Treatment 2.0: All you wanted to know...

All you wanted to know about "Treatment 2.0"...

Is this the future of HIV-treatment?

Treatment 2.0 is a radically simplified HIV treatment approach, launched by UNAIDS, that decreases AIDS-related deaths drastically and could also greatly benefit HIV prevention efforts. Successful viral suppression through treatment can substantially reduce the risk of transmission. Using HIV treatment for HIV prevention was also a big issue at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna. Scientists and health workers are optimistic but recognize that scaling up treatment will not be easy, especially for poor countries. Read on...

What's new?

STOP AIDS NOW! expands lobby office to Geneva and Washington
For many years now, STOP AIDS NOW! and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance share a successful lobby office in Brussels: the Stop Aids Alliance (SAA). In November this partnership will be extended to two cities that play an increasing role in setting the international HIV/AIDS response: Geneva and Washington. Marielle Hart, Head of EU Policy, has been working since 2005 for the Stop Aids Alliance in Brussels. In a few weeks time she will move to Washington to lead the extended partnership. We asked her three questions about the ambitious Stop AIDS Alliance plans... 

What is needed to achieve Universal Access?

The new report Towards universal access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector by WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS reviews the progress made in 2009 in scaling up access to selected health sector interventions for HIV prevention, treatment and care in low- and middle-income countries. A record of 1.2 million people in these countries started antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS in 2009 -a 13-fold increase in six years. But how far is this from universal access to treatment? And what does universal access to prevention mean when we know that, for example, only about one third of injecting drug users in reporting countries were reached with HIV prevention programmes in 2009? Read more...

Dutch contributions to HIV and AIDS for 2011

On the third Tuesday of September, the Dutch care-taker government presented its budget for 2011. At the same time, a new government (formed by the Liberal Party and Christian Democrats, with support of the Freedom party of Geert Wilders) is expected to take over any time. Read the complete article to see what all this means for the Dutch commitment to the international HIV and AIDS response.

Research

Milestone moment in HIV prevention: ARV based Microbicides

From Results to Reality
At the International Aids Conference in Vienna very promising results were announced from the CAPRISA 004 Phase IIb microbicide trial. The microbicide including tenofovir gel was tested in 889 South African women. Overall, there were 39 percent fewer infections among women who received 1% tenfovir gel compared to women who received the placebo gel. The result from CAPRISA 004 is the first evidence that an ARV-based prevention strategy can reduce risk of HIV infection among HIV-negative people. Read more...

Life Skills programmes: what works, what doesn't and what's promising?

Many NGOs are working on youth, Life Skills and HIV. We all aim to reverse the pandemic,

but it is not an easy quest

Together with 16 local partners in Zambia and Zimbabwe, STOP AIDS NOW! develops guidelines and tools to increase the quality of Life Skills programmes. The project aims to address common challenges and gaps within existing programmes, such as:

• Measuring the effects of sexuality education and Life Skills programmes
• Involving HIV positive youth
• Interesting and retaining volunteers
• Integrating Livelihood activities
• Strengthening and supporting implementers

Keep on reading if you want to learn more about the first outcomes and the upcoming products...

Meet & Greet

While national adult HIV prevalence in South Africa has stabilized, prevalence among young people (aged 15-24) started to decline in 2005. However South Africa is still the hardest hit country when it comes to HIV and AIDS. In other words, there is still a lot of work to be done. Please read on if you want to learn more about how local organisation One Voice who is making a difference working with youth.

One Voice reaches out to youth through its Schools Programme. They are active in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern and Western Cape, where they have successfully  implemented there programme with grade 8 learners in 74 schools. Each year about 10000 learners participate in their activities. Learn more about the key to success of their programme...
 

A day in the life of Phumza Msolo, One Voice facilitator

If I can overcome, then so can they. We can help each other...
Phumza feels she has got a calling for motivating others. She loves working as a peer educator and sees her work as a way to shining a light on the way forward for young people. Every day she gets up at 6.00 and takes 2 or 3 taxis to get to the school where she teaches 2-3 classes a day. The learners are eager to participate in her classes and motivated to practice life skills and learn more about HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately stigma and ignorance is still very much alive. Despite the engagement in the classroom and the caring messages some students write in their notebooks, some of them refuse to sit next to one of the learners with HIV. Read more about how Phumza faces these and other challenges...

Resources

Good practice guide: Greater involvement of people living with HIV
The guide, jointly produced by GNP+ and STOP AIDS NOW! partner The International HIV/AIDS Alliance, contains information, strategies and resources to support programme officers in enabling meaningful involvement of people living with HIV in new and existing HIV programmes.

Managing HIV in the Workplace: A Guide for CSOs
This guide sets out why Civil Society Organisations need to manage HIV in their workplaces, in order to reduce the damage which HIV causes to their staff and their productivity. It addresses common emotional blocks to managing HIV in the workplace, and presents seven steps to developing a response. It also provides ideas for activities to manage HIV, and help on budgeting and financial issues. Also available in French. 

Upcoming events

STOP AIDS NOW! Expert Tour, 8-12 November, the Netherlands (Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht)
Join us and learn more about sexuality education, gender and HIV, Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV (GIPA), workplace policies, orphans and vulnerable children and microfinance and HIV. For our tour dates & locations, the programme and registration, click here.  

STI*HIV*Sex Conference, 1 December, the Netherlands (Amsterdam).
This year's motto: Get Moving! This year's conference speakers are going to take a critical look at our issues from a very different angle. Political debate will be encouraged, and there will be an opportunity to find out how new communication technologies such as social media and Web 2.0 can work for you.