God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

10/15/2011 • 11:27 pm Comments Off on Young people know less about condome use..

Young people know less about condome use..

It is often said by politicians that prevention work is done in sufficient ways.. but polls suggest that there is a lot more to do again…

Therefor more teens are having unprotected sex, and they know less about contraception options like condoms.. More than 6,000 young people from 26 countries were polled on their attitudes toward sex and contraception. In the past three years, teenagers having unsafe sex with a new partner increased by 111 percent in France, 39 percent in the United States and 19 percent in Britain. Many of the study participants lacked accurate knowledge about how to use contraception and protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals commissioned the study, which was endorsed by 11 international organizations.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/more-youngsters-having-unsafe-sex-global-study-231442651.html

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, , , , , , , , ,

10/13/2011 • 1:03 am Comments Off on SVD – Instituti Missiologici Societatis Verbi Divini

SVD – Instituti Missiologici Societatis Verbi Divini

This evening a talk on HIV and the church at the SVD institute for missionary work in Siegburg – St. Augustin. A lively debate and the clear message at the end that we still have to go a way until we accept HIV positive people, also priests and religious without any stigma into the church. Also the question of vocations of HIV positive persons has potential for quite a debate amongst  those in charge of the ministries of the church. It is good to know that religious orders are keen to get involved within the church with these questions.

SVD Talk in Siegburg / Germany

HIV AIDS in the church

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, , , , , , , ,

10/06/2011 • 2:02 pm 1

Flying again…

Time is flying and also the time has come to fly to Germany for an extensive and mixed programme of talks, presentations, meetings etc.

Tuesday, 11.10.2011 will see the AIDS Action Day of the National Flower Show in Germany (BUGA Koblenz) in Koblenz – meet the Koblenzer Aidshilfe, myself and others involved in the fight against HIV and AIDS on the “Rheinland Pfalz Buehne” on the BUGA.

Wednesday 12.10.2011 – 19h30 in Bonn Siegburg (SVD Priesterseminar) AIDS in Africa – Barmherzigkeit ist nicht genug – a lecture on HIV and AIDS in South Africa and Church related questions

Thursday 13.10.2011 I will visit the Domradio in Cologne and the D-Radio, the first digital radio Cologne – listen in between 18h00 and 19h30..

More on twitter – stefan_capetown

Looking forward to many encounters in Germany and obviously don’t forget the prestigious HOPE Gala in Dresden – 30.10.2011.

Vortrag in Bonn – Siegburg St Augustin

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

09/30/2011 • 2:24 am Comments Off on R.I.P. Dr Robert Frascino

R.I.P. Dr Robert Frascino

HIV and AIDS are not knowing boundaries and the internet is one of the excellent tools to connect people. And astonishing enough you get used to people you don’t know at all but somehow you feel attached. I would say all people living with the virus or working in the field of HIV and AIDS know about the website: thebody.com. A vast source of information and people can write with their experience and problems and there are doctors answering those questions – which means that others can also benefit from the answers by reading them.

Robert James Frascino, M.D. was one of those doctors working for the website and he passed away a couple of days ago – age 59 years old. Known as “Dr. Bob” to so many, he was incredible and inspiring and I loved like thousands others to read his responses: they were qualified but full of compassion, humour and somehow hitting the nail. Dr. Bob was a brilliant immunologist who was working in HIV well before he became HIV positive in 1991. In the mid-90s, he and his husband, Steve Natterstad, M.D. formed a charity called The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation which has raised more than $1,500,000 for various HIV/AIDS causes. Each year, Bob and Steve, both pianists, perform at their benefit called A Concerted Effort.

Bob started working with TheBody.com in May 2000 in the Q&A forums. He has touched millions of people through his Q&A forums on HIV prevention and HIV-related fatigue and anemia, as well as his blog. He answered nearly 30,000 questions over that time period — truly astounding. No matter how insane or serious the question, Bob always found a way to bring humor to every response. He never sugar-coated anything, never shied away from his political inclinations and never met a pun he didn’t like. His singular wit made his forums a must read for HIV-positive and HIV-negative people alike.

Dr Bob was one of the familiar faces on the internet, which I grew attached to. And I always promised myself, that my next travel to the USA will include a try to visit him. I truly believe that he was one of the few people who celebrated life to the fullest but at the same time cared much about his fellow men. I will somehow miss him and his answers…… R.I.P.

the late Dr Robert Frascino

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HIV Prevention, HIV Treatment, Medical and Research, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, , , , , , , , ,

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, , , , , , , , , ,

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