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6:40pm Wednesday 8th June 2011

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• By Steven Bell

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A YOUNG dancer from Beetham faced with a complex operation to treat a dangerous back condition is on the mend after finding alternative treatment.

Four years ago, Catherine Davis, 15, was diagnosed with scoliosis which causes the spine to curve excessively sideways.

Fatal heart and lung problems can result if it is left untreated and sufferers usually have to endure nine-hour spinal fusion surgery to recover.

Fusion surgery involves the insertion of metal rods either side of the spine before it fuses solid.

Following appointments with specialists and orthopaedic consultants, Catherine was told the only way of treating her condition was by having the operation.

But Catherine’s mother, Maggie, was determined her daughter would avoid the risky procedure and set about doing her own research.

Despite being told Catherine’s condition could not be treated with physiotherapy, Mrs Davis came across a specialist clinic called Scoliosis SOS, based in Suffolk.

After meeting with clinicians, she arranged for Catherine to undergo an intensive course of specialist therapy using a combination of non-surgical treatments known as the ScolioGold method.

And after completing the month-long course, Catherine’s condition stabilised.

She also made significant improvements in her posture, physical appearance and lung capacity.

With a new spring in her step, the brave teenager returned home to South Lakeland and is now preparing dance routines for summer shows.

Catherine said: “When I was told I had scoliosis, my whole world fell down around me.

“I lost so much confidence and I thought my only option was to undergo major surgery.

“I can remember thinking that I just wanted the nightmare to be over. That was when mum told me about the SOS clinic.

“I didn’t even stop to think that it might not work – I just saw it as my ticket out of having surgery.”

For Catherine, the change has been dramatic. She said: “My life has completely changed. I feel like I have some control back.”

The keen ballet dancer is now able to practice with friends at dance school without feeling exhausted after a few minutes.

Catherine wants more sufferers to be aware of the ScolioGold method.

She said: “I wish that surgeons would recommend this treatment to their patients as so many young children could do these exercises rather than having dangerous surgery.”

Mrs Davis said: “Catherine has come such a long way during the past few months. She has changed from a child into a young lady.

“If it wasn’t for the clinic she would not have regained her confidence and she would still be facing major spinal fusion surgery.”

Scoliosis SOS was founded five years ago by Erika Maude who has the condition.

“It is the only clinic in the world to offer such treatment and has brought relief to hundreds of people.

More than four per cent of people in Britain have scoliosis.

Comments(1)

<!–worldsgonemad, Kendal says… //–>
worldsgonemad, Kendal says…

8:13pm Wed 8 Jun 11

Did this really need to be so dramatic and alarmist? Yes, if scoliosis is SEVERE it needs treatment with a big operation as mentioned but many people don’t. It’s not that common that it’s FATAL either.

I just hope some parent doesn’t read this who has a child who has recently be diagnosed with this and is scared by the poor journalism here.

Did this really need to be so dramatic and alarmist? Yes, if scoliosis is SEVERE it needs treatment with a big operation as mentioned but many people don’t. It’s not that common that it’s FATAL either.

I just hope some parent doesn’t read this who has a child who has recently be diagnosed with this and is scared by the poor journalism here.

Comment now! Register or sign in below.

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6:40pm Wednesday 8th June 2011

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• By Steven Bell

  »

  Reporter

A YOUNG dancer from Beetham faced with a complex operation to treat a dangerous back condition is on the mend after finding alternative treatment.

Four years ago, Catherine Davis, 15, was diagnosed with scoliosis which causes the spine to curve excessively sideways.

Fatal heart and lung problems can result if it is left untreated and sufferers usually have to endure nine-hour spinal fusion surgery to recover.

Fusion surgery involves the insertion of metal rods either side of the spine before it fuses solid.

Following appointments with specialists and orthopaedic consultants, Catherine was told the only way of treating her condition was by having the operation.

But Catherine’s mother, Maggie, was determined her daughter would avoid the risky procedure and set about doing her own research.

Despite being told Catherine’s condition could not be treated with physiotherapy, Mrs Davis came across a specialist clinic called Scoliosis SOS, based in Suffolk.

After meeting with clinicians, she arranged for Catherine to undergo an intensive course of specialist therapy using a combination of non-surgical treatments known as the ScolioGold method.

And after completing the month-long course, Catherine’s condition stabilised.

She also made significant improvements in her posture, physical appearance and lung capacity.

With a new spring in her step, the brave teenager returned home to South Lakeland and is now preparing dance routines for summer shows.

Catherine said: “When I was told I had scoliosis, my whole world fell down around me.

“I lost so much confidence and I thought my only option was to undergo major surgery.

“I can remember thinking that I just wanted the nightmare to be over. That was when mum told me about the SOS clinic.

“I didn’t even stop to think that it might not work – I just saw it as my ticket out of having surgery.”

For Catherine, the change has been dramatic. She said: “My life has completely changed. I feel like I have some control back.”

The keen ballet dancer is now able to practice with friends at dance school without feeling exhausted after a few minutes.

Catherine wants more sufferers to be aware of the ScolioGold method.

She said: “I wish that surgeons would recommend this treatment to their patients as so many young children could do these exercises rather than having dangerous surgery.”

Mrs Davis said: “Catherine has come such a long way during the past few months. She has changed from a child into a young lady.

“If it wasn’t for the clinic she would not have regained her confidence and she would still be facing major spinal fusion surgery.”

Scoliosis SOS was founded five years ago by Erika Maude who has the condition.

“It is the only clinic in the world to offer such treatment and has brought relief to hundreds of people.

More than four per cent of people in Britain have scoliosis.

Comments(1)

<!–worldsgonemad, Kendal says… //–>
worldsgonemad, Kendal says…

8:13pm Wed 8 Jun 11

Did this really need to be so dramatic and alarmist? Yes, if scoliosis is SEVERE it needs treatment with a big operation as mentioned but many people don’t. It’s not that common that it’s FATAL either.

I just hope some parent doesn’t read this who has a child who has recently be diagnosed with this and is scared by the poor journalism here.

Did this really need to be so dramatic and alarmist? Yes, if scoliosis is SEVERE it needs treatment with a big operation as mentioned but many people don’t. It’s not that common that it’s FATAL either.

I just hope some parent doesn’t read this who has a child who has recently be diagnosed with this and is scared by the poor journalism here.

Comment now! Register or sign in below.

Or

Log in with

Washington (CNN) — Celebrities and a medical researcher want to convince the Defense Department this week that meditation could help the increasing number of military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Star-studded events in New York and Washington are bringing together people experienced in transcendental meditation with soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Designer Donna Karan hosted a reception in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, and movie director David Lynch (“Blue Velvet,” “Mulholland Drive”) and CNN anchor and correspondent Candy Crowley will headline a Washington event Wednesday to kick off a campaign the sponsors hope will teach 10,000 veterans how to meditate.

A Georgetown Medical School clinical professor, Dr. Norman Rosenthal, said he has the facts, figures and testimonials to show that meditation can be a low-cost, low-risk alternative to strong narcotics often prescribed by government doctors.

The Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs “are big institutions,” Rosenthal said in a telephone interview. “Our hope is someone will raise an eyebrow and say, “Well, well.”

He includes case studies in his new book, “Transcendence-healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation.”

In one case, he quotes a Marine gunner on a Humvee who saw heavy fighting in Iraq. The Marine wrote that PTSD symptoms disrupted his sleep and derailed his family life upon his return to the United States, but “TM (transcendental meditation) has helped with organizing, prioritizing and just being calmer overall. I just feel better.”

Rosenthal says a simple seven-step process has quick results. “What do we have to lose? It is so cheap, and it is safe,” he told CNN.

The military, meanwhile, is facing a number of challenges over the use of powerful drugs prescribed for a variety of stress-related ailments, with increased risk of sometimes deadly, accidental overdoses. The Army’s assistant surgeon general, Brig. Gen. Richard Thomas, told CNN recently that he thinks there has been over-reliance on prescription drugs.

“It reflects how we are in society. We do have a tendency to rely on prescription meds,” he said.

And the Pentagon, according to Thomas, is receptive to nondrug treatments.

“Whether it be acupuncture or biofeedback or yoga therapy, there is a host of other things we can provide to patients to take care of them right, other than narcotics,” Thomas said at the Pentagon. “Narcotics may still have a role, but it doesn’t have as big a role and there are alternatives, and that’s the key.”

Rosenthal said he and his fellow researchers, who published their findings in the journal Military Medicine, found that meditation can help an individual control emotions and thoughts and deal with common PTSD complaints of anxiety, depression, sleeplessness and anger.

He compares his latest efforts to win government support to his early uphill battle researching and publicizing his findings after he first diagnosed seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.

His research on military PTSD and meditation has a pilot study of five veterans. He brushes aside any suggestions that this is too small a sample.

“When you get a powerful intervention, you see a signal,” Rosenthal said. “And how do you get interest without a pilot study?”

His book says of 1.64 million U.S. military personnel sent to the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones between 2001 and 2008, one in seven met criteria for PTSD.

“Half of these veterans had never sought any kind of help for their symptoms, probably because of the stigma of being labeled with a psychiatric disorder,” Rosenthal wrote. “Of those who sought help, half received inadequate treatment.”

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Most mornings mean a trip to Victor Ashe Park for Carrie Weaver.  It’s also a chance for Pretty and Rosie Weaver to get off the leash.

“Oh Lord, you try keeping two dogs cooped up in an apartment!  You’ve go to do something,” Weaver said.  “They’re my babies, they’re just like my kids.”  

But this time of the year especially, a thick mosquito population makes Pretty and Rosie high heartworm targets, especially if they’re not on medication.  Dogs are especially vulnerable to to the heart-attacking worm.

The American Heartworm Society, a group of veterinarians said cases of the parasite are growing, especially in the Southeast.  

“We’ll see, on average, probably 4 or 5 cases per year,” Dr. Andrew Skelley of the Emory Animal Hospital in Powell said.

While Dr. Skelley is skeptical, there are growing concerns the parasite is becoming resistant to traditional preventative medicines.

At this point, the American Heartworm Society said they’re looking into whether medicine is still as effective as it should be, but they do not feel there is enough scientific evidence to suggest certain strains of heartworm are no longer killed off by medication.  The organization does admit there is anecdotal and some scientific evidence that some strains of the parasite react differently to medication than others.

“Really, it comes down to if you have your dog on heartworm preventative, it’s very, very rare for your dogs to get heartworm,” Skelley said.

While more dogs are being reported with heartworm all over the country, Skelley’s seeing about the same number as he ever has.  That comes despite high temperatures and what was a wet early spring in East Tennessee, perfect breeding weather for mosquitoes.

“Then they (mosquitoes) bite the next animal, those baby heartworms can be injected.”

Dog lovers like Weaver say they’re confident in the meds and confident their mornings as the dog park will keep coming for years.

“They go to the vet regularly, that’s all I can say really,” Weaver said.

Even if they do get bit by the right bug, heartworm is typically easy to treat if caught quickly.

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BEIJING – Historical experts have criticized the commercial orientation of the selection of China’s intangible national treasures.

Yuan Li, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Arts, said that cultural heritage should not be selected according to its commercial value.

China now considers 1,219 of its cultural practices as “intangible” national treasures after adding 191 candidates, according to a new list published by the State Council, China’s Cabinet.

Folk literature, traditional music, dancing, opera, arts and crafts, folk customs, acrobatic performances and the traditional medicine of ethnic groups are on the newly-amended list.

Yuan said that due to an over-emphasis on commercial value, brand-name teas, gourmet foods and alcohol often dominate the list, while practices and products that bear lesser commercial value stand little chance of being added to the list.

Emphasis should be placed upon the uniqueness and rarity of the practices and products added to the list, Yuan said, suggesting that large, modern companies should be left off the list, while individual practitioners and craftsmen should be included.

Qi Qingfu, a member of the working committee on intangible cultural heritage protection, said that although market-oriented production of some intangible national treasures is conducive to their protection, priority should be placed on protection, rather than production.

“If ‘hand-made’ crafts are instead produced by machinery, they are no longer an intangible national treasure,” said Qi.

The Tibetan tang-ka, a painted banner traditionally hung in monasteries or family altars, is an excellent example. It can take painters up to one year to finish a single tang-ka, but the banners are now produced en masse by printing machines to meet market demand.

Ma Shengde, director of the intangible cultural heritage department of the Ministry of Culture,  said that the production of intangible cultural heritage items should be observed to ensure that the items are all hand-made.

China’s intangible cultural heritage list is created through a vetting process that includes recommendations by local cultural departments, assessments by experts and public reviews.

The State Council published its first 518-item list in 2006. The list included acupuncture, Shaolin-style kung fu and Peking opera. Another 510-item list was unveiled in 2008.

The publicization of the list was intended to give financial support for the protection of the items on the list and to increase awareness among the public of the value of the country’s intangible cultural heritage.

In 2005, the State Council proclaimed that the second Saturday of June would be annually celebrated as China Cultural Heritage Day.

1:30pm Saturday 11th June 2011

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THERE will be plenty of late-night wandering around Wycombe for the third year running as a fundraising midnight walk comes to the town next month.

Women from the age of 16 upwards can participate in the 12 ½ mile sponsored Wycombe Wander raising money for the South Bucks Hospice and Scannapeal.

The hospice offers support to patients with life limiting illnesses such as cancer and provides physical, psychological and social care to patients.

A previous participant in the wander and ex-patient of the hospice, Janet Day raised £1,700 for the charities when she did the walk with her daughter.

She said of the care she received: “Walking into the hospice for my alternative treatment was like being enfolded in wonderful marshmallow arms.

“It was a great feeling to be part of the Wycombe Wander”

Scannapeal raises money for vital medical equipment for hospitals in Buckinghamshire.

Sandra Salter a Scannapeal supporter for 13 years also took part in the wander last year and has fond memories. She said: “What stood out for us was the organisation of the whole event and the very
supportive atmosphere every step of the way” The 12 journey begins and ends at Wycombe Wanderers ground, Adams Park.

On completion of the walk the participants will be served breakfast which is included in the £15 entry fee which includes t-shirt, sponsor forms, hints and tips, a training programme plus a medal
to take home.

Registration for the event on July 2 is open until Friday, June 24. For more information email info@wycombewander.org.uk or call Scanappeal on 01494 734161.

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Alternative health basics

What is alternative medicine? Acupuncture, meditation, Reiki, aromatherapy — these are just a few of the practices considered to be complementary and alternative medicine.

About 40 percent of American adults currently use some type of alternative therapy to relieve stress, help manage health conditions, or just promote general wellness.

Although complementary medicine and alternative medicine are often thought of together, they are distinct: Complementary medicine works in conjunction with traditional medicine, while alternative medicine is used as a substitute for traditional therapy.

There are many benefits to using alternative treatments, but it’s best to talk to your doctor first.

- Defining complementary and alternative medicine

Complementary medicine is used in conjunction with more traditional remedies; alternative medicine is used by itself.

Complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM, is a category of medicine that includes a variety of treatment approaches that fall outside the realm of conventional medicine.

An increasing amount of research is being done to establish the safety and efficacy of alternative medicine. But compared with traditional “”Western”" therapies such as drugs, research on alternative medicine is still limited.

- Complementary and alternative medicine: what’s the difference?

It is important to understand the difference between complementary medicine and alternative medicine — the two approaches are often lumped together but are, in fact, distinct.

Complementary medicine refers to healing practices and products that work in conjunction with traditional medicine. For example, a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy may also undergo acupuncture (and homeopathy) to help manage chemo side effects like nausea and vomiting.

Alternative medicine differs in that it is not used as a complement to, but rather as a substitute for traditional therapy. An example would be a cancer patient who forgoes recommended chemotherapy and instead chooses to treat the disease with specific dietary changes.

There is a third category that also often gets lumped in with conventional and alternative medicine — integrative medicine. Integrative medicine draws from both complementary medicine and alternative medicine and combines these with traditional Western therapies, says Donald Abrams, MD, director of clinical programs for the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

- Complementary and alternative medicine: who’s using it?

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) recently surveyed Americans on their use of complementary and alternative medicine. The survey, which gathered information from more than 20,000 adults and nearly 10,000 children, found that about 40 percent of adults and 12 percent of children use some form of complementary and alternative medicine.

Women, people ages 40 to 60, and adults with higher levels of education and income tended to use complementary and alternative therapies more frequently. There have been considerable increases in the number of people using common forms of complementary and alternative medicine, such as yoga, meditation, acupuncture, and massage therapy.

Complementary and alternative medicine: what are the categories?

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) recognizes five main categories of complementary and alternative medicine:

- Mind-body medicine. Mind-body medicine includes treatments that focus on how our mental and emotional status interacts and affects the body’s ability to function. Examples include meditation and various therapies expressed through art and music.

- Whole medical systems. This category refers to complete systems of medical theory and practice, many of which go back thousands of years and have roots in non-Western cultures.

Examples include traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, a therapy that originated in India. Whole medical systems from the West include homeopathy and naturopathy.

- Manipulative and body-based practices. Relying on the physical manipulation of the body, this practice is intended to improve specific symptoms and overall health. Examples of these practices include chiropractic and osteopathy.

- Energy medicine. This form of alternative medicine uses energy fields to promote healing. Biofield therapies affect energy fields that are said to encircle the human body — forms include Reiki and qi gong.

Bioelectromagnetic-based therapies, such as magnet therapy, involve the manipulation of electromagnetic fields.

- Biologically based practices. Since the focus is on herbs, nutrition, and vitamins, dietary supplements and herbal medicine are perhaps the most common forms of biologically based complementary and alternative medicine.

A growing interest in these kinds of therapies is leading to more research, but many of these biologically based practices have yet to be thoroughly tested.

If you are considering using complementary or alternative therapy, make sure you consult with your regular doctor and do some research before your first session.

(Source: everydayhealth)

Rhiannon Tracey became a quadriplegic after diving headfirst into a pool while on holiday in Bali.

Eighteen months on, she is not only walking again but has also joined two other young quadriplegics – Josh Wood and Irwin Vale – to buy a $15,000 licence to open Project Walk Melbourne.

Ms Tracey sought out the US-based centre after refusing to believe she would never walk again, saying: “I was in a really dark place before I went over to Project Walk.

“But when I got there it was a complete turnaround. They treat you like a normal person and not as if you have a disability.”

Ms Tracey said Project Walk focused on stimulating the nervous system through exercise and weight activities.

But her two trips to the US centre came at a huge cost to her family, who spent more than $90,000 on travel and treatment.

Ms Tracey said a Melbourne non-profit centre would offer alternative treatment outside the hospital system to the seven people admitted to Austin Hospital’s spinal ward each week.

She said she and her centre partners needed to raise more than $500,000 to open it but that it would then “fund itself”.

Project Walk Melbourne will hold a gala ball fundraiser on July 23 at The Centre, 275 Upper Heidelberg Rd, Ivanhoe.

Details: projectwalkmelbourne.org

SIHA DISTRICT, Tanzania—Maria Paulo sat on a bench in the middle of the playground outside the children’s tuberculosis ward at the Kibong’oto National TB Hospital, adjusting her red shúkà wrap and bobbing her 3-year-old grandson, Musa, on her knee. She had brought Musa to the TB hospital from their Maasai village, after both traditional medicine and a two-month stint in the Monduli District Hospital had failed to cure him. Musa’s advanced TB, which Maria said he probably contracted from his father, was diagnosed with an X-ray. “His lungs were black,” she said. Treating the Maasai has been a particular challenge, since many believe that AIDS, TB, and other ailments are “not for the Maasai,” and so they do not seek treatment until they are very sick, if ever, doctors told me.

The nomadic lifestyle of the Maasai and their trust in traditional medicine hinder attempts to provide them with modern medical treatment. “The situation at the hospital is not like home, but Musa is getting better, so I forget about all my other problems,” Maria told me. At home, Maria lives in a polygamist household, but at the hospital she is her grandson’s sole caretaker, sleeping on a bed next to him in the pediatric TB ward. The room was airy and bright, with knotted mosquito nets dangling over the bed. Kibong’oto is surprisingly cheery: The lush, well-manicured grounds are bisected by swept red paths and dotted with tidy cinder-block buildings with green metal roofs. The hospital, which has 340 beds, opened as a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1926, when it was thought that the fresh air at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro would heal the patients, who came to the hospital from around British East Africa. “There were no TB meds then,” said Dr. Liberate John, the hospital’s administrator. “They thought that sunlight would kill the bacilla.”

Today, the TB epidemic looks very different. HIV and tuberculosis often march in tandem, with the former fueling the spread of the latter. In 1983, before HIV really took hold in Tanzania, 11,750 people were diagnosed with TB, according to government statistics. Today there are 64,267 diagnosed cases. Together, HIV and TB kill around 91,000 people in Tanzania each year, according to UNAIDS and WHO statistics. In Tanzania, 30 percent of AIDS-related deaths are caused by TB, and some 20,000 TB patients are HIV-positive.

A two-hour drive away from Kibong’oto on the Maasai Steppe, the Mererani Health Center serves the mining town of Mererani, which has a much higher HIV rate than the surrounding area. Anywhere from 50 to 100 patients who have both HIV and TB visit the health center every day, center director Reginald Msaki said. The clinic opened in 2007 and serves as the main health facility for the town of 10,000 people. While most of Mererani’s Tanzanite miners come from around Tanzania and East Africa, some are drawn from the local Maasai community. “Some Maasai contract HIV in town and bring it back home, where it spreads among the community like wildfire,” Msaki said, blaming polygamy and the Maasai belief that HIV is for the non-Maasai. “The majority believe they can’t contract the disease, but those who have been counseled have changed their minds.” Mika Parasoi, a Maasai gem dealer interviewed on the dirt road outside the clinic, said no one in his family has ever been tested for HIV. “If someone was HIV-positive, we would prefer to use traditional medicine,” he said.

Traditional medicine has an enduring draw; consequently, it is a struggle to convince patients to stick with modern treatment. Standing in a breezy exterior hallway in Moshi’s Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center near the Child Centered Family Care Clinic where he spends his days, pediatrician Dr. Rahim Damji told me that for weeks this spring, the crowds that typically throng the outpatient HIV clinic at the hospital had thinned out. Many patients stopped taking their anti-retroviral medication after making the trek several hours away to visit a new traditional healer in Loliondo, Ambilikile Mwasapile, known simply as Babu. A retired Lutheran minister, Babu began to gain fame around East Africa last fall because of a herbal concoction—called mugariga—that he claims is a miracle cure for HIV and four other major ailments, including diabetes, hypertension, and epilepsy. Lines of SUVs and minibuses crawled along, stretching for miles as people—often very ill—tried to reach him. Some avoided the line by flying in on helicopters. Babu’s visitors included government officials such as Tanzania’s deputy minister for Water and Irrigation. (Babu even has a Facebook page, where people from as far away as Romania have reached out to him.)

Dr. Maya Maxym, an American pediatrician at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center with the Pediatric AIDS Corps, explained Babu’s draw: “People here have a very deep faith, and God is very present, real, and tangible in their lives,” she said. “So, the combination of religiosity and magical thinking creates a perfect niche for someone like Babu to come in and give people hope that their suffering can be taken away by a miracle.” People are willing to shell out two months’ salary to “go and drink a cup of hope.” The impact on HIV clinics around the area was noticeable. “People were coming here less and less. But now they’ve learned that these herbal medications are not working and are coming back to the hospital,” Damji said. “We have had to change some medication because of resistance.”

The Tanzanian government walks a fine line with traditional healers, allowing them now after banning them outright in 2009 after a number of albinos were killed for their body parts, which some witch doctors said could cure HIV. Dr. Deo Mtasiwa, chief medical officer with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, told me that people have the option of visiting traditional healers. “You’re allowed to go, but don’t hang out for too long. If the treatment is not working, go back and rejoin the modern medicine system,” he said, adding that the government requires traditional healers to register with them and evaluates their products for safety. “We don’t go into efficacy, but the product must be safe.” Some medicine doctors subtly push people toward modern medicine, telling their patients to take some herbs as well as a TB test.

Over the last seven years, treatment has scaled up in Tanzania—in 2004, essentially no one was receiving anti-retroviral therapy, and today more than 270,000 people are taking the drugs. With the arrival of ARVs, the landscape is changing. HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence. But the government is having a hard time delivering lifelong care to hundreds of thousands of people.

But new research illustrates the importance of getting as many people on anti-retroviral treatment as possible—provided it can be paid for. A study released in mid-May and funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health showed that early ARV treatment can severely reduce transmission and drop viral load to undetectable levels. The study followed 1,763 heterosexual couples with discordant HIV status from 2005 to 2010 in Botswana, Brazil, India, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, the United States, and Zimbabwe and found that people taking anti-retrovirals are 96 percent less likely to spread the virus to their HIV-negative partners. The results were so conclusive that NIH opted to end the study four years early. This means anti-retrovirals both treat and prevent HIV. Thanks to treatment and education campaigns, new infections in Tanzania have dropped to 100,000 per year, down from a high of 180,000 in 1993.

While 6 million people in the developing world are on ARVs today, another 9.35 million are in urgent need of treatment. On June 8, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asked governments to set a goal of putting 13 million people on anti-retroviral therapy by 2015. But, according to Doctors Without Borders, in private meetings, the United States and some European governments have voiced opposition, saying that it’s too ambitious a target in the aftermath of this economic downturn. Already, budget shortfalls in Italy have meant the country has not paid the $354 million it committed to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in 2009 and 2010, and it is on track to become the first country to renege on its pledge to the organization.

It took five years after testing positive for HIV for one woman I spoke with to visit a medical doctor. Zam Zam Haruna, 35, discovered she was HIV-positive in 2001, after her husband died of AIDS. After her diagnosis, she moved from Tabora, in western Tanzania, to the capital, Dar es Salaam, where she sought out a traditional healer. Despite all the painful injections she received and the many herbal concoctions she drank, she never got any better. Discouraged, she stopped seeing him after a year, but she waited until she was extremely ill to visit PASADA, a Catholic clinic in Dar es Salaam. She began taking anti-retroviral drugs there, and after tweaking the dosages and drug combinations several times, she is now much better and has married an HIV-positive man she met at the clinic, where she also volunteers in exchange for a $90 monthly stipend. When Zam Zam first went to PASADA “she was very sick—dying—but she’s much better now,” said Jovin Tesha, the clinic’s director of counseling.

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