What's New

In 2010, the 11th round of HSS has been conducted. The study was conducted among female entertainment workers and pregnant women attending antenatal clinics across 22 provinces/cities in Cambodia. Findings from HSS 2010 suggest that HIV prevalence among female sex workers (represented by female entertainment workers who reported having more than 7 clients per week) remained stable compared to the prevalence of 14% in 2006.However, a clear drop in HIV prevalence was observed when looking at the trend among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic, as there has been about a 0.4% point drop from 2006 to 2010.

States have clear obligations under international law to address violence against women. States are required to exercise due diligence to prevent acts of violence against women; to investigate such acts and prosecute and punish perpetrators; and to provide redress and relief to victims. The requirement to adopt and implement national action plans to address violence against women is set out in international and regional human rights instruments and policy documents. The adoption and implementation of multi-sectoral national plans of action to address violence against women is one of the five key outcomes which the Secretary-General's campaign "UNiTE to end violence against women" aims to achieve in all countries by 2015. The Handbook brings together current knowledge on effective policy for the prevention of, and response to, violence against women, and concretely demonstrates how States have developed and implemented such policy in their own contexts. The document is not a model plan itself, but sets out guidelines to help policy makers and advocates formulate effective plans. It is based on good practices in States' plans and the advice of experts from different countries and regions.

The SAARC Regional Strategy for TB and HIV Co-infection recognizes that TB and HIV/AIDS are two major public health problems in the SAARC Region. Out of the eight countries, four countries- namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan are among 22 high TB burden countries, globally. TB is the most common opportunistic infection and the cause of death for those infected with HIV/AIDS. TB adds to the burden of illness of people infected with HIV while HIV accelerates the progress of TB infection to active TB disease, and has implications for the public health. In this region, the HIV/AIDS prevalence in general population is still low but its prevalence among high risk groups has increased during the last decade which is a cause of concern. The role of ACSM is crucial in achieving a world free of TB and HIV/AIDS. The aim of Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization (ACSM) is to support National TB and HIV/AIDS Control Programmes of the SAARC Region to combat stigma and discrimination, improve case detection and treatment adherence, empower people affected by TB and HIV/AIDS and to mobilize political commitment and resources for TB and HIV/AIDS. ACSM strategy incorporates various types of communication programming, including mass media, interpersonal communication, community mobilization and advocacy.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health problem. It causes ill-health among millions of people each year and ranks as the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide, after the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The latest estimates included in this report are that there were almost 9 million new cases in 2011 and 1.4 million TB deaths (990,000 among HIV negative people and 430,000 HIV-associated TB deaths). This is despite the availability of treatment that will cure most cases of TB. Short-course regimens of first-line drugs that can cure around 90% of cases have been available since the 1980s. This is the seventeenth global report on tuberculosis (TB) published by WHO in a series that started in 1997. It provides a comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the TB epidemic and progress in implementing and financing TB prevention, care and control at global, regional and country levels using data reported by 204 countries and territories that account for over 99% of the world’s TB cases.

In 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) published an interim policy on collaborative TB/HIV activities in response to demand from countries for immediate guidance on actions to decrease the dual burden of tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).  These policy guidelines on collaborative TB/HIV activities are a compilation of existing WHO recommendations on HIV-related TB. They follow the same framework as the 2004 interim policy document, structuring the activities under three distinct objectives: establishing and strengthening mechanisms for integrated delivery of TB and HIV services; reducing the burden of TB among people living with HIV and initiating early antiretroviral therapy; and reducing the burden of HIV among people with presumptive TB (that is, people with signs and symptoms of TB or with suspected TB) and diagnosed TB. The updated policy, in contrast to the 2004 policy, recommends offering routine HIV testing to patients with presumptive or diagnosed TB as well as to their partners and family members as a means of reducing the burden of HIV. TB patients who are found to be HIV-positive should be provided with co-trimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT).

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in SAARC Region. Out of the 22 high TB disease burden countries (HBC) in the world, four countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan) are in the SAARC Region. There are estimated 4.54 million prevalent cases, and 3.07 million new cases in the Region. SAARC Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Centre (STAC), Kathmandu, Nepal, a Regional Centre of SAARC, was established for prevention and control of TB through coordination of National TB Control Programs (NTPs) in the Member States. In line with STOP TB Partnership Strategy, STAC has developed SAARC Regional Strategy for Control/Elimination of TB for achieving MDG of reducing disease burden of TB to half by 2015, and finally its elimination by 2050. The strategy will be implemented for a period of Five years, 2013-2017. The SAARC Regional Strategy is developed with the joint efforts and inputs of all the SAARC Member States to address the challenges and issues in the context of the region and member countries.

Over the past ten years, an increasing number of countries are initiating, negotiating and agreeing new trade agreements between two countries or amongst a group of countries. These are commonly known as free trade agreements or "FTAs", and they are promoted as providing significant economic benefits to signatory countries through the removal or reduction of barriers to trade in goods and services. Many political leaders have indicated that they would prefer to remove or reduce trade barriers through the multilateral system in a way that benefits all countries belonging to the World Trade Organization. Nevertheless, given that the "Doha Round" of negotiations is taking longer than initially anticipated to be concluded, bilateral and regional FTAs are often seen as a way to move forward the trade liberalization agenda in the meantime.

The purpose of the Discussion Paper is to facilitate the UNDP consultation on enforcement of intellectual property rights, in particular anti-counterfeit measures and access to HIV treatment and other essential medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. The Discussion Paper summarizes the developments in intellectual property rights enforcement in the world and in the region. It elaborates on the public health impact of anti-counterfeit laws and discusses whether they are an adequate solution to the legitimate concerns about the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines. The Discussion Paper explores the impact of such laws on the spread of substandard and falsified medicines compared to their impact on good-quality generic medicines, which are essential for the public health systems of most African countries. The Discussion Paper explores model provisions for the definition of ‘counterfeiting’, criminal liability, powers of seizure and storage, goods in transit, rules on evidence and presumptions and liability for loss of or damage to goods. Discussions of the model provisions evolve around the public health priorities of African countries, and the need to avoid conflation between good-quality generics and substandard and falsified medicines.

At the end of 2011, more than 8 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries, a dramatic 26-fold increase from December 2003. Although it can be minimized, some degree of HIV drug resistance is anticipated to emerge among people on treatment even when appropriate antiretroviral therapy is provided and high levels of adherence are achieved. Therefore, WHO initiated global surveillance of HIV drug resistance in 2004 in order to adequately monitor the emergence of HIV drug resistance as countries scaled up access to antiretroviral therapy. Although HIV drug resistance data from low- and middle-income countries are increasingly available, lack of surveillance data over time substantially limits the ability to assess trends in these countries. As ART coverage continues to grow, national programmes should perform routine surveillance of transmitted and acquired HIV drug resistance to optimize programme planning and management and to inform antiretroviral therapy policy.

This document is a discussion paper, prepared for the 2012 InternationalAIDS Conference in Washington DC, United States of America. It highlights key issues that confront the global community, policy-makers and national programme planners as they seek to make optimal use of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) as part of the broader response to HIV. It also discusses how ARVs could contribute to eventually ending the HIV epidemic. The paper does not in itself constitute a World Health Organization (WHO) guidance document, even though it summarizes existing WHO guidelines related to ARV use, highlights progress in the Treatment 2.0 initiative, and summarizes the next steps in WHO’s normative work related to ARV use.