What's New

In the summer of 2009, the author visited a humble orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. Here, like many parts in the world, the very existence of marginalized people with stigmatized illness is hidden away. Relegated to the shadows of society, these children lacked something more fundamental than housing, shelter, nutrition and medications. They lacked families to love and care for them unconditionally. One might think it self-evident that a visit to an orphanage for children with HIV would be profound, but the profundity wasn't where he expected to find it. It was in how the children had created their own family, loving each other like brothers and sisters, and the way the priest who operated the shelters was more than a Father, he was a dad to dozens of children. This is an account of love as harm reduction in the Mai Tam orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City.

A systematic surveillance system for HIV and risk behaviours is essential for a country to monitor its prevalence of HIV and the risks of an epidemic as well as trends over time. All available evidence in Bhutan suggests that HIV prevalence is indeed low in the country, but at the same time, risks may be high. Based on the principles of Second Generation Surveillance, this first BSS was conducted among population groups considered to be most at risk for HIV in Bhutan.

Together We Must! represents an initial effort to draw attention to the knowledge, institutional capacity and resources needed to comprehensively address the intersection between HIV & AIDS and Violence against women and girls (VAWG). It aims to stimulate debate and collaboration among practitioners and advocates around how to identify and promote policies and practices that are effective and can be adapted to various contexts. Of the multiple suggestions that could be drawn from the 'promising practices' profiled here, the report prioritizes five key recommendations.

Facts and Figures on ART in Nepal: 

• Anti‐retroviral treatment started in Nepal in February 2004 from Teku Hospital. 
• Government is providing free of cost ART service for all those in need. 
• There is a National ART Guidelines and SOP for the clinical management of ART in Nepal.

The World Health Organization (WHO) worked on the revision of the Use of antiretroviral drugs for treating pregnant women and preventing hiv infection in infants: recommendations for a public health approach, 2006, through a series of coordinated efforts to review and synthesize emerging evidence. This evidence was assembled following systematic reviews, GRADE profile analysis, consultations with key implementers, cost review, and peer review. The aim was to identify evidence-based recommendations that would be likely to deliver high quality care. The evidence and its quality, risks and benefits, acceptability, feasibility, cost and financial implications, were considered by the Guideline Review Committee and the Peer Review Group, who agreed on a series of updated recommendations.

The guideline Antiretroviral therapy for hiv infection in adults and adolescents, developed by World Health Organization (WHO), was first published in 2002, simplified in 2003 and was updated in 2006. The guideline continues to follow the principles of a public health approach, aiming to optimize outcomes, including the quality of life and survival, of people living with HIV (PLHIV), and to act as a reference tool for countries to adopt and adapt according to their national circumstances. During 2009, WHO has worked to update the guideline through a series of coordinated efforts to review and synthesize emerging evidence on when to initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART), what drug regimens to use, and the management of co-infections and treatment failure. This evidence has been assembled following systematic reviews, GRADE* profile preparation and analysis, consultations with PLHIV, cost and economic impact studies, country-level feasibility assessment, and comparisons of current country guidelines.

By reviewing available data and literature on HIV transmission in intimate partner relationships; understanding the current national response for addressing this emerging epidemic trend; the endeavour was identifying potential programmatic entry-points for preventing HIV transmission in intimate partner relationships.

Facts and Figures about HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Nepal: - The first HIV infection was detected in 1988 in Nepal. Since then HIV and AIDS epidemic has evolved from low‐ to concentrated among High Risk Groups: * Injecting Drug Users,   * Female Sex workers,   * Men having Sex with Men and * Seasonal labour Migrants. -Heterosexual transmission is dominant. -HIV prevalence in general population is <1%

This paper summarises the common issues and challenges for health information systems in Pacific island countries and territories. Pacific participants of two meetings hosted by the Health Information Systems Knowledge Hub in 2009 identified these issues and suggested future actions. These two key events were held in the Pacific region in 2009: a meeting of the Pacific Health Information Network (PHIN) in September in Nadi and a Pacific Health Information Systems Development Forum in November in Brisbane. Both events were designed to create greater knowledge about what is happening within the region, and provide forums to discuss common issues and challenges and learn from relevant local advances. The global agenda and drivers of health information systems were discussed at both meetings to provide a clearer understanding of how Pacific island countries are positioned within the larger international agenda. 

WHO recommendations on infant feeding and HIV were last revised in 2006 (published in 2007 as an HIV and Infant Feeding Update – ISBN 978 92 4 159596 41). Significant programmatic experience and research evidence regarding HIV and infant feeding have accumulated since then. In particular, evidence has been reported that antiretroviral (ARV) interventions to either the HIV-infected mother or HIV-exposed infant can significantly reduce the risk of postnatal transmission of HIV through breastfeeding. This has major implications for how women living with HIV might choose to feed their infants, and how health workers should counsel mothers when making these choices. The potential of ARVs to reduce HIV transmission throughout the period of breastfeeding also highlights the need for guidance on how child health services should communicate information about ARVs to prevent transmission through breastfeeding, and the implications for feeding of HIV exposed infants through the first two years of life.