the time people reach their 70s or 80s. What if, however, these health issues begin to happen during a person’s 40s and 50s? That’s exactly what researchers fear is occurring in people with HIV—and we don’t fully understand why.

Is It Aging or Something Else?

The data emerging from recent scientific conferences paint a troubling picture—they increasingly suggest that diseases common among the elderly are now occurring at a much earlier age in people with HIV. Rates of heart disease, bone loss, cancer and cognitive decline are many times higher in HIV-positive people in their 40s and early 50s, compared with HIV-negative people of the same age. In addition, several immunological alterations characteristic of HIV infection, notably declines in the immune system's ability to mount effective responses to disease-causing pathogens, are similar to immunosenscence: gradual deterioration of the immune function brought on by aging.

Is this accelerated aging or something else? There are believers that it is, and there are skeptics.

While no one disputes there’s a lot more disease and disability occurring in people with HIV than their HIV-negative peers, the skeptics are cautious about calling this accelerated aging. Rather, they argue that what looks like aging is a combination of other factors, including: immune system dysfunction, a higher prevalence of cancer-causing viruses, increased rates of smoking and drug use, toxic effects of some older antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, and constant inflammation due to the presence of the virus. Take away these factors, the skeptics suggest, and a person could probably live a next-to-normal lifespan.

While the believers agree whole heartedly that these factors greatly contribute to the conditions plaguing an aging population of people with HIV, they also insist that many of the diseases are occurring in people who never smoked, or never took the more toxic HIV drugs, or didn’t wait too long to start ARV therapy.

Jeff Taylor, a longtime HIV activist from Palm Springs, California, is a believer. He thinks that some type of accelerated aging is occurring, and he’s not pleased at the way that some scientists are approaching the problem. “My response to those arguments is, ‘If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, chances are it is a duck,’” he says. “That’s got to be your best assumption, and you start there, and then disprove it if you can.”

Proving the Point

That’s exactly how Taylor and a group of activists he belongs to—called the Coalition for HIV and Aging Research and Policy Advocacy (CHARPA)—are hoping that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will begin to approach the problem: Assume that aging itself plays a role, and then set out to better understand, and then disprove the theory.

The consequences of not following this approach could be serious indeed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than half of all people with HIV will be older than 50 by 2015. This, activists say, makes them feel like they’re in a race against time.

Jules Levin of the National AIDS Treatment Advocacy Project is another CHARPA member who took an early interest in the topic. He experienced an HIV-related bone fracture three years ago and began haranguing researchers about the subject at that time. Levin thinks we are woefully unprepared for an aging population.

Levin and Taylor began pushing researchers more than a decade ago to quickly respond to the body fat distribution problems that were starting to show up in people with HIV. Taylor feels that researchers turned their attention too slowly toward the condition, ultimately dubbed lipodystrophy. By the time we figured out what did and didn’t cause it—we’re still not entirely clear why people are accumulating such large amounts of fat in their guts—tens of thousands of people had developed the condition.

Taylor laments that there’s still no approved drug to treat fat accumulation and the only one near approval, Egrifta (tesamorelin), is “lackluster.”

“But at least with lipodystrophy there’s now a kind of a checklist of what these things are,” he reflects. Not so with aging.

These concerns led Lei Chou of the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and two other members of CHARPA to hand-deliver a letter to Anthony Fauci, MD, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)—the institute at the NIH responsible for the bulk of HIV research dollars—at a NIAID council meeting September 20. The letter begs NIAID and other NIH institutes to boost both the priority and funding of aging-related HIV research.

“Right now [NIAID is] just paying lip service to HIV and aging by given it an ‘awareness day,’” claims Chou, referring to a September 9 press release from the institute dedicating September 18, 2010, National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day.

In essence, the letter from CHARPA calls on the NIH to take several actions. First, CHARPA would like the NIH to create a new funding mechanism in the 2012 budget that sets aside discrete money to study aging and HIV.

Second, CHARPA asked the NIH to issue a Request for Information and Ideas (RFI) on aging and HIV to the research community and to set up a special review panel that has expertise across all relevant disciplines in order to streamline the grant making process.

Third, CHARPA wants the community to have a prominent role in the research prioritization and review process.

Finally, CHARPA would like the NIH to establish a new cohort study that includes enough older people with HIV and enough HIV-negative people—who are similar in demographics and other key factors to the HIV-positive participants—to answer the most fundamental questions about HIV and aging.

This last point is particularly vital. It is perhaps one of the only ways to determine whether accelerated aging is part of the problems that researchers are beginning to document—and that many people with HIV are suffering through.

If research fails to illuminate how much various factors are contributing to the increased rates of diseases and disorders in people with HIV, the prospects aren’t good for the people Taylor knows.

“I live in Palm Springs,” he says, “which is kind of the epicenter of aging gay men who have survived long enough to tell the tale.” When asked to explain the ailments some people are already suffering from, he says, “It’s everything, the whole gamut: cancer, heart disease…the whole lipodystrophy spectrum…and neurocognitive decline.” This last item, he asserts, “that’s what terrifies the average aging person with HIV more than anything. Nobody wants to lose their mind.”

A Step in the Right Direction?

“NIAID’s research priorities are tightly focused on prevention, a vaccine and the cure,” Chou says. “Of course we want all of these things, but the medical complications and comorbidites of people living and aging with HIV seem to have been put on a back burner.”

Levin agrees: “They did not notice it. It got past them. They were preoccupied with everything else.”

Levin hears regularly from researchers who are interested in doing work on aging and HIV but who say the NIH turns down their requests for funds. When he asked “a top government official” about the accusations, he recalls, the response he got was, “Oh these researchers, they complain about everything. They just want their studies funded.”

A spokesperson for the Office of AIDS Research (OAR), which coordinates the HIV research programs across the different NIH institutes, insists that the OAR has actually been focused on the issue for quite some time and that NIH funding has already begun to bear fruit, including a large cohort study out of the Veterans Administration.

What’s more, the spokesperson said NIAID is currently working on a letter responding to CHARPA’s concerns, and that OAR would be glad to meet with the community at any time.

This echoes the experience of Sharon Maxwell, an activist from Kansas City who attended the NIAID council meeting along with Chou. “After we gave the letter to [Anthony] Fauci and Carl Dieffenbach [the director of the Division of AIDS at NIAID], Carl came back and said, ‘You all have some very good points in this. I do want to have a meeting with you,’” Maxwell recounted.

“From the time that we handed him the letter it was only 15 or 20 minutes before he was back saying, ‘Yes, let’s have a meeting,’” she continues. “I was very pleased with that.”

When asked what he would consider to be a sign of progress, Chou says, "I think one early indication that they are taking this seriously would be demonstrated by the research network recompetition process that'll end by Feb. 2011. The new network leadership must include experts outside of virology, and be composed of researchers from other…disciplines as well as more emphasis on immunology. That would be a good indication.”

The OAR representative pointed out that the office has sponsored two meetings dedicated to the topic in the past year, and further stated that, “We are in the midst of the development of the fiscal year 2012 budget, and OAR plans to set aside funds to stimulate additional research in this area.”

What Comes Next?

CHARPA was born at the HIV Research Catalyst Forum, a conference held in April 2010 to rebuild and reinspire an activist community focused on HIV research advocacy. The conference was supported by funding from OAR and the pharmaceutical industry and cosponsored by TAG and other advocacy groups.

Though CHARPA has no official leaders and belongs to no specific agency, TAG has continued to sponsor the group’s activities and has dedicated the time and energy of its staff, including Chou. He hopes that the letter to NIAID, and the research it could inspire, will be just a first step in addressing the needs of an aging population of people with HIV.

In addition to the letter to NIAID, and plans for how to get the most out of a meeting with the staff of NIAID and OAR, CHARPA also intends to work on other areas, such as disease prevention and care guidelines. It will also explore how Ryan White programs and health care reform will affect the aging HIV population and whether or not safety nets will be there as people’s needs for ancillary care grow.

The group currently has more than 50 members across the United States. “I’ve been very encouraged by the community response to CHARPA so far, and I think there is a lot of interest and motivation out there,” Chou says.

Maxwell’s motivation for joining CHARPA was two-fold. While she’s been involved in HIV research advocacy for years, it’s also personal.

She was diagnosed with HIV in 1994 and had just 40 CD4 cells at the time of her diagnosis. She says she’s been remarkably stable ever since. At 63 years old, however, she is beginning to experience the effects of age and HIV. “The frailty, the weakness in the legs, the lipid disorders…all of that is starting to show up now.”

Bob Munk, an HIV-positive activist from Santa Fe, says he’s not a “sky is falling” type of activist, but the issue has particular urgency for him. While he’s deeply grateful for the extended years that ARVs have given him, he insists that quality of life is equally important—and something that research has not yet conquered. “I have osteoporosis. I have CNS symptoms. And routinely those get kind of shrugged off as, ‘Well you’re aging,’” he complains.

“Yeah right!” he responds. “I’m almost 60, and I deserve better.”

*David Evans is a member of CHARPA. CHARPA is a coalition of activists and people living with HIV that has formed to: 1.) expedite research about the intersection of aging, inflammation and HIV; 2.) ensure that the community has a voice in developing an aging and HIV research agenda; and 3.) advocate for policies that improve clinical care and social safety nets for older people with HIV. Members meet via monthly conference calls to share information and develop advocacy strategies. CHARPA is not affiliated with any other group.

(Courtesy : http://www.aidsmeds.com/articles/hiv_charpa_aging_2042_19208.shtml)
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Here’s the Pub, Church and Field for Public Sex

2010-10-09T05:11:00.003+05:30

[Pic by Andrew Testa: A mat used by people having sex in a field adjacent to the lay-by on the A31 next to the village of Puttenham. ]

By SARAH LYALL

PUTTENHAM, England — There was the man they called “Bob the Builder,” who wore only a hard hat. There was the naked sunbather who remarked, “Nice day for it, isn’t it?” to a woman taking a walk. And there was the moment, Jules Perkins said, when the dizzying array of sexual forces that have somehow descended on her blameless Surrey village came together all at once, like a scene from a one-size-fits-all X-rated film.

“There were two blokes sitting side by side, watching a man and a woman having sex,” Ms. Perkins said, describing what happened as she strolled with her dog on the hill between her house and the Hog’s Back ridge. “Nearby, there were two men sunbathing together, wearing nothing but tight little white underpants.”

Later, she found a pink vibrator in the bushes.

“I gave it to the police,” she said. “They said, ‘What should we do with it?’ I said, ‘Put it in Lost Property.’ ”

Puttenham, about an hour’s drive from London, has fewer than 2,500 residents and is famous for its ancient church; its friendly pub, the Good Intent; and its proud inclusion in both the Domesday Book — an 11th-century survey of English lands — and “Brave New World.”

Unhappily for many people here, it is also famous for being featured on lists of good places to go “dogging” — that is, to have sex in public, sometimes with partners you have just met online, so that others can watch. So popular is the woodsy field below the ridge as a spot for gay sex (mostly during the day) and heterosexual sex (mostly at night) that the police have designated it a “public sex environment.”

Public sex is a popular — and quasi-legal — activity in Britain, according to the authorities and to the large number of Web sites that promote it. (It is treated as a crime only if someone witnesses it, is offended and is willing to make a formal complaint.) And the police tend to tread lightly in public sex environments, in part because of the bitter legacy of the time when gay sex was illegal and closeted men having anonymous sex in places like public bathrooms were routinely arrested and humiliated.

Enthusiasts’ Web sites alert practitioners to known dogging locations — more than 100 in Surrey alone — and offer handy etiquette tips for the confused or overly excited.

“Only join in or move closer if you are asked,” advises one site, Swinging Heaven, which says it has more than one million registered members.

Richard Byrne, a senior lecturer in countryside management at Harper Adams University College in Shropshire, said that modern technology has made dogging much more convenient than it used to be, thanks to search engines, Facebook groups and people tweeting about their experiences. “And of course, everybody’s got mobiles,” he said.

Swinging Heaven says that the practice began in Britain in the 1970s, and that the term comes from the phenomenon of voyeurs “doggedly” following people having sex. Others say that practitioners claim to be “walking the dog” when they are, in fact, going out to meet naked strangers in fields.

Britons are a tolerant bunch, and most probably would not care who watched whom doing what in whatever configuration, as long as they all went somewhere else. Why, Puttenham residents wonder, do they have to do it 400 yards from the village nursery school?”

“We have nothing against gays or whoever it is up there,” said Lydia Paterson, who lives here. “It’s just the principle of, ‘What on earth is going on?’ ”

A stroll through the field the other day unearthed no doggers (it was raining) but revealed much evidence of their existence. Debris — used condoms, things made of rubber, pages torn from pornographic magazines, snack wrappers, discarded tea cups — littered the area. The paths were dotted with black mats that people had conveniently left behind for the next time.

Residents have been pressing the authorities to do something, arguing that the government should simply close the rest stop that provides access to the offending field, just off the busy A31 road. That way, people hoping to have sex would have nowhere to park.

But local government officials refused, saying closing it would unfairly penalize motorists who genuinely wanted just to rest and would deprive the owner of the Hog’s Back cafe, also at the rest stop, of his livelihood.

Alternative suggestions, discussed at a recent meeting of the Surrey County Council Cabinet, included deploying rangers to patrol the site on horseback; encouraging hikers to roust doggers with actual dogs; and filling the field with potentially bad-tempered bulls.
“It was like, ‘Are you taking this seriously?’ ” Ms. Paterson said. “One cabinet member said, ‘If you close this site, there could be an increase in suicides because these people have nowhere else to go.’ ”

Some older residents sympathize with the council. “Honestly, it’s been going on for so many years,” said Jennifer Debenham, 71, a customer at the Good Intent.

Referring to a nearby village, an elderly man at the bar piped up, “At Wisley, there are two sites, one for males and one for heteros.”

Mrs. Debenham said, “I think we should just let them get on with it.”

The man added, “If you want to find out more, just put ‘dogging’ into your search engine.”

Meanwhile, frazzled residents trade tales of woe: The half-dressed men who materialize from the shrubbery and theatrically pretend to be foraging for nuts and berries. The Internet reviews (“One site listed us as the No. 2 dogging site in Europe,” Ms. Perkins said wearily). The occasion when an unsuspecting motorist went for a bathroom break in the bushes, only to be surrounded by a crowd of eager men.

“It was the quickest pee he’d ever done in his life,” Ms. Paterson said.

The council has agreed to institute an “active management plan” that might include cutting down some shrubbery and putting in security patrols. And the police recently put up a sign warning people not to engage in “activities of an unacceptable nature.”

“There was a lot of debate over the wording for that sign,” Ms. Paterson said. “I guess they didn’t want to say, ‘Don’t have sex.’ ”

(Courtesy : http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/world/europe/08puttenham.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&hp)
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Prop 19 Analysis: Will Marijuana Legalization Increase Use?

2010-10-08T06:00:00.002+05:30

( Pic : More than Munchies

These THC-infused baked goods can be purchased at a cannabis dispensary in Colorado Springs. )

As California moves toward the legalization of marijuana — next month, voters will decide on Proposition 19, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010 — a key question remains: could the new law produce a whole generation of stoners? Opponents of legalization say, yes, fearing it will lead to a massive increase in pot smoking among youth. But some supporters suggest the opposite: legalizing cannabis could de-glamorize it and ultimately prompt reductions in toking. Who's right?

That question is surprisingly hard to answer, but two recent research reports offer some potentially useful insight. The first, a Rand Corporation report that led to related testimony before the California legislature on Sept. 21, discusses the effects of price changes and taxation on consumption of drugs. (More on Time.com: What's in Your Marijuana? Some Pot Doesn't Rot Your Memory)

A newer report, released Thursday, comes from the new scientist-led International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP). It takes a historical look at how U.S. drug policy has affected use, and suggests how to regulate drugs effectively.

One thing the ICSDP report makes clear is that current U.S. drug policy has no effect on marijuana prices or use. While spending on federal drug law enforcement has increased 1,200% and marijuana arrests have risen 150% since 1981, the rate of marijuana use nationwide has bounced around, with no relationship to these efforts.

"No scientific evidence demonstrates an association between the amount of money governments spend on drug law enforcement and rates of drug use," says Dr. Evan Wood, a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, founder of ICSDP and lead author of the report. "And some nations like the U.S., which spend the most have among the highest rates of drug use." (More on Time.com: 30 Years Since 'Jimmy's World': The Media and Drugs)

Meanwhile, according to national surveys, high school students continue to report that marijuana is universally available, purity has increased and prices have fallen.

The Rand report forecasts how legalization and taxation of marijuana could affect its market price and overall use in California. Although the public tends to view drug users, and addicts in particular, as too irrational and irresponsible to base their behavior on drug prices, research debunks these notions. Studies on legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, for example, show that taxing them and raising prices can often be quite effective in lowering consumption — even among the heaviest users. "After legalization, we expect a large price drop. That's the biggest take away message from this report," says Beau Kilmer, co-director of the Rand Drug Policy Research Center and lead author of the report. "We expect the price [of marijuana] to drop at least 80%. There are a couple of other figures out there, ours falls in the middle and you can quibble about the details but there's a general agreement that the price will drop."

The trick is to determining how high to set the tax — the price has to be high enough to minimize consumption, but low enough to avoid creating a black market. Kilmer says that the current price for an ounce of good sinsemilla (a type of highly potent marijuana) ranges from $250 to $400. "If that drops down to $50 to $60 an ounce, it would require a really large tax to get [the price back up to that level]. But if the tax is set too high, [we] worry about tax evasion," he says. (More on Time.com: Is Drug Use Really on the Rise?)

Experts disagree on how much tax evasion occurs under California's tobacco tax regime, with smokers ordering cigarettes by mail to avoid state taxes, for instance. Some put the figure at 1% to 4%, but the agency that administers the state's tobacco taxes has said that the rate is more like 15%. Either way, the majority of cigarette taxes do seem to be paid rather than evaded.

Kilmer notes, however, that if Prop 19 passes, each local jurisdiction can set its own tax rate, which could prompt a "race to the bottom," as localities compete for a piece of the pie. "Regardless of how you feel about Prop 19, how to stop a race to the bottom is going to be important for everyone. No one wins if we end up with a really low tax rate on a really low price," Kilmer says. To prevent that, he suggests that the state government could withhold certain types of funding to localities that set marijuana taxes under a certain limit.

But let's say the price of marijuana does end up dropping precipitously. What effect might that have on consumption? Neither report can answer that. "Ultimately, we don't come up with a conclusion at all on a consumption increase," Kilmer says, explaining that many factors other than price can affect use.

The highest rates of marijuana use reported in the U.S. were in the late 1970s and early '80s, despite harsh drug laws. At the time 60% of high school seniors reported trying marijuana at least once; by comparison, the rate in 2009 was 42%. And what became of Generation X? The kids seem to have turned out all right.

Other countries that have decriminalized or quasi-legalized marijuana — such as Portugal and Holland — also have not seen social disasters because of their drug laws. In fact, they have benefited from reduced enforcement costs and increased access to addiction treatment.

One study did find that rates of marijuana use among Dutch youth increased when "coffee shops" — cafes where selling and smoking of marijuana are permitted — were proliferating and being widely marketed. But, overall, even those elevated rates of use were no higher than U.S. rates under marijuana prohibition. "It wasn't the decriminalization, it was commercialization that could have caused this," says Kilmer.

Advertising and commercialization may end up being cause for concern in the U.S. as well, given that medical marijuana ads already seem to be sustaining some newspapers. But, then again, even if Prop 19 passes, marijuana wouldn't be completely legal — it would still be prohibited under federal drug laws, which could put pressure on the Obama Administration to enforce them (though this Wall Street Journal article suggests that supporting legalization measures could be a boon for Democrats — putting similar measures on other states' ballots could draw out some key voters on Election Day).

Many questions remain about what will happen if Proposition 19 passes, but the only result I can unequivocally predict is that drug policy debates will finally become less theoretical — and much more interesting.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/07/prop-19-analysis-will-marijuana-legalization-increase%C2%A0use/#ixzz11iqHcrGs

(Courtesy : http://healthland.time.com/2010/10/07/prop-19-analysis-will-marijuana-legalization-increase%C2%A0use/)
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Parents adopting more open attitude to alcohol, drugs and sex

2010-10-06T08:15:00.001+05:30

British parents are increasingly relaxed about their children drinking alcohol from as young as 10 years old, taking drugs and having sex, according to research released today .

One-third of parents – rising to half of those in London – said they were happy for their children to experiment with cannabis. A similar proportion admitted they were relaxed about all drug-taking, regarding it as an inevitable part of growing up.

One-quarter of Londoners admitted they allowed their children to drink at home from the age of 10, whereas in Northern Ireland 15 was the average age.

The study of more than 3,000 parents across Britain also revealed that most are happy for their child to start having the occasional alcoholic drink at home from the age of 13.

"Sex, alcohol and even drugs are no longer no-go areas for children as far as parents are concerned," said Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at the University of Kent. "The old-fashioned parent is fast becoming a cultural minority as mums and dads do their best to give their kids the freedoms they did not have. Families have become surprisingly open-minded about allowing their children to experiment and find their own way in life.

"Parents understand that society has changed and that it is not the end of the world if their teenager experiments with alcohol or has sex," he added.

Parents were also liberal about homosexuality, with two-thirds saying they would have no problem if their child was gay.

Mothers showed themselves as being far more relaxed, with 76% saying they would be untroubled if their child was gay, – 55% – admitted they would feel uncomfortable if their child was homosexual.

There were also marked difference between mothers and fathers when it came to children drinking alcohol in the survey, commissioned to mark the DVD release of Modern Family.

Fathers are far more relaxed than mothers about drinking, with 17% of men happy with their child drinking at home from the age of 10 compared to just 6% of women. Fathers were also more liberal when it came to drug taking, with 38% seeing it as part of growing up compared to 24% of mothers.

(Courtesy : http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/05/parents-open-alcohol-drugs-sex)
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UNAIDS welcomes first voluntary license to the Medicines Patent Pool by the National Institutes of Health of United States

2010-10-01T07:43:00.000+05:30

30 September, 2010

US National Institutes of Health, Medicines Patent Pool and UNITAID announce landmark license agreement for the new Medicines Patent Pool

GENEVA, 30 September 2010––The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes the announcement made today by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that they will be sharing patents with the Medicines Patent Pool. This is the first time that a patent-holder has shared intellectual property on antiretroviral medicines with the newly established Medicines Patent Pool.

“This announcement by the NIH underscores the tremendous potential of the Medicines Patent Pool to help increase access to more affordable, newer and better medicines for people living with HIV,” said Mr Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “I commend the NIH and urge all public and private partners, in particular pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, to follow suit and collaborate with the Medicines Patent Pool to increase access to HIV treatment.”

The Medicines Patent Pool was set up in July 2008 by the global health financing mechanism UNITAID, to increase access to newer antiretroviral medicines by creating a pool of patents and intelligence on antiretroviral production donated by medicine producers.

The Medicines Patent Pool aims to increase access to treatment by promoting price reductions of existing antiretrovirals, stimulating the production of newer first- and second-line drugs and by increasing the number of generic producers of these medicines.

In low- and middle-income countries, around 15 million people are in need of treatment but only five million currently have access. This announcement will help advance Treatment 2.0, a radically simplified treatment platform which includes producing better drugs with better resistance thresholds and less side effects; easier HIV testing, simpler monitoring technologies; and more community empowerment.

(Courtesy : http://unaidstoday.org/?p=1202)
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Afghan opium production halves in 2010, according to UNODC annual survey

2010-10-01T06:37:00.001+05:30

30 September - Afghanistan's opium production halved in 2010 but soaring prices may encourage farmers to go back to opium cultivation, warned UNODC in its 2010 Afghan Opium Survey released today.

"This is good news but there is no room for false optimism; the market may again become lucrative for poppy-crop growers so we have to monitor the situation closely," said Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC.
Cultivation stable

Afghanistan, which has long been the producer of about 90 percent of the world's opium, produced an estimated 3,600 tonnes of opium this year. The bulk of cultivation continued to take place in the restive southern and western provinces of the country.

"These regions are dominated by insurgency and organized crime networks. This underscores the link between opium poppy cultivation and insecurity in Afghanistan, a trend we have observed since 2007," said Mr. Fedotov.

Although cultivation remained stable at 123,000 hectares (ha), falling output was largely due to a plant disease hitting the major poppy-crop growing provinces of Hilmand and Kandahar particularly hard. As a result of the damage, yield fell 48 per cent to 29.2 kilograms per hectare, from 56.1 kilograms per hectare compared with the previous year.
Production down, prices up

Afghanistan, which has long produced about 90 percent of the world's opium, produced an estimated 3,600 tonnes of opium this year. In the short run, the decline in opium production has pushed prices up. Now that opium is again commanding high prices, the gross income for farmers per hectare has increased by 36 per cent to US$ 4,900.

Shrinking supplies have driven the average farm-gate price of dry opium to $169 a kilo, a 164 per cent increase over last year when the price was $64 a kilo.

"We will have to monitor price trends for several months to gain a true indication of how the opium market will be affected by the drop in production this year", said Mr. Fedotov.

Compounding the problem was the low price of wheat, an important alternative crop. "We are concerned that in combination with the high price of opium, a low wheat price may also drive farmers back to opium cultivation" said Mr. Fedotov.
Bright spots

The good news was that the 20 provinces that were poppy-free in 2009 remained poppy-free this year. And opium cultivation in Hilmand province - the source of 53 per cent of Afghanistan's opium - was stable or declined slightly.
Development and security

Mr. Fedotov called for a comprehensive strategy to rein in the Afghan opium threat, including by strengthening the rule of law and security, and spurring development efforts. "Corruption and drug trafficking feed upon each other and undermine any development effort in Afghanistan. We must continue to encourage the Afghan government to crack down on corruption.

The first priority was to curb demand. "We must not forget the consumer side of opium's deadly equation. Unless we reduce the demand for opium and heroin, our interventions against supply will not be effective. As long as demand drives this market, there will always be another farmer to replace one we convince to stop cultivating, and another trafficker to replace one we catch."

(Courtesy : http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2010/September/afghan-opium-production-halves-in-2010-according-to-unodc-annual-survey.html)
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More developing countries show universal access to HIV/AIDS services is possible

2010-09-29T06:41:00.001+05:30

Sustained commitments necessary to secure future progress

28 September 2010 | GENEVA / NAIROBI / WASHINGTON D.C – Significant progress has been made in several low- and middle-income countries in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, according to a new report released today. The report Towards Universal Access by the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is the fourth annual report for tracking progress made in achieving the 2010 target of providing universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care.

The report assessed HIV/AIDS progress in 144 low- and middle-income countries in 2009 and found:

* 15 countries, including Botswana, Guyana and South Africa, were able to provide more than 80% of HIV-positive pregnant women in need, the services and medicines to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission;
* 14 countries, including Brazil, Namibia and Ukraine, provided HIV treatment to more than 80% of the HIV-positive children in need;
* Eight countries, including Cambodia, Cuba and Rwanda, have achieved universal access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) for adults.

“Countries in all parts of the world are demonstrating that universal access is achievable,” said Dr Hiroki Nakatani, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases. “But globally, it remains an unfulfilled commitment. And we must join forces to make it a worldwide reality in the coming years.”

Remarkable progress in Eastern and Southern Africa, the region most severely affected by HIV, offers hope. In this region, HIV treatment coverage has increased from 32% to 41% in one year. And half of the pregnant women were able to access HIV testing and counseling in 2009.

“We’re on the right track, we’ve shown what works and now we need to do more of it,” said Dr Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director, Programme, UNAIDS. “But we’re US$10 billion short. At the Global Fund replenishment conference in New York next week countries have a chance to put this right––to make a smart investment and secure the future of the AIDS response.”

In 2009, 5.25 million people had access to HIV treatment in low- and middle-income countries, accounting for 36% of those in need. This represents an increase of over 1.2 million people from December 2008, the largest increase in any single year.

In sub-Saharan Africa, close to one million more people started on ART, the number increasing from 2.95 million at the end of 2008 to 3.91 million at the end of 2009, covering 37% of those in need. Latin America and the Caribbean region reached 50% coverage for ART, East, South and South-East Asia–31%, Europe and Central Asia–19%, and North Africa and the Middle East–11%.

Challenges in delivering universal access

Obstacles to scaling up HIV treatment persist in most countries, including funding shortages, limited human resources, and weak procurement and supply management systems for HIV drugs and diagnostics and other health systems bottlenecks. One third of countries reported at least one or more cases when supply of HIV medicines had been interrupted in 2009.

Prevention efforts to reach most-at-risk populations such as sex workers, drug users, and men who have sex with men are limited. For example, only about one third of injecting drug users in reporting countries were reached with HIV prevention programmes in 2009.

Availability and safety of blood and blood products continue to be a concern for HIV prevention, especially in low-income countries. While 99% and 85% of blood donations in high- and middle-income countries, respectively, were screened in a quality-assured manner in 2009, in low-income countries the comparable figure was 48%.

Results from population surveys in ten countries showed more than 60% of HIV-positive people did not know their HIV status. As a result, many patients start treatment too late. Around 18% of patients initiating treatment were lost to follow-up during the first year, a large proportion of them dying due to late initiation of treatment.

“The report findings indicate challenges but also clear opportunities for optimizing investments and increasing efficiency. By starting treatment earlier and improving adherence within the first year, we can save many more lives,” said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO’s Director for HIV/AIDS. “We also need to not only further increase access to key HIV/AIDS interventions but also to pay attention to ensure higher quality of these life-saving services,” he said.

Women and children

Steady progress was seen in access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services. A record 53% of pregnant women who needed PMTCT services received them globally in 2009. But still many pregnant women and their infants lacked access to these timely interventions. Care for infants and children require highest attention. Global treatment coverage for HIV positive children was 28% in 2009, a notable progress, but the rate is lower than the ART coverage for adults (36%). And only 15% of children born to HIV-positive mothers were receiving appropriate infant diagnostics.

“Every day, more than 1 000 infants acquire HIV during pregnancy, delivery and breastfeeding. We know how to prevent this,” says Jimmy Kolker, Chief of HIV and AIDS of UNICEF. “While many countries are now showing significant progress, intensified efforts are urgently needed to reach all mothers and children with the most effective treatment and PMTCT interventions for their own health and for the sake of their communities.”

Steps towards universal access beyond 2010

The report called for a clear set of actions to be taken by the international community including:

* renewing political and funding commitments to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care;
* improving integration and linkages between HIV/AIDS and related services such as tuberculosis, maternal and child health, sexual health and harm reduction for drug users;
* strengthening health systems to achieve broader public health outcomes; and
* taking bold measures to address legal and structural barriers that increase HIV vulnerability, particularly for most-at-risk populations.

This call to action is consistent with the key strategies proposed by a broad range of stakeholders for the new Global Health Sector Strategy for HIV/AIDS, 2011-2015. WHO is developing the strategy which is meant to guide the next phase of the health sector response to HIV/AIDS, once discussed and ratified by the World Health Assembly next year.

Editor’s note: All coverage rates in the new report are calculated using the 2010 guidelines. In July 2010, WHO issued new guidelines on antiretroviral treatment for adults and adolescents. The new guidelines changed CD4 count threshold to initiate antiretroviral treatment from 200 cells /mm3 to 350mm3. This change has increased the number of people who needed HIV treatment at the end of 2009 from 10.1 million to 14.7 million. Based on the new criterion for treatment initiation, global ART coverage has increased from 28% in December 2008 to 36% in December 2009. Under the previous criterion for treatment initiation, global coverage would have increased from 42% to 52% during the same period. You can download the full report and related materials at http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/2010progressreport/en/index.html.

(Courtesy : http://unaidstoday.org/?p=1166)
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2010-09-29T06:36:00.001+05:30

â€œCountries in all parts of the world are demonstrating that Universal Access is achievable,â€ said Dr Hiroki

http://ping.fm/Li3Vm

2010-09-27T08:18:00.001+05:30

cheated death....
[nothing is impossible]

M.D.G.’s for Beginners ... and Finishers

2010-09-20T13:55:00.003+05:30

"The United Nations’ “Millennium Declaration” pledged to “ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world’s people"

By Bono

I’ve noticed that New Yorkers, and I sometimes try to pass for one these days, tend to greet the word “summit” with an irritated roll of the eyes, a grunt, an impatient glance at the wristwatch. In Manhattan, a summit has nothing to do with crampons and ice picks, but refers instead to a large gathering of important persons, head-of-state types and their rock-star retinues in the vicinity of the United Nations building and creates, therefore, a near total immobilization of the East Side. Can world peace possibly be worth this? Never, never...Eleanor Roosevelt, look what you’ve done ... .

Recent global summit meetings, from Copenhagen to Toronto, have frankly been a bust, so the world, which may not know it yet, is overdue for a good multilateral confab — one that’s not just about the gabbing but about the doing. The subject of the summit meeting at the United Nations this week is one whose monumental importance is matched only by its minuscule brand recognition: the Millennium Development Goals, henceforth known as the M.D.G.’s (God save us from such dull shorthand).

The M.D.G.’s are possibly the most visionary deal that most people have never heard of. In the run-up to the 21st century, a grand global bargain was negotiated at a series of summit meetings and then signed in 2000. The United Nations’ “Millennium Declaration” pledged to “ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world’s people,” especially the most marginalized in developing countries. It wasn’t a promise of rich nations to poor ones; it was a pact, a partnership, in which each side would meet obligations to its own citizens and to one another.

Of course, this is the sort of airy-fairy stuff that people at summit meetings tend to say and get away with because no one else can bear to pay attention. The 2000 gathering was different, though, because signatories agreed to specific goals on a specific timeline: cutting hunger and poverty in half, giving all girls and boys a basic education, reducing infant and maternal mortality by two-thirds and three-quarters respectively, and reversing the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. All by 2015. Give it an A for Ambition.

So where are we now, 10 years on, with some “first-world” economies looking as if they could go bang, and some second- and third-level economies looking as if they could be propping us up?

Well, I’d direct you to the plenary sessions and panel discussions for a detailed answer...but if you’re, eh, busy this week...my view, based on the data and what I’ve seen on the ground, is that in many places it’s going better than you’d think.

Much better, in fact. Tens of millions more kids are in school thanks to debt cancellation. Millions of lives have been saved through the battle against preventable disease, thanks especially to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Apart from fallout from the market meltdown, economic growth in Africa has been gathering pace — over 5 percent per year in the decade ending in 2009. Poverty declined by 1 percent a year from 1999 to 2005.

The gains made by countries like Ghana show the progress the Millennium Goals have helped create.

At the same time, the struggles of places like Congo remind us of the distance left to travel. There are serious headwinds: 64 million people have been thrown back into poverty as a result of the financial crises, and 150 million are hungry because of the food crisis. And extending the metaphor, there are storms on the horizon: the poor will be hit first — and worst — by climate change.

So there should be no Champagne toasts at this year’s summit meeting. The 10th birthday of our millennium is, or ought to be, a purposeful affair, a redoubling of efforts. After all, there’s only five years before 2015, only five years to make all that Second Avenue gridlock worth it. With that in mind I’d like to offer three near-term tests of our commitment to the M.D.G.’s.

1. Find what works and then expand on it. Will mechanisms like the Global Fund get the resources to do the job?

Energetic, efficient and effective, the fund saves a staggering 4,000 lives a day. Even a Wall Streeter would have to admit, that’s some return on investment. But few are aware of it, a fact that allows key countries — from the United States to Britain, France and Germany — to go unnoticed if they ease off the throttle. The unsung successes of the fund should be, well, sung, and after this summit meeting, its work needs to be fully financed. This would help end the absurdity of death by mosquito, and the preventable calamity of 1,000 babies being born every day with H.I.V., passed to them by their mothers who had no access to the effective, inexpensive medicines that exist.

2. Governance as an effect multiplier. In this column last spring, I described some Africans I’ve met who see corruption as more deadly than the deadliest of diseases, a cancer that eats at the foundation of good governance even as the foundation is being built. I don’t just mean “their” corruption; I mean ours, too. For example, multinational oil companies. They want oil, and governments of poor countries rich in just one thing, black gold, want to sell it to them. All well and good. Except the way it too often happens, as democracy campaigners in these countries point out, is not at all good. Some of these companies knowingly participate in a system of backhanders and bribery that ends up cheating the host nation and turning what should be a resource blessing into a kind of curse of black market cabals.

Well, I’m pleased to give you an update on an intervention that some of us thought of and fought for as critical: hidden somewhere in the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill (admit it...you haven’t read it all either) there is a hugely significant “transparency” amendment, added by Senators Richard Lugar and Benjamin Cardin. Now energy companies traded on American exchanges will have to reveal every payment they make to government officials. If money changes hands, it will happen in the open. This is the kind of daylight that makes the cockroaches scurry.

The British government should institute the same requirement for companies trading in Britain, as should the rest of the European Union and ultimately all the G-20 nations. According to the African entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim, who has emerged as one of the most important voices on that continent, transparency could do more to transform Africa than even debt cancellation has. Measures like this one should be central to any renewed Millennium Development Goal strategy.

And the cost to us is zero, nada. It’s a clear thought in a traffic jam.

3. Demand clarity; measure inputs and outputs.

Speaking of transparency, let’s have a little more, please, when it comes to the question of who is doing what toward which goal and to what effect. We have to know where we are to know how far we’ve left to go.

Right now it’s near impossible to keep track. Walk (if you dare) into M.D.G. World and you will encounter a dizzying array of vague financing and policy commitments on critical issues, from maternal mortality to agricultural development. You come across a load of bureau-babble that too often is used to hide double counting, or mask double standards. This is the stuff that feeds the cynics.

What we need is an independent unit — made up of people from governments, the private sector and civil society — to track pledges and progress, not just on aid but also on trade, governance, investment. It’s essential for the credibility of the United Nations, the M.D.G.’s, and all who work toward them.

And that was the deal, wasn’t it? The promise we made at the start of this century was not to perpetuate the old relationships between donors and recipients, but to create new ones, with true partners accountable to each other and above all to the citizens these systems are supposed to work for. Strikes me as the right sort of arrangement for an age of austerity as well as interdependence. (The age of interrupted affluence should sharpen our focus on future markets for our sake as well as theirs.)

No leader scheduled to speak at the summit meeting is more painfully aware of this context than President Obama, who one year ago pledged to put forth a global plan to reach the development goals. If promoting transparency and investing in what works is at the core of that strategy, he can assure Americans that their dollars are reinforcing their values, and their leadership in the world is undiminished. Action is required to make these words, these dull statistics, sing. The tune may not be pop but it won’t leave your head — this practical, achievable idea that the world, now out of kilter, can re-balance itself and offer all, not just some, a chance to exit the unfathomable deprivation that brings about the need for such global bargains.

I understand the critics who groan or snooze through the pious pronouncements we will hear from the podium in the General Assembly. But still in my heart and mind, undiminished and undaunted, is this thought planted by Nelson Mandela in his quest to tackle extreme poverty: “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great.”

We have a lot to prove, but if the M.D.G. agreement had not been made in 2000, much less would have happened than has happened. Already, we’ve seen transformative results for millions of people whose lives are shaped by the priorities of people they will never know or meet — the very people causing gridlock this week. For this at least, the world should thank New Yorkers for the loan of their city.

[Courtesy : Bono, the lead singer of the band U2 and a co-founder of the advocacy group ONE and (Product)RED, is a contributing columnist for The Times.]
[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/opinion/19bono.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1]

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Harm Reduction in North East India : It Save Lives !!!

2010-09-20T13:38:00.003+05:30

Injecting drug use epidemic in the North East (NE) India is still a major driver of HIV and other blood borne viruses, such as Hepatitis C and B. There are also various other adverse health complications associated with it, such as loss of body weight, mental breakdown, liver damage, chronic abscess and overdose. Hepatitis C transmission amongst injecting drug users has become one major challenge amongst IDUs (injecting drug users). The transmission is not only swift but can also transmit through a medium not necessarily a contaminated/used needle/syringe but any paraphernalia such as water, cooker, glass/steel container, cotton ball, etc. The prevalence rate of Hepatitis C has crossed 80% in most of the towns where injecting drug use is rampant.

One of the recent ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) study conducted at Imphal East and West district shows 84% HCV positive amongst IDUs, out of which 50% are co-infected with HIV. Majority of the HIV positive IDUs co-infected with Hepatitis C, despite of being put on antiretroviral treatment, succumb, not because of AIDS related illnesses but because of liver damage. Moreover, treatment for Hepatitis C is still beyond the reach for most of them.

The unsafe injecting practice, such as sharing of used needles and syringes; injection of not-for-injection pharmaceutical drugs; unhygienic injection; injecting at unsafe body areas; etc., is prevalent in almost all the eight NE states. Harm Reduction (HR), although widely accepted as one of the most effective strategy in reducing drug related harms, is still in its infantile stage for majority of the NE states, except Manipur and Nagaland.

The strategy needs to be materialized and take into action in all the remaining six states. We have already witnessed a substantial reduction of HIV prevalence amongst IDUs in Manipur through implementation of harm reduction strategies, such as NESP (Needles syringe exchange program); outreach; oral drug substitution therapy; condom promotion; etc. We have also observed similar reduction in Nagaland and Mizoram, but for the remaining five states harm reduction is yet to take its root and that it needs to be endorsed by all the stakeholders working in the field of drug use and HIV/AIDS.

For the past 6 years North East India Harm Reduction Network, NEIHRN has been constantly engaging in making HR take its root in all the NE states through strategies such as advocacy, capacity building, information sharing and developing resource pool. But despite of these effective strategies, the issues that surround the injecting drug use seemed to take new shapes and forms, every now and then. Some of the major challenging issues that are presently predominant are HIV and Hepatitis co-infection; injection of not-for-injection pharmaceutical drugs e.g. Spasmo Proxyvon (dextropropoxyphene); increase in drug related crimes; and unfriendly (often punitive) anti drug drives taken up by various social organizations.

These challenges drastically hinder the overall drug use and HIV/AIDS response. There is a significant rise in the number of young and new injecting drug users and that so far there has not been any focus made on this specific age group or category, who were about to switch from oral use to injecting mode. There is also a chance of newer drug, particularly ATS (Amphetamine Type Stimulant), coming into the scenario. The ATS use is already reported in the India - Myanmar border towns like Moreh and Tamu.

The present situation may drive the drug users to switch over to ATS, which has already proved to be a potential harm causing illicit drug in many other countries. Another fuelling factor to the present issues surrounding drug use and HIV/AIDS is the volatile political situation social unrest in the region. There has been a constant change of leadership in the Government and which had ultimately led to the failure in fulfilling their pledges.

Last but not the least, armed organizations and their strategies to regain state of independency of Manipur from India is yet another major hurdle that needs to be dealt delicately by the activists and advocates of Harm Reduction and HIV/AIDS. One needs to constantly sensitize and advocate the higher ups of armed organizations (both State and Non-state) so as to avoid any unwanted confrontations, which at times is a risky thing to do.

NEIHRN with the support from the United Nations (UNAIDS) has implemented a project that aimed to contribute in enhancing reduction drug use associated harms in the region and making HR take roots in weaker states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura.

Is the idea of enhancing HR with a higher priority an illusion? Practitioners and decision makers are accountable for their interventions and decisions, and for their successes and failures. HR principles encourage open dialogue, consultation and debate. A wide range of stakeholders must be meaningfully involved in policy development and programme implementation, delivery and evaluation. In particular, affected communities should be involved in decisions that affect them.

2010-09-17T19:15:00.001+05:30

HIV prevention WORKS !!!
Six things we need to know about AIDS response today...

http://ping.fm/HB3d6

2010-09-16T07:46:00.001+05:30

on this special day...my wish for my father..

Happy Birthday dear "Baba" May today be filled with sunshine and smiles, laughter and love.

2010-09-14T10:38:00.001+05:30

support for demand that Govts commit to the health of communities across the world..

http://ping.fm/y7eIT

2010-09-08T09:05:00.001+05:30

Manipur: In Need Of CD4 machines (functional- working condition)...
not one..govt owned...is working today..
it's a pity :-(

2010-09-04T09:36:00.001+05:30

[saw] The Myth of Addiction...

http://ping.fm/uEKPt

2010-08-07T03:11:00.001+05:30

PAST IMPERFECT, PRESENT TENSE

is seriously looking for INSOMNIAC ANONYMOUS..
[guess Stress Disorder is very common in Manipur]

2010-08-05T09:50:00.001+05:30

MANIPUR IN CHAOS
Attn: UN TASK FORCE
CRISIS SITUATION IN MANIPUR
Need FOOD, FUEL AND FODDER immediately
TIME TO ACT, RESPOND and SAVE LIVES...

2010-07-28T09:43:00.001+05:30

TREAT, don't PUNISH.. with WHO's "essential medicines"

http://ping.fm/dGuTt