Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Summarizes Reports Released at XVI International AIDS Conference

As part of its expanded coverage of the XVI International AIDS Conference, held Aug. 13 through Aug. 18 in Toronto, the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report will feature studies and initiatives released during the conference. Summaries of select publications and initiatives appear below.

• "Prevalence and Predictors of Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions of the Cervix in HIV-Infected Women in Lusaka, Zambia," Gynecologic Oncology: HIV-positive women in resource-poor areas such as Zambia should be screened for human papillomavirus, as many such women now have access to antiretroviral drugs and are living long enough that they could develop HPV-induced cervical cancer, according to the study. Groesbeck Parham of the School of Medicine at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and colleagues gave Pap tests to 150 HIV-positive women in Lusaka, Zambia, who were receiving HIV/AIDS treatment, and found a high prevalence of abnormal cervical lesions (Parham et al., Gynecologic Oncology, 7/27).
  
  
• "Global Fund Donor Report Card," RESULTS Educational Fund: RESULTS Educational Fund -- along with Advocates for Youth, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, the Global AIDS Alliance, Health GAP, Project RING of the Japan AIDS and Society Association and RESULTS International -- on Monday released the report card, which grades several countries on their 2006 and 2007 contributions to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Switzerland and the U.S. received failing grades, while France, Ireland and Sweden received the highest possible grades for 2006 and 2007. The report card criticizes Australia, Greece and New Zealand for pledging nothing to the Global Fund for 2006 and 2007 and says that Italy is the only country in the Group of Seven industrialized nations to default on a financial commitment. The report card did not evaluate Russia because it is receiving assistance from the Global Fund. "Despite progress, the world's richest countries are still failing millions of people who live with AIDS, TB and malaria," Joanne Carter, legislative director of the RESULTS Educational Fund, said, adding, "It is time to deliver on past promises and new opportunities and fully fund the Global Fund" (RESULTS Educational Fund release, 8/14).