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Page A 8
Portland’s World
AIDS Response
continued
from Front
The M utare clinic is a
major tool in fighting HIV
and other healthcare con
cerns in a region o f Africa
severely im pacted by the
world AIDS epidem ic. The
clinic helps educate the Zim
babwe people in family plan
ning. HIV/AIDS prevention
and child care.
W orldw ide, 39 m illion
people are estimated to be
living with HIV, while 5 mil
lion were estimated to be in
fected with AIDS in 2004,
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Highland
Temple
Choir and
Soloist Calvin
Alimón
resulting in 3.1 million deaths.
In Zimbabwe, about 1 in 4
adults are infected with HIV
and about 2,500people die each
week o f AIDS. There are
nearly one million AIDS or
phans in the country, located
adjacent to South Africa.
In com parison, 930,000
cases of AIDS were diagnosed
in the United States through
2003 resulting in 524,060
deaths.
The world AIDS epidemic
is an on-going battle for people
all across the nations of the
world.
Pastor
Steven Holt
speaking
Reception
Follows
Saturday, December 3, 2005
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
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Holiday Memorial Service
Pastor - Steven Holt, Speaker
Reception Follows
Music by
Highland United Church of Christ Choir
and Soloist Calvin Alimón
Ross Hollywood and Little Chapel o f the Chimes
4733 NE Thompson St. .
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November212005
New Trends in AIDS/HIV World Epidemic
Disease expands,
but prevention
also pays off
(AP) — The global HIV epidemic con
tinues toexpand, with more than 40 million
people now estimated to have the AIDS
virus, but in some countries prevention
efforts are finally starting to pay off, the
United Nations says.
AIDS has killed more than 25 million
people since it was first recognized in 1981,
making it one of the most destructive epi
demics in history. An estimated 3.1 million
people died from the virus last year and
another 4.9 million people became infected,
according to a U.N. update published Mon
day.
The deaths and new infection estimates
were in line with those from last year,
when the total number of people living with
the virus was estimated at 39.4 million.
However, for the first time there is solid
evidence that increased efforts to combat
the disease over the last five years have led
to fewer new infections in some places,
said UNAIDS chief Peter Piot.
Previously improvements had been seen
in places such as Senegal, Uganda and
Canada’s Deborah Landey, deputy execu
tive director o f the United Nations program
on HIV/AIDS holds a copy o f a new report on
th e AIDS e p id e m ic . (AP p hoto)
Thailand, but those were rare exceptions.
“Now we have Kenya, several of the
Caribbean countries and Zimbabwe with a
decline,” Piot said, adding that Zimbabwe
is the first place in Southern Africa, the
hardest-hit area, to show improvement.
These are all countries that have in
vested heavily in safe-sex campaigns and
other prevention programs, with the result
that prevalence of HIV among the young
has declined.
Payday Loans Cost Millions
continued
from Front
Advance America, a publicly traded com
pany on the New York Stock Exchange and
based in South Carolina, has 9 stores in the
Portland area. Other lenders go by the
names Ace Cash, Any Day Payday, Cash
Connection and Cash. Most of the store
fronts also serve as Western Union check
cashing outlets.
OSPIRG found that the payday lenders
have lines o f credit financed by the
country’s major banking institutions, but
are not owned by the major banks.
The new report, Preying on Portlanders,
also provides an overview of the typical
structure o f a payday loan; a story of a
Portland family ’ s experience with the pay
day lending industry; a look at the payday
lending industry and its recent rapid
growth; a general look at the regulatory
scheme in the state of Oregon, and pro
vides guidance for policymakers who may
seek to protect consumers.
“Payday lenders have preyed on our
fellow citizens long enough,” said Callahan,
“It’s time for policymakers and regulators
to protect consumers by reining in the
predatory practices of payday lenders.”
Proposals to cap the costs of payday
loans and offer reasonable payment plans
failed in the last session of the Oregon
Legislature.
The Oregon Student Public Interest Re
search Group is a non-profit organization
focused on research and education.
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i
The most dramatic drops in prevalence
have been among pregnant women in ur
ban Kenya, where in some areas the pro
portion of pregnant women infected plum
meted from approximately 28 percent in
1999 to 9 percent in 2003.
In the Caribbean, declines are evident in
Barbados, the Bahamas and Bermuda,
Piot said.
In Zimbabwe HIV prevalence among
pregnant women in the capital Harare has
decreased from 35 percent in 1999 to 21
percent in 2004.
About 1 million HIV patients in the
developing world now are on treatment.
While that is just a small fraction of the
people needing treatment, the availability
of drugs has meant that people see a point
to getting tested for the virus, which is
crucial for prevention efforts. About
300,000 deaths were avoided last year
because of treatment, the report said.
Intravenous drug use and commercial
sex are fueling the epidemic in Asia, where
few countries are doing enough to inform
people about the danger of such behavior,
the report warned.
Worldwide, less than one in five people
at risk of becoming infected with HIV has
access to basic prevention services. Of
people living with HIV only one in 10 has
been tested and knows that he or she is
infected.
Medicare
Prescription
Forum Scheduled
A public forum to address concerns about
Medicare Part D, the new prescription drug
coverage, will be held Wednesday, Nov. 30 from
3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Multnomah Building
Boardroom, 501 S.E. Hawthorne.
The main focus of the session is “dual eligibil
ity” for people who are covered by both Medi
care or Medicaid and the Oregon Health Plan.
The program is sponsored by the Multnomah
County Disability Services Advisory Council, a
citizen’s advisory group. For more information
call Juliet at 503-232-7411.