Publications

The paper provides information on the prices paid by 20 middle-income countries for adult and paediatric formulations of antiretroviral treatments recommended by WHO. It links this information with an analysis of the intellectual property situation of the selected medicines taking into account existing license agreements as well as compulsory licenses, and includes data and general information on a number of other determinants of prices and availability of ARVs, including tariffs, markups and taxes, as well as the regulatory status.

HIV treatment is a unique tool in the AIDS response, preventing illness and death, averting new infections and saving money. As hopes for ending the AIDS epidemic depend  in large measure on the world’s ability to provide HIV treatment to all who need it, in a rights-based approach, final targets for universal treatment access are critical.

Universal health coverage (UHC) is at the center of current efforts to strengthen health systems and improve the level and distribution of health and health services. This document is the final report of the WHO Consultative Group on Equity and Universal Health Coverage. The report addresses the key issues of fairness and equity that arise on the path to UHC. As such, the report is relevant for every actor that affects that path and governments in particular, as they are in charge of overseeing and guiding the progress toward UHC.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) represents a growing threat to global public health and security. New resistance mechanisms continue to emerge and spread, undermining the world’s ability to treat common infectious diseases. Surveillance to monitor the emergence and spread of drug resistance is a crucial component of the global strategy to combat AMR. This special supplement to the Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance Surveillance and its TB Supranational Reference Laboratory Network. It remains the oldest and largest project on AMR surveillance in the world and guides the response to the epidemic of multidrugresistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) at national and global levels. The first half of the document highlights the progress made in surveillance of anti-TB drug resistance between 1994 and 2013 as well as recent innovations. The second half of the document profiles the global status of the response to the MDR-TB epidemic, which remains a mix of success and failure. Following WHO’s pronouncement in 2013 that MDR-TB represented a public health crisis, five priority areas for action, from prevention to cure, are defined.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the world’s deadliest communicable diseases. In 2013, an estimated 9.0 million people developed TB and 1.5 million died from the disease, 360 000 of whom were HIV-positive. TB is slowly declining each year and it is estimated that 37 million lives were saved between 2000 and 2013 through effective diagnosis and treatment. However, given that most deaths from TB are preventable, the death toll from the disease is still unacceptably high and efforts to combat it must be accelerated if 2015 global targets, set within the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), are to be met. TB is present in all regions of the world and the Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 includes data compiled from 202 countries and territories. This year’s report shows higher global totals for new TB cases and deaths in 2013 than previously, reflecting use of increased and improved national data.

This policy document focuses on a collaborative move for the TB and HIV Units of Fiji to have activities that address the interface of the tuberculosis and the HIV and AIDS epidemics either it be from the preventative or the holistic care of patients who are co-infected. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the single greatest risk factor for the development of tuberculosis (TB) disease and TB is the commonest opportunistic infection in people living with HIV infection. The increasing prevalence of HIV infection in Fiji will present new and ongoing challenges to the national control of TB at all levels. This document aims to provide the Public and Private health sectors in Fiji to ensure that appropriate preventative, treatment and care of all TB/HIV patients has been delivered in an efficient manner.

The 2010–2016 Philippine Plan of Action to Control TB or PhilPACT was formulated through a participatory process to serve as the country’s road map in reducing the problem of tuberculosis. It was issued by the Department of Health (DOH) through Administrative Order 2010-0031. Consistent with the then Health Sector Reform Agenda, the plan contains four objectives, eight strategies and 30 performance targets. In his preface to the document, Secretary Enrique T. Ona states that “a sound strategy and a strong partnership between local government units, civil society, technical and financial partners are the keys to the success of the plan.”  Three years had passed since PhilPACT was initiated in 2010 under the leadership of the DOH through the National TB Control Program (NTP). Its monitoring and evaluation framework provides for a stakeholderparticipated midterm-evaluation in early 2013. This updated PhilPACT will guide the country as it intensifies its efforts to control TB in 2014–2016. Per the original document, "expected users are policy makers, managers of TB control program at all levels, implementers, local and international partners, and everyone who dreams of and is committed to working towards a TB-free Philippines."

The aim of the new initiative is to leverage improved, accessible, affordable and optimally used diagnostic technologies and strategies to ensure achievement of bold new HIV treatment targets for 2020. The world is uniting around a final set of treatment targets to lay the groundwork to end the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. Through national, regional and global-level consultations, diverse stakeholders are pledging to ensure that by 2020.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination are recognized both globally and in Viet Nam as primary barriers to accessing essential prevention, treatment and care services. The People Living with HIV Stigma Index was designed to address the need for a quantitative recording and analysis of the different levels and types of stigma and discrimination experienced, as well as changes in trends and with time, to inform evidence-based policy and programmes. The process of conducting the Stigma Index is as important as the result: the survey is conducted “by PLHIV, for PLHIV”. In Viet Nam the Stigma Index has been conducted by the Viet Nam National Network of People Living with HIV (VNP+). Following a first round in 2011, a second survey was conducted in 2014 to assess both current stigma and discrimination and any changes since 2011.

In Asia, it has been estimated that more than 95 per cent of all new infections among young people are occurring among young key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure. Behaviours which place young people at a higher risk for HIV infection such as unprotected paid sex, unprotected sex between males, and the sharing of contaminated injection equipment, often start at an early age. It can be difficult for young people, including those from key populations, to access HIV-related information and services. Barriers to access may hinge upon social, cultural, religious, financial, logistical, or legislative issues. These mean young key populations are more likely to have a poor understanding of HIV, inadequate access to health and support services as well as greater engagement in high-risk behaviours. In many countries this is translating into early HIV infection and the potential for escalated growth of the epidemic. To better understand how countries are tackling the HIV epidemic among young key populations, a number of agencies agreed to partner to investigate how these groups were being addressed in national AIDS strategic plans in the Asia-Pacific region. This report is the outcome of this effort, and aims to inform country-based reviews and progress reports of current NSPs, and the development of future plans with greater attention to these populations.