#hemeroteca #gais #saludpublica #virueladelmono | Respuesta a la viruela del mono "es peor" que la que se dio al VIH

Una protesta de activistas en la Conferencia AIDS2022, Montreal //

Respuesta a la viruela del mono "es peor" que la que se dio al VIH.
RCI, 2022-08-01
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/es/noticia/1902514/respuesta-viruela-del-mono-peor-que-al-vih

Los científicos y activistas que asisten a la Conferencia Internacional sobre el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida (SIDA), que se lleva a cabo en Montreal, instaron este 31 de julio a los gobiernos de todo el mundo a que proporcionen más recursos para luchar contra la epidemia de viruela del mono.

Los expertos internacionales se reunieron este fin de semana para debatir la necesidad de evitar repetir los errores cometidos cuando llegó el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH).

La doctora Meg Doherty, directora de los programas de VIH, hepatitis y las infecciones de transmisión sexual de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), declaró a los periodistas que es fundamental adoptar un enfoque equitativo para garantizar que las herramientas necesarias para luchar contra la enfermedad estén disponibles no sólo en los países ricos, sino también en África, donde tradicionalmente se han registrado casos de la viruela del mono.

En los últimos meses se han detectado más de 19.000 casos de la enfermedad en 78 países, sobre todo en hombres que mantienen relaciones sexuales con otros hombres. Hasta el 29 de julio se habían notificado 803 de estos casos en Canadá.

En una declaración emitida en junio, el director general de la OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reconoció que las naciones africanas "han sido descuidadas en términos de investigación, atención y financiamiento".

«Esto debe cambiar, no sólo en el caso de la viruela del mono, sino también en el de otras enfermedades desatendidas en los países de bajos ingresos, ya que las enfermedades le recuerdan al mundo, una vez más, que la salud es una propuesta interconectada», dijo el jefe de la OMS.

Keletso Makofane, investigador de salud pública de la Universidad de Harvard, calificó la respuesta global de «peor que la respuesta inicial al VIH», afirmando que ya existe suficiente información sobre el virus como para poder contenerlo.

Por su parte, la profesora Marina Klein, directora de investigación de la División de Enfermedades Infecciosas y del Departamento de Enfermedades Virales Crónicas de la Universidad McGill, afirmó que se necesitan más estudios para comprender el alcance de la transmisión de la enfermedad.

#news #monkeypox | Monkeypox Activists Disrupt AIDS2022 with Rageful Protest

POZ / Monkeypox Activists Disrupt AIDS2022 //

Monkeypox Activists Disrupt AIDS2022 with Rageful Protest.
Mark S. King | POZ, 2022-08-01
https://www.poz.com/blog/watch-monkeypox-activists-disrupt-aids2022-rageful-protest

There was something more than the typical passion on display when activists stormed the plenary stage at AIDS2022 today to protest the slow monkeypox response by United States public health officials. The cries of the diverse crowd of protestors were urgent and inflammatory. Their demands felt deeply personal.

During a plenary session on monkeypox epidemiology and treatment, the activists stormed the stage just as Demetre Daskalakis of the CDC was about to speak. “Share the shot! Share the shot!” the activists chanted.

The focus of the activists’ ire was the low supply of available vaccines in the United States, and the fact vaccines that might have been used for men who have sex with men (the community most affected at this time) have been withheld.

“I’m sad to say, I feel like a refugee here in Canada,” said Asher McQueen, a trans man living in New York City, during the protest. ”I had to come all the way here to get a shot that I should be able to get in my very own city.” Montreal has already provided more than 10,000 vaccinations by setting up tents in predominantly gay neighborhoods.

“Everything for us in New York is community led,” McQueen continued. “We get no help.”

“We are facing a disease that has been present since the 1970s, and we are not prepared,” said speaker James Krellenstein, a gay man from Brooklyn who has been active in PrEP4All. “Why hasn’t the World Health Organization (WHO) formed a committee to figure out how to scale up vaccine production? We need to act now! You have an exponentially worsening outbreak that could have been prevented.”

“And Demetre,” Krellenstein said, turning to the CDC official Demetre Daskalakis sitting somewhere on the stage filled with activists, “I look forward to your presentation. The United States has refused to release the doses we need to protect our community. Montreal did it. Why can’t the United States? Fuck the racism and colonialism that allowed this outbreak to happen.”

“How many outbreaks do we have to go through to understand that global health is global? That infectious diseases are infectious?” Krellenstein shouted. “Shame on all of us for not preventing this outbreak!” Activists on stage chanted “Shame! Shame!”

After the activists relinquished the stage, Daskalakis praised their efforts, even if he didn’t answer their questions. Instead, Daskalakis focused in his presentation on the messaging of monkeypox and the CDC’s work to more specifically speak to men who have sex with men about their risks without burdening them with undue stigma.

Daskalakis did seem to suggest that new guidance from the CDC was underway, making some wonder if the CDC will join gay activists and writers who have urged gay men to put the brakes on higher risk sexual activities until vaccines are more widely available.