A number of prevention strategies have been implemented in recent years in an attempt to halt the spread of HIV, from voluntary medically supervised adult male circumcision, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and treatment as prevention. These interventions have undoubedly prevented millions from infection. However, with 2.7 million new HIV infections in 2010 alone it is becoming quite clear that the best chance we have of controlling, and ultimately ending, the HIV/AIDS pandemic will require combining current prevention stategies with an effective vaccine.
A statement by Anthony Fauci, M.D. Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), brings new hope that, with conststant research and funding, a successful HIV vaccine may become available in the not too distant future.
There have been a number of encouraging developments over the last year, with a number of NIAID-sponsored HIV vaccine clinical trials under way. The largest of these is examining whether a prime-boost vaccine regimen can prevent HIV infection or reduce the amount of virus in the blood of those participants who become infected despite vaccination.
We are delighted to announce that a European Parliament Written Declaration that is currently under signature has passed 300 signatories. A Written Declaration is a statement by members of the European Parliament calling on the European Commission to undertake a specific action on a policy decision. In order to pass and thus be debated in plenary, a Written Declaration needs to be signed, in person, by over half of the parliament’s MEPs, which currently stands at 378.
This particular Written Declaration was tabled by a group of MEPs including Mary Honeyball who represents members of the RESULTS London groups. The RESULTS July 2011 action on EU financing for vaccination played an important role in getting the Declaration tabled.
We are pleased to announce that a recording of our May focus call titled ‘The power of vaccines: getting to zero for HIV and TB’ is now available. Click here to download the call: May focus call the search for a TB and an AIDS vaccine
Our guest speakers on the call were Becky Owens of AERAS, a product development partnership (PDP) working to expedite the development and roll out of new vaccines against tuberculosis, and Gavin Steadman-Bryce from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative another PDP working to develop a vaccine against HIV/AIDS.
Both speakers discussed the work they are doing in their respective fields to make new vaccines a reality, the importance of vaccines in terms of combating the two diseases, the PDP model and it’s benefits as well as specifically addressing the challenegs that are particular to vaccine development.
The call was hugely informative and will assist all grassroots as we continue to undertake advocacy in support of the development of new vaccines.
An article published by the Independent over the weekend reports a dire warning made by the WHO: unless we act now, we run the risk that TB will become an incurable disease in the future. The article gives a great overview of the current situation of TB control and invalidates any belief that TB is a disease of the past.
A variety of factors have contributed to allowing TB to remain a serious public health threat. The article identifies three main factors that have undermined efforts to control the disease and have led to the emergence of drug resistant strains, namely inadequate funding for health programmes, sales of unreliable blood tests and mismanagement of drugs. Just recently the mediareported cases of drug resistant TB that are not responding to any TB drugs.
Although TB continues to be the second biggest infectious disease killer in the world and the biggest killer of people living with HIV/AIDS, funding and political commitment to control the disease have faltered. This has been particularly evident when the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which provides more than two thirds of all international financing of TB programmes, announced in December 2011 that it was forced to cancel its latest funding round and would suspend new grants until 2014 due to donors failure to live up to their funding commitments.
1.4 Billion people across the world live on less than £1 each day for their food, drink, travel, shelter and health care. RESULTS UK is dedicated to getting real results for the world’s poorest people by empowering ordinary people to make change happen.
Many people across the world are ‘Living Below the Line’ this week in support of this cause. Upcoming band Coburg’s Widow recognise the importance of this world issue and have joined together to support RESULTS. Each band member will be living on just £1 a day for 5 days to raise awareness and funds for those living in extreme poverty.
Formerly known as ‘The Lager Boys’, the band are not known for their sensible spending habits. However, inspired by the work of RESULTS, they are taking the challenge seriously. They have taken their time to decide their menu for the week; relying mainly on ASDA’s Smartprice like many others. Two of the band members are also flatmates so have taken the wise decision to pool their money and live off a shared £10 for the week.
We are pleased to announce That the next RESULTS focus call will take place on Tuesday 15th May at 7pm. The call is titled ‘The search for an AIDS and a TB vaccine‘. Our guest on the call will be Gavin Steadman-Bryce from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
IAVI is a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world.
Development of safe and effective vaccines against TB and HIV would represent the most important steps towards controlling and eradicating the spread of both diseases and vaccine development is currently progressing well. As RESULTS continues to support the work of organisations like IAVI and TBVI, we felt it important to take stock of the situations surrounding the development of those vaccines.
To join the call you will need to call 0844 8360 360, 0207 788 3000 or 0800 369 8888 and when prompted enter participant code 18718#
the call will have plenty of time for questions and is open for all grassroots volunteers to join. If you have any questions about the call or how to join, please get in touch with us at the office.
A few weeks ago musicians from all over the UK came together to support RESULTS UK for their involvement in the Live Below the Line campaign. They used their voices to raise awareness for extreme poverty. And now we’d like to ask you to do the same. Sign up toLive Below the Line for RESULTS and use your experience of living below the line to bring extreme poverty to the centre of conversation in homes and workplaces.
As today is day two of Live Below the Line we would like to share with you a little video from the Live Lounge event.
This week saw the conclusion of one of the longest legislative sessions in living memory May 2010 to May 2012. 53 Acts of Parliament were passed in the session including the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, Welfare Reform Act and Health and Social Care Acts, to name but a few lengthy pieces of legislation that attracted significant scrutiny, debate and on some occasions revolt.
Parliament is now in Prorogation – the formal name given to the period between the end of a session of Parliament and the State Opening of Parliament.
The State Opening, taking place on Wednesday 9th May, is the main ceremonial event and the most colourful event of the parliamentary calendar, attracting large crowds. It is also the most important, because it brings together the three elements of the legislature (the House of Commons, the House of Lords and The Queen). The ceremony therefore represents the Crown in Parliament (A brief guide on the state opening from the BBC can be viewed here).
We are pleased to announce that a recording of Tuesday’s conference call on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is now available online for download. Click here to download the call.
Our guest on the call was Michael O’ Connor, head of the Civil Society team at the Global Fund. Michael spoke about the recent troubles at the Fund and addressed the UK government’s role in bringing forward new pledges.
The call was hugely informative and makes up the key component of this months action.
A number of prevention strategies have been implemented in recent years in an attempt to halt the spread of HIV, from voluntary medically supervised adult male circumcision, prevention of mother-to-child transmission and treatment as prevention. These interventions have undoubedly prevented millions from infection. However, with 2.7 million new HIV infections in 2010 alone it is becoming quite clear that the best chance we have of controlling, and ultimately ending, the HIV/AIDS pandemic will require combining current prevention stategies with an effective vaccine.
