GENEVA, Dec 4 (AFP) - An attempt by the Red Cross to get governments to sign up to a declaration advocating prevention against HIV/AIDS has run into trouble because it endorses controversial measures including needle exchanges and condom distribution in prisons.
The provision of clean syringe needles for drug addicts, included in the draft of an "Agenda for Humanitarian Action", due to be adopted at the end of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent on Saturday, is staunchly opposed by the United States.
Argentina, the Vatican and Malaysia -- which currently heads the Organisation of the Islamic Conference -- have also voiced strong opposition to the prevention package advocated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, according to diplomats.
US officials said they had no objections to the references to condom distribution and wanted to see the issue of prevention highlighted in another way.
The agenda under negotiation until Saturday deals with a range of humanitarian challenges including conflicts, disasters and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
The draft emphasises attempts to reduce discrimination against people suffering from the disease and urges states to take specific action to boost prevention and treatment.
Proposals to reduce HIV transmission in prisons should include "proven and effective harm reduction strategies, such as safe needle exchanges and condom distribution, AIDS education, voluntary and confidential testing for HIV infection, adequate ... counselling and awareness programmes", according to the text.
The US wants needle exchange removed because it is against federal policy, although the practice is approved in some parts of the country, officials said.
"We would not be in a position to support the references in the agenda now, neither the specific reference to needle exchange programmes or the reference to harm reduction strategies," a US official said on the sidelines of the conference.
"We believe there's insufficient evidence to establish the effectiveness of needle exchange programmes, we think there's some evidence that they lead to increased drug abuse, certainly of heroin," he added.
The US also wants "harm reduction" dropped because it believes the term is synonymous with clean needle supply.
But the Red Cross, supported notably by The Netherlands and Brazil, is adamant that needle exchanges are effective in preventing new infections by stopping drug users from sharing infected syringes.
They are also necessary to stop the stigma associated with AIDS, according to supporters.
"Nowhere is the gap between a humanitarian response based on compassion and scientific evidence, and the inadequacies of actual practices, more evident than in the inhumane treatment of injected drug users," said Juan Manuel Suarez del Toro, president of the Red Cross federation.
"This is happening despite research on best practices being overwhelmingly in favour of programmes that lessen vulnerability to HIV among injecting drug users, such as needle exchange and drug substitution treatment," he added.
The agency, in a report in May, had accused "faith-based and other prominent organisations" as hampering the fight against the disease, claiming they stigmatised people with HIV/AIDS and thwarted better prevention.
An estimated five million people will become infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, this year, according to the United Nations.
Forty million people will be living with the infection, while another three million people will have died as a result of AIDS.
031204
AF031242
©AFP 2003. All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission. obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP photos or materials. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP stories, photos or graphics. - http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2003. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2003 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
