Does your heart ever soar?  Do you know how much it means
To have on a good pair of boots and faded old jeans?

Do you ever sing to your horse while you set him astride
With the sun warm on your back, you're just glad to be in the saddle.

Did you ever just haul off and jump and shout real loud with glee?
For no other reason than you're just glad to be free.

Did you ever just talk to the Lord, did you ever just pray
To thank Him for the sunshine and the beautiful day?

Think about it real hard and try to recall a time
When you were just happy to be yourself and let your troubles unwind.

You weren't worried about bills, the future or the chores.
You were just glad to be alive and breathing in God's great outdoors.

You may have been out with your dog or riding your favorite mule.
It may have been a day off work or a weekend away from school.

Have you ever felt this way partner? Can you remember back when?
What's that? You say you've never, or "my, how long has it been?"

Well sir, it won't make you feel better to bellyache or moan.
Get out in God's great outdoors. Take a walk even alone.

Look at the river, the trees and flowers that God put on this green earth.
He put you here, too, Partner.  He knew you before your birth.

You're more important to Him than the stars, and He has them numbered in the sky.
He said, "Surely you're more important than a sparrow,"
            and He knows each one that falls to earth never again to fly.

So if you want inner peace and happiness of which there is no other kind,
The Lord said,"Knock and the door will open, seek him, and him, you will surely   find.

 

****************************************************

Are world leaders failing on Aids?

New plans are being launched on Monday, as part of World Aids Day, which will ensure three million people with HIV get the drugs they need by the end of 2005. Global chiefs say the plans will target those in the world's poorest countries. An estimated 40 million people are now infected with HIV around the world. In a message to mark the day, a top health official said tackling Aids might be the toughest health assignment the world has faced. Are world leaders neglecting Aids? Are rich countries doing enough? Are poor countries failing their own people? We discussed the global Aids crisis with the UK's Secretary of State for International Development, Hilary Benn, who is responsible for Britain's efforts to help fight Aids around the world.

Iran's drug users face Aids risk

Lavisan detox camp on the western outskirts of Tehran is an unusual place.

Mohammed believes he contracted HIV by sharing needles in prison

From the road, it is hard to distinguish the huge military-style tents that are scattered amongst the trees.

Once inside the cordoned off area you can see seated areas with sofas and rugs, in this temporary home for men desperate to come off drugs.

In Iran, drug use and Aids are closely intertwined, as the majority of Aids patients have contracted the disease by sharing needles.

The country has 2 million drug users, with around 200,000 injecting themselves intravenously.

Prisons are thought to be one of the main places where the HIV virus is transmitted.

Needle sharing

Mohammad, a 45 year old former addict, is HIV-positive and believes he caught the virus in prison.

"Sometimes as many as 500 people use the same syringe - no-one knows or cares about the consequences Mohammad, former drug addict

Described as a peer educator, he comes to the camp twice a week as a volunteer to talk about living with HIV.

Lavisan was set up just over a year ago by the local community.

The addicts it serves range from 18 to 60 years old. All have paid around $30 for food, lodging and an intense month-long detoxification programme.

There are clearings where some of the open sessions take place and a large kitchen area where the men can relax, drinking tea and chatting around an open fire.

"In prison the sharing of needles is very common," said Mohammad, sitting in one of the tents.

HIV IN THE MIDDLE EAST Amir, Iran: Given tainted blood Fadl, Tunisia: Victim to activist

"Sometimes as many as 500 people use the same syringe. No-one knows or cares about the consequences.

"Now I try to I pass on to members of the camp everything I know.

"I ask them to go to a clinic to take tests but only if they want to. I never force them.

"I tell them I am HIV-positive so they realise there is no stigma.

"I am alive now, I enjoy my life the best way I can," he says.

Expanding network

Peer educators are crucial in a country where many of those vulnerable to HIV have little exposure to the media.

Drug addicts, especially those in prison, do not have access to newspapers, television or radio, so their level of awareness is minimal.

They view a drug addict as an offender and not a patient Dr Arash Alaie, drug use and Aids specialist

Lavisan camp is part of an expanding network of centres across Iran.

There are also clinics both inside and outside prison with the triple focus of drugs, Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases.

These clinics offer primary health care and services such as counselling, free condoms and syringe exchange programme facilities.

Changes needed

Aids experts are hoping a pilot project currently taking place in one of the prisons will soon convince the authorities to offer the same services behind bars.

Dr Arash Alaie helped set up the first of these clinics in Kermanshah, a city in western Iran.

Now he helps run a clinic in north Tehran.

"One of the problems is that they don't have the right approach," Dr Alaie says.

"For example they view a drug addict as an offender and not a patient, so they end up in prison.

"It's important they change their attitude to understand this is an illness and not a crime."

As in other countries around the world, experts believe official statistics belie the reality.

Iran has so far identified around 5,700 HIV patients, but health officials say the figure is probably five times higher.

 

A total of 40 million people around the world are living with HIV - more than the population of Poland. Nearly two-thirds of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where in the two hardest hit countries HIV prevalence is almost 40%. The global HIV/Aids epidemic killed more than 3 million people in 2003 and there are emerging and growing epidemics in China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, several Central Asian Republics, the Baltic States, and North Africa. Click on the links above to explore the spread of HIV around the world.

 

 

CHARLYN ACQUIATAN