Government and civil society representatives meet for a Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGASS) 25 to 27 June 2001 to consider an expanded response to HIV/AIDS. This policy forum estimates that by 2005, that response will require about US$9 billion annually, with half of these resources needed in sub-Saharan Africa. About US$4.8 billion is required for prevention including interventions focusing on youth, workplace programs, mother-to-child transmission and condom distribution. US$4.4 billion is needed for palliative care, treatment and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections, support for orphans, and antiretroviral therapy. One-third to one-half of these resources can come from domestic sources, both public and private, with the remainder needed from international sources.

To obtain information on sex behaviour of a large sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) in India that would assist in planning HIV prevention. Homosexual/bisexual behaviour of 6661 MSM at 62 urban–rural locations of various sizes in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh was assessed through detailed interview. Multivariate analyses were performed to understand the associations with unprotected penetrative sex and barriers to condom use assessed. The average number of different male sex partners in past 4 weeks was six. In last three sex encounters with men, totalling 19 640, anal sex occurred in 16 769, at least once by 6121 (91.9%) MSM of which 3423 [55.9%; 95% confidence interval (CI), 51.7–60.1%] did not use condom at least once. A total of 2785 (41.8%) were currently married to women and 3354 (50.4%) had had vaginal/anal sex with women in the past 3 months, of which 2818 (84%; 95% CI, 81.1–86.9%) did not use a condom. Furthermore, 1585 (25.9%; 95% CI, 22.7–29.1%) had anal sex without a condom with men and also vaginal/anal sex without a condom with women. This was prevalent across urban–rural locations and its strongest association was with currently married MSM (odds ratio 15.1; 95% CI, 12.5–18.2). The predominant reason for not using a condom with women was ‘do not use with regular partner’ (68.4%). This high rate of unprotected penetrative sex by MSM with both men and women suggests that HIV prevention efforts in India should include a focus on MSM as well as their wives across many urban–rural locations and not only in large cities.

Background: Heterosexual contact is the most common mode of HIV transmission in India that is largely linked to sex work. We assessed the non-use of condoms in sex work and with regular sex partners by female sex workers (FSWs), and identified its associations that could assist in planning HIV prevention programmes. Methods: Detailed documentation of various aspects of sex work, and sexual behaviour with regular sex partners, was done through confidential interviews for 6648 FSWs in 13 districts in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Multivariate analysis was done to understand condom non-use with clients. Results: 5010 (75.4%), 1499 (22.5%), and 139 (2.1%) FSWs were street-, home-, and brothel-based, respectively. Of the total 6648 FSWs, 6165 (92.7%) had penetrative vaginal/anal sex with at least one client in the last 15 days, and of these 2907 (47.2%; 95% CI 41.2–53.2%) reported non-use of condom with at least one of her last three clients. Lack of knowledge that HIV could be prevented (odds ratio 5.01; 95% CI 4.38–5.73), no access to free condoms (odds ratio 3.45; 95% CI 2.99–3.98), being street-based as compared with brothel-based (odds ratio 3.36; 95% CI 1.87–6.04), and no participation in FSW support groups (odds ratio 2.02; 95% CI 1.50–2.70) were the most significant predictors of condom non-use with clients. Other associations included lower social support, lower income, age >24 years, illiteracy, and living in medium-size urban or rural areas. Of the 2582 who had penetrative sex with regular sex partner within the last 7 days, 2428 (94%; 95% CI 92.1–95.9%) had not used condom at last sex, and 1032 (41.8%) had neither used condom consistently with clients nor with regular sex partner. Conclusion: About half the FSWs do not use condom consistently with their clients in this Indian state putting them at high risk of HIV infection. Non-brothel-based FSWs, who form the majority of sex workers in India, were at a significantly higher risk of HIV infection as compared with brothel-based FSWs. With their high vulnerability, the success of expansion of HIV prevention efforts will depend on achieving and sustaining an environment that enables HIV prevention with the non-brothel based FSWs.

Objetivo. Estimar la magnitud del reto de la diabetes en México y presentar propuestas de políticas públicas para su atención. Material y métodos. Análisis descriptivo de la información sobre diagnóstico previo de diabetes en adultos y adolescentes, de la Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición 2012 (ENSANUT 2012). Resultados. De los adultos en México, 9.17% ha recibido un diagnóstico de diabetes, con resultados heterogéneos entre estados: de 5.6% en Chiapas a 12.3% en el Distrito Federal. Del total de diabéticos, 46.95% reportó también diagnóstico de hipertensión, 4.47% antecedente de infarto del corazón y 54.46%, antecedentes familiares de diabetes. De los adolescentes, 0.68% ha sido ya diagnosticado con diabetes. Conclusiones. La gravedad de la epidemia de diabetes, así como el hecho de que se trata de una enfermedad prevenible, llama a fortalecer las estrategias para hacerle frente. El impacto que tiene sobre la calidad de vida de las personas que la padecen la convierte en un área prioritaria para el sector salud.

A strong, global commitment to expanded prevention programs targeted at sexual transmission and transmission among injecting drug users, started now, could avert 28 million new HIV infections between 2005 and 2015. This figure is more than half of the new infections that might otherwise occur during that period in 125 low- and middle-income countries. Although preventing these new infections would require investing about U.S.$122 billion over this period, it would reduce future needs for treatment and care. Our analysis suggests that it will cost about U.S.$3900 to prevent each new infection, but that this will produce a savings of U.S.$4700 in forgone treatment and care costs. Thus, greater spending on prevention now would not only prevent more than half the new infections that would occur from 2005 to 2015 but would actually produce a net financial saving as future costs for treatment and care are averted.

Introduction: Despite a growing body of scholarly research on the risks of severe COVID-19 associated with diabetes, hypertension and obesity, there is a need for estimating pooled risk estimates with adjustment for confounding effects. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled adjusted risk ratios of diabetes, hypertension and obesity on COVID-19 mortality. Methods: We searched 16 literature databases for original studies published between 1 December 2019 and 31 December 2020. We used the adapted Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess the risk of bias. Pooled risk ratios were estimated based on the adjusted effect sizes. We applied random-effects meta-analysis to account for the uncertainty in residual heterogeneity. We used contour-funnel plots and Egger’s test to assess possible publication bias. Results: We reviewed 34 830 records identified in literature search, of which 145 original studies were included in the meta-analysis. Pooled adjusted risk ratios were 1.43 (95% CI 1.32 to 1.54), 1.19 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.30) and 1.39 (95% CI 1.27 to 1.52) for diabetes, hypertension and obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m²) on COVID-19 mortality, respectively. The pooled adjusted risk ratios appeared to be stronger in studies conducted before April 2020, Western Pacific Region, low- and middle-income countries, and countries with low Global Health Security Index scores, when compared with their counterparts. Conclusions: Diabetes, hypertension and obesity were associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 mortality independent of other known risk factors, particularly in low-resource settings. Addressing these chronic diseases could be important for global pandemic preparedness and mortality prevention. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021204371.