Intensifying Hiv Prevention

The paper highlights the role of UNAIDS in intensifying HIV prevention and points to ways in which jointly supportive action can be achieved. It further identifies what needs to be done to speedily and effectively bridge the HIV prevention gap, developing links between HIV prevention and care to ensure the sustainability of HIV treatment. The paper consists of four main sections: Section 1: Explains why HIV prevention must be significantly strengthened to meet the present challenges and harness the opportunities available; Section 2: Identifies key actions that must be central to HIV prevention response and core principles underlying these actions; Section 3: Identifies what national partners must do to scale up HIV prevention at country level; Section 4: Describes the support that UNAIDS will provide towards this process.

These guidelines are designed to provide policy-makers and planners with practical guidance to tailor their national HIV prevention response so that they respond to the epidemic dynamics and social context of the country and populations who remain most vulnerable to and at risk of HIV infection. They have been developed in consultation with the UNAIDS cosponsors, international collaborating partners, government, civil society leaders and other experts.

Responding effectively to AIDS requires that program planners and implementers know your epidemic and your response. Key to planning an effective HIV prevention response is knowing who is most affected by HIV, the extent to which HIV is prevalent among the population and different subgroups, and the risk behaviors, laws, policies, and settings that may facilitate the transmission of HIV. This short publication is a handy guide to all those working in the AIDS response, and especially those working with key populations at higher risk of exposure to HIV.

The science of the virus and its effects and the clinical approaches to its treatment and transmission prevention are placed in the context of the history and epidemiology of the HIV-AIDS pandemic. Each organ system of the body is explored as to manifestations of the disease, treatment now and in the future, as well as what the disease has taught us about the immune response. The science of epidemiology, which is so important in allowing for tracking of the disease and potential limitation of transmission, is another aspect of AIDS explored in detail. The pandemic manifests differently in different parts of the world, and the relevance of the volume is enhanced by its international group of contributors. No other text provides the historical and epidemiological context of this disease along with an update of diagnosis and treatment. The underlying science and epidemiology of AIDS are not neglected, so the student or clinician who is treating patients with AIDS can gain a full understanding of HIV/AIDS in individual patients and in their communities.

"Knowing your epidemic" is essential for everyone involved in the response to HIV. Extensively illustrated with graphs and charts, this biennial report presents concise but comprehensive summaries of major issues in the global AIDS response. Annexes provide HIV estimates and data 2001 and 2007, and also country progress indicators.

Critical health communication scholars point out that the acceptance of HIV risk prevention methods are bound inside inequitable structures of power and knowledge. Nicola Bulled’s in-depth ethnographic account of how these messages are selected, transmitted and reacted to by young adults in the AIDS-torn population of Lesotho in southern Africa provides a crucial example of the importance of a culture-centered approach to health communication. She shows the clash between traditional western perceptions of how increased knowledge will increase compliance with western ideas of prevention, and mixed messages offered by local religious, educational, and media institutions. Bulled also demonstrates how structural and geographical forces prevent the delivery and acceptance of health messages, and how local communities shape their own knowledge of health, disease and illness. This volume will be of interest to medical anthropologists and sociologists, to those in health communication, and to researchers working on issues related to HIV.

HIV/AIDS continues to be the pandemic of our times and there has not been a comprehensive medically based AIDS prevention book published in the last 5 years. It is estimated that 36 to 45 million people including 2-3 million children already are infected worldwide and an additional 4-7 million more are infected each year. There are about 6,000 new infections daily and about 12 million AIDS orphans. People receiving AIDS treatments feel well and have no detectable viral load, but still can infect others. And even when a vaccine is found, it will take many years before it can be administered across the developing world. * Discusses all aspects of AIDS prevention, from epidemiology, molecular immunology and virology to the principles of broad-based public health prevention interventions. * Special focus on the array of interventions that have been proven effective through rigorous study * Identifies new trends in HIV/AID epidemiology and their impact on creating and implementing prevention interventions * Incorporates virology, biology, infectious diseases, vaccinology, microbicides and research methodologies into AIDS prevention