Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS and under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, has issued a forceful call for equity in global access to COVID-19 vaccines, urging zero discrimination when it comes to health. Her message comes on the occasion of Zero Discrimination Day, where “UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to take action to end […]
HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS: The pandemic we are missing
Today marks World AIDS Day. As of the end of 2019, HIV/AIDS has claimed 32.7 million lives. In India, 2017 alone saw 69,000 deaths due to HIV/AIDS. The organisation dedicated to combating HIV/AIDS is UNAIDS or, to give it its full title, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS. UNAIDS’s mission assumes heightened […]
Noida to become home to AIDS centre in much-needed boon
Noida is to become home to a centre dedicated to the treatment of AIDS, one of India’s most prominent public health concerns and widespread infectious diseases. Reports indicate that the city – located in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh (GB) Nagar district – is to house a treatment centre providing antiretroviral therapy (ART) to those affected […]
PandemiCast XIII: How COVID has hit HIV
In the thirteenth edition of PandemiCast, moderator Mark Chataway discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HIV and AIDS. Dr Stephan Dressler, Dr Samukeliso Dube and Simran Shaikh join him. Edited by Iknoor Kaur. You can watch the video here. To view previous editions of PandemiCast, click here.
HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria: A surge in deaths?
It is not news that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to public health – and as managing the pandemic ostensibly takes top priority for health systems worldwide, the ramifications for management of other diseases is a real concern. This concern has been raised in a modelling study released by The Lancet Global Health […]
HIV/AIDS: “The world can do better”
UNAIDS has issued a sharp warning about the consequences of one pandemic on another: COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Yet that is not the sole reason why we are falling behind in combating the HIV/AIDS crisis – already we were off-track. “The global aggregate of country data reported to UNAIDS shows […]
HIV/AIDS medicines: COVID hits access
Lost access to HIV/AIDS medicines is no less than a matter of life and death for those affected – but the COVID-19 pandemic has imperilled access to such drugs and, in turn, the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS. This week marks the 23rd bi-annual International AIDS Conference. The event “provides a platform for discussing […]
“Looking for hope” – Interview with Ashok Row Kavi
For marginalised communities, the COVID-19 pandemic is a period of great uncertainty and even greater stigmatisation according to Ashok Row Kavi. Kerean Watts, editor of Health Issues India, speaks to the veteran journalist and prominent LGBTQ+ rights activist on these issues and more. Ashok earlier featured on our ‘PandemiCast’ episode focusing on sexual and reproductive […]
A time of two pandemics
The term pandemic is virtually ubiquitous in the public consciousness right now. The world is arrested in the grip of COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – more popularly known simply as the coronavirus. Yet COVID-19 is one of two pandemics the world is grappling with – as a […]
PandemiCast VI: Sexual and reproductive health
The sixth edition of our weekly video podcast PandemiCast can be viewed here. This week, we discuss sexual and reproductive health (SRHR). Our panellists – Sara Seimes, Mona Bormet and Ashok Row Kavi – look at how coronavirus affects SRHR issues. Mark Chataway moderates. To watch the other editions of PandemiCast, click here.