Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Obama-Putin Syria Summit Accomplishes Nothing
“The G-8 summit’s joint statement on ending the Syrian civil war will not mention whether Bashar Assad must step down from power as part of any peace settlement, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday ahead of the document’s publication. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters the eight nations have agreed they should not specify any outcome from peace talks that all agree should start soon in Geneva.” (ABC http://abcn.ws/13XVHVX)
Study Urges 800 Million HIV Tests in India
This is the most cost effective way to combat HIV in India. “The study, published online in May by PLoS One, notes that testing there costs only $3.33, and that first-line antiretroviral therapy is about $100 a year. The World Health Organization measure for a medical intervention’s cost-effectiveness is whether it saves one year of life for less than three times the per capita gross domestic product. In India’s case, that is $3,900 per year-of-life saved. Testing as often as every year would be cost-effective in high-risk groups like drug injectors, gay and bisexual men, female prostitutes, migrants and visitors to S.T.D. clinics, the study found. Treatment makes people with H.I.V. less infectious, so early treatment would prevent the virus’s spread to others.” (NYTimes http://nyti.ms/11HpgbI)