THE POPE'S ANTICONDOM CRUSADE IS UNDERMINING EFFORTS TO COMBAT AIDS IN AFRICA

by CODY LYON
On February 5, 2005, the New York City Department of Health in conjunction with the Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center called a press conference and issued an urgent health alert to the public. The event was especially targeted towards men who have sex with men. According to health officials, one individual had been infected with what appeared to be a never before seen particularly potent and apparently mutated strain of HIV that had rapidly progressed to full blown AIDS.

Doctors treating the patient said the man was resistant to three out of four classes of drugs available used to treat HIV/AIDS, a condition clinically called 3-DCR-HIV.

At the press conference, New York City Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden, warned "virtually no one is immune" saying the new super strain virus could quickly progress into full-blown AIDS, perhaps in as little as two to twenty months, a process that normally takes up to ten years.

By Amie Newman

The Christian Coalition has proven to me once again that their freaky fixation on women's bodies and what we do with them goes beyond simple morality-mania. It extends to a genuine fear of women's bodies and the power we have to do nothing less than destroy the world with them. Why else would they continue to fight against any attempts to re-adjust their focus away from reproductive rights and towards the truly scary issues of poverty, global warming and HIV/AIDS? Clearly, women's bodies are dangerous to these people.

So, is it any surprise that on Tuesday, November 28th The Christian Coalition voted to accept President-elect Reverend Joel C. Hunter's resignation before he started because he wanted to expand their core issues beyond the confines of an anti-abortion, anti-homosexuality agenda?

By Julia Slatcher

This year, three large international bodies that have great influence on global reproductive health searched for new leaders. The selection processes for new heads of the United Nations, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the World Health Organization have evolved in unique ways - often involving back-room politicking and intrigue - requiring our scrutiny on many levels.

Cecile Richards is president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Accountability, for you, for me, for us. That's the theme for World AIDS Day 2006 and there couldn't be a more appropriate time to spread a more important message.  Twenty-five years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, infection rates are at record levels and are still rising. We must hold ourselves accountable and we must take action.

At a recent briefing by the folks at the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, Ambassador Jimmy Kolker asked about whether any PEPFAR funded programs were going to focus on providing the HPV vaccine to adolescents, given that this would also build capacity for rolling out other vaccines in the future. Kolker's response was a bit of an admonition to remember that this is the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (emphasis on AIDS). He said that OGAC is interested in integrating HIV/AIDS services into reproductive health services, but they won't be working to integrate reproductive health services into HIV/AIDS services. Hmmm.

The author of this post, Beth Fredrick, is Executive Vice President of the International Women's Health Coalition.

   

The session starts simply: eight young men stand at the front of a room in Minna, Nigeria. Each young man holds up a large piece of paper with a word written on it, each word a type of sexual activity.

   

From there it becomes more complicated.