<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Diaz, Clara</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:diazc@unaids.org">diazc@unaids.org</a>></span><br>Date: Wed, Dec 12, 2012 at 8:14 PM<br>
Subject: Today's News (2012.12.12ex)<br>To: <br><br><br>
<u></u>
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="FR">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Please
find attached the following AIDS-related articles compiled by UNAIDS<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">UNAIDS<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">1.
IPS News Agency - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">OP-ED: Women Out Loud<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">2.
Agência de Noticias da Aids - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">A cada minuto uma jovem é infectada pelo HIV,
destaca novo relatório do Unaids<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">3.
Awareness Times, Sierra Leone - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">In Sierra Leone, First Lady wants Maternal
Transmission of HIV to End <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">4.
EFE, Spain - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Jóvenes con VIH buscan crear una red regional
en Latinoamérica y el Caribe <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST <u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">1.
Business Day Live, SA - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">An unhealthy state of affairs (Editorial)<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">2.
The Namibian - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Namibia: Education Particularly Hard Hit By HIV-Aids<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">3.
This is Africa - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Africa: In Our Fight Against HIV/Aids, Transportation Can
No Longer Be an After Thought<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">4. Cameroun
Voice - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35">Sida. 6800 enfants contaminés en 2011 au Cameroun <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">ASIA AND PACIFIC<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">1.
Global Times, China - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Indonesia aims to end reliance on foreign aids
in fighting HIV/AIDS<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">2.
Lanka News, Sri Lanka - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Sex workers shy away from condoms<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">EUROPE<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">1.
Financial Times, UK - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Cameron attacked in gay marriage dispute<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">2.
The Economist, UK - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Marriage in the dock<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD">LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">1.
La República, Perú - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Más de 23 mil personas con VIH reciben
tratamiento antirretroviral en el país<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">2.
Rotativo de Querétaro, Mexico - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">VIH, muerte materna y anticoncepción, deben
ser prioridades en PPEF<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">3.
7 News Belize - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Making The Media HIV Sensitive<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial">4. Jamaica
Information Service - </span></font></span><span><b><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35;font-weight:normal">Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Response Programme
Lauded <u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">NORTH AMERICA<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">1.
IPS News Agency - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Q&A: The Challenges of Women’s Empowerment and
Equality<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">2.
CNN - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">40 CEOs call on countries to lift HIV travel bans<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">3.
Associated Press - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Cambodia’s prime minister urges citizens not to
discriminate against gay people<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">4.
Associated Press - </span></font></span><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Women first? Uruguay’s proposed gay marriage law
also upends name tradition for straights<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">===========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">UNAIDS<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">===========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">OP-ED: Women Out Loud<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">IPS News Agency<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Michelle Bachelet, Michel Sidibe, and Jennifer Gatsi Mallet<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">UNITED
NATIONS, Dec 11 2012 (IPS) - Global efforts to reach the “three
zeros” for women and girls – zero new HIV infections, zero
discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths – are gaining momentum. Much
of the progress we have seen is underpinned by the work of women living with
HIV.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Among
adult women in low and middle-income countries, the rate of new HIV infections
fell by more than 50 percent over the past decade. AIDS-related deaths among
women fell by 27 percent between 2005 and 2011 versus a 23 percent decline in
men.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">More
women living with HIV are accessing treatment: By the end of 2011, coverage of
antiretroviral therapy stood at 68 percent among women compared to 47 percent
coverage among their male counterparts.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
pace of progress is accelerating. In 21 priority countries of sub-Saharan
Africa – the region most affected by the epidemic – nearly half of
HIV-positive pregnant women received antiretroviral therapy for their own
health in 2011, up from just 16 percent two years earlier.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">As
access to antiretroviral prophylaxis expands, there has been a dramatic decline
in the number of new HIV infections among children. In sub-Saharan Africa, new
HIV infections among children fell by nearly 25 percent between 2009 and 2011.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Despite
these gains, our efforts for women and girls remain inadequate – a
message amplified by women living with HIV from around the world in the new
report “Women out loud”.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">According
to the report, launched Tuesday by UNAIDS and UN Women, nearly two-thirds of
pregnant women do not know their HIV status. In many settings, fear of violence
and discrimination continue to play a major role in women’s reluctance to
be tested for HIV or, if HIV-positive, to seek treatment.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
report finds that HIV continues to exact a heavy toll on young women: HIV
infection rates among women aged 15-24 are twice as high as among their male
peers. This disparity is most pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa, where 3.1
percent of young women are living with HIV compared to 1.3 percent of young
men.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Female
sex workers are particularly vulnerable to HIV. According to a recent review of
data from 50 countries, female sex workers are 13.5 times more likely to be
HIV-positive as women who do not engage in sex work.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Clearly,
our journey is far from over. Getting to zero will require accelerated action
for women and girls in a number of key areas.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">First,
women and girls, in all their diversity, must be equipped with the knowledge
and power to protect themselves from HIV and violence. To that end, gender
equality, economic empowerment and women’s rights – in particular,
their sexual and reproductive rights – are non-negotiable elements of
effective HIV responses.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Second,
comprehensive sexuality education is critical for all young people, especially
young women living with HIV who may face special challenges in intimate
relationships.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Third,
it is our collective responsibility to advocate for changes in laws, policies
and practices – grounded in reality – that protect women and girls
from stigma and discrimination, safeguard their human rights, and shield them
from violations such as rape and gender-based violence.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Finally,
men and boys must be fully engaged in this movement to engender a supportive
environment at family, community and national levels.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">As
our report testifies, the activism of women living with HIV is crucial. The
world needs women’s leadership, resilience and good practices to
transform our societies and communities. And we need stronger support for their
full participation in AIDS responses.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">“Despite
decades of advocacy and evidence, the voices of women and girls remain on the
margins,” noted AIDS activists from three corners of the globe in a joint
editorial for Women out loud.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">When
women living with HIV speak out, we must listen carefully and act in solidarity
to transform their words into action.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">*Michelle Bachelet is Executive Director of the United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).
Michel Sidibé is Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Jennifer Gatsi Mallet is Executive Director of the Namibia
Women’s Health Network.<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_UNAIDS2"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD">2</span></font></b></a><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">A cada minuto uma jovem é infectada pelo HIV,
destaca novo relatório do Unaids<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Agência de Noticias da Aids, Brazil<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_UNAIDS3"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">O Programa Conjunto das Nações Unidas para o HIV e
Aids (Unaids) lançou nesta terça-feira, 11 de dezembro, em Genebra, na Suíça, o
Woman Out Loud (Mulheres em Voz Alta), documento que mostra a situação da
pandemia de aids entre as mulheres e como elas estão lutando para enfrentar a
doença. Segundo o documento, em média, uma mulher jovem é infectada pelo HIV a
cada minuto. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Na
faixa etária dos 15 aos 24 anos, o total de mulheres vivendo com o vírus é duas
vezes maior do que entre os homens, sendo que na região Subsaariana do
continente africano, 3% do total de mulheres jovens estão infectadas. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">O
documento inclui o relato de mais de 30 mulheres que vivem com HIV e cita o
Brasil, ao lado da Argentina, como bom exemplo de país que oferece tratamento
antirretroviral e assistência a infectados estrangeiros, independentemente da
situação documental deles. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Segundo
o Unaids, a aids é a principal causa da morte de mulheres em idade reprodutiva.
As desigualdades de gênero e a violação dos direitos humanos são destacadas
como aspectos de vulnerabilidade feminina frente ao vírus.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"Alcançar
a meta de zero novas infecções pelo HIV, zero discriminação e zero mortes
relacionadas à aids exigirá mais ações voltadas às mulheres e meninas",
disse o diretor executivo do Unaids, Michel Sidibe. "As mulheres devem ter
acesso à educação e ao conhecimento para terem a capacidade de se protegerem do
HIV. Temos de ouvir as suas necessidades, as suas vozes e transformar as suas
palavras em ação”, completou.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Para
a ex-presidente do Chile e diretora executiva da ONU Mulher, Michelle Bachelet,
“tornar as respostas mais eficazes contra a pandemia requer maior
participação das mulheres na tomada de decisões”.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Sidibé,
Bachelet e a diretora executiva da Rede sobre Saúde da Mulher da Namíbia, Gatsi
Jennifer, escreveram o prefácio do documento.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_UNAIDS5"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">5<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">In Sierra Leone, First Lady wants Maternal
Transmission of HIV to End <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Awareness Times, Sierra Leone<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">Story also covered by Awoko, Sierra Leone<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Michael T. Kamara<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
First Lady of Sierra Leone Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma in collaboration with UN Aid,
Voice of Women and the National AIDS Control Programme on Monday 10th December
2012, launched a campaign named ‘Child Prevention from HIV/AIDS, on the
theme ‘Bon Pikin Wae Nor Get HIV/AIDS;’ translated as ‘Give
Birth to a Child without HIV/IDS. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
ceremony was held at the Lumley Government Hospital in the west end of
Freetown. It aimed to prevent women giving birth to children with HIV/AIDS
infection and to also prevent women with HIV/AIDS from transferring the disease
to unborn children in their wombs.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
Medical Superintendent at the Lumley Government Hospital, Dr. Olivette Buck
said that the hospital was established in 1970 and was upgraded in 2003 as a
secondary hospital with only 37 (thirty-seven) beds and limited wards and
medical facilities.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">She
said as a result of continued migration, the community has become over
populated and the hospital could no longer adequately provide all the services
to community people. She used the forum to appeal for Government to upgrade the
hospital to meet the growing population in the Lumley community.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Speaking
on the infection, the Director of the National AIDS Secretariat, Dr. Brima
Kargbo said there are five main ways of contracting HIV, such as blood
transfer, sexual intercourse, the use of contaminated blades and/or sharp
objects and also from mother to child.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Dr.
Kargbo said their target at the National AIDS Secretariat is to ensure that by
2015, nobody should be infected with HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">According
to him, HIV in Sierra Leone has been reduced by 5% in the past few years,
adding that out of every one hundred people tested for the disease only two are
likely to be proven positive.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">He
commended the First Lady and other partners for their support towards the fight
against HIV/AIDS in the country.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
Country Representative for UNAid, Dr. Job expressed hope that the campaign will
not be limited to Freetown but be extended to the provinces. He commended
President Koroma and the First Lady for their effort in the implementing and
maintenance of the free health care service in the country since it was
launched.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Dr.
Job further assured his organizations’ continued commitment and support
in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone and the world over. The Acting
Minister of Health and Sanitation, Tamba Borbor Sawyerr said that, pregnant
women can access free HIV/AIDS testing and counseling in their various
communities.He advised the public to go for the testing and get the right
treatment on time, whilst also reassuring his government and ministry’s commitment
towards the fight HIV/AIDS in Sierra Leone.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Delivering
the keynote address at the ceremony, the First Lady, Mrs. Sia Nyama Koroma said
that her husband President Koroma promised to work for the nation and that she
will always been seen side by side complementing his works in all spheres, with
special focus on the health sector.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">She
thanked the Lumley doctors and community members for maintaining the facility
given to them years ago. She advised parents and guardians to discourage kids
from engaging on commercial sex in order to help keep them safe from contacting
the disease.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Mrs.
Koroma called on Sierra Leonean women and the general public to visit the
hospitals and health clinics for HIV testing. By so doing, she went on Sierra
Leone stands to achieve the zero prevalence of the disease by 2015.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_UNAIDS6"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD">6<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Jóvenes con VIH buscan crear una red regional
en Latinoamérica y el Caribe <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">EFE, Spain<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">Story carried by El Telégrafo, Ecuador, Telemetro, Panamá,
El Nacional, Venezuela, Crítica, Panamá, NTN24, Colombia, SDP Noticias, Mexico<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Una
treintena de jóvenes con VIH de América Latina y el Caribe iniciaron hoy en
Panamá una reunión con miras a crear una red regional que les permita coordinar
sus acciones y ampliar su influencia en los ámbitos social y político.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
el Primer Encuentro Regional de Jóvenes con VIH, que se extenderá hasta el
próximo jueves, se busca lanzar la Red Regional de Jóvenes Positivos (J+LAC),
con el apoyo del Fondo de Población (Unfpa), el Fondo para la Infancia (Unicef)
y Onusida.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Antonio
Pagés, de la Oficina regional de Onusida, señaló a Efe que se pretende elaborar
un plan que contenga una estructura de funcionamiento para la Red Regional.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">También
proporcionar a los participantes las herramientas de comunicación y coordinación
necesarias para que construyan su propia red en su país.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Pagés
precisó que la Red Regional apunta, además, a posicionar el tema del VIH y la
juventud en las mesas de decisiones públicas y de derecho legal.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Indicó
que la epidemia del VIH tiene una mayor afectación en los países donde los
derechos humanos son más vulnerados, por ello es importante que el tema se
aborde no solo como un problema de salud sino como de justicia social.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">La
prioridad, añadió el funcionario de la oficina regional de Onusida, es lograr
cada vez más respeto, protección y una promoción de los derechos humanos mucho
más sólida.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Pagés
explicó que la iniciativa de involucrar a la juventud en el tema nació hace
algunos años cuando los jóvenes con VIH de Argentina, Brasil y México se
organizaron y crearon redes nacionales.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Ello,
con el fin de coordinar acciones para llegar a muchos más jóvenes y contar con
una mayor beligerancia en la toma de decisiones.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
ese sentido, Mariana Iacono, miembro fundadora de la Red de Adolescentes y Jóvenes
Positivos de Argentina, dijo a Efe que al culminar los tres días de trabajo en
Panamá los participantes contarán con un plan que pondrán en acción en su
respectivo país.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">La
idea es que la futura Red Regional realizará enlaces con otros grupos de trabajo
que también están afectados por el VIH.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Iacono
destacó que hasta ahora Argentina, Brasil, México, Bolivia, República
Dominicana y Honduras cuentan con redes nacionales, y que el resto de los
países de la región que asisten al encuentro en Panamá deberán conformar la
suya en los próximos dos años.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Dijo
que en esta reunión están presentes jóvenes entre los 18 a 28 años que cuentan
con algún tipo de experiencia en conformación de redes o grupos de trabajo
similares.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Durante
la reunión se presentarán los resultados de la consulta virtual lanzada por la
Red Regional a principios de octubre pasado, enfocada en profundizar el
conocimiento sobre las necesidades y situación socioeconómica de los jóvenes
latinoamericanos con VIH.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">El
objetivo de la encuesta es contar con una mejor comprensión sobre dónde se
necesitan los mayores esfuerzos para asegurar una respuesta a la epidemia en
jóvenes.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Según
Onusida, en América Latina existen más de 68.000 adolescentes entre 10 y 19
años con VIH, de los cuales 34.000 son mujeres.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
la región nacen cerca de 2.000 niñas y niños con VIH anualmente, y cada día 95
mujeres adolescentes contraen el virus, según el organismo de las Naciones
Unidas.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
la mayoría de países de la región, menos del 50 % de la población joven de 15 a
24 años sabe cómo prevenir la transmisión sexual del VIH, de acuerdo con
Onusida.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">===========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">AFRICA</span></font></b></span><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB"> AND MIDDLE EAST<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">===========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">An unhealthy state of affairs (Editorial)<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Business Day Live, SA<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">1212/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">THE
maternal death rate is falling for the first time in a decade, according to
Department of Health data. Coming on top of recent figures showing SA is making
headway in the battle against HIV/AIDS, dare we hope that the public healthcare
system has turned the corner?<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Alas,
that would be taking things too far. In fact, there is every sign that the
downward spiral continues, although there are pockets of excellence that
provide hope that it is still possible to arrest the slide. Even the
improvement in the institutional maternal mortality figures, which have dropped
about 16% year on year to 156.5 per 100,000 live births last year from 186 in
2010 and 189 in 2009, appear to be largely a function of the government’s
reversal of its AIDS denialism.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
decline is broadly consistent with a report by the Medical Research Council,
published in October, which found that the widespread provision of AIDS drugs
led to significant improvements in SA’s overall life expectancy from
about 2009.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">So
the pregnant women who attend state clinics and have their babies in public
hospitals are now less at risk of dying, but that is mainly because those who
are HIV-positive are more likely to be on antiretrovirals. The key factor, as
pointed out by the department’s deputy director-general for HIV,
tuberculosis and maternal and child health, Yogan Pillay, appears to be a
policy change in April 2010, which saw pregnant women being put on AIDS drugs
earlier.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Yet
SA remains unlikely to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of
reducing maternal mortality by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. The reason
is that, while the spread of HIV/AIDS was a major reason for SA’s high
maternal mortality rate, it was not the only reason. The one that matters, if
SA is to achieve its millennium goal, is the overall state of public
healthcare, including obstetrical practices, facilities and equipment, and the
availability of skilled staff and appropriate drugs.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">And
that, unfortunately, is where the state health system continues to fall down. A
lot of effort has been put into correcting this since Aaron Motsoaledi took
over as health minister, but surveys and anecdotal observation reveal that
success has been patchy. Horror stories abound of patients being neglected by
uncaring staff, toilets not being cleaned and suppliers of critical medicines
and equipment going unpaid at provincial hospitals.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
hurdles Dr Motsoaledi faces are also reflected in the latest HIV prevalence
figures, which reveal huge discrepancies between districts, which can only be
ascribed to differing cultural practices, education levels — and access
to condoms and antiretrovirals. The former cannot be changed overnight, but the
latter should have been resolved by now. Yet the condom distribution rate in
some areas is still inadequate, and antiretroviral drug shortages often
threaten to disrupt the treatment of thousands of HIV-positive but otherwise
healthy people.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
initial phase of the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) system points to
part of the solution: the injection of additional funds to the pilot sites
appears to have resulted in a marked improvement in the facilities and quality
of services and management. But extrapolating this on a national scale implies
an astronomical sum, which will not be feasible in the foreseeable future,
given SA’s budgetary constraints and the burden already carried by
middle-class taxpayers.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Meanwhile,
the fees charged by public hospitals have risen rapidly even as the income
threshold for those who must pay in full has remained unchanged since 2002. The
result is that as many as 6-million South Africans can neither afford private
medical aid nor earn enough to pay the debts they accrue to the state for basic
healthcare. The NHI system is the obvious solution, but the financial implications
have yet to be fully digested.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_AfricaMiddleEast2"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">2<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Namibia: Education Particularly Hard Hit By
HIV-Aids<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">The Namibian<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Selma Shipanga,<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">THE
challenges faced by the Namibian education system as a result of HIV-AIDS were
highlighted at the commemoration of World AIDS Day by the Ministry of Education
on Friday.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Alfred
Ilukena, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, said just as
education can contribute to weakening the grip of HIV-AIDS, so also the
epidemic can weaken an education system’s ability to function.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Current
statistics indicate that over 7 000 people are still being infected globally on
a daily basis.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">“HIV-AIDS
affects the demand for education, which means that it affects the number of
learners who want to be educated. HIV-AIDS affects the ability to supply
education of good quality. Teachers and other educators are dying in increasing
numbers and at comparatively young ages and it may take some time before they
can be replaced,” Ilukena said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">He
also pointed out that HIV-AIDS also affects the cost of education and the
availability of financial resources, as well as the management of education.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">“Every
education system has its own inadequacies and management problems. HIV-AIDS
makes it worse by adding new problems. In education, as elsewhere in a world
with HIV-AIDS , it can no longer be business as usual. It can no longer be
education as usual. HIV-AIDS challenges us to work out the kind of education
that will prepare children and youth to live responsibly, productively and
creatively,” he said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Namibia’s
national response to HIV-AIDS clearly acknowledges the great role the education
sector plays in contributing to the multi-sectoral response.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">“Given
the current national prevalence rate of 18,8%, concerted measures need to be
put in place to invest in HIV prevention, care, support and impact mitigation
programmes within the workplace and learning institutions,” Ilukena said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Efforts
to address HIV-AIDS and to mitigate its impact on the education sector,
policies and strategies have been put in place.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">The
first policy to be developed was the National HIV-AIDS Policy for the Education
Sector (2003). The HIV-AIDS Workplace Policy for the education sector was
developed in 2007 with the Strategic Plan for the Workplace Wellness Programme
was developed in 2006.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">“The
challenges that we are facing are the implementation of the existing policies
and the mainstreaming of HIV-AIDS in all our daily routine,” Ilukena
said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">The
theme for this year’s World AIDS Day, which is annually commemorated on
December 1, was ‘Getting to Zero’, with the slogan ‘Treatment
prevention for zero new infections’.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Awareness
levels are higher than ever before and anti-retroviral treatment is more
accessible, Ilukena said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_AfricaMiddleEast3"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">3<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_AfricaMiddleEast4"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Africa: In Our Fight Against
HIV/Aids, Transportation Can No Longer Be an After Thought<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">This is Africa<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">03/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Lakshmi Karan<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
2012 International AIDS conference touted progress in combating HIV/AIDS and
creating an "AIDS-free generation". Through programs like the President's
Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, billions have been spent on prevention
education, early diagnosis, treatment protocols and medicines. Pioneering
partnerships galvanized the global community, and statistics and compelling
success stories abound.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">As
we surge towards an AIDS-free generation, we need to realistically face the
challenges. Resting on our laurels is insufficient. We need to move beyond
rhetoric and guarantee results that reach hundreds of millions more people--
effectively and sustainably. To conquer this disease, our efforts must be
universal - we have to reach every child, woman and man.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
a recent Skoll World Forum op-ed, the managing director of the World Bank,
Caroline Anstey, rightly pointed out that "In the 20th century, economic
growth was driven by the ability to transport goods and people efficiently and
economically - with automobiles, planes and ships. In the 21st century, it will
be the ability to produce, capture, communicate and analyze information to
drive new forms of growth and social development."<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Yet,
what is considered "problem solved" in a few countries is the biggest
barrier in much of the world - especially in Africa. The fact remains that
physical access is fundamental, not just to economic development, but to the
long-term prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Distance and terrain must be
tackled and conquered if medicines, services and people are to be physically
connected.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
latest drugs at the cheapest prices, even when in the hands of a knowledgeable
health workforce, are of no value if patients can't be reached reliably. What
is needed is investment in physical infrastructure that is practical,
cost-effective and sustainable. Ambulances, trucks, motorcycles and other
health vehicles must always be in operable conditions.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">This
is non-negotiable when you are in the business of saving lives.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Yet,
current practice is reactive at best. The results? Delayed anti-retroviral
(ARV) medicines, pregnant women who can't reach health facilities during
emergencies, and a break down of the health system's effectiveness.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Riders
for Health (Riders) was founded to address this challenge. Riders focuses on
maintenance to maximize productivity and reduce downtime while preserving the
transport assets. This might sound too uncomplicated and practical to be a
missing solution to the AIDS problem, but it works!<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Today,
Riders manages health transport for organizations as varied as community-based
organizations to ministries of health. Operating nationally and regionally in
seven African countries, Riders helps health care reach over 12 million people.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Riders'
expertise helps partners select appropriate vehicles for usage and terrain,
practice preventive vehicle maintenance, train drivers in road safety, deliver
outreach maintenance to remote locations and to budget and manage transport
costs.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">The
lifespan of vehicles can be increased by up to 300%. Health workers mobilized
by Riders reach four times more people than they did before, and spend more
time in their communities.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Once
the fundamentals of reliable transport are in place, it helps create a range of
solutions. For example, where Riders for Health has used motorcycles in a
courier service for patient diagnostic samples, testing times were reduced from
weeks or months, to just days. Faster diagnosis can lead to quicker treatment.
But most importantly, wider trust in the health system can increase. All
impossible - without reliable transport.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">Finally,
with limited resources, accurate budgeting is important for long-term
sustainability. Unexpected repairs may divert funding from fuel, decreasing
availability of the vehicle, or from health care service delivery activities.
What is the point of having ARVs in the warehouse but no fuel to get it to the
patients in time? Put simply, vehicle management including logistics is not an
optional extra for health interventions: it must be faced and integrated with
the total cost of any intervention. But it must be done efficiently, locally
and with very high standards.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN">In
our fight against HIV/AIDS, appropriate and reliable transportation can no
longer be an after thought - it must be a top priority for any health agenda
that desires an AIDS-free generation.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="EN">Dr. Lakshmi Karan is Global Strategy Director of Riders for
Health.<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_AfricaMiddleEast5"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold">5<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35">Sida. 6800 enfants contaminés en 2011 au Cameroun <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35">Cameroun Voice<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35">12/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Etame
Kouoh<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Afin
de participer à la décentralisation de la prise en charge pédiatrique en
Afrique francophone, il est organisé à Douala un séminaire sous régional du 11 au
13 décembre 2012, avec pour objectif de diagnostiquer et prendre en charge les
échecs thérapeutiques, traiter les co-infections Vih, prendre en charge les
troubles nutritionnels chez l'enfant infecté, et organiser le processus de
l'annonce et gérer les conduites à risque chez l'enfant. Organisé par le Gic
Esther et animé par un pool d'experts du nord et du sud de la prise en charge
pédiatrique et avec pour objectif d'actualiser les connaissances de 70
pédiatres et médecins référents formateurs de douze pays d'Afrique francophone
et de France qui ont mis l'accent sur le partage d'expérience sud-sud entre les
professionnels de santé.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">D'après
les statistiques présentées par les experts, plus de 6800 enfants ont été
contaminés au Cameroun en 2011, malgré la protection thérapeutique mère-enfant
d'après laquelle une mère séropositive peut mettre au monde un enfant sain.
«Malgré tous les efforts qui sont fournis, il y a des mères qui refusent de se
faire dépister. Ou qui se font dépister mais n'appliquent pas à la lettre les
dispositions de cette technique. C'est la raison pour laquelle des enfants
continuent de souffrir de cette maladie. Nous menons des actions pour
sensibiliser davantage les femmes sur cette pandémie qui ne pardonne pas», dit
Dr Adrienne Koussouma. Elle poursuit. «Le monde change, le monde bouge. Une
femme séropositive peut même désormais allaiter. Les enfants sont des innocents
que nous devons protéger. Comme ils n'ont pas demandé à naître, il faut qu'ils
naissent dans de bonnes conditions. Ils ne doivent pas payer le lourd tribut de
nos fautes».<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Quant
à Gilles Raguin, directeur général d'Esther, la situation est plus préoccupante
pour les enfants. «Des résultats médiocres ont été observés. Seulement 15% des
enfants ont droit à des antirétroviraux à cause des diagnostics qui sont
effectués tard ou pas du tout sur les enfants. Nous travaillons pour
l'amélioration de ce statut. Nous allons dans la formation sud-sud. Cette
initiative est basée sur un partage d'expertise et d'expérience entre les pays
sur le traitement du Vih-sida en favorisant des jumelages entre hôpitaux et
établissements de santé de France et des pays en développement. Il est donc
urgent de développer la prise en charge pédiatrique». Représentant le ministre
de la Santé publique (Minsanté) à ce séminaire, Pr Ngu Robinson, directeur de
la Santé familiale au Minsanté, parle du renforcement de la lutte contre cette
maladie. «Après le premier plan qui a montré ses limites, nous avons élaboré un
plan 2011-2015 dit de troisième génération pour une bonne prise en charge des
120.000 personnes qui vivent sous antirétroviraux. Pour cela, il faudrait
débourser la somme de 291 milliards Fcfa pour un accès universel aux soins de
santé». Les travaux s'achèvent le 13 décembre 2012.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">=======================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">ASIA</span></font></b></span><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB"> AND PACIFIC<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">=======================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Indonesia aims to end reliance on foreign aids
in fighting HIV/AIDS<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Global Times, China<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">12/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Xhinua<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Indonesian
Vice President Boediono said Indonesia should not depend on foreign assistance
in handling of HIV/AIDS cases but rely more on local authorities and
communities, media reported here on Wednesday.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"We
should not keep relying on foreign assistance," he said on Tuesday.The
vice president said that regional leaders, including governors, district heads
and mayors, should give more attention to the HIV/AIDS problems in their
regions.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"Give
special attention and earmark more funding and manpower to handle HIV/AIDS in
your respective areas," he was quoted by the Jakarta globe as saying.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Boediono
also called on the private sector to participate in HIV/AIDS prevention and
eradication efforts.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"The
way to do this is by including HIV/AIDS prevention and eradication programs in
your corporate social responsibility programs. The role of society, including
students and youths, is also very crucial at the front line of the
battle," he said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Boediono
expressed his appreciation for the initiatives of some government institutions
in incorporating prevention and eradication programs and aiming a lot of their
programs at youth.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">These
efforts include the distribution of books containing information on HIV/AIDS
prevention, services for prison inmates, and the granting of awards to
companies with active prevention and eradication programs at work.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"We
need far more initiatives such as these and more institutions and civil society
groups to be involved," Boediono said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
vice president said that efforts should also be focused on trying to break the
chain of HIV transmission between mothers and their children.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Indonesia,
he said, is already dealing with a "concentrated epidemic" of
HIV/AIDS, defined as a prevalence of infection of more than 5 percent among
high-risk groups such as commercial sex workers, intravenous drug users and
homosexuals.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_AsiaPacific2"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">2<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Sex workers shy away from condoms<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Lanka News, Sri Lanka<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Female
sex workers dislike keeping condoms with them so as to avoid being arrested by
the police, officials said yesterday. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Addressing
an awareness propgramme at Galkiriyagama, Public Health Inspect U.G.
Jayasundera said the possession of condoms made it easy for a woman to be
suspected as a sex worker. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">He
said this was one of the main reasons why sex workers dislike carrying condoms
with them. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Mr.
Jayasundera said the use of condoms is recommended for the prevention of deadly
diseases such as HIV and AID. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">There
is prostitution in Sri Lanka. There are also foreign sex workers here. Once a
sex worker is arrested, condoms seized from her are used as case productions.
Therefore, they now avoid keeping condoms with them. This is a serious problem.
This will lead to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, he said. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Mr.
Jayasundera said health authorities are discussing these matters with police
officials<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">EUROPE</span></font></b></span><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB"><u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Cameron attacked in gay marriage dispute<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Financial Times, UK<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
George Parker, Political Editor<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">David
Cameron was on Tuesday accused by a senior Conservative MP of splitting his
party, driving away supporters and imperilling the prospects of victory at the
next election, as the Tory row over gay marriage intensified.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Brian
Binley, treasurer of the backbench 1922 committee, said in an open letter to Mr
Cameron that he was pursuing a narrative “quite absent of anything consistent
with the core principles and philosophy of the party”.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Mr
Binley’s outburst came as Maria Miller, equalities minister, confirmed
plans to press ahead with legislation to allow same-sex weddings, although the
Church of England would be explicitly banned from performing them.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Ms
Miller said gay couples would be allowed to marry in civil ceremonies and that
religious organisations – but not the CofE and Church in Wales –
could “opt in” to perform them. Religious organisations would not
be forced to conduct them.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Gay
marriage is deemed by Mr Cameron and George Osborne, chancellor and chief
strategist, as a key symbol of the Tory party’s determination to fight
the next election from the centre ground.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">But
the angry response from many Tory MPs to the plan is a reminder that the
Cameron-Osborne modernisation project which began in 2005 has still failed to
get through to large sections of the party.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Mr
Binley’s open letter expresses in vivid terms the reservations many Tory
backbenchers have about Mr Cameron’s leadership, although so far this has
never coalesced into a formal leadership challenge.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">“Having
been an office holder in the Conservative party for 53 years, I find it
difficult to remember a time when the party’s leader in government failed
consistently to chime with the natural instincts of our supporters,” he
wrote.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">He
claimed Mr Cameron had needlessly divided his party on gay marriage, that he
was presiding over headline-driven “chaos” and that “our
entire political credibility” was being jeopardised by his approach.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Downing
Street said Mr Binley was “entitled to his views” but privately, Mr
Cameron’s team despair at some of the rhetoric used by Tory MPs towards
the gay marriage proposal.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">More
than 100 Tory MPs are thought to oppose the idea. One MP, Matthew Offord,
suggested Mr Cameron should consider legalising other practices such as
polygamy. But, a new Ipsos Mori poll for the Freedom to Marry campaign found
that 73 per cent of the public wanted to allow gay marriage and 24 per cent did
not. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">An
ally of Mr Cameron said: “Brian Binley has long called for a more
rightwing agenda. But the Conservative party under David Cameron is firmly
rooted in the centre ground and that’s where it will stay.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Yvette
Cooper, Labour’s equalities spokeswoman, said the government’s
approach was “deeply confused”.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">“Having
said that churches would be able to hold same sex marriages if they wanted to,
they now say it will be illegal for the Church of England to do so, even if it
wants to in future. How can that be freedom of religion?”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_Europe3"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">3<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Marriage in the dock<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">The Economist, UK<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">08/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">EVER
since a district court overturned California's ban on gay marriage in 2010, it
has seemed likely that the issue would reach the Supreme Court. And since that
day court-watchers have tried to identify the historic case they think most
resembles this one. For opponents of gay marriage, Roe v Wade (1973) is the
relevant example. Were the Supreme Court to impose gay marriage on a divided
nation, runs the argument, they would poison American politics for a
generation, just as abortion has. Better to let states, and ideally voters in
states, settle the matter, case by case. (Perhaps uncoincidentally, until last
month, gay marriage had lost virtually every time it had been on the ballot.)<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Advocates
for same-sex marriage, on the other hand, preferred the precedent of the
happily named Loving v Virginia (1967). That case overturned bans on
inter-racial marriage, which at the time were on the books in 16 states, and
did so without triggering much of a backlash. The justices' verdict looks
far-sighted when you consider that contemporary public opinion was still very
much opposed to interracial marriage, although it was changing quickly. (The
court had declined to hear a similar case a decade earlier.) Backers of gay
marriage like this case because it treats marriage as a civil-rights issue; as
something that should be left to courts, not voters.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">We
are now a little closer to finding out who's right. Yesterday afternoon the Supreme
Court agreed to hear two of the same-sex marriage cases that had been presented
to it. The first involves a section of the federal Defence of Marriage Act
(DOMA) which declares that any instance of the term "marriage" in
federal law applies only to heterosexual unions. The case the justices will
hear involves an elderly woman from New York landed with a gigantic
inheritance-tax bill when her wife died. Lower courts have found this part of
DOMA unconstitutional, and the Obama administration no longer bothers to defend
it, leaving the task to congressional Republicans.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
second, and potentially more consequential, case deals with California's
Proposition 8, a ballot measure approved by voters in 2008 that overturned gay
marriage in America's largest state. The measure has been scrapped by two lower
courts, and so its backers sought redress from the nine justices (had they
declined to hear it, the last court's ruling would have come into effect and
same-sex marriage instantly restored to the state). <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Almost
all observers expected the justices to take up one of the DOMA cases. Whatever
their verdict, it will not affect the marriage rights of anyone, nor the rights
of states to pursue their own course. It's the second case, which many
predicted that they would decline, that gives the justices most scope to shape
policy. Although the case was brought by the backers of Prop 8, some of their
opponents may be happy to have their day in court. Why? Because the justices
could, if they are so minded, strike down Prop 8 far more thunderously than the
lower courts did by effectively granting that there is a constitutional right
in the United States to same-sex marriage. (If this happens, a Prop 8 backer
warned me the other day, "you can get ready for a whole new culture
war".)<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">They
could also scrap Prop 8 in a narrower ruling that would apply only to
California. Or they could agree with its proponents that it is entirely
legitimate for a state's voters to restrict the meaning of marriage the way the
measure does. Or, as the reliably excellent SCOTUSblog points out, they could
annoy everyone by refusing to hear the case on its merits on the grounds that
Prop 8's backers do not have the right to argue it in the first place (they do
not have "standing"). A ruling in both cases is expected by next
June, with hearings scheduled for March.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Polls
show that roughly half of Americans support gay marriage. But they also show
that that number is growing quickly—and among virtually every demographic
segment you can think of. Ensconsed in their Washington fastness, the nine
justices of the Supreme Court are not supposed to pay heed to the views of the
unwashed. But that is one of the great potent myths of American democracy. The
danger for backers of same-sex marriage is that the court (or, more
specifically, Anthony Kennedy, who is assumed to be the swing vote) decides
that the recent successes for gay marriage at the ballot-box show that politics
is taking care of this issue just fine. No need for judges to interfere with
its workings. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Still,
even with the recent rapid changes in public opinion it's going to take an
awfully long time for a majority of voters in, say, Mississippi to be won round
to same-sex marriage. Most people expect a comprehensive Supreme Court ruling
overturning gay-marriage bans at some point in the future. With luck, it'll
cause as little a ripple as Loving v Virginia did.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD">LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Más de 23 mil personas con VIH reciben
tratamiento antirretroviral en el país<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">La República, Perú<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Aproximadamente,
23 mil 500 personas reciben provisión del Tratamiento Antirretroviral (TARGA)
contra el VIH/SIDA en el país. De este total, el Ministerio de Salud (Minsa)
brinda tratamiento gratuito a más de 19 mil personas que viven con VIH y SIDA.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Esta
ayuda es otorgada a través de la Estrategia Sanitaria Nacional (ESN) de
Prevención y Control de las ITS, VIH y SIDA.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">El
tratamiento y la adherencia al TARGA ha logrado disminuir en más del 50%, el registro
de nuevos casos de personas en etapa SIDA (fase final de VIH), informó la
Dirección General de Salud de las Personas del Minsa.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Sin
embargo, solo la mitad de las personas con este mal conoce su diagnóstico,
advirtió el coordinador nacional de la ESN de Prevención y Control del
VIH/Sida, José Luis Sebastián.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">“Sin
la consejería ni información adecuada, estas personas, pueden estar
trasmitiendo el virus a otras personas, además de retrasar para la oportunidad
de acceder a un tratamiento oportuno”, advirtió.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Recordó
que la principal vía de transmisión del virus es la sexual, con 97% del total
de casos; y que el tratamiento está garantizado y este es uno de los
principales objetivos del Minsa.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_LatinAmericaCaribbean2"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="ES-TRAD">2<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">VIH, muerte materna y anticoncepción, deben
ser prioridades en PPEF<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">Rotativo de Querétaro, Mexico<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="ES-TRAD">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="ES-TRAD"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Por:
Anayeli García Martínez<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">México,
DF, 11 dic 12 (Cimacnoticias).- Organizaciones civiles con trabajo en salud
sexual y reproductiva hicieron un llamado al Estado a saldar su deuda con las
mujeres e inyectar más recursos en el Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación
(PPEF) para atender a las mexicanas con VIH, reducir la muerte materna y
garantizar acceso a anticonceptivos.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Las
diez organizaciones civiles integradas en la Coalición por la Salud de las
Mujeres afirman que es primordial que ahora que la Cámara de Diputados discute
el presupuesto para 2013, defienda los recursos para la salud de las mexicanas
y atienda temas primordiales.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Para
este PPEF se tienen previstos 4 mil 108 millones de pesos (mdp) para la salud
de las mujeres, un aumento importante si se considera que para 2012 la Cámara
de Diputados aprobó 3 mil 448 mdp para salud; sin embargo en esta ocasión se
incluyen más programas que el año anterior no aparecían.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Entre
estos están el de prevención y atención contra las adicciones; el de la
promoción de la salud, prevención y control de enfermedades crónico -
degenerativas y transmisibles y lesiones; y el programa de proyectos de
infraestructura social de salud.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Daniela
Díaz, investigadora de Fundar Centro de Análisis e Investigación, sostiene que
la atención debe centrarse en cuatro grupos de la población: adolescentes,
mujeres con VIH, indígenas y mujeres en gestación.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Díaz
-quien también es parte de la Coalición- explica que es importante que las
Comisiones de Salud, Presupuesto y Cuenta Pública, y de Equidad y Género,
defiendan los recursos para estos temas y promuevan la transparencia y
rendición de cuentas.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Una
de las preocupaciones, señaló la activista, es el Sistema de Protección Social
en Salud, y su brazo operativo el Seguro Popular (SP), el cual se debe vigilar
con detalle porque recibe una gran bolsa de recursos que representa el 60 por
ciento del presupuesto en salud.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Aunque
cada año aumentan los recursos para el SP, la investigadora precisa que es
insuficiente para proveer cobertura y calidad en los servicios de salud porque
este programa se orienta a la atención clínica del caso, y escasamente a la
promoción y prevención.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Un
análisis elaborado por Daniela Díaz señala que la atención a la salud
reproductiva es de las de mayor demanda en los servicios de salud. Tan solo en
el año 2011, de las 20 principales causas de egresos hospitalarios atendidas en
el esquema del Seguro Popular, 74.03 por ciento fueron por causas ginecoobstétricas.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">MUERTE
MATERNA <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Lina
Rosa Berrio de la organización civil Kinal Antzetik, especialista en muerte
materna, explicó que hay rezagos pendientes con la salud de las mujeres
indígenas, es necesario dijo fortalecer las Casas de las Mujeres Indígenas que
entre otros servicios dan atención médica, al tiempo que refirió, se necesitan
11 mdp para abrir cinco más.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Según
datos oficiales a nivel nacional la Razón de Muerte Materna disminuyó de 51.5 a
50.7 decesos de mujeres por cada 100 mil nacidos vivos de 2010 a 2011, sin
embargo en ese periodo la muerte materna en hablantes de alguna lengua indígena
creció de 14 a 16 por ciento.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
este sentido consideró prioritario que el Centro Nacional de Equidad y Género y
Salud Reproductiva (CNEGySR) tenga una partida de 5 mdp para contratar
intérpretes en hospitales de segundo nivel de Guerrero, Oaxaca y Chiapas donde
las y los médicos atienden a mujeres indígenas que no hablan español.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Contar
con un intérprete es una estrategia para contribuir a la calidad de la atención
porque facilitaría la comunicación entre las pacientes y personal de salud, en
especial en los casos donde las mujeres están en procesos de gestación, parto y
puerperio, lo que evitaría más muertes maternas por no saber que necesitan las
mujeres.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Señaló
que las organizaciones civiles han documentado casos de mujeres indígenas que
no son consultadas para colocarles un método anticonceptivo o no les explican
los procedimientos médicos, por ello la necesidad de dar un enfoque de Derechos
Humanos a la atención, lo que generaría calidad y confianza en el servicio.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Actualmente
en el país hay ocho intérpretes pagadas por la Secretaría de la Mujer en 6
hospitales de Guerrero (Ometepec, Acapulco, Chilapa, Chilpancingo, San Luis
Acatlán, Tlapa) pero sigue siendo insuficiente porque las interpretes no logran
cubrir a todas las pacientes ni todas las lenguas que se hablan en la región.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">MUJERES
CON VIH <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Otro
tema de atención es el incremento de VIH en mujeres en el país pues según datos
de organizaciones como Espolea México, mientras en 1996 por cada 10 hombres con
VIH había una mujer con el virus para 2006 pasó de 4 hombres por una mujer.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Para
2012 el número de mujeres con la infección seguía creciendo y en algunos
estados del país por cada varón había una mujer con el virus, de ahí la
necesidad de poner el acento en este tema.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Eugenia
López, directora de Balance Promoción para el Desarrollo y Juventud, explicó
que para atender el VIH en mujeres es necesario que el Centro Nacional para la
Prevención y Control del VIH/Sida (Censida) reciba 70 millones de pesos (mdp).<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">López
señala que regularmente los servicios de salud que atienden el VIH dan mayor
peso a la atención de los hombres porque el sexo entre hombres es una de las
principales causas de la propagación de este virus y se descuida la atención a
mujeres.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">En
un análisis de la Coalición se destaca que se necesitarían 87 mdp para este
rubro: 60 mdp para la prevención del VIH en mujeres de población general; 12
mdp para la prevención de la transmisión vertical (es decir durante el
embarazo); 5 mdp para la prevención de embarazos no deseados y 10 mdp para
apoyar a mujeres con VIH y sus familias....<i><span style="font-style:italic">continue
reading</span></i><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <a href="http://rotativo.com.mx/nacionales/vih-muerte-materna-y-anticoncepcion-deben-ser-prioridades-en-ppef/141308/html/" target="_blank"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman"">http://rotativo.com.mx/nacionales/vih-muerte-materna-y-anticoncepcion-deben-ser-prioridades-en-ppef/141308/html/</span></font></a><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_LatinAmericaCaribbean5"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">5<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Making The Media HIV Sensitive<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">7 News Belize<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Today
the National Aids Commission invited the media to learn about the HIV situation
in Belize, the UNAIDS strategy and guidelines for the media when reporting
about the disease. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Representatives
of the Central American Network of Persons with HIV also spoke about the
important role of the media as an advocate for HIV Awareness:<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">"Since
I our involvement in Central America with the regional level of persons living
with HIV we have notice the great difference with the involvement of the media
in Central America. It's not the fault of the media, in fact it's our fault as
civil society and persons interested because we lack to send invitations to the
media to cover our stories. We usually seek the media when we have big problems
and we forget to share the positive news also with the media. Today wad that
approach - this new beginning of collaboration with the media win which we will
share the responsibility of working together and contributing to the national
response since the media has so much to contribute in the national response to
achieve the 2015 goals." <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">"We
don't want only to be talking about HIV on World Aids Day. We want to talk
about HIV all year round because HIV is not only an illness that affects
persons and should talk about only on World Aids Day - its something that
affects us in all different levels - in the family level, in the social,
economic and political levels. We should be talking about this constantly if we
want to eradicate HIV in our country. We already know that HIV rate in Belize
is the highest in Central America and this is the first place that we do not
want it. In order for us to reach to a point where we have new HIV infections
and less people dying due to Aids and less discrimination due to HIV we need to
involve all partners and the very important partner to involve is the media to
showcase the positive stories; to showcase also the problems; to advocate for
better services. There is no tool that can be more useful than the media in the
national response to HIV for all of us to make a difference because HIV does
not only affect me as a person living with HIV - it affects our country in
general. We already see the statistics where the most affected group are the
group that is the employed group. That affects our economy and so it affects
the families - the income that goes to the families. Therefore when we work
together in collaboration and the media being such a responsible partner in the
response we can make the difference to make sure we take away this first
place." <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">There
was also a launching at this morning's event of an informational kit for
persons living with HIV. Five thousand of these books have been printed and
will be distributed countrywide. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">The
Kit includes information about support groups, nutrition and the rights of
persons living with HIV. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_LatinAmericaCaribbean6"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">6<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Jamaica's HIV/AIDS Response Programme Lauded <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Jamaica Information Service<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">09/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Written
by Garfield Angus<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">The
success of Jamaica's national HIV/AIDS response programme in reducing the
number of deaths among infected persons has been lauded by Health Minister,
Hon. Dr. Fenton Ferguson, and the Pan American Organization (PAHO).<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Speaking
at the Ministry of Health’s Annual HIV/STI Review Forum at the Hilton
Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, recently, Dr. Ferguson pointed to a 50
per cent decline in the number of HIV/AIDS-related deaths, between 2004 and
2011. An estimated 1.7 per cent of the population, aged 15 to 49 years, is
deemed to be living with the disease in Jamaica,<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">He
attributed this to improvements in healthcare delivery, inclusive of increased
availability of and access to Antiretroviral Drugs (ARVs), used in the
treatment of infected persons; and improved surveillance programmes and testing
processes.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“Three
hundred and thirty three (333) AIDS deaths were reported in 2010, compared to
665 in 2004. This represents a 50% decrease in AIDS deaths since the inception
of universal access to ARVs in 2004 (a)… significant improvement over
this period,” he informed.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">The
Health Minister informed that procurement of a significant supply of ARVs was
facilitated, primarily through the provision of a US$23 million grant from the
Global Fund.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Dr.
Ferguson noted that improved healthcare in Jamaica, consistent with
international standards, has contributed to more persons with HIV/AIDS, being able
to live normal lifestyles. This, he contended, augurs well for the
country’s prospects in securing continued assistance, particularly from
international donor agencies, to further strengthen the sector’s capacity
to effectively tackle the disease. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Jamaica’s
HIV/AIDS Programme is financed mainly by the Government of Jamaica, the Global
Fund, UNAIDS, and the World Bank. Significant expenditures have been made on
activities geared towards prevention, with approximately $676 million being
allocated in this regard in 2009/10, and $625 million in 2010/11.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Encouraged
by the progress in Jamaica’s fight against HIV/AIDS, Minister Ferguson
assured that the country will seek to fulfill new targets, in this regard, by
2015. These, he outlined, include: further reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS
through sexual transmission, reducing the risk of persons engaging in substance
abuse being infected, particularly where the sharing of needles occurs;
reducing the number of tuberculosis-related deaths among persons living with
HIV/AIDS; reducing the number new cases of the disease among children; and
increasing the number of persons accessing treatment.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“I
feel very confident that we can see further improvements in our HIV and AIDS
targets within the next three years. Jamaica’s HIV programme has been
lauded as among the most successful in the Latin American and Caribbean
Region,” the Minister said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Dr.
Ferguson said, against the background of tight fiscal constraints, Jamaica
continues to lobby international donor agencies for additional funding support
to maintain the national programme.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“We
have to secure the gains that we have made. I am confident that our global
partners will support our efforts at reducing the HIV prevalence among our
population, thereby putting our country firmly along the path of
development,” he underscored.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">A
recent World Bank study on Jamaica’s HIV/AIDS Programme, conducted in
collaboration with the Government of Jamaica and UNAIDS, recommended that
priority areas be identified for long term and sustainable funding.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“Assess
the allocative efficiency between prevention and treatment, and between
specific programmes within prevention, to guide targeted efforts. Effective
prevention, in the short term, will result in lower spending on treatment in
the long term,” the World Bank study concluded.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">Pan
American Health Organization (PAHO) Advisor on HIV/STI Surveillance, Dr. Paul
Edwards, who also addressed the HIV/STI Review Forum, in commending the
effectiveness of Jamaica’s programme, as well, suggested that the country
share its “best practices” with the rest of the Caribbean.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“You
have made tremendous achievements in 2011; a lot of very good work (is) being
done here in Jamaica. There are a lot of best practices that need to be
documented and shared across the Caribbean. I encourage you to do that,”
Dr. Edwards said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">In
his recent message, focusing on the region’s AIDS prevention campaign,
United Nation Secretary General Special Envoy for HIV in the Caribbean, Dr.
Edward Greene, pointed to the prospect of “an AIDS-free generation”
in the region that was “unimaginable” a generation ago.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“Yet,
we are cautioned by the reality that biomedical and behavioural tools still
have to be brought to scale and that scarce resources and the persistence of
stigma and discrimination are impediments to this dream,’ he stated.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">As
such, Dr. Greene stressed the need for a redoubling of efforts to strengthen
the health system’s response, advance treatment to prevent HIV/AIDS, and
eliminate mother to child transmission, among other key focus areas.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">“These
require creative and collective leadership, shared responsibility in
public/private partnerships, and the engagement of all stakeholders,” Dr.
Greene underscored.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">NORTH AMERICA</span></font></b></span><u></u><span><b><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB"><u></u><u></u></span></font></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB">========================<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-autospace:none"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Q&A: The Challenges of Women’s
Empowerment and Equality<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">IPS News Agency<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Julia Kallas<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Julia
Kallas interviews LAKSHMI PURI, assistant secretary-general of the United
Nations and deputy executive director of U.N. Women, the United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">UNITED
NATIONS, Dec 11 2012 (IPS) - Today, approximately 125 countries have laws that
penalise domestic violence – a great advance from a decade ago. Yet 603
million women around the world still live in countries where domestic violence
is not a crime, and up to seven in ten women are targeted for physical or
sexual violence, or both.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">One
organisation that has worked for the past two years to protect and empower
women is U.N. Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women. Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of the
organisation, described what it has achieved so far.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">”U.N.
Women is today a coherent, unified organisation that has achieved concrete
results that go from…enhancing women’s voices in decision-making in
communities, to leveraging and influencing national and international planning
processes,” Puri told IPS.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">But
as the statistics indicate, much more remains to be done before women’s
rights are fully realised. Puri spoke to IPS correspondent Julia Kallas about
the achievements, challenges, expectations and future of U.N. Women. Excerpts
from the interview follow.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Q:
U.N. Women turns two in January. What have been some high points since the
founding of U.N. Women? <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">A:
U.N. Women has heavily emphasised increasing women’s political
participation. Women must have a say in the decisions that affect their lives
and their communities. Our efforts in 14 countries contributed directly to five
countries’ increasing the number of women elected to office. And in one
year the number of countries with women comprising at least 30 percent of
parliament has risen from 27 to 33.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">We
are also actively supporting women’s representation at the local level.
In India, for example, U.N. Women is training 65,000 elected women
representatives in village councils to become more effective leaders.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">To
enhance women’s participation in peacebuilding and post-conflict
recovery, U.N. Women has successfully advocated for an agreement to earmark at
least 15 percent of all U.N.-managed peacekeeping funds for programmes on
gender equality.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Women’s
economic empowerment is another key area of our work. Financial security gives
women the independence they need to take informed decisions for themselves and
their families. So our interventions try to enhance governments’
abilities to improve women’s access to assets, markets, services and
decent work.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Ending
violence against women remains a top priority. It is a scourge of pandemic
proportions, affecting up to 70 percent of women and girls. U.N. Women is
working in 85 countries to prevent violence in the first place, to end impunity
for these crimes, and to expand essential services to survivors.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Gender
equality and women’s empowerment remains a universal challenge and
requires actions by all. We know there is still a long road ahead, but we are
on the right track. We are working with and in all countries to carry out our
universal mandate and we are constantly making progress.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Q:
What do you consider the greatest challenges for U.N. Women and women around
the world next year and beyond?<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">A:
Many obvious gaps remain in protecting women’s human rights and in
advancing their rightful role in development, peace and security. In 2012, our
priorities were to make a renewed push for women’s economic empowerment
and political participation.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
the months ahead, we will focus on ending violence against women. Next March,
the focus of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women will be to tackle
violence against women and girls. Expectations are high for governments to
agree on strengthened international frameworks to end violence against women
and girls.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
this context, U.N. Women launched COMMIT, an initiative that encourages governments
to implement international agreements on ending violence against women and
commit to new, concrete steps to end it.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Funding
is another challenge we face. Women still constitute a majority of the
world’s poor. They are directly and indirectly affected by the financial
and economic crisis, as is funding for U.N. Women and women’s
organisations around the world. We need all donors to prioritise funding for
gender equality and women’s empowerment at this critical time.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
addition to being the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do, as
evidence shows that investing in women’s empowerment will have an
exponential impact on social and economic development.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Q:
As emerging economies such as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China)
countries grow in political and economic influence, how well have women’s
rights kept pace with this development?<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">A:
Some countries have shown deep commitment to gender equality and women’s
empowerment and have adopted special policies and measures to rectify deep
rooted poverty, customs- and tradition-related biases and gender stereotyping.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Yet
we have seen that economic growth does not necessarily translate to greater
gender equality. In middle income countries – including the BRICs –
remain large numbers of poor people. A disproportionate majority of them are
women. As a result, governments, including the BRICs, continue to proactively
address this issue.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Q:
What are your expectations for getting a comprehensive gender perspective into
a post-2015 development framework and the Sustainable Development Goals that
are currently being negotiated?<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">A:
What we need is a truly transformative development agenda that can drive change
on systemic issues and structural causes of discrimination, including unequal
power relations, social exclusion and multiple forms of discrimination.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
framework should therefore focus on women’s rights, eliminating
gender-based violence, promoting sexual and reproductive health and rights,
access to essential infrastructure and services and political and economic
empowerment – all in the broader context of poverty eradication.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
framework should also recognise that gender inequality is the mother of all
inequalities. It is not yet clear what the format of the post-2015 development
framework will be, but in any case, U.N. Women advocates for a strong focus on
gender equality and women’s empowerment.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">If
we are about to turn a new leaf in terms of a more sustainable, equitable and
people-centred development model and framework, we need to empower and fully
tap the talent and potential of half of humanity.</span></font></span><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><br>
<br>
</span></font></span><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_NorthAmerica2"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">2<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">40 CEOs call on countries to lift HIV travel
bans<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">CNN<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">By
Emily Jane Fox<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Deportation.
Detention. Barred entry. These are just some of the scenarios that people with
HIV have to deal with when it comes to international travel.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> Now,
CEOs from 40 well-known companies are calling for countries to get rid of their
HIV-related travel restrictions. Corporate leaders say the travel restrictions
are discriminatory and detrimental to the globalized economy, in which
companies have to be free to send employees around the world.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Currently,
45 countries have laws or policies in place that deport, detain or deny entry
to people who are HIV positive, according to UNAIDS, the United Nation's
program on HIV/AIDS. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Five
countries in the Middle East bar people living with HIV from entering. Another
five, including Singapore, Egypt and the Turks and Caicos, require that people
who want to stay in their countries for longer than five days have to show they
do not have HIV. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Until
recently, the U.S. too had regulations that barred HIV-infected foreign
nationals from receiving a visa to enter the country. President Obama lifted
them in January 2010. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
American restrictions were introduced in 1987, when Congress directed the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services to add HIV to its list of diseases of
public health significance. Foreign nationals were tested for the
immunodeficiency virus during medical screening by U.S. immigration. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> Business
leaders who signed on to the pledge include CEOs of Coca-Cola (CCE, Fortune
500),Aetna (AET, Fortune 500),Viacom (VIA),Pfizer (PFE, Fortune 500), the
National Basketball Association,Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500) and
Gap (GPS, Fortune 500). <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Chip
Bergh, CEO of demin-maker Levi Strauss, says the restrictions are bad for
business. The San Francisco-based company's employees and community were
greatly affected by HIV/AIDS and its repercussions during the 1980s, he said. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"Our
employees are our competitive advantage, no matter what their HIV/AIDS status
is," he said. "We're standing by our greatest asset, our talent, and
we're making a move to end HIV/AIDS discrimination globally."<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Many
of the laws and policies were enacted in the 1980s, when HIV first came into
the public consciousness, according to Bertil Lindblad, direct of UNAIDS in New
York. He said that the policies resulted from a combination beliefs that HIV
could be caught through the air, that it could not be treated, and that there
was no reliable test to detect it. All three of those factors have since
changed. <u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">"There
was a fear about HIV and stigma and discrimination," Lindblad said.
"HIV in some countries is thought of as a social evil. In some places it
is part of bigger human rights issues, where homosexuality is illegal."</span></font></span><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><br>
<br>
</span></font></span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u><u></u></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_NorthAmerica5"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">5<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Cambodia’s prime minister urges citizens
not to discriminate against gay people<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Associated Press<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">11/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">Story carried by The Washington Post<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">PHNOM
PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia’s prime minister urged the Southeast
Asian nation’s people on Tuesday not to discriminate against their gay
countrymen.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Prime
Minister Hun Sen spoke at a ceremony to hand land titles to villagers in
southern Cambodia.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Gay
rights is not a major issue in Cambodia, and Hun Sen seemed to have been
inspired by discussions of the subject on International Human Rights Day on
Monday, including on local television. Cambodian society, as in neighboring
Thailand, is generally tolerant of homosexuality.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">He
said he had heard requests from gay Cambodians that they be able to enjoy the
same rights and freedoms as others.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> “There
are gays and lesbians in every country, so there should be no discrimination
against them just because of their destiny,” he said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
2007, Hun Sen announced that he was disinheriting his adopted daughter because
he was disappointed that she had taken a lesbian partner.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">However,
he appealed to society to show respect for gay people, saying “Most of
them are good people and are not doing alcohol, drugs or racing
vehicles.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Former
Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, who died in October, caused a stir in 2004
when he wrote on his website that he supported the right of gay couples to
marry.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Sihanouk
said he was inspired to state his views after watching news reports about gay
marriage in San Francisco.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
late king said that as a “liberal democracy,” Cambodia should allow
“marriage between man and man ... or between woman and woman.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> “It’s
not their fault if God makes them born like that. ... Gays and lesbians would
not exist if God did not create them,” wrote Sihanouk, who abdicated in
favor of his son later that year.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Same-sex
civil unions are not legally recognized, but many marriages in Cambodia are
common law rather than officially registered.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><a name="13b8f4a549d74efa_NorthAmerica6"><b><font color="white" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:white;font-weight:bold" lang="EN-GB">6<u></u><u></u></span></font></b></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Women first? Uruguay’s proposed gay
marriage law also upends name tradition for straights<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">Associated Press<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#e93e35" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#e93e35" lang="EN-GB">12/12/2012<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">Story carried by The Washington Post<u></u><u></u></span></font></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">MONTEVIDEO,
Uruguay — Lawmakers in taboo-breaking Uruguay voted to legalize gay
marriage late Tuesday night, approving a single law governing marriage for
heterosexuals and homosexuals.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
proposal now goes to the Senate, where the ruling coalition has enough votes
for passage. President Jose Mujica plans to sign it into law early next year.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
proposal, which passed the lower house of Congress by a wide margin Tuesday,
would also let all couples, gay or straight, decide whose surname goes first
when they name their children.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">That
breaks with a tradition that has held for centuries across Latin America, where
in nearly every country, laws require people to give their children two last
names, and the father’s comes first.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> “It’s
an issue that will generate confusion in a society that has forever taken the
father’s name. But these changes in society have to be accepted,”
said Deputy Anibal Gloodtdofsky of the right-wing Colorado Party, who told The
Associated Press he plans to join the ruling Broad Front coalition and vote in
favor on Tuesday.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
“Marriage Equality Law” also would replace Uruguay’s 1912
divorce law, which gave only women, and not their husbands, the right to
renounce marriage vows without cause. In the early 20th Century,
Uruguay’s lawmakers saw this as an equalizer, since men at the time held
all the economic and social power in a marriage, historian Gerardo Caetano
said.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> “A
hundred years later, with all the changes that have occurred in Uruguayan
society, this argument has fallen of its own accord,” Caetano said
Tuesday. “It’s absolutely logical now that divorces can happen if
either party wants it. And I really think it won’t have much of an
impact.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
projected law’s co-sponsor, Broad Front deputy Anibal Pereyra, said
Uruguay’s civil code needs to be updated so that all the rights and
responsibilities apply to anyone who wants to marry, straight or gay.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Uruguay
became the first Latin American country to legalize abortion this year, and its
Congress is debating a plan to put the government in charge of marijuana sales
as a way to attack illegal marijuana traffickers.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
new proposal would make Uruguay the second nation in Latin America and the 12th
in the world to legalize gay marriage, after The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain,
Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, Argentina and Denmark.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
bill also would clarify rules for adoption and in-vitro fertilization, and
eliminate the words “marido y mujer” (husband and woman) in
marriage contracts, refering instead to the gender neutral
“contrayentes” (contracting parties).<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
Roman Catholic Church is opposed to the proposal, but the church has little
political influence in secular Uruguay.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Judging
from the congressional debate so far, giving gays and lesbians all the same
rights and responsibilities of married straight couples seems to have been the
easy part for most lawmakers. The naming change seemed to cause the most
controversy as the measure came through legislative committees.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
the end, the legislators proposed to let all couples choose which surname comes
first for their children. And if they can’t decide, the proposed law says
a “sorteo,” such as the flip of a coin, in the civil registry
office should decide the issue.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">The
law also sets out naming rules for adoptees and people born outside marriage. A
child registered by a single parent would take that parent’s name as a
first surname. And one whose parents are unknown altogether would be given
“two commonly used names” selected by the civil registry office.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">In
the United States and many other countries, couples are free to decide what
surnames to give their children. Even in many Latin American nations, some
people already shun convention and use a mother’s name if family
circumstances make use of the paternal name inconvenient or impossible.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Uruguay’s
neighbor Argentina has been more rigid: When it became the first Latin American
country to legalize gay marriage in 2010, its lawmakers said last names would
go in alphabetical order for the children of same-sex couples, and they left
the naming traditions of heterosexuals unchanged.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">While
Uruguayans seem broadly in favor of legalizing gay marriage, the naming issue
has led to some confusion.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"> “I
really can’t understand the point of letting heterosexual couples choose
the order of their surnames. In reality, I think it’s for political
correctness, and the price is to lose information: Today when someone is
presented, we know clearly who the father is and who the mother is. Not so in
the future,” said office worker Daniel Alvarez.<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Gloodtdofsky
acknowledged that non-gays may not have realized yet why these changes are
necessary, “but the reality is that gays have been living as couples for
years, generating rights. These rights must be recognized and attention must be
paid to this new version of marriage.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">Uruguay
has had a civil unions law that covers gay couples, and Bishop Jaime Fuentes of
the Roman Catholic Church’s Episcopal Conference of Uruguay said
“It seems logical that two people of the same sex who care for each other
and want to share their lives can have some kind of civil recognition, but it
can’t be the same as what governs marriage.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="PT-BR">But
Federico Grana of the Black Sheep Collective, a gay rights group that presented
a first draft of the bill, said “society is much broader than just
heterosexuals, so the law should reflect this, with everyone included, and no
discrimination.”<u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:13.0pt"><span><i><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic" lang="PT-BR">Associated Press Writer Michael Warren in Buenos Aires
contributed to this report.</span></font></i></span><span><i><font color="#ff99cc" face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:#ff99cc;font-style:italic" lang="EN-GB"><br>
<br>
</span></font></i></span><span><font face="Arial" size="1"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u><u></u></span></font></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial" lang="EN-GB"><u></u> <u></u></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
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