Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - November 28, 2008
MOSCOW (AP) - A top Russian anti-AIDS coordinator is lambasting the government's approach to fighting HIV, saying the number of registered cases is growing 10 percent a year despite increased federal funding.
A misguided focus on treatment instead of prevention has undermined efforts to combat AIDS, said Vadim Pokrovsky, head of the state-funded Federal AIDS Center, on Nov. 20.
"It seems to me that we still have no national policy on fighting AIDS," Pokrovsky said. "We are running in place, and meanwhile HIV is spreading."
Each day about 130 new cases are registered in Russia, Pokrovsky said, estimating there are more than 1 million Russians infected with HIV. The number represents almost 1 percent of the country's population. Russia officially has registered less than half that number at 470,000.
Russian medical workers expressed concerns two years ago that the country faced a widening epidemic as HIV/AIDS spread beyond drug users, gay men and prostitutes into the larger population.
But some regional governors "have simply refused to acknowledge the problem of AIDS," Pokrovsky said. Others, assuming higher spending would make the problem go away, have done little to publicize the problem, he said.
"Everyone needs to understand that this is a threat to the nation," Pokrovsky said, "and it's necessary to mobilize as one would for war."
Amsterdam faces ingrained anti-gay violence: report
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Amsterdam faces an ingrained problem of violence against gay men, despite its reputation as a haven of tolerance, according to a study released Nov. 20. Town councilman Freek Ossel said the University of Amsterdam study, commissioned by the city, found the Dutch capital must improve protection of gays, increase education and encourage reporting of discriminatory incidents.
"Amsterdam's title as a gay capital, according to some people, has already been gone for years, and according to others in any case it's at stake," he said.
The study said 67 attacks were reported in Amsterdam in 2007. It found that most attacks were carried out spontaneously by poorly educated young men who feel their masculinity has been questioned.
Australian Sex Party backs gay marriage
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - The name may seem like a joke, but the Australian Sex Party is serious about sex, according to its slogan.
The country's newest political party also is serious about a number of other issues: pushing for the legalization of same-sex marriage; quashing a government proposal for a national Internet filter that would block 10,000 web sites; and instituting a new national sex education curriculum.
The party - launched Nov. 20 at Sexpo, an annual sex exhibition in Melbourne - has already gathered the required 500 members and plans to register with the electoral commission.
Israel sentences neo-Nazis for anti-gay attacks
JERUSALEM (AP) - An Israeli court has sentenced a group of local neo-Nazis to prison for a series of violent attacks committed last year.
Court spokesperson Ayelet Filo said the Tel Aviv district court sentenced the eight gang members, all immigrants from the former Soviet Union, to jail terms ranging up to seven years. The group attacked gays and Orthodox Jews and vandalized synagogues in central Israel. They filmed the attacks and posted the clips online.
In its sentencing statement Nov. 23, the court called the crimes "extremely severe and horrifying."
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