Red Cross Pushes HIV Precautions for Relief Workers
The International Red Cross Federation is urging relief workers to pay particular attention to HIV in disaster relief efforts, USA Today reports (usatoday.com, 6/26).
According to a 250-page report published by the Red Cross on June 26, 2.1 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2007 compared with a 10-year low of 23,000 killed by natural and man-made disasters such as plane crashes, storms and earthquakes.
The document advises that workers should ensure access to HIV treatment during relief efforts, protect women and children from rape and increase their efforts to screen blood, which Red Cross Special Representative for HIV and AIDS Mukesh Kapila acknowledges isn’t always a top priority.
“They may run out of the reagent in order to test, or they may consider it a low-prevalence society and therefore take the risk,” Kapila told USA Today. “It only takes one person to contaminate the supply.”
NEW! Scroll down to comment on this story.
Please click OK to confirm your comment and confirm you accept our posting rules. Note your message will be reviewed by our staff before going live.
People in neighborhoods all over New
York City recognize C. Virginia Fields. For nearly 20 years she played
several major roles in city government—including a seven-year term as
Manhattan Borough President and a run for mayor. Now, as the new
president and CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
(NBLCA), she brings her political energy to a different campaign:
Battling HIV/AIDS in the African-American community.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"My first son was born naturally—a month early—and was 8 lbs 7 ounces. I had to work that day and offloaded an 18 wheeler with an electric pallet jack so maybe all that vibration got me started. All four of my kids took AZT and didn't really mind it at all. I would recommend having a nipple put aside just for this because sticking the suction thingy in their mouths did not work so well, for me anyway."
