BANGKOK, July 12 -- PRNewswire/ AsiaNet Innovative, Successful Low-Cost Efforts Offer Comprehensive Care for Children Orphaned and Affected by AIDS in Colombia, Brazil, Uganda and Rwanda The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) Will Present Four New Studies During Special Satellite Session in Bangkok on 'Rights and Costs: Advocacy and Sustainable Development for children, families and communities living with HIV/AIDS' Results of four successful low-cost and comprehensive care projects addressing the escalating numbers of orphans and vulnerable children affected by AIDS in Africa and Latin America will be released here during the 15th International AIDS Conference (IAC). (AFXB) will present Country Study Papers of its programs in Latin America and Africa that demonstrate four distinct approaches using minimal financial resources and local leadership to successfully assist families and children affected by the AIDS pandemic. Increasingly, the international donor community is turning its attention to these vulnerable children who have been left to deal with insurmountable burdens on their own while aid monies have flowed to more traditional recipients. The AFXB studies describe innovative approaches that have evolved from 15 years of on-the-ground field experience in 18 countries. The evaluations of AFXB efforts in Colombia, Brazil, Uganda and Rwanda will be released at a satellite session on "Rights and Costs: Advocacy and Sustainable Development for Children, Families, and Communities Living with HIV/AIDS" on July 14, 2004, 18:00 - 20:00 in room EC 5. The studies illustrate that comprehensive care that includes education, food, health, and psychosocial counseling can be done affordably in a wide variety of cultural contexts and in differing stages of the pandemic. The papers focus on: * A Model Promoting Self-sufficiency: How an innovative "Module for Self- Sufficiency" in Rwanda enabled an in-kind grant of $127,000 to support up to 100 families and 400 children for three years, helping most participants to become self-sufficient and credit-worthy. * Coping with Poverty: How Parish Orphan Communities (POC) and Village Orphan Communities (VOC) in Ugandan rural areas have maximized income- generating activities for families to raise them above the poverty level and secure income to welcome orphans into their families. * Home-based Treatment of Pediatric AIDS. How FXB House assists families and children affected by HIV/AIDS in a poor community in Barranquilla, Colombia, and provides antiretrovirals for those who need them. * Advocacy and Care: How the FXB House in a slum in Sao Paulo provides support and comprehensive care for children affected by AIDS, and assists the community in advocating for people living with AIDS and other rights issues. Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS AFXB is presenting jointly with the Global Business Coalition a poster presentation on business sector involvement with AIDS orphans and vulnerable children that illustrates the actions taken by business leaders for these children and what can be done in firms and in communities by businesses. AFXB Celebrates 15 Years of Work in International Health and Human Rights A delegation of 33 AFXB staff members from 15 countries, including managers from all four featured programs, will be in Bangkok for satellite programs, poster presentations, and to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of AFXB. Also, on July 12, 2004, Albina du Boisrouvray, AFXB founder and president, will receive the prestigious Thai Komol Keemthong Foundation Award. The award will be given for her contributions in Thailand and Myanmar in the fields of education, vocational training, protection of children's rights, and support of HIV/AIDS affected children and their families. It will take place at a special ceremony during the celebration of AFXB's 15th Anniversary at the Landmark Hotel here on Sukhumvit Road from 7:00pm - 9:30pm. At the IAC, AFXB will present the abstracts on the following subjects: * Psychological impact of HIV diagnosis and its manifestations among children in Barranquilla, Colombia. * Massive information education communication strategy to reduce the spread of HIV in rural India. * HIV Prevention with Fun: An Innovative Method, India. * HIV/AIDS Training for Health Care Providers in Rajasthan, India. * Prevalence of HIV Infection in counseling and testing centre, Jodhpur, India. * Workplace intervention program: Matching intervention with needs, India. * Reasons among married couples for not disclosing their HIV Status to their spouses, India. * Prevalence of malnutrition among HIV-infected individuals in Rajasthan, India. * Towards a holistic approach to protect sex workers from STIs/HIV/AIDS, India. * A comprehensive support program for HIV/AIDS-affected families in Rwanda. * How People Living with AIDS (PLWA) can provide HIV/AIDS care, Rwanda. * The burden of HIV/AIDS on the elderly in a rural setting. Luwero, Uganda. * Comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention for highly vulnerable women in Montevideo, Uruguay. * Understanding Linkages Between Orphanhood and Factors of Vulnerability, India. About AFXB The association is named after Francois-Xavier Bagnoud, a young helicopter pilot committed to rescuing people, who died in 1986 at the age of 24 during a mission in Mali, West Africa. In 1989, his mother, Albina du Boisrouvray, his family, and friends established and provided the initial funding to create projects for the Association Fran?ois-Xavier Bagnoud (AFXB) to perpetuate the compassion and generosity that guided Francois' life. AFXB is an international NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC that creates and implements its projects for AIDS orphans, orphans from other causes and all vulnerable children worldwide and mobilized funding to do this. For more information about AFXB's work, please see: http://www.fxb.org. SOURCE: The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud CONTACT: US - Don Casey, +1-718-237-9173, or THAILAND - Supattra Kattiya-Aree, Mobile +661-803-5830, both for The Association Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Web site: http://www.fxb.org --Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)----InfoQuest (PP)--