Sri Lanka Hosts Summit On Denial Of Inheritance, Property Rights To HIV-Positive Women

By, Medical News Today, August 22, 2007

The first regional summit on HIV-positive women being denied inheritance and property rights was held on Saturday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, as part of the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, United Nations Development Programme regional HIV/AIDS coordinator in Asia and the Pacific, said Thursday, Xinhua/People's Daily reports. The summit aims to increase public awareness about challenges faced by HIV-positive women, Wiesen-Antin said.

According to Wiesen-Antin, 20 HIV-positive women will testify about their experiences in being denied inheritance or the right to hold property because of their HIV-positive status at the Asia Pacific Court of Women on HIV, Inheritance and Property Rights. In addition, about 30 experts from several Asian countries -- including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam -- will offer testimony. "When women are denied their rights to inheritance and property, they are robbed of the social and economic empowerment needed to prevent HIV infection and cope with its impact on families and communities," Wiesen-Antin said. She added, "With little or no control over their sexual lives and burdened by abuse, exploitation and violence, women in the region are extremely vulnerable to HIV." About 30% of new HIV cases in Asia occur among women, Wiesen-Antin said (Xinhua/People's Daily, 8/17).

There were about 5,000 HIV-positive people in Sri Lanka at the end of 2005 -- one of the lowest case loads in Asia -- but many Sri Lankans are at risk of contracting HIV because of poverty and displacement, Reuters reports. Wiesen-Antin said the "challenge" in Sri Lanka is to keep the country's HIV prevalence low. About 35,000 people were displaced last year during conflict, the country's military has said, adding that it recently has resettled more than 100,000 people in the eastern part of Sri Lanka. "When people are displaced from their home, their usual system of justice sometimes does not exist," Wiesen-Antin said. She added that "under duress," some displaced people "resort" to commercial sex work, increasing the spread of HIV (Aneez, Reuters, 8/16). ICAAP will be held from Aug. 19 to Aug. 24 (Xinhua/People's Daily, 8/17).

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/80223.php

Coalition launched in Colombo to promote male sexual health

By, People's Daily Online, August 23, 2007

A coalition aiming to address HIV- related vulnerabilities of men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Asia and Pacific region was launched here Wednesday at the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and Pacific (ICAAP).

The Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM), a coalition of civil society groups, government representatives and the United Nations system, plans to increase investment and research, as well as promote individual rights of the MSM and transgenders.

"Male to male sex is being treated as if it does not exist. The reality is male to male sex occurs in all countries and cultures," said Prasada Rao, Director of UNAIDS Regional Support Team in Asia.

Despite evidence establishing male-to-male sex as one driving force of HIV transmission in Asia and Pacific region, relatively few MSM interventions strategically focus on prevention, treatment, care and support for MSM and transgender populations.

It is estimated by many groups, including UNAIDS (Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS), that targeted prevention programs reach less than 8 percent of the MSM although up to one third of all HIV cases in the Asia-Pacific region are transmitted via sex between males.

The ACPOM will identify and facilitate the provision of technical assistance, as well as convene governments, researchers, donors and civil society organizations to collaborate in initiating responses to prevent and treat HIV, improve sexual health, and reduce stigma and discrimination.

"We can only truly address the challenge of HIV, as well as confront stigma, discrimination, violence and social exclusion of MSM and transgenders, if we all work together in our collective, region wide struggle," stated Shivananda Khan, APCOM interim chair.

UNAIDS, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and UNESCO will support the APCOM as technical advisors.

Source: Xinhua

Source: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/6246152.html

ASIA: "Seize the opportunities of hope"

By, IRIN PlusNews, August 20, 2007

The Eighth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) opened on Sunday in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, with speakers stressing the need for action to prevent a surge in the regional infection rate.

UNAIDS, co-sponsor of the congress, along with the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific (ASAP), recently revised its estimate of HIV-positive people in the region from 8.3 million to 5.4 million. Nevertheless, the epidemic in Asia and the Pacific is still increasing, with approximately one million new infections in the last two years.

J V R Prasado Rao, director of the UNAIDS regional support team in Asia, explained that the new figures were drawn from a combination of household and antenatal surveillance figures, whereas previous estimates had relied solely on tests of pregnant women.

"UNAIDS advocates looking at trends, not figures," Prasado Rao told delegates on Monday, "and the overall trends remain the same." Summarising these, he noted that HIV infections were rising in a number of countries, including China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Indonesia, but had declined in Thailand, Cambodia and several parts of India.

Pockets of despair

Economic growth and improvements in infrastructure have created greater wealth and mobility, but have also promoted HIV infections. Yet in most countries HIV infections remain largely confined to vulnerable pockets of the population, such as injecting drugs users, sex workers and their clients, and men who have sex with men.

"The challenge for Asia is to keep prevalence low," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS chief, in a statement read by his deputy director, Deborah Landey. Describing complacency by the region's leaders as misplaced, Piot cited dramatic increases in prevalence among men who have sex with men in China, and among married women in Papua New Guinea.

Sri Lanka, which is hosting the conference with its 2,500 delegates from 70 countries, has an HIV prevalence below 0.1 percent, one of the lowest in the region, but President Mahinda Rajapaksa said this was no reason "to pat ourselves on our backs".

Despite the presence of factors often conducive to fuelling epidemics, such as a large migrant worker population and a protracted conflict, the president described Sri Lanka's strict policies on illegal drugs and alcohol consumption as key to its success in keeping infections low.

Emphasis on universal coverage

About 235,000 people in Asia are receiving antiretroviral treatment: around 20 percent of those who need it. Given that most countries in the region have adequate resources and manageable numbers of people requiring treatment, Prasado Rao of UNAIDS challenged delegates to push harder to achieve the goal of universal coverage.

Prevention efforts were also lagging and, according to Prasado Rao, overly skewed towards the general population when the need was for programmes focused on the most vulnerable groups.

He also warned that over-dependence on external funding was likely to create problems for the future sustainability of anti-AIDS efforts in most countries.

While urging governments to expand their health budgets, Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, asked them to view HIV/AIDS not just as a health problem, but as a development issue requiring the mobilisation of all sectors.

"This conference is being held at a historic moment in the life of the epidemic in this region," Peter Piot said in his statement, "because there is still hope ... but we must seize these opportunities of hope."

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