WAD @ the World Bank: Keeping the Promise, Investing in the Future
Today at the World Bank, a collection of 400+ leaders from organizations including the Global Fund and PEPFAR, as well as the Deputy US Secretary of State, Jack Lew, joined Bank Director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to discuss the current state of HIV/AIDS and what remains to be done to curb the epidemic. Facts revealed today include the following stats:
+ mother-to-child transmission has increased from 10% to 45% since 2004
+ 2.7 million people newly infected with HIV in 2008
+ HIV infections have fallen 17% since 2001
+ according to the Haiti GHESKIO-Cornell evaluation by Jean Pape MD, without ART there are 80% deaths at year, contrasted to with ART 80% survival at 2 years
+ GHESKIO-Cornell, there is a correlation between food insecurity and CD4 counts: CD4 counts decrease as food insecurity increases
+ Successful HIV containment in Bangladesh (except in Dhaka) due to preventive education efforts directed towards sex workers, injection drug users and MSM
+ Botswana’s anti-retroviral medicine program covers 80% of its population and has cut AIDS-related deaths by more than half in five years
Here is a statement from Ngoi Okonjo-Iweala, MD, director of the Bank, committing resources in the fights against HIV/AIDS: “The Bank stepped up boldly with the first billion dollars for HIV a decade ago when denial and inaction were widespread. Now, the tide of the epidemic finally seems to be turning. But we are still in very deep water. Especially with much of the world still grappling with the food and financial crises, the Bank is doing the right thing in reaffirming to countries, just as each Bank president has done since 2000, that we will continue to support effective efforts to prevent and cope with HIV for as long as it takes to succeed against this virus.”
For a more in-depth summary of today’s events at the World Bank, please redirect yourself here. For a ppt of Dr. Pape’s work in Haiti at Les Centres GHESKIO (Groupe Haitien d’Etude du Sarcome de Kaposi and des Infections Opportunistes) regarding Food Security and HIV/AIDS, click here.
About The Author
Susan Lewis
Susan Lewis is a second year medical student at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago Medical School. She has been president of her school PHR chapter for two years. Susan has participated in AMSA's PharmFree Conference, Global Health Leadership Institute and Integrative Medicine Conference. She plans to pursue a career in community/primary care medicine, focusing on eliminating health disparities, especially among the marginalized and indigenous population, within the context of integrative medicine. Her lifetime goal is to become an informed and compassionate contributing member of the global society and local community, in which she may continually gain and give passion for healthy, harmonious and whole living, within all facets of life. Susan is also a writer for her university newspaper and is a regular contributer of FM Mag, an independent culture magazine from Denver, Colorado. She joined Global Pulse in 2009.
Other posts bySusan Lewis
Author his web sitehttp://www.globalpulsejournal.com
Dr. Jean Pape on success of HIV treatment and prevention efforts in Haiti — once stigmatized for AIDS, now proof that investing in the fight against AIDS in the poorest, most destabilized countries can make an amazing difference:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31755066/
“Pape envisions a Haiti where the prevalence rate will dip below 1 percent. Timyan of USAID believes the rate has essentially stabilized but will not rise again.
Leon’s parents never did buy that coffin. For her, fear and shame have been replaced with pride and confidence.
‘I’m not scared anymore,’ she said.”
I just don’t believe HIV infections have fallen 17% since 2001. What about now, in the year of 2010?