God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

09/19/2011 • 7:53 am Comments Off on Danger looming….

Danger looming….

HIV/AIDS is shifting out of the eye of the public – it seems that the drugs available transformed a deadly disease into a chronic one. Only people deeper involved notice that we have not yet turned the tide and that still millions dying as a consequence of HIV/AIDS.

There are many reasons for things could go terribly wrong again and just as food for thoughts I want to highlight some of them coming from the political sector:

* India-EU Trade deal

According to UN AIDS 86% of people around the world taking medication the pills come as generics from India. The EU and India negotiating in the moment a free-trade deal which is a danger to the manufacturing of generic medicine because the deal delays or extends patents, requires exclusivity and looks for harsher border controls enforcement rules.

* USA deals

The USA is in the moment negotiating several deals with different partners, amongst them  Mercosur (the common market of South America), but also with Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam (Trans-Pacific partnership trade agreement). In these agreements, the USA pushes for stricter patent rights and new forms of intellectual property enforcement to intercept generics more easily. The trans pacific partnership trade agreement will be a draft for further agreements between the USA and the developing world and threatens the well-being of HIV/AIDS patients around the world while protecting the big pharmaceutical industry.

* Global AIDS Fund and research

The Global AIDS Fund lacks money and more and more countries are not paying in but negotiating one to one agreements with their perspective partner countries. The aim to bring all patients on treatment and to turn the tide is threatened. The financial crisis and the inability of the political elite to modernize economics and bring back stability means that money for research is also getting less. We not only need new drugs, the aim is still to eradicate HIV and AIDS and to create a cure for the syndrome.

 

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Treatment, Politics and Society, Reflection, , , , , , , , , ,

09/17/2011 • 1:23 pm Comments Off on POZ News: India-EU Trade Deal Could Put Millions With HIV at Risk

POZ News: India-EU Trade Deal Could Put Millions With HIV at Risk

Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, says that about 86 percent of people with HIV/AIDS around the globe who are on treatment are taking generic ARVs made in India. The European Union (EU) and India are negotiating a free-trade agreement that could delay or restrict the manufacture of generic meds by extending patents, requiring exclusivity and enacting harsher border enforcement rules. Those measures could drive up prices for Indian ARVs, limit dosage options and delay access to treatment.
Further complicating matters, the Indian health minister called homosexuality “a disease, imported from the West.” Ghulam Nabi Azad made the statement at—get this—a recent HIV/AIDS conference. Despite the fact that a video of his comments aired on Indian television, Azad claims he was misquoted and was referring to HIV as a disease. Activists have denounced his comments, and UNAIDS issued a statement supporting efforts by India’s National AIDS Control Organization to battle HIV stigma and to provide HIV services for men who have sex with men and transgender people.

Source:   http://www.poz.com/articles/India_EU_AIDS_2641_20925.shtml

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Politics and Society, , , , ,

09/14/2011 • 12:35 pm Comments Off on In between: holidays

In between: holidays

The reader might wonder why the blog was so quiet the last days. Well, everybody deserves some holidays, so also the writer of this blog. 8 days in Thailand, one of my favorite holiday destinations.  But in the last 10 years the country is changing and it looks that stability is not one of the characteristics of Thailand in the next years to come.

In the last years, the battle between the “red-shirts” and the “yellow-shirts” rages on – some years ago the red shirts brought down the government with demonstrations and the occupation of the airport. Like thousands of holiday makers, I also had to prolong my stay for another 4 weeks till I got out of the country. Then Bangkok saw the siege of the red-shirts, blocking for months the financial and business hub of Bangkok – until the military and police brought the drama to an end –  bloodshed included.

Now the sister of convicted criminal and ex-premier Thaksin Shinowatra, who was ousted by a military coup and fled the country, is the new premier of Thailand. And one can see how fast the new lady and her friends in power move to get her brother back into the country and overturning the conviction. A royal pardon should do the trick and it is argued, that a pardon can be given even if somebody never saw one day in prison but fled the scene.

Inflation is a matter of fact and life is now more expensive in Thailand. The unstable political situation, the worries about the to age coming most revert king of Thailand, the unclear stance of the military adds up and one does not need to be a prophet to know that this situation will boil over again.

Thailand, the land of the smile is continuing to live on the brink of another bloody event – and like in so many other instances it is the political elite which does not care for the country but for themselves.

Self made millionaires turning politicians and running the country as their company with benefits (like Thaksin or Berlusconi)  – I guess those are as deadly for the running and the future of a democracy like politicians who never have learned to work in a proper job or see politics as a field of a life-long career than service to the population of a country.

Trouble in politics, unrest, bad governance always has also an impact on those who are depending of state services. In most countries the health services are state services – which brings the topic of HIV and AIDS right in the spotlight.

In Thailand during the siege of the red-shirts in Bangkok, a hospital was stormed and had to be evacuated. the use of weapons and explosive devices caused that some hospitals were stretched to the limits. Which also always impact on the usual services. Whatever happens in a country impacts on the most dependent ones.

Filed under: General, Uncategorized, ,

08/30/2011 • 12:29 pm Comments Off on Donations from USA!?

Donations from USA!?

The world is becoming a village – and HOPE Cape Town has been also approached by other persons in other countries who are willing to support the fight against HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
One problem we are facing is that we don’t have the appropriate USA tax number and so being enabled to issue tax -deductible receipt. If somebody reading this knows of any NGO or PBO in the USA, who would be interested in cooperate in different fields, but also channel funds in a legal and tax-deductible way from USA to South Africa, please let me know.
The prospective partner NGO or church or entity should be well established and interested in the work in Africa.

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , ,

08/21/2011 • 11:30 pm Comments Off on Thanks to Rotary II

Thanks to Rotary II

And here it is: the new car for the HOPE Cape Town Trust – Handover after the meeting of the Rotary Club of Signal Hill

Handover from President Michelle to Rev Fr Stefan Hippler

The contributing donors:

The Rotary Clubs and Districts involved with this Matching Grant (for the vehicle and insurance for 3 years) are:-
Signal Hill – Cape Town – South Africa  ($100)
Gelsenkirchen-Schloss Horst  – Germany  ($7000)
District D1870 – Germany ($1,750)
Chateau Salin Dieuze Morhage – France  ($3,000)
District 1790 – France ($2,800)
Match from The Rotary Foundation ( $9,600)
Not part of the actual Matching Grant the following was paid to enable the vehicle to be purchased
St Wendel Germany in District 1860, which is a District in Future Vision ($7,000)

More pictures on Flickr

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, , , ,

Blog Categories

Follow God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE on WordPress.com

You can share this blog in many ways..

Bookmark and Share

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,711 other subscribers

Translation – Deutsch? Française? Espanol? …

The translation button is located on each single blog page, Copy the text, click the button and paste it for instant translation:
Website Translation Widget

or for the translation of the front page:

* Click for Translation

Copyright

© Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

This not withstanding the following applies:
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.