12.22.07
Good news from Nepal!
Nepal has long had laws against sodomy that have been traditionally used to targets gays, lesbians, transgendered people (sound familiar?) FIAR, NYBC’s sister organization, had the opportunity to help our friend Sunil Pant, get a start with a condom distribution program in Kathmandu that he quickly turned into a powerhouse of activism called the Blue Diamond Society.
The news from the BBC and information from Sunil below are the BEST Solstice gift I could have received!
George M. Carter
**
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7156577.stm
BBC NEWS
Nepal court rules on gay rights
Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to scrap laws that discriminate against homosexuals.
The court ordered that sexual minorities should be guaranteed the same rights as other citizens.
Campaigners said the ruling was a “huge victory”. Homosexuality is frowned upon in conservative South Asia.
Nepalese laws do not explicitly criminalise homosexuality, but an “unnatural sex act” currently carries a prison term of up to a year.
Human rights campaigners say the provision has been used to justify arrests of men who have sex with men and transgender people.
‘Encouraging’
Gay men and women and members of other sexual minorities have long complained of discrimination in Nepal.
In their ruling, two Supreme Court judges said: “The government of Nepal should formulate new laws and amend existing laws in order to safeguard the rights of these people.
“Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex are natural persons irrespective of their masculine and feminine gender and they have the right to exercise their rights and live an independent life in society.”
Activists said it was a landmark ruling.
“It’s a very encouraging and progressive decision. We all feel we are liberated today,” Sunil Babu Pant, the president of the Blue Diamond Society which campaigns for Nepal’s sexual minorities, told the AFP news agency.
“There were no specific laws to protect the rights of sexual minorities but the Supreme Court’s decision has opened the doors to enjoy our rights.”
Mr Pant said education, citizenship papers and jobs could now be given to people without them having to identify themselves as male or female, or giving their gender as “third sex”.
There was no immediate response from the government to Friday’s ruling.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7156577.stm
Published: 2007/12/21 18:03:00 GMT
© BBC MMVII
***— sunil pant wrote:
Dear All
With such joy I was loosing my senses and its very
natural to forget to theose who are closest to the
heart. I must recognized all the LGBTI and AIDS
activists around the world including Nepalese,
especially those at ILGA, ITPC, GNP+, ICW+, UNAIDS,
UNDP, NCASC, NHRC, USAID, SIDA, CREA, Sangini,
ILGA-ASIA. FIAR (Foundation for Integrative Aids
Research)George M Carter and Michael Daube are the
name I must not forget who donated condom/lube to me
to start outreach program in year 2000, when I
hardly
knew this day will come. Sangya and INSN,
British Embassy, French Embassy, Norwaigen Embassy,
US
Embassy, Global Rights, Worec, Human Rights Home,
Tewa,VSO,Peace Core and many more there. Ap rainbow,
LGBT India, Adis Asia, SOGI and many more are
there…
Thank for joining us, the LGBTI nepales yesterday,
today and tomorrow.
Also salute to my family (BDS and my own), partner,
and freinds who are very close my heart.
My big salute to all the volunteers (who say they
enjoy wokring with BDS and Nepalese LGBTI) for their
valuable support…..And there are more
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
In solidarity
Sunil Pant
— sunil pant wrote:
Great victory of Nepalese LGBTI !
Supreme Court of Nepal issued directive orders to
the Government of Nepal to end discrimination against
LGBTI and ensure equal rights as heterosexual men
and women in Nepal.
Four LGBTI organizations including Blue Diamond
Society had filed a writ petition in last April
2007(05/01/2064) demanding to defend and protect
equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
intersexed (LGBTI) people of Nepal. After having
heard 3 times over the last few months, Supreme Court of
Nepal has recognized LGBTIs today as natural
persons.
It is believed that LGBTI will enjoy, today onward, all the rights according their sexual and gender
identities as other genders enshrined by the
Constitution of Nepal and human rights conventions
in which Nepal is a State Party. The Court issued
directive orders to Nepal government to ensure
rights to life according to their own identities and
introduce laws providing equal rights to LGBTIs and
amend all the discriminatory laws against LGBTI’s
rights as well.
On the issue of same sex marriage, The Court has
also issued directive order to form a 7 member committee
(Doctor appointed by Health Ministry, one
representative from National Human rights
commission, law Ministry, socialist appointed by government of
Nepal, representative from Nepal police,
representative from Ministry of population and
environment and one advocate as a representative
from the LGBTI community) to conduct study about the
other countries’/international practice on the same sex
marriage. Based on the 7 member committee
recommendation government will make appropriate law.
We, all LGBTI Nepalese, are extremely happy and
proud on Supreme Court whose decision is extremely
progressive on such a difficult issue for our
society, especially on the matter of gender identity to the
possible extinct. This is the first time ever any
Supreme Court has spoken such a positive manner on
gender identity issues ever on the world. We salute
our honorable judges Balaram KC and Pawan Kumar
Ojha.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to
all friends, leaders, media, civil society,
international
support, political parties, OHCHR, ICJ, National
Human Rights commission, Human Rights Watch, FWLD,
Front Line Defenders, ILGHRC, Lawyers Collective,
Alternative law forum, NFI, Outrageous, ARC
international and our lawyers (Hari Phunyal- ICJ,
Rup Narayan Shrestha- FWLD, Hari Upreti, Bhuvan Niraula,
Sarmila Dhakal, Prem Rai-ICJ, Chandra Kanta
Gaywanli). I also salute our LGBTI communities who
have fought for years and stood for these rights
even in difficult times and situation, without whose
collective struggle it would have never been
possible.
We would like to express our hearty thanks to our
donors, LLH/Norad, HIVOS, Dutch Embassy, Astraea
Foundation, Sigrid Rausing Trust, CCOs, Sidaction,
Elton John Aids Foundation, FHI, PSI, DFID, Global
Fund for Women, Mama Cash, Urgent Action Fund, and
Butlars County and many more.
In solidarity
Sunil B Pant
Blue Diamond Society
Attached PIC by Usha Titikshu/SANGYA
group at the front yard of Supreme Court after the
historic decission.
www.insn.org
12.20.07
Fish Oil, Fenofibrates and Triglycerides
From POZ Magazine, reporting on a study:
12.18.07
Most Important CAM Q in HIV to you–
There is an NIH grant that FIAR is considering applying for with collaborators on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in the context of HIV disease.
If you could have one clinical question answered about CAM and HIV, what would it be?
Would it be about slowing disease progression? Managing a side effect?
What agents—vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, amino acids, herbs, etc.—are most important to you?
Please don’t hesitate to write to reply here or email me at fiar@verizon.net or contact@newyorkbuyersclub.org with your ideas.
Thanks for your thoughts!
George M. Carter
Folate, the feds, and you
Folate, a B vitamin, frequently appears in news about dietary supplement research. (Note: folic acid is the form found in supplements or fortified foods.)
For example, an article earlier this year offered this announcement: “Higher Folate Levels Linked To Reduced Risk For Alzheimer’s Disease. ” (JAMA and Archives Journals: 2007, January 9)
And you wouldn’t have to look too far to discover current research on folate deficiency associated with the potential for cardiovascular problems, or folate deficiency linked to higher rates of breast, pancreatic, or colon cancer.
Of course, when folate was first identified and studied 70 years ago, the chief draw for researchers was its role in combating anemia and supporting the health of women during pregnancy. But since then, as understanding of the vitamin has grown, it’s come under scrutiny for many other reasons.
Indeed in 1996, the US federal government decided that the health benefits of folic acid were very clear–and yet too many Americans were not getting enough from their diets. The response? The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published regulations requiring the addition of folic acid to enriched breads, cereals, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice, and other grain products–where you’ll find it today (check nutritional labels).
For more information on whether you’re getting enough folate in your diet, and who should consider supplementing, see the Office of Dietary Supplement fact sheet on FOLATE:
12.04.07
Ginkgo biloba – antiviral?
This mouse study suggests that one of the primary chemicals in the Ginkgo biloba plant may interfere with an HIV regulatory protein known as tat. Whether this has any applicability to humans with HIV cannot be known and extrapolating to humans is a bit difficult as these mice were born to create the tat protein. However, as such, it does suggest that studies involving G. biloba in management of conditions ranging from minor cognitive motor disorder to dementia or possibly even neuropathy might be warranted.
http://ajp.amjpathol.org/cgi/content/abstract/ajpath.2007.070333v1?ct=ct
Protection against Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Tat Neurotoxicity by Ginkgo biloba Extract EGb 761 Involving Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
Wei Zou*
, Byung Oh Kim
, Betty Y. Zhou*, Ying Liu*, Albee Messing
, and Johnny J. He*¶||@ From the Department of Microbiology and Immunology,* the Center for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Research, and the Walther Oncology Center,¶ Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana; the Walther Cancer Institute,|| Indianapolis, Indiana; the Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin; and the Department of Applied Biology, College of Life Science and Natural Resource, Sangju National University, Sangju, Republic of Korea
@ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jjhe@iupui.edu<!– var u = “jjhe”, d = “iupui.edu”; document.getElementById(“em0″).innerHTML = ‘‘ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–>.
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 Tat protein is an important pathogenic factor in HIV-associated neuropathogenesis. Despite recent progress, the molecular mechanisms underlying Tat neurotoxicity are still not completely understood. However, few therapeutics have been developed to specifically target HIV infection in the brain. Recent development of an inducible brain-specific Tat transgenic mouse model has made it possible to define the mechanisms of Tat neurotoxicity and evaluate anti-neuroAIDS therapeutic candidates in the context of a whole organism. Herein, we demonstrate that administration of EGb 761, a standardized formulation of Ginkgo biloba extract, markedly protected Tat transgenic mice from Tat-induced developmental retardation, inflammation, death, astrocytosis, and neuron loss. EGb 761 directly down-regulated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression at both protein and mRNA levels. This down-regulation was, at least in part, attributable to direct effects of EGb 761 on the interactions of the AP1 and NF-
B transcription factors with the GFAP promoter. Most strikingly, Tat-induced neuropathological phenotypes including macrophage/microglia activation, central nervous system infiltration of T lymphocytes, and oxidative stress were significantly alleviated in GFAP-null/Tat transgenic mice. Taken together, these results provide the first evidence to support the potential for clinical use of EGb 761 to treat HIV-associated neurological diseases. Moreover, these findings suggest for the first time that GFAP activation is directly involved in Tat neurotoxicity, supporting the notion that astrocyte activation or astrocytosis may directly contribute to HIV-associated neurological disorders.
12.03.07
Vitamin D
This vitamin is turning out to be very important and recent data suggest that higher blood levels are associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer. Dr. Ralph Moss on his blog notes how the media have, not so surprisingly, made a mess of the study results. Some even imply that the vitamin is worthless. See his website at
http://www.cancerdecisions.com/120207.html
A study for people living with HIV would be in order, as reflected in the abstract below. However, Bush and Congress have flat-funded the NIH and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) is doing less and less in terms of useful clinical trials. Chances of success through the NIH of getting a grant approved have plunged to the lowest level in years. Bush seems mostly just interested in getting more tax money into the hands of the pharmaceutical industry!
-
Nutr Rev. 2006 May;64(5 Pt 1):226-33.
-
A potential role for vitamin D on HIV infection?
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. evillamo@hsph.harvard.edu
Despite advances in the knowledge of vitamin D’s potent immunomodulatory activity, its role on HIV disease progression is unknown. Decreased concentrations of 1alpha,25-hydroxyvitamin D3, or 1,25(OH)2D, the active form of vitamin D, have been reported among HIV-infected people and attributed to defects in renal hydroxylation and increased utilization. A few studies also described low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, 25(OH)D, the vitamin obtained from solar synthesis and diet. An inverse association between 1,25(OH)2D concentrations and mortality has been reported from a small cohort of HIV-infected adults, and some cross-sectional studies have indicated positive correlations between 1,25(OH)2D and CD4+ cell counts. Additional observational studies are needed to confirm the associations between vitamin D status and HIV disease progression. These investigations would provide useful insights on the potential role of vitamin D supplementation to HIV-infected persons and the planning of intervention trials.
