HIV/AIDS fight: Asia-Pacific gains ‘fragile’

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi

Wed, 06/08/2011
Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, Paris
The Jakarta Post

Thirty years ago, US scientists identified the first case of an immune system failure that we (Luc Montagnier, myself and colleagues) found two years later to be caused by HIV.

Twenty years later at a landmark UN General Assembly Special Session, world leaders declared that AIDS was a “global emergency” and called for an “urgent, coordinated and sustained response” to the epidemic.

Now, three decades into the epidemic, what is the global scorecard for the AIDS response?

From June 8-10, world leaders will convene in New York City at the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS.

US Begins $77 Million Health Program

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
26 March 2009

The US Embassy on Thursday launched a new five-year health program, allotting $77 million over five years to combat HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and infectious diseases.

Cambodia has seen improving health indicators in recent years, the US Embassy said in a statement, but maternal mortality rates and tuberculosis remained a concern.

The US health program "is designed to help address many of these challenges in order to improve the health of all Cambodians, especially the poor and vulnerable," US Ambassador Carol Rodley said in remarks Thursday. "This program builds on over 15 years of successful work and collaboration in Cambodia, and it reaffirms the continued commitment of the United States to improve the health of all Cambodians."

The money, through USAID, will be distributed to government and non-governmental health agencies, including the Ministry of Health, the University Research Company, Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia and Cambodia Reproductive and Child Health Resource Center.

"USAID assistance at this time is a very important contribution to the development of the health capacity and public capacity of the health system," Health Minister Mam Bunheng said Thursday. "Our country still faces enormous challenges, and there are many requirements in all sectors."

Children Increasingly Living With HIV/AIDS in Cambodia; Officials Focusing on Prevention

Jan 07, 2009
Leakhana/Kunthear, Phnom Penh Post, 1/6

Cambodia has shifted the focus of its HIV/AIDS prevention efforts from young adults to children in response to 2008 statistics that show an increase in rates of antiretroviral use among children and mother-to-child transmission of the virus, the Phnom Penh Post reports. Mean Chhi Vun -- director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STDs -- said that the government has begun a program to provide "HIV testing for 6,745 pregnant women [this year] in 68 health centers across five of our operational districts." Thirty-five of the women tested positive for HIV and received follow-up care and medicine from the center, according to Vun. Teng Kunthy, general secretary of the National AIDS Authority of Cambodia, said that the government also is focusing on a national registration program to coordinate treatment for children living with HIV. The program "has been running smoothly so far and has encouraged more children to seek treatment," he said.

Vun said that between January and September of 2008, about 2,913 children received antiretroviral drugs, an increase from about 1,800 in 2007. He added that nationwide pediatric HIV/AIDS figures are determined by the number of children receiving antiretroviral treatment through the nation's clinics, adding that the figures do not include the estimated 600 children living with HIV who are not yet receiving treatment or who have not been tested for the virus. Chan Ry, deputy director of the National Pediatric Hospital, said that 300 children were treated at the facility in 2007 and now it is providing treatment to 1,155 children.

The increase in the number of cases involving MTCT "testif[ies] to the fact that women are not able to access good" prenatal care to prevent transmission, the Post reports. A 2006 UNAIDS report shows that while prevalence among young people ages 15 to 49 has decreased to 1.9% in 2003 -- compared with 3% in 1997 -- one-third of new HIV cases are because of MTCT. According to the Post, there are about 461,000 live births annually in Cambodia -- mostly outside of health centers and hospitals -- and an estimated 9,700 pregnant women are living with HIV. UNAIDS data indicates that without any intervention, about 3,000 infants may be born with HIV through vertical transmission. According to Tan Vouch Chheng, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Health, antiretroviral drugs are dispensed at 26 locations and HIV testing is offered at another 212 facilities. However, she added, "We have to expand our programs for prevention and the spread of HIV/AIDS from mothers to children."

The Post reports that the exact number of children living with HIV/AIDS is unknown but "experts support the proposition" that it is "rising fast." Seng Chhunleng, coordinator for the Orphans and Vulnerable Children program at World Vision, said the number of children living with HIV/AIDS will continue to increase if something is not done to stop vertical transmission. "This is a problem that we still have to commit to solving," he said, adding that Cambodia "should provide better education and more medicine to stop transmission between mothers and children"

Businesses in Cambodia Should Address Unsafe Practices in Commercial Sex Industry, AIDS Authority Says

Nov 06, 2008
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report

As Cambodia's commercial sex industry increasingly moves away from brothels and into businesses such as karaoke bars and beer gardens, the country's National AIDS Authority is calling on private businesses to address unsafe sex practices in the industry, the Phnom Penh Post reports. According to NAA Secretary-General Teng Kunthy, a focus should be placed on ensuring that private businesses provide sex education and are more integrated into health services. "We think that the change of behaviors is a new challenge, as high-risk behaviors become associated with beer promotion and mobile work," Kunthy said, adding, "As a result, we need to make connections with the private sector."

According to a recent report from NAA, although Cambodia in 2002 adopted HIV/AIDS-related legislation, "enforcement and implementation in workplaces and the private sector is weak." It added, "This is especially important to gain access to businesses where there is a high reluctance to implement HIV prevention measures."

In particular, the construction industry in Cambodia poses an issue, according to NAA. The industry primarily is based on small companies that hire male workers who are mobile and work on short-term construction projects, making it difficult to ensure that the industry is providing workers with appropriate HIV/AIDS information -- including the risks of engaging in sex with commercial sex workers (Sokheng, Phnom Penh Post, 11/5).

Human Trafficking Legislation Threatens Cambodia's Progress Against HIV/AIDS

Oct 23, 2008
The Henry Kaiser Family Foundation

Cambodian legislation against human trafficking and sexual exploitation is posing a threat to the country's progress against HIV/AIDS, IRIN/PlusNews reports. According to Tony Lisle, UNAIDS Cambodia country coordinator, the March 2008 legislation has "had unintentional consequences that have interrupted HIV prevention services in the sex industry." He added that nongovernmental organizations are having "significant" difficulty providing commercial sex workers with HIV/AIDS-related health services because they are leaving brothels to evade police, instead working from the streets and bars.

The country's HIV prevalence in 2005 was 0.9%, a decrease from 1997 when the prevalence was 3.7%. Prime Minister Hun Sen in 2001 endorsed a 100% condom use policy for commercial sex workers that reduced the prevalence among the population from 45.8% in 1998 to 12.7% in 2006. However, the recent human trafficking law has led to the targeting of commercial sex workers by police, Lisle said. "Legislation is a necessary component to stop HIV/AIDS, but now we need to make sure police understand the intent of the law and that the laws criminalize traffickers, not consenting sex workers," he said, adding, "Many women (who) choose this work are not trafficked."

Lisle said that new sexual behaviors in Cambodia also are contributing to the spread of HIV, adding that "HIV has a way of finding new hosts and spreading." A survey conducted by Population Services International between 2005 and 2006 revealed two additional factors: clients of commercial sex workers living in coastal and border provinces are more mobile and therefore more likely to spread the virus, and sex workers in the region often have little experience or formal education and cannot negotiate condom use. IRIN/PlusNews also examined a trend in which Cambodian men have long-term sexual relations with women working in karaoke bars or beer gardens, often without using condoms. Many men say that condom use is not necessary because they are in long-term relationships with the women, according to IRIN/PlusNews (IRIN/PlusNews, 10/21).

Cambodian film wins major U.S. award

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian-made film "Facing the Truth" has won a prestigious U.S. film award at the 2008 FREDDIES, a press release from Khmer Mekong Film (KMF) said Monday.

Known as "The Medical Oscars", the FREDDIES Awards competition, now in its 34th year, encourages and celebrates film excellence by attracting entries in various categories from health organizations around the world, the press release said.

"Facing the Truth", which was made by KMF, is a powerful half-hour drama about the vital importance of HIV tests for pregnant women, it said.

Set in rural Cambodia, the emotional yet positive story centers on the lives of two pregnant sisters and their husbands whose unexpected test results confound all their expectations, it added.

The film, shot in and around Phnom Penh over 10 days, is being shown in Cambodian hospitals and health centers nationwide during the next two years.

The glittering awards ceremony is due to be held in Philadelphia on Nov. 14.