El Sol de Zacatacas – Luego de asistir a la Conferencia Internacional SIDA 2010, el doctor Arnulfo Joel Correa Chacón, presidente de la Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos (CEDH) destacó la importancia de los resultados de esa reunión, ante la denuncia de la disminución presupuestal en el sector salud para la atención del VIH.
Lo anterior tuvo lugar durante la jornada de trabajo llevada a cabo del 18 al 23 de julio en la ciudad de Viena, Austria, bajo el lema “Derechos Humanos Aquí y Ahora” donde se desarrolló la Conferencia Internacional SIDA 2010.
Read more →
Last week, thousands of scientists, physicians and activists fighting the HIV and AIDS pandemic around the world gathered in Vienna to discuss the latest breakthroughs — and frustrations.
There were reports on several landmark studies describing the crucial role that treatments can play in reducing the infectiousness of HIV-positive individuals. And there was encouraging news from Africa, where a study found that an intra-vaginal anti-viral gel could reduce the risk of HIV infection among women who used it by 40%.
But there was also sobering news at the 18th International AIDS Conference, including stark evidence of how the HIV epidemic is raging unchecked among some populations of illicit drug users.
Vienna was selected to host the biannual meeting of HIV experts because it is the gateway to one of the world’s most rapidly growing HIV epidemics: that among heroin users in Eastern Europe. Outside sub-Saharan Africa, about 1 in 3 new HIV infections stems from injecting illegal drugs, and in some parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 70% of those who inject illicit drugs are infected with the virus.
Medscape Medical News – More than 13,000 clinicians, researchers, and public policy experts have signed a declaration calling for the global decriminalization of drug use and the implementation of evidence-based policies to halt the rampant spread of HIV infection among injecting drug users (IDUs).
Released here at AIDS 2010: XVIII International AIDS Conference, the document, known as the Vienna Declaration, states that in parts of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where the spread of HIV is most rapid, infection “can be as high as 70% among people who inject drugs, and in some areas more than 80% of all HIV cases are among this group.” Yet these countries have some of the most punitive antidrug laws in the world.
“The International AIDS Conference is a unique mix of advocacy, activism, and science that you don’t see at other conferences,” Evan Wood, MD, director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, British Columbia, told Medscape Medical News. Dr. Wood was a coauthor of the Vienna Declaration.
Terra Colombia – Mientras que en Europa Occidental la epidemia del sida se mantiene bajo control desde hace varios años, los países ex comunistas del Este del continente ven cómo el número de infectados se dispara, especialmente por la falta de atención y la criminalización de los drogadictos.
Ese contraste entre Oeste y Este fue denunciado hoy por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) en un comunicado emitido en la Conferencia Internacional SIDA 2010 que se celebra en Viena hasta el viernes.
Many of the 20,000 participants at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna fear the global recession will mean less funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. But panelists revealed a number of positive developments that suggest new methods to fight the deadly virus are more promising than ever.
Listen to the interview →
Edmonton Sun – Over the centuries, scientists who dared to challenge rulers of the day often found themselves in jail. Today, politicians who prefer ideology over truth just stick their fingers in their ears.
The key statement that emerged from last week’s International AIDS Conference was a declaration asking governments to base their drug policies on scientific evidence.
So far, about 14,000 people have signed the so called Vienna declaration, including Nobel Laureates, former heads of state, religious leaders and experts in science, medicine and law.
In Canada, five provincial medical officers of health and the Canadian Public Health Association have endorsed the statement. So have past presidents of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, as well as the wife of the president of Georgia, the deputy chair of the Georgian parliament and that country’s minister of labour, health and social affairs. Georgia is one of the hardest hit countries in eastern Europe in terms of the spread of HIV.
One can imagine how delighted the people at the Colombian Embassy were when they read the Globe and Mail last week. One article after another about their country — and none focussed on drugs and murder.
Instead, the theme was that after decades of civil war and criminal chaos Colombia has been transformed into a land of stability and optimism. The mood is “buoyant, hopeful, and utterly entrepreneurial,” one story reported. Colombia is “an eco-paradise with bustling cities,” another burbled.
Imagine if the federal government opposed a scientific statement seeking to improve community health and safety by calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into health policies.
People around the country would be outraged, and rightly so, since by failing to use the evidence at its disposal, the government would be placing everyone’s health and safety in jeopardy.
Yet strange as it may sound, this is precisely what the Conservative government is doing. This week the feds once again displayed their hostility to evidence-based health policy when they refused to support the Vienna Declaration.
Important: The war on the war on drugs
The Vienna Declaration, a scientific statement that argues the criminalization of drug use is fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic and countries need to adopt scientifically proven methods like needle exchange, methadone treatment and the like, was one of the most talked about initiatives at the conference. In fact, there was unprecedented attention paid to HIV/AIDS among drug users, an issue that has long been overlooked because it makes politicians – who ultimately fund programs – very uncomfortable.
It’s safe to assume most people have never heard of the “Vienna Declaration.” And that simple fact helps explain why public policies that fail — policies that do vastly more harm than good — can live on despite overwhelming evidence of their failure.
The Vienna Declaration, published in the medical journal The Lancet, is an official statement of the 18th International AIDS Conference, which wraps up today in Vienna. Drafted by an international team of public health experts, including Evan Wood of the University of British Columbia, the Vienna Declaration seeks to “improve community health and safety” by, in the words of the committee, “calling for the incorporation of scientific evidence into illicit drug policies.”
Please don’t stop reading. I promise this will not turn into another of my rants about the catastrophic failure of drug prohibition. I’ve been writing variations on that theme for more than a decade now and everyone knows I am a crazed extremist whose views are not to be trusted by decent folk. I’ll spare you.