[procaare] 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia & Pacific

["ProCAARE" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update August 21, 2007
ASIA-PACIFIC:  8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in Colombo, Sri Lanka 
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2 items:

1) "Religious Leaders Hold Asian Summit to Discuss AIDS" 
Inter Press Service    (08.18.07):: Lynette Corporal

Religious leaders met in Columbo, Sri Lanka, last week at the three-day Interfaith Community Forum to discuss how faith communities can help prevent HIV and foster understanding and care for those affected by the disease. Buddhist monks, Catholic priests and nuns, Protestant pastors, Muslim imams, and Hindu clerics shared their experiences with HIV/AIDS and strategies for proactive support.

"Before, the discussion used to center around what AIDS is and what to do about it," said Abdus Sabur, secretary-general of Bangkok-based Asian Muslim Action Network, which helped coordinate 45 Muslim participants from 15 nations. Religious leaders' discussions today are more action-oriented, Sabur said. 

More Muslim religious leaders and imams are discussing ways to help lessen stigma and prejudice directed toward people with HIV/AIDS, noted Sabur. There are also more faith-based groups supporting people with HIV. 

Hindu participants said an organized approach is the best way to deal with HIV/AIDS. Networking is especially necessary to help change the attitudes of religious leaders who are in denial about the epidemic, said Padmini Perera of the Sri Lanka group Sarvodaya. 

"Now, we're talking about such things as universal accessibility [to medicine] and ethical dilemmas. It's very advanced thinking," said Sagarika Chetty of the National Council of Churches in India.

In Mandalay, Myanmar, the Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education High School is teaching young Buddhist monks to talk with youths about health matters, including about sex and drugs. "Discussing sex education with parents, children, and even monks is also quite difficult," said U. Ponnyananda, the monk who operates the school.

A religious community's attitude can help support, or impede, an infected person's quest for physical and spiritual healing, participants said.

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2. UN Experts Call on Asian Governments to Step Up Fight Against HIV/AIDS" 
Voice of America News    (08.21.07):: Anjana Pasricha

At the 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific in Colombo, Sri Lanka, UNAIDS Regional Director Prasada Rao called on Asian governments not to become complacent about HIV/AIDS. 

"We have good examples of Sri Lanka and Philippines, which are keeping a low rate of infection, but by and large in the rest of Asia and the Pacific, we still have a problem of rising numbers, and the epidemic is spreading in some of these countries," Rao told officials and health care professionals from 40 countries who are attending the five-day conference. Infection rates are on the rise in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. 

Rao said affected countries must commit more funds to combat HIV/AIDS and reduce their reliance on foreign donors. "If you leave out India, Thailand, and China, in the rest of Asia, almost 80 percent of the funding for AIDS programs is coming from external resources," he said. "This is not a sustainable thing. These countries need to put more and more of their funding into AIDS programs."

Other experts stressed the need for planners of national AIDS programs to be on the alert for new social trends or behaviors that can impact the virus' spread. Conference delegates urged Asian governments to make antiretroviral treatment more accessible for those who need it. In addition, they called for enhanced HIV/AIDS prevention programs.