| In the News |
| MOZAMBIQUE: Long road to successful PMTCT |
| BEIRA, 14 August 2008 (PlusNews) - More and more HIV-positive pregnant women are testing for the virus and seeking out prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services in Sofala Province, in central Mozambique, but local health officials say much work remains to be done. |
| SOUTH AFRICA: Alarm over drug recalls |
JOHANNESBURG, 12 August 2008 (PlusNews) - A packaging error by a factory worker a year ago has led to a nationwide recall of two types of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs manufactured by Adcock Ingram, a major supplier of ARV medicines to the private and public sectors.
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World Leaders, HIV and AIDS Experts Gather in Mexico City |
Africa, Kampala, 28 July, 2008, East African Business Week - All roads lead to Mexico City next week where the XVII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008) will take place. |
Stigma Still Big Headache in Botswana |
Botswana, Gaborone, 28 July, 2008, Mmegi - Many people with HIV and AIDS have died because of the stigma rather than the disease itself, experts have asserted. |
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| MOZAMBIQUE, BEIRA, 28 July 2008 (PlusNews) - In the AIDS unit of the paediatric ward in Beira Central Hospital, Mozambique, four-year-old Jacinto Cruz is glued to the television while he waits his turn to be treated. |
Forum on Anti-Retroviral Treatment, Children on Cards |
ZIMBABWE, HARARE, 21 July, 2008 (The Herald) - THE Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service has said about 400 000 children under 15 years were infected with the virus last year through mother-to-child transmission. |
Africa: U.S. Ban On Visitors With HIV to End Soon |
LAGOS, 21 July 2008, Daily Champiopn - The two-decade old ban on people with HIV visiting or immigrating to the United States may end soon through a Senate bill aimed at fighting AIDS and other diseases in Africa and other poor areas of the world. |
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| SOUTH AFRICA, JOHANNESBURG, 15 July 2008 (PlusNews) - Hidden behind the high walls that surround most middle-class suburban homes in South Africa is one of the largest and most marginalised black, female workforces in the country. |
| NAC Mobilises Men for HIV Programme |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE, 15 July 2008 (The Herald) - THE National Aids Council in Mashonaland East Province is mobilising men to participate in HIV and AIDS prevention programmes. |
Wanted - more people for HIV testing |
ZAMBIA - LUSAKA, 9 July 2008 (PlusNews) - The drugs to manage HIV are available, and so is knowledge about how to prevent it, but far too few people in Zambia are coming forward to be tested.
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Govt to Introduce New AIDS Drug |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE – 8 July 2008 (The Herald) - GOVERNMENT will soon introduce a new drug for HIV and Aids patients to protect them from contracting tuberculosis. |
Abandonment of HIV and AIDS Therapy Worries PNLS |
| ANGOLA – LUANDA (Angola Press Agency – 8 July 2008 - The constant abandonment of treatment and therapy by HIV and AIDS positive patients in south Cunene province as been worrying the department of the National Programme of Combat to AIDS (PNLS) in the region, ANGOP learnt on Monday from the co-ordinator of the institution, Cândida Alcina |
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NAIROBI, 8 July 2008 (PlusNews) – HIV and AIDS funding to low- and middle-income countries reached a record level in 2007, according to a new report by UNAIDS.
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G8 Summit to Address Aid to Africa; Leaders Urged Not to Backtrack on Pledges to Continent |
Africa – 7 July 2008 (Kaisernetwork.org) - Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations at their summit in Hokkaido, Japan, this week are expected to endorse a plan that will provide detailed assessments of how well the member countries are meeting their pledges to help fight HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases in Africa, the Washington Post reports (Abramowitz, Washington Post, 7/7). |
Challenges of Obesity, HIV and AIDS |
ZAMBIA – NDOLA (The times of Zambia) 7 July, 2008 - AMONG the stereotype it was commonly known as the sliming disease. AIDS was associated with involuntary sliming due to the on-set of opportunistic infections until in the recent past when a new scenario has emerged with those who are on anti retroviral therapy (ART) developing obesity. |
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SOUTH AFRICA: DURBAN, 4 July 2008 (PlusNews) - TB cure rates in South Africa have remained stubbornly low – about 60 percent nationally, but less than 50 percent in many districts. A number of studies presented at the national TB conference in Durban this week looked at some of the reasons why South Africa's programme is failing.
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| Drug-resistant TB demands new approaches |
SOUTH AFRICA - DURBAN, 3 July 2008 (PlusNews) - The increasing number of South Africans contracting drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) demands a radically different approach than the current policy of isolating patients in specialised facilities for long periods. This was the message of several presentations at the first national TB conference, held in Durban this week.
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SOUTH AFRICA - DURBAN, 3 July 2008 (PlusNews) - Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang opened South Africa's first national tuberculosis (TB) conference this week with some welcome good news: her department is to acquire technology that will reduce the time it takes to diagnose drug-resistant TB from as long as four months to less than a week.
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When Virginity is More Important Than Life |
UGANDA – KAMPALA (The Weekly Observer) – 2 July 2008 - Call it an obsession, dream or illusion but the importance of virginity is back and with a loud bang. More and more young people are deciding to remain chaste until marriage. |
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NEW YORK, 12 June 2008 (PlusNews) - With the encouragement of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, civil society organisations are pressuring government representatives gathered at the UN High-Level meeting on HIV and AIDS in New York this week to step up their efforts in the global HIV and AIDS battle.
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First HIV and TB Global Leaders' Forum
"ONE LIFE - TWO DISEASES - ONE RESPONSE" |
NEW YORK CITY: For the first time ever, heads of government, public health and business leaders, heads of UN agencies and activists came together today to seek a common way forward on confronting HIV/TB. |
Should Intentional HIV and AIDS Infection Be a Crime? |
ANGOLA – LUANDA Proposed reforms to Angola's Penal Code have divided opinion in the country about whether HIV-positive people who intentionally infect others with the virus should be punished. |
Malawi launches 2008 International AIDS Candlelight Memorial |
MALAWI – LILONGWE – (APA) - Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has appealed to the International community to be part of the solution in the fight against HIV and AIDS pandemic in the world. |
Hundreds Go for HIV Testing |
WINDHOEK – NAMIBIA - Hundreds of people flocked to the Oshakati State Hospital last week for pre-counselling and free HIV testing, heeding a nationwide appeal from the Ministry of Health. |
Death rate in Malawi falls by up to 35% due to free HIV treatment |
| The death rate among adults in rural Malawi has declined by 10% since the introduction of antiretroviral therapy, and in areas with the highest death rate, it may have declined by up to 35%, according to findings from a London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine study published in the May 10th edition of The Lancet. |
Circumcision and partner reduction should be priorities for HIV prevention, say US researchers |
| Michael Carter:-Investigators in the US are calling for male circumcision and partner reduction to become the focus of prevention efforts in countries with generalised HIV epidemics. In a paper published in the May 9th edition of Science, they argue that although condom use, testing, and treatment of sexually transmitted infections are of value, resource constraints mean that attention should be shifted to the promotion of initiatives known to work: male circumcision and partner reduction |
Malawi Chosen to launch Global HIV and AIDS Memorial |
Summary: The Global Health Council has chosen Malawi as the site of the Opening Ceremony to officially commemorate the launch of the worldwide 25th Anniversary Candlelight Memorial on 18 May 2008. The Council will be collaborating with the Malawi Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS (MANET+) for the ceremony, which will include lighting of the official candle. The theme for this year is “Never Give Up, Never Forget.” |
Millions of Mothers Lost |
| Once a minute, somewhere in the world, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. The tragedy, says Kira Cochrane, is that most of these deaths could be prevented |
Media Houses Walk the Walk |
BOTSWANA – FRANCISTOWN (The Voice) - Three newspapers, Sunday Standard, Mmegi, and The Voice, made history last week Thursday when they launched Botswana's first HIV&AIDS policy booklet titled HIV&AIDS Workplace Policy and Code of Conduct for Botswana Media. |
Embassy, Zimart Hold Charity Exhibition |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE (The Herald) - The Canadian Embassy in conjunction with ZimArt recently held a charity exhibition in Harare.
The exhibition that was held at a colourful event at the Rainbow Towers last Friday was aimed at fundraising for projects in Zimbabwe supporting HIV and AIDS. |
| HIV and AIDS Hinders Implementation of Education Programme |
ANGOLA – LUANDA (Angola Press Agency) - Angolan deputy minister of Education for Educative Reform, Pinda Simão, said Tuesday in Luanda that HIV and AIDS constitutes an obstacle to the implementation of the "Education for All" programme designed to eradicate illiteracy until 2015. |
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ANGOLA - CABINDA (PlusNews) - Money and men are in no short supply in the petroleum-rich Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Workers from the petroleum industry, truck drivers, merchants and some 60,000 soldiers and police are based in the area; and sex workers from the country's poor and unstable neighbours are crossing Cabinda's porous borders, trying to make ends meet.
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SOUTH AFRICA - JOHANNESBURG (PlusNews) - Johannesburg, South Africa's largest and wealthiest city, has been attracting hopeful new residents since gold was discovered here more than a century ago. People from all over the African continent, many fleeing conflict and poverty, continue to flock to the city in search of a better life.
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| NAMIBIA - KEHEMU (PlusNews) - Home-based caregiver Salome Vendura knows firsthand that in Namibia’s far-flung rural areas, one of the biggest determinants of HIV and AIDS treatment adherence is access to affordable and reliable transportation. |
| Cimas suspends ARV drug facility |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE – (THE HERALD) -ZIMBABWE’S leading medical aid service provider, Cimas has suspended its anti-retroviral drug facility because of foreign currency shortages.
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| JOHANNESBURG, 25 March 2008 (PlusNews) - Another hospital breakout in South Africa by drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) patients desperate to spend the holidays with their families has some public health experts questioning whether forced isolation is either the most effective or humane way to treat such patients. |
Challenges of responding to drug-resistant TB |
Tayson Mudariki (ZImbabwe) A young woman in Malawi has a cough. She will probably ignore it, hoping that it will go away. But she is wrong. Soon, the cough will get worse and she will have to go to a distant clinic for help. |
Why Tuberculosis matters to women's health
Masimba Biriwasha-Thailand (HDN) |
"FOR WOMEN IN THE REGION, THE PROSPECT OF A GROWING TB EPIDEMIC IS HARROWING, BUT DISCUSSION ABOUT THE DISEASE RARELY SHEDS LIGHT NOR SEEKS TO ADDRESS WOMEN'S SPECIFIC NEEDS" |
Abstain From Many Partners, Unsafe Sex and Alcohol |
| BOTSWANA – GABORONE (Mmegi) - The youth have been encouraged to consider abstaining from sexual activities because it is one of the best methods of reducing the spread of HIV and AIDS |
| Faith can give comfort, but cannot cure AIDS |
| Malawi, (Plusnews), March 2008,, A billboard showing traditional and religious leaders holding hands in the fight against AIDS is a common feature in Blantyre, Malawi's commercial capital, but overzealous church leaders claiming to cure HIV with prayer are now causing more harm than good. |
| Women Celebrate In Kanye |
Botswana (Mmegi) First Lady Barbra Mogae says men should embrace gender equality and stop being threatened by the rise of women.
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Canada Donates C$2,4m for HIV and AIDS Project |
| ZIMBABWE – HARARE (The Herald) - THE Canadian government on Wednesday injected C$2,4 million into the Expanded Support Programme for HIV and AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care in Zimbabwe while the Conglomerate of Farm and Industry has launched an HIV programme for the workplace |
Men Should Wake Up to AIDS Reality |
NAMIBIA – WINDHOEK (The Namibian) - The conference for men on HIV-AIDS was a timely wake-up call, President Hifikepunye Pohamba said. |
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| SOUTH AFRICA – JOHANNESBURG - (PlusNews) - The first microbicide candidate to reach the final phase of testing has failed to prevent HIV transmission, researchers announced recently. |
Women Robbed of Motherhood |
NAMIBIA – WINDHOEK (New Era) - Some young women have, unknowingly and forcibly, been sterilised because of their HIV status, New Era has learnt. |
No Sex, Please - You're HIV-Positive |
JOHANNESBURG – (Inter Press Service) – HIV and AIDS policies and programmes disregard the sexual needs of people living with the virus, claim a number of HIV-positive women who attended the third Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights -- held this week in Nigeria. |
Men Running Away From HIV and AIDS |
NAMIBIA – WINDHOEK (New Era) - A male conference organised by Nedico Namibia through its project Mapilelo in the Caprivi Region started at the Caprivi College of Education near Katima Mulilo. |
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| ZAMBIA – LUSAKA (PlusNews) - A public health scare sparked by allegations that batches of the injectible contraceptive, Depro-Provera, contained the HI virus has exposed deep mistrust and high levels of misinformation about the safety of imported. |
Zimbabwe responding to the PMTCT challenge |
ZIMBABWE - HARARE (PlusNews) - A new five-year initiative is set to improve access to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services for pregnant mothers in Zimbabwe. |
Rural Areas Fertile Ground for HIV and AIDS |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE (INTERPRESS SERVICE) They left the country in search of jobs to better their lives, but village elders in rural Tsholotsho, say young men who left home to fend for their families are losing their lives at alarming rates to HIV/AIDS related ailments. |
Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service
Media Briefs – HIV & AIDS |
| Once again, Gender Links is offering a series of commentary articles and “I Stories,” personal narratives of people who have been affected by gender violence, for use in the media. The Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service holds copyright to all articles and the credit provided at the end of each article must be used in the event of publication, and if you would like to republish the article please let us know how it will be used. Please be aware that to avoid duplication in publications in various countries, articles may be available on a first to request basis. |
Nits Torment HIV and AIDS Patients |
| BOTSWANA – FRANCISTOWN (Mmegi) - It was supposed to be a normal day for patients at Botswelelo Clinic in Somerset Extension who went to get their ARV doses. But then the itches started. |
Dandara Clinic Gets HIV and AIDS Monitoring Machines |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE (THE HERALD) - DANDARA Clinic in Murehwa on Friday received laboratory equipment to help monitor HIV and AIDS patients taking anti-retroviral drugs. |
Outdated Treatment Frustrates AIDS Activists |
SOUTH AFRICA – JOHANNESBURG (BUSINESS DAY) - AIDS activists have urged doctors and nurses to ditch the government's outdated guidelines for preventing HIV transmission from mothers to their babies, and to start providing a two-drug cocktail instead of nevirapine alone. |
AIDS Organisation Splits As Gwisai, Majongwe Join |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE (The Herald) - THE Zimbabwe National Network for People Living with HIV and Aids has split after two Government critics joined the organisation, the majority of whose members want it to be totally free of party politics. |
Concern Over Corruption Threat to HIV Funds |
SOUTH AFRICA – JOHANNESBURG (Business Day) - Poor government oversight of HIV/AIDS funding has created fertile ground for corruption, warns a new Institute for Security Studies report. |
Edutainment for HIV Awareness |
BOTSWANA – GABORONE – (Mmegi) - Tebelopele Voluntary Testing and Counselling Centre is holding edutainment campaigns to encourage people to know their HIV status before the end of the year. |
Gender-Based Violence Fuels HIV - Speaker |
ZAMBIA – NDOLA (The Times of Zambia) - SPEAKER of the National Assembly Amusaa Mwanamwambwa says gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS are interlinked as their major cause is mostly unequal gender relations influenced by social and cultural factors. |
Imagine Afrika Marks World AIDS Day |
ZIMBABWE – HARARE (The Herald) - REALITY television show - Imagine Afrika - in which Studio 263 actress Yvonne Mangunda is participating - last week treated its fans to a special World Aids Day 48-minute episode of the continental show. |
Men Called On to Get Involved |
NAMIBIA – WINDHOEK (New Era) - The involvement of male citizens in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic came under the spotlight in the Caprivi Region during the commemoration of World AIDS Day over the weekend. |
To Tell or Not to Tell, That is the Tricky Question |
ANGOLA – LUANDA (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks) - Maria Antónia* began to wonder about her husband's frequent trips to neighbouring South Africa, especially when he was away for 15 days without contacting her on one occasion. |
TB And HIV Treatment Must Be Integrated |
SOUTH AFRICA – CAPE TOWN - (Health-e) - TB activist group sets four key tasks to contain southern Africa's TB epidemic. |
ZIMBABWE : HIV rate falls again |
JOHANNESBURG, (PlusNews) - When Zimbabwe registered a decline in HIV prevalence rates in 2004, and again in 2006, the news was met with scepticism, but new official figures released on Wednesday indicate the downward trend has continued, with rates falling by 10 percent over the past 5 years.
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Treat TB, HIV As 'A Single Threat' |
SOUTH AFRICA – CAPE TOWN - (BUSINESS DAY) Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV should be thought of as a single challenge instead of two separate diseases, Dr Greg Hussey of the University of Cape Town's Institute for Infectious Diseases said yesterday. |
Prime Minister Launches Orphan Action Plan |
NAMIBIA - Windhoek (The Namibian) - THE Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare yesterday launched the National Plan of Action for Orphans and Vulnerable Children. |
| An end in sight to travelling abroad for second-line ARVs |
| ANGOLA – LUANDA (PlusNews) - Every month, Carolina Pinto has to rely on friends in another continent to collect, send on and deliver her lifesaving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to Angola’s capital Luanda. |
| Women take sexual risks to feed their families |
| KENYA – NAIROBI (PlusNews) - Women in food insecure southern Africa are putting themselves in danger of contracting HIV in their desperation to feed themselves and their families, a new study has found. |
| HIV-induced famine's impact on agriculture |
SOUTH AFRICA – JOHANNESBURG - (PlusNews) - Hunger and HIV/AIDS are reinforcing each other in Southern Africa, "leading to a potentially tragic new level of famine", says a book published by a regional agricultural think-tank. The World Bank's annual report, released last week, also raises concerns over the pandemic's impact, pointing out that most people affected by HIV and AIDS depend on agriculture.
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| Sugar Daddies find plenty of sweet teeth |
| JOHANNESBURG – SOUTH AFRICA (PlusNews) - It is 10 o'clock on a Friday night in Soweto, Johannesburg's most famous township, but it's still early for The Rock, a nightclub popular with the young and upwardly mobile, and most potential patrons are drinking at a shebeen [informal bar] operating in the parking lot. |
Rights Group Canvasses Access to Information |
LAGOS – NIGERIA (This Day) - The society would be a lot better if teachers and parents work together to ensure that children have the right to comprehensive information and education. |
| Home-based care succumbing to economic burnout |
| HARARE – ZIMBABWE (PlusNews) - Zimbabwe's sinking economy and reduced donor support are threatening home-based care (HBC) programmes for people living with HIV and AIDS, according to a new report. |
HIV and AIDS Dulls Shine of Good Development Scores |
NAMIBIA (IRIN NEWS) A sharp drop in life expectancy, with HIV/AIDS the primary driver, has sent Namibia's human development indicators plummeting; gains in other areas will continue to be undermined by the epidemic unless treatment and prevention programmes are stepped up, a new report warns. |
Criminalising HIV Transmission Sparks Debate |
FRANCISTOWN – BOTSWANA – (THE VOICE) The issue of criminalising intentional transmission of HIV received mixed reaction from residents of Lobatse and surrounding areas. |
Francistowners Reject Commercial Sex As a Profession |
Francistown – BOTSWANA (Mmegi/The Reporter - The issue of legalising commercial work has followed the HIV/AIDS parliamentary committee to Francistown where speakers said it would be an abomination for the 'practice' to be legalised. |
Promote HIV Testing Among Couples |
HARARE – ZIMBABWE (THE HERALD) - Far too few adult Zimbabweans are willing to learn their HIV status, even when they are about to be married or enter a long-term relationship, a time one would have thought that both members of a couple would like to have such knowledge. |
'I Helped Top Pastor Con AIDS Patients' |
KAMPALA – UGANDA (THE MONITOR) - A PROMINENT female Kampala pastor bribed and blackmailed worshippers to fake health ailments as serious as HIV/AIDS so that she could then claim to have healed them, a parishioner alleged in a recent interview. |
| Gombe to Establish 50 HIV/Aids Control Centres |
LAGOS – NIGERIA (DAILY CHAMPION) - GOMBE State Action Committee on HIV/AIDS (GOMSACA) in collaboration with some international Organisationas has disclosed plans to establish about 50 prevention of mother to child transmission centres of HIV/AIDS before the end of the year. |
| People Living With HIV/AIDS Use New Ways to Handle Hard Times |
HARARE – ZIMBABWE – PLUSNEWS – Dire shortages of such essentials as electricity and water are forcing Zimbabweans living with HIV/AIDS to combat the country's hardships with new and novel approaches. |
Cultural Factors Undermine Fight Against AIDS |
| MAPUTO – MOZAMBIQUE - Socio-cultural factors are undermining the health authorities' efforts to convince more people to take HIV tests and to undergo treatment in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza. |
| SADC Artistes to Set Up HIV/AIDS Initiative |
| HARARE – ZIMBABWE (THE HERALD) - A REGIONAL HIV and AIDS initiative by artistes in the SADC region will be launched in December in Harare to coincide with World Aids Day. |
HIV Prevention Intensified |
TSHWANE - SOUTH AFRICA - BUANEWS - Although there has been a decrease in the prevalence of HIV, the Department of Health is intensifying its HIV prevention programme including the improvement of regimen for Prevention of To-Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT). |
| Review Doctor-Patient Confidentiality Policy, Govt Told |
HARARE – ZIMBABWE (THE HERALD) - Government has been called to urgently review the medical doctor and patient confidentiality policy in cases where one partner goes for HIV testing and keeps it a secret from his or her spouse as the other partner had the right to know as well. |
| Two-thirds of women beaten and abused |
MBABANE – SWAZILAND (PlusNews) - One in every three female Swazis has experienced some form of sexual violence before turning 18, and two out of three aged 18 to 24, according to the first national survey to chart the scope of sexual and other types of violence perpetrated against women and girls.
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| A winning recipe for PMTCT but few follow it |
GABORONE - BOTSWANA (PLUSNEWS) - Botswana has lowered the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than four percent, coming close to developed countries that have almost eliminated paediatric AIDS. |
| Our Lady's Hospice Tackling New Dimensions of Aids Stigma |
NDOLA – ZAMBIA (The Times of Zambia) - Extremely ill and diminutive souls lying in bed with sores or cancers eating into their flesh as it snugly clings to their bones, they clearly are awaiting their last breath. |
| Institution Holds Workshop on HIV/Aids Research Funding |
HARARE – ZIMBABWE (The Herald) - Centre for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday held a workshop to disseminate information on how to apply for funding from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and other organisations in the country. |
| Tradition as a force against HIV/AIDS |
| MBABANE – SWAZILAND (PlusNews) - Circumstance, rather than planning, has placed the battle against HIV/AIDS firmly in the hands of Swaziland's 355 chiefdoms. |
| Bibles and condoms |
LUSAKA - ZAMBIA (PlusNews) - It is mandatory that Zambia's hotels, lodges and guest houses stock at least two Bibles in each of their rooms, but it is rare to come across condoms or even condom-vending machines, despite many of these establishments being used by commercial sex workers and their clients. |
| Botswana: PMTCT Children HIV/AIDS Free – Tlou |
| Mmegi - Francistown : Ninety-six percent of infants who are born from HIV positive mothers are HIV free. Minister of Health, Sheila Tlou, said it is commendable that Prevention from Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) coverage is 100 percent and the uptake up to 96 percent. |
| Zimbabwe: 'Hiv/Aids Prevention Should Be Everyone's Responsibility' |
| The Herald – HARARE : THE prevention of HIV and Aids should not be left to those who are living with the ailment but is everyone's responsibility, the head of unit for HIV and Aids communication and knowledge at the Southern Africa Aids Information and Dissemination Service has said. |
| South Africa: Mr AIDS, Reuben Sher, Dies |
| Health-e - Cape Town : 12 September 2007 - The "grandfather" of AIDS, Reuben Sher passed away on Monday morning following post surgery complications. |
| Lesotho's Crisis: 6 Doctors -- 800,000 Kids |
By KATE SNOW
ABC NEWS Sept. 3, 2007 : In a dimly-lit ward in the one public hospital in Lesotho's capital city, Maseru, the sickest infants have to take turns using the only oxygen tanks available. One mother sits nervously watching her tiny child's labored breathing. Another is slumped over, perched halfway on a chair with her torso bent over on her child's bed, her face buried in the sheets. |
News: Zimbabwe: Child migrants seek a better life in South Africa |
| MUSINA PLUSNEWS 4 September 2007— He is only a teenager, but he is already a seasoned border jumper. Dressed in a torn t-shirt and blue work trousers, Robert, 16, (not his real name) told IRIN/Plus News he had crossed the border from Zimbabwe four times since he first decided to come to South Africa in January this year. |
| ZIMBABWE: Disability is much more than a physical constraint |
HARARE, 31 August 2007 (PlusNews) - The disabled are becoming increasingly marginalised, with the state and civil society neglecting their basic needs, says The forgotten tribe, people with disabilities in Zimbabwe, a new report.
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| SOUTH AFRICA: New report confirms nutrition no substitute for treatment |
| JOHANNESBURG, (PlusNews) - There is no evidence that better nutrition can substitute for antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, a new report has found. These findings might seem unremarkable anywhere else in the world, but not in South Africa, where the issue of nutrition has been tainted by a damaging debate that has tended to frame it as an alternative to ARVs. |
South Africa: Faulty Zalatex Condoms Recalled
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The health department yesterday recalled all condoms supplied by Zalatex, after concerns about the quality of its products.
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| Gender Alliance Dismayed by Leaders |
| The Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance is disappointed that SADC leaders failed to walk the talk of gender equality at their just ended summit in Lusaka by not signing the Protocol on Gender and Development |
| SADC Ministers endorse Gender
protocol ahead of Lusaka Summit |
Ministers for gender and women’s affairs from southern Africa
have endorsed the contents of a Gender Protocol that would make
regional decisions on gender equality legally binding for the
first time.
The protocol contains several measures to address the attainment
of commitments to gender equality, justice and women’s empowerment
in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
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Alcohol Abuse – Another Key
Driver of HIV?
Alcohol, in many resource-limited
settings provides affordable entertainment, and because of
its legal status, is the recreational drug of choice for many
Africans. Not only does ir provide an affordable source of
entertainment, but alcohol plays a socially cohesive role
as it often allows for people to meet and relieve the normal
stresses of day-to-day life. Most prefer to consume it in
public settings (beer halls and clubs), which allow for people
to meet and socialise.
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Malawi
Aims To Provide 150,000 HIV-Positive People with Access to
Antiretrovirals
Malawi plans to provide 150,000
HIV-positive people with access to no-cost antiretroviral
drugs by the end of the year, Biziwick Mwale, chief of the
National AIDS Commission, said on Monday, AFP/Sunday Times
reports. According to Mwale, there already are about 110,000
people with antiretroviral access, and the goal is to expand
that number to 150,000 by the end of December, when a "massive"
drug treatment program is launched. ..
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Media Development in Africa:
POLIS - The Soul Beat Issue 88
Inspired by the July 2006 release
of a "white paper" by the UK Department
for International Development (DFID) titled "Eliminating
World Poverty:
Making Governance Work for the Poor", in March 2007,
a POLIS conference
brought together senior African, UK and international journalists,
policymakers, academics and media development professionals
to debate the
role of the media in building African society...
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Libya HIV
death sentences upheld
Libya's Supreme Court has upheld
the death sentences imposed in 2004 on six Bulgarian nurses
and a Palestinian doctor for infecting children with HIV.
However, a mediating body - the Gaddafi Foundation - has reportedly
agreed a financial settlement with the children's families....
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Sexuality
a human right for HIV positive women
NAIROBI, 9 July 2007 (PlusNews)
- Abstinence or a sexually active life? The dilemma, faced
daily by HIV-positive women around the world, was discussed
by delegates attending the first global conference on women
and AIDS, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi...
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LESOTHO:
Helpline allows children to report abuse
JOHANNESBURG, 13 June 2007 (PlusNews) - Children in Lesotho
will soon be able to report abuse simply by picking up the
phone, thanks to a new helpline being piloted by the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Lesotho Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare. (more)
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ZAMBIA:
Mining growth brings increased HIV risk
SOLWEZI, 13 June 2007 (PlusNews) - The expansion of mining activities
in Solwezi District in Zambia's North-Western Province has spurred
a rise in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and health
officials fear this could indicate an increase in the region's
HIV infection rate. (more)
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SAfAIDS,
UNAIDS and HDN launch Accelerating-Prevention eForum
30 April 2007 - Although a small number of countries around
the world have seen HIV prevalence decline due to sound HIV
prevention efforts, in 2006, there were still 4.3 million new
HIV infections with over 40% of new adult infections occurring
among young people aged 15-24.
These figures underline a clear and urgent need to intensify
HIV prevention to halt growing infection rates and sustain the
gains that have already been made in the AIDS response if the
commitment to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment,
care and support by 2010 is to be met...
(read more) |
