Will approach of 'breaking barriers and building bridges' accelerate progress to #endAIDS?

Dr Prakash Tyagi, CNS (Citizen News Service)

From CNS files: 2 years old photo but even more relevant!

A number of aspects stand out clearly from the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018). Firstly, the conference has the largest ever participation of younger people, recognizing the importance of the roles youth play and the contributions they can make in the global efforts of controlling the pandemic within their communities and beyond.

The productive and positive sides of ageing discussed in Vietnam

Prakash Tyagi, CNS Correspondent, India

Help Age International Asia Pacific Regional Office, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Government of Vietnam, Asian Forum of Parliamentarians for Population and Development (AFPPD) and World Health Organization (WHO) along with a number of other organizations and network partners organized a regional conference on ageing and associated aspects.

Future milestones of HIV treatment and cure

Prakash Tyagi, CNS Correspondent 
“How come we have been able to bring everything that life needs into one mobile phone device and can keep it in our pockets, but can not find a cure for HIV,” asked a young man to Dr. Francoise Barre-Sinnousi, Nobel Laureate and Co Chair of the ongoing 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne.

Will we keep the promise to end the AIDS epidemic?

The International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington DC this week is the 19th in count. All International AIDS conferences are important, hectic and full of event. But, many believe that AIDS 2012 is a historic event on the path to the end of the epidemic. The fact that AIDS conference has returned to the US in itself is of paramount importance. After a long gap of 22 years and through a process of US reforming its stand on HIV (allowing people living with HIV (PLHIV) to enter the country since 2010), the conference is back to their home turf. Most would agree that without US' roles in research and funding, the battle against HIV would not go further. However, when this US leadership comes across with a stronger sense of solidarity, opened borders and a sense that HIV is everyone’s problem including US, the momentum gains another level.

The core of AIDS 2012: The Global Village

It has been said and proved time and again that AIDS is not a medical problem solely and have deep social and economic links, consequences and implications. Global Village, over the years, at AIDS conferences has been the platform of communities, activists and practitioners representing diversity and solidarity. The Global Village at XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) provided the space for participants from over 90 countries with over 120 booths and a wide range of activities and information. A clear testimony that Global Village is at the core of AIDS 2012.

Reversing the AIDS epidemic: What has worked, what has not?

As the discussions continue further at XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), the consensus is that a lot of progress on fighting with HIV has been made. From death sentence in early 1980s, AIDS is now a chronic and manageable disease. A global 20% reduction in prevalence rates since 2000 is a significant achievement. Stories from countries like India bring hope. The Government of India presented the achievements of its National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) at AIDS 2012. India has recorded a 56% reduction in the prevalence rate in last decade. In a country that has remained impacted with poverty, other serious health problems, and funds deficit, this achievement is overwhelmingly positive. This has brought India’s HIV prevalence rate to 0.31%.

New age ARVs are the game-changers in the battle against AIDS

Flash back to 1981, the first case of AIDS was declared by the Center of Disease Control (CDC) in the United States.  AIDS then spread, taking the form of pandemic, leaving lives shattered and people living with HIV (PLHIV) were left waiting for death with an incurable disease. years later in 1990s, the world got saw a ray of hope in form of highly active antri retroviral therapy (HAART). Since then the science has taken a giant leap ahead.  Did you know that in the US in 2006, the life expectancy at 20 with HIV through ARV support stood at another 52 years? This is from 27 years in 1996. Living in seventies is almost as good as normal life expectancy. The goal of Anti Retro Viral Therapy (ART) is to control the viremia load in the infected individual to reduce morbidity and raise life expectancy.