WORLD AIDS DAY / ADVANCER (03:45)

30 November 2009

WORLD AIDS DAY / ADVANCER (03:45)

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé talks about the state of the global AIDS epidemic and prospects for finding a vaccine. 1 December is World AIDS Day. UNAIDS / FILE

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Full Script

STORY: WORLD AIDS DAY / ADVANCER
TRT: 3.45
SOURCE: UNAIDS / UNICEF / PAHO / UNDP / UNIFEM 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 17 NOVEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – PAHO – 2007-2008, LOCATION UNKNOWN

1.     Med shot, patient and doctor walking toward a mobile lab for HIV test 
2.     Med shot, patient and doctor get into the mobile lab for HIV test 
3.     Med shot, nurse getting blood sample for HIV test

FILE – UNICEF – 15-19 SEPTEMBER 2009, OHANGWENA DISTRICT, NAMIBIA

4. Various shots, child getting his blood tested

FILE – UNDP – 27-29 NOVEMBER 2008, KASSALA, SUDAN

5. Close up, HIV rapid testing kits 
6. Med shot, medical technician doing tests

FILE – UNICEF – 15-19 SEPTEMBER 2009, OHANGWENA DISTRICT, NAMIBIA

7. Various shots, health workers processing ARV medicine

FILE – PAHO – 2007-2008, LOCATION UNKNOWN

8.  Med shot, nurse giving medicines to a HIV patient

FILE – UNICEF – 23-25 NOVEMBER 2008, DOUALA AND YAOUNDE, CAMEROON

9.     Close up, son taking medicine
10.     Wide shot, mother with son taking medicine
11.     Close up, son drinking water

UNAIDS – 17 NOVEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“According to the latest HIV data we have just released, the HIV epidemic appears to have peaked in 1996, when 3.5 million new infections occurred. In 2008, the estimated number of new HIV infections was about 30 percent lower, which is showing clearly that we are making progress, we are reducing the number of new infection, we are reducing also the number of new deaths, due to expansion of course of treatment. But overall, the epidemic appears to have stabilized in most region, except Eastern Europe and Central Asia and some part of Asia.”

FILE – UNDP – RECENT, ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

13. Various shots, people in street

FILE – UNICEF – 24 NOVEMBER 2008, KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

14. Med shot, drug users coming out of house 
15. Med shot, drug users sitting around fire

FILE – UNICEF – 6-13 FEBRUARY 2009, MALDIVES

16. Close up, a highly drugged addict

FILE – UNIFEM – MARCH 2009, ANGELES CITY, THE PHILIPPINES

17. Med shot, female sex workers outside bar
18. Med shot, female sex worker leading man towards bar 
19. Zoom out, woman demonstrating condom use for sex workers
20. Close up, female sex worker laughing
 
FILE – PAHO – MARCH 28 2009, GUAYAQUIL, ECUADOR

21. Med shot, doctor calling transgender patient and walking into examining room
22. Med shot, group of people waiting at health clinic 
23. Med shot, doctor examining male patient

UNAIDS – 17 NOVEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“At least 80 countries have legislation prohibiting same-sex behavior. The criminalization of homosexual behavior fuels the spread of HIV, creating obstacles for men who have sex with men to access HIV prevention, treatment and support services. Homophobia simply blocks the AIDS response.”

FILE – UNICEF –MARCH 2009, KIKULA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

25.     Wide shot, outreach worker walking inside a home 
26.     Wide shot, outreach worker with mother and father

UNAIDS – 17 NOVEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

27. SOUNDBITE (French) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“Every time we put two people on treatment, we continue to see five new infections.”

FILE – UNICEF – 6-10 JULY 2008 / BOUAKE AND ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE

28. Pan left, women and children entering center

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2008, MASERU, LESOTHO

29. Med shot, mothers in waiting room

FILE – UNICEF – 6 NOVEMBER 2008, ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA

30. Med shot, nurse wrapping blue rubber band around arm of pregnant woman
31. Close up, needle drawing blood from arm

FILE – UNICEF – 6-10 JULY 2008 / BOUAKE AND ABIDJAN, COTE D'IVOIRE

32. Close up, baby
33. Close up, pricking baby’s foot for PCR test
34. Close up, nurse’s face
35. Close up, blood spot from baby’s foot

FILE – UNICEF – DECEMBER 2008, QACHA'S NEK DISTRICT, LESOTHO

36.  Wide shot, mother pulling back blanket from two sleeping babies

UNAIDS – 17 NOVEMBER 2009, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

37. SOUNDBITE (French) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“We still have to keep up the momentum created by the announcement of the trials in Thailand. It is important to stay on this path, and to ensure that we can have a vaccine. The discovery of a vaccine is important because the fight against infectious disease is not won until we are able to also put an end to the epidemic.”

FILE – PAHO – 2007-2008, LOCATION UNKNOWN

38. Med shot, doctor talking beside a hospital bed with a HIV patient

STORYLINE:

Ahead of this year’s World AIDS Day (1 December), the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) had mixed news to share.

According to data released last week in the 2009 AIDS epidemic update, new HIV infections have been reduced by 17 percent over the past eight years, with the most progress seen in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fewer children are born with HIV and more than four million people are on treatment, thanks to better access to anti-retrovirals.

There are now more people living with HIV than ever before. UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) estimate that since effective treatment became available in 1996, some 2.9 million lives have been saved.

In an interview for UNifeed, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé said the epidemic seems to have stabilized in most regions.

SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“According to the latest HIV data we have just released, the HIV epidemic appears to have peaked in 1996, when 3.5 million new infections occurred. In 2008, the estimated number of new HIV infections was about 30 percent lower, which is showing clearly that we are making progress, we are reducing the number of new infection, we are reducing also the number of new deaths, due to expansion of course of treatment. But overall, the epidemic appears to have stabilized in most region, except Eastern Europe and Central Asia and some part of Asia.”

But UNAIDS is concerned that 28 years into the epidemic, the virus continues to make inroads into new populations, and stigma and discrimination undermine efforts to fight its spread.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on ‘all countries to live up to their commitments to enact or enforce legislation outlawing discrimination against people living with HIV and members of vulnerable groups.’

In his message for World AIDS Day, Ban notes that discrimination against sex workers, drug users and men who have sex with men only fuels the epidemic and prevent cost-effective interventions.

Sidibé is adamant that punitive laws need to go.

SOUNDBITE (English) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“At least 80 countries have legislation prohibiting same-sex behavior. The criminalization of homosexual behavior fuels the spread of HIV, creating obstacles for men who have sex with men to access HIV prevention, treatment and support services. Homophobia simply blocks the AIDS response.”

Another concern is that according to UNAIDS and WHO, the face of the epidemic is changing. Prevention efforts, for example to target people over 25 or those in stable relationships, are not keeping pace with the shift.

SOUNDBITE (French) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“Every time we put two people on treatment, we continue to see five new infections.”

UNAIDS and WHO have found that the impact of the AIDS response is high where HIV prevention and treatment programs have been integrated with other health and social welfare services.

Early evidence shows that HIV may be a significant factor in maternal mortality. Antiretroviral therapy has made a significant impact in preventing new infections in children. Around 200 000 new infections have been avoided since 2001, as more HIV- positive mothers gain access to treatment preventing them from transmitting the virus to their children.

Ultimately however, Sidibé told UNifeed that the only way to truly end the AIDS epidemic is to find an effective vaccine.

Asked about the reported breakthrough in recent trials conducted in Thailand, he said that it was too soon to announce the arrival of an actual vaccine, but that the momentum created by the announcement should be sustained.

SOUNDBITE (French) Michel Sidibé, Executive Director, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS):
“We still have to keep up the momentum created by the announcement of the trials in Thailand. It is important to stay on this path, and to ensure that we can have a vaccine. The discovery of a vaccine is important because the fight against infectious disease is not won until we are able to also put an end to the epidemic.”

According to latest UNAIDS and WHO data, 33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide; 2.7 million were newly infected in 2008; and two million died of AIDS related illness in 2008.

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