Publications

In India, 38.4 percent of the estimated 5.1 million HIV infections are among women (UNAIDS/WHO 2006). Although mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) accounts for a little less than 4 percent of all HIV infections in India, in sheer numbers it is the cause of approximately 56,700 children infected with HIV each year (IAP/NACO 2006, UNICEF 2006). With support from UNICEF, India’s national program for prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT) of HIV has been underway since 2002. More recently, the government launched a national treatment program that offers antiretroviral therapy (ART) to HIV-positive women, children below 15 years of age, and men. However, since the start-up of the ART program there have been concerns about access to and utilization of these services by women and children. To address these concerns, a comprehensive PPTCT initiative that emphasizes treatment for HIV-positive women and their children was launched in 2004 by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) using funds from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. To better implement this initiative, it is imperative to understand the prevention and care needs of the women who are receiving or have received PPTCT services, referral systems between PPTCT programs and other HIV-related and reproductive health services, and linkages between PPTCT programs and community-based organizations and NGOs. 

Male circumcision is one of the oldest and most common surgical procedures worldwide, and is undertaken for many reasons: religious, cultural, social and medical. There is conclusive evidence from observational data and three randomized controlled trials that circumcised men have a significantly lower risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Demand for safe, affordable male circumcision is expected to increase rapidly, and country-level decision-makers need information about the sociocultural and medical determinants of circumcision, as well as risks of the procedure, in the context of comprehensive HIV prevention programming. The aim of this report is to review the determinants, prevalence, safety and acceptability of male circumcision, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa.

The scale above shows the number of people living with HIV and AIDS patients newly reported based on the Infectious Disease Control Law. The people who had already been reported as living with HIV and who had subsequently developed AIDS were excluded from the legal report.

The 8th round of annual HIV surveillance is the result of the combined efforts and contributions of many individuals and organizations. Thanks are due to all those listed below as well as to the many participants who gave their blood and shared some of their personal information.

This report summarises the findings of the 7th round of HIV serological surveillance, which has been carried out during the period from January-June 2006. On behalf of the Government of Bangladesh, ICDDR,B in close collaboration with Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) conducted the surveillance.

The National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) is a tool/ method that had been introduced by the UNAIDS Geneva to measure the commitment of a nation in combating a global epidemic disease such as HIV and AIDS. The development of NASA 2006-2007 is a jointly teamwork involved highly motivated senior staffs of the National AIDS Commission, UNAIDS Indonesia, Department of Health and other Sectors at the central level, as well as colleagues from 3 selected provinces.

This report presents the new HIV estimations and its demographic impact analysis based in a workshop that reviewed the data available from the previous HIV estimation workshop, which was held in September 2005 and HIV data for the years 2005 and 2006. The initial discussions were based in the draft estimates produced during the estimates training held in Bangkok in April 2007.

At this point in time, the HIV epidemic in Nepal is still concentrated among high-risk groups, including injecting drug users (IDUs). Nepal has approximately 20,000 IDUs, with at least 5,000 living in the capital, Kathmandu. HIV prevalence among IDUs in Kathmandu is extremely high. In 2003 – the reference year of this analysis – that rate was 68%. This paper has two objectives. The first is to examine the robustness of two different epidemiological models; these models were used to determine the impact of IDU interventions in Nepal when interventions are scaled-up to reach 60% of IDUs, as recommended by UNAIDS. The second objective is to disseminate the outcome of two cost- effectiveness analyses of IDU interventions in Nepal. These analyses used identical data sets to determine the cost-effectiveness ratios under various scenarios of intervention coverage. Nepal has been selected as a case study for two reasons. Firstly, it has good quality cost data information that is easily converted into 2003 prices, and behavioural surveillance data from 2003. Secondly, Nepal was one of four countries in the region where an alpha version of the Asian Effectiveness Model (AEM) (Brown and Peerapatanapokin 2004, Brown T 2005) was available at the time of the analysis (June/July 2007).  

FHI/Vietnam shared results from the female sex workers (FSWs) rapid interviews at a workshop for provincial project staff, health educators, peer educators, drop-in center managers, and partner project managers. The aims of the workshop were to review current status of programming and to develop new approaches to overcome barriers to female sex workers (FSWs) risk behaviors.

The global epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has radically challenged efforts at tuberculosis control and treatment. Tuberculosis is a leading cause of death among HIV patients, with recent reports indicating that between 27 and 80% of tuberculosis patients are coinfected in a variety of settings with measurable prevalence of HIV. HIV prevalence among tuberculosis patients in Afghanistan is currently quite low. However, lack of knowledge of HIV and engaging in high-risk practices, particularly regarding health, make this group vulnerable. Health education sessions regarding HIV, sexually transmitted infection, and blood-borne infections should be implemented for tuberculosis patients during the treatment course.