Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/755517
49 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2016 N°5 the body oil: An enhancement of the senses N°5 THE BODY OIL offers an exceptional moment of supreme refinement. The extremely gentle scented oil brings a promise of relaxa- tion in the soothing atmosphere of N°5. It subtly emits the iconic fragrance like a beckoning path to sensual delight. Bathed in a delicate scent, the skin is left soft, moisturized and dry to the touch. Stopping the stigma and zero discrimination can lead to an end of the AIDS epidemic SINCE 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) has marked 1st December as World AIDS Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic, caused by the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, and to mourning those who have died of the disease. GSK Malta is marking this day by creating awareness of HIV infection and the impor- tance of early diagnosis and optimal treatment. Unfortu- nately, many people are reluc- tant to get tested, disclose their HIV status or take antiretrovi- ral therapy due to the stigma associated with the disease and fear of discrimination against people living with HIV. Nearly half of all HIV cases are diagnosed late (ECDC).1 As research is constantly lead- ing to better treatments, early diagnosis increases the chance of living a long, healthy life and reduces the risk of transmit- ting HIV to other people. Fol- lowing a positive diagnosis, it is important that patients are offered post-test counselling linked to specialist medical and social care, and provided with the best option to start antiretroviral therapy (ART), while offering HIV testing for their partners. There is still no cure for HIV, but life-changing antiretrovi- ral therapy (ART), consisting of increasingly effective medi- cations that treat HIV, has helped significantly since the start of the epidemic. ART is taken as a combination of med- icines to suppress viral load, or the amount of HIV in the blood. The goal is to achieve and maintain an "undetect- able" viral load, and to stop the virus from destroying the body's infection-fighting CD4 cells.2,3 In Malta, there has been a sharp and steady increase in the number of reported HIV infections over the past five years. In 2015 there were 50 newly diagnosed persons in- fected with HIV compared to 17 new cases reported in 2010 (figures were published follow- ing a question raised in Parlia- ment in December 2015). This requires an urgent call for ac- tion to increase awareness of HIV infection and ensure that people at most risk of contract- ing the disease are tested and if required, receive optimal treatment early on in the dis- ease. There are a number of pre- ventative means that may re- duce the risk of HIV transmis- sion. These include the use of condoms which may not be 100% effective, the use of ster- ile injections for those who in- ject drugs, and prevention of transmission through optimal antiretroviral therapy. UNAIDS (w w w.unaids.org/ en) has set an ambitious goal to help end the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Their 90-90-90 pro- gramme aspires that by 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV sta- tus, 90% will receive uninter- rupted HIV treatment (ART) and that 90% of those receiving ART will maintain control of the disease.4 According to UNAIDS and WHO, men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, intravenous drug us- ers, prisoners and illegal mi- grants are disproportionately vulnerable and highly at risk of HIV infection. Such HIV-af- fected populations are already marginalised and therefore less likely to engage with their health systems successfully. In its efforts to deliver opti- mal care to persons with HIV, GSK joined Pfizer and Shiono- gi (a Japanese company) to establish ViiV Healthcare, an independent, global special- ist HIV company equipped to move quickly in response to the needs of the HIV community. This enterprise has already launched industry-leading ac- cess initiatives to help deliver on WHO/UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals aiming to reach all those who need treatment. More on: h t t p s :// w w w.v i i v h e a l t h c a r e . com/what-we-do/we-improve- access-to-our-medicines.aspx Gold and silver awards for Farsons Classic Brews in Brussels Beer Challenge THIS year's edition of the Brussels Beer Challenge has just awarded gold and silver respectively to Far- sons Double Red Strong Ale and Farsons Blue Label Original Amber Ale. The beers, recently launched under the Farsons Classic Brews range earlier this year, are brewed by Simonds Farsons Cisk plc. Farsons Double Red has been awarded gold in the Pale & Amber Ale: Strong/Extra Special Bitter cat- egory while Farsons Blue Label Ale has been awarded silver in the Pale & Amber Ale: Best Bitter category. Present at the awards ceremony held in Brussels yesterday, 21st No- vember, Mr Eugenio Caruana, Head of Production at the Farsons Brew- ery, commented, "These awards are a significant achievement and evidence of our brewers' dedication to excellence in quality and unwa- vering dedication and commitment. We are extremely proud of this re- sult, and our brewing tradition and heritage." The revamped and extended Far- sons Classic Brews range, harps back to the Farsons Brewery's origins in the 1920s. The range in- cludes an enhanced Farsons Blue Label Original Amber Ale, an am- ber coloured, top-fermented ale, hopped and mixed with a special type of mild malt that gives the richly coloured ale a unique, smooth and mild taste, together with two new additions, Farsons India Pale Ale (IPA), a bitter ale brewed with high quality malt and traditional English hops, and Farsons Double Red Strong Ale, an all malt and full bodied strong ale with a deep ruby color and a pleasant hoppy bitter- ness, balanced out by a malty and fruity sweetness. The Brussels Beer Challenge is a global beer competition held in Bel- gium that provides a unique oppor- tunity for beer producers across the globe to compete with the best in- ternational brewers. It was launched on the initiative of Brusselicious as part of the Gourmet Food Year in Brussels in 2012 and is a point of reference for beer enthusiasts and experts. The fifth edition of the Brussels Beer Challenge took place between the 3rd and 6th November in Brus- sels, Belgium. Throughout these three days a tasting panel of 75 international renowned beer con- noisseurs tasted 1,100 beers from all over the world. The participat- ing beers are divided into categories based on origin, type and style and then evaluated. At the end of the three tasting days, the best beers in each category are awarded a gold, silver or bronze award. Freshy featured in CNBC's 10 of the world's hottest start-ups in 2016 NOVEMBER 2016 – Freshy, the 2015 – 2016 JAYE Malta Start Up Programme winners from the University of Malta, have been fea- tured in CNBC's article entitled "10 of the world's hottest start-ups in 2016". Freshy founders, who are currently still University students, will be participating in the 2016 Startup Open finals, where to- gether they will be connecting with mentors over the next four weeks before a winner is announced on 5th January 2017. Freshy is a cloud and mobile plat- form that is intended to solve the global challenge of food waste, which makes up more than 50 per- cent of total waste. Of this waste, 23 percent is ready-made food that could be eaten but is routinely thrown away due to "made fresh daily" policies. Freshy allows businesses to sell precooked food instead of throw- ing it away, while customers benefit from discounts and help environ- mental sustainability. Users can elect to receive push notifications based on their location and per- sonal food preferences. The company was founded fol- lowing the team's participation in the JAYE Malta Start Up Pro- gramme where they won the over- all Start Up of The Year Award. Founded by Anatoliy Gatt, a for- mer iOS developer as CEO, Valeria Lobanova, CFO, Svetlana Mitrak- hovich CMO, and Gleb Eliseev as COO, the team have used the sum- mer to refine their concept by par- ticipating in several other Start Up activities and initiatives, including the Climate Launch Pad. Julian Azzopardi, CEO of JAYE Malta commented: "We feel im- mensely proud of this team who transformed their dream into a vi- sion, into reality! As an educational entity supporting local entrepre- neurship we congratulate Freshy for their innovative concept and perseverance. Freshy is an excel- lent ambassador of the JAYE model for entrepreneurship which is fo- cussed on learning by doing. We hope that their success will inspire other young entrepreneurs to take on their dream!" This year's Global Entrepreneur- ship Week includes 165 countries and roughly 10 million people. One of its marquee events is the annual Startup Open competition, a glob- al competition that gives entrepre- neurs a virtual stage in which to pitch their ideas. This year, found- ers from 101 countries submitted 1,018 start-ups for consideration. Seventy-three percent are from outside the United States. The win- ner receives a free trip to Johannes- burg, South Africa, where they will present on stage at the Global En- trepreneurship Congress. Freshy, Malta is up against: BrighTap - Israel, MeetHere – USA, OneTest Diagnostics, United King- dom, OpenWater.in - India, QEYE - Egypt, Marini Naturals - Kenya, Karz- Israel, Boltt Sports Technolo- gies - India, Cookies and Cookies – Colombia among others.