IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 48
Africa
12 October 2001


NEWS:

CONGO: WFP to launch feeding project for HIV/AIDS patients
SOUTH AFRICA: Corporate stance on AIDS drugs slammed
KENYA: Government proposes end to free condoms
GHANA: Folk media to be used in HIV/AIDS campaigns

LINKS:
1. The Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa
2. National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS(SA)
3. Global Network of people living with HIV/AIDS

CONFERENCES/RESEARCH/ARTICLES:
1. UNAIDS/WHO epidemiological fact sheets on HIV/AIDS
2. Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS
3. Bambisanani: Community orientation to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
support


CONGO: WFP to launch feeding project for HIV/AIDS patients

The World Food Programme confirmed on Monday that it would begin feeding
35,000 people affected with HIV/AIDS in the Republic of Congo in October.
An official of the UN agency told IRIN that WFP had agreed to provide
food, allowing patients to stay on the anti-retroviral cocktail of drugs.
WFP said that by providing the families with food, the money they saved
could be used to pay for medicines.

It said that international pharmaceutical firms had agreed, in principle,
to sell drugs to the government at cost price. In addition, the government
had agreed to reduce the price even further to low income families.

PANA, quoting sources at the National AIDS Eradication Programme, reported
on 3 October that the target populations were residents of Brazzaville,
Pointe-Noire, Dolisie in southern Congo and Ouesso in the north. The food,
it said, would be distributed by Caritas and Christian Women's Movement
for Peace, or MOPAX. PANA also quoted health officials as saying that
HIV/AIDS prevalence in Congo was around 7.78 percent and was expected to
reach 11 percent by the end of the year. It added that close to 100,000
people were HIV-infected but that this figure could be higher because
victims of sexual violence during the 1993 and 1997 to 1999 wars had not
been fully considered.

SOUTH AFRICA: Corporate stance on AIDS drugs slammed

The falling costs of anti-retroviral drugs left corporate South Africa
with no excuse that AIDS drugs were too expensive to give to all
employees, 'The Star' newspaper quoted AIDS activists and unions as saying
this week. The groups were responding to mining company Anglo American's
policy to include coverage of antiretroviral drugs only for its senior
employees.

Nathan Geffen, spokesperson for AIDS lobby group the Treatment Action
Campaign (TAC), was reported as saying that the general response of the
private sector to the treatment of HIV/AIDS had been shocking. He said the
TAC was disappointed by this week's claim by Anglo American that it might
not be possible to supply anti-retroviral drugs to all workers.

In a joint statement, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu)
and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said Anglo's decision to hold
back on the supply of anti-retroviral drugs was a "betrayal of the workers
who produce the company's profits". The statement added that "preference
given to senior employees is inherently racist and discriminatory with
beneficiaries of the scheme being, in the main, white workers and the
black elite". Anglo American initially agreed in November to supply its
HIV-positive workforce with antiretroviral drugs.

According to pharmacist Carla Dorego, the cheapest antiretroviral regime
on the market cost US $24 a month for most adult males, the report said.
The pharmacist was reported as saying that triple therapy
anti-retrovirals, with three tablets per dosage, could be picked up for US
$80 a month per person and generic drugs could reduce this cost further.
"There is clearly a new move by drug firms to make these drugs more
affordable. From an employer point of view, it would be far cheaper to
treat HIV than to pay for the cost of continual illness and absenteeism,"
Dorego was quoted as saying.

Willie Jacobz, head of investor relations at Gold Fields, the
second-biggest gold miner in the country, was reported as saying the rand
cost of the drugs was not the issue. He added that there was the
additional expense of continued provision of antiretrovirals to workers
who had left the company, as well as possible additional payments to their
families.

KENYA: Government proposes end to free condoms

In an attempt to popularise condom use among the youth, the Kenyan
government proposed to put an end to the free distribution of condoms, the
'Daily Nation' reported. This move would form part of the government's
intensified campaign to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

According to the draft National Condom Policy and Strategy released this
week, the report said, maternal and child health services would also have
to be paid for. The strategy is believed to be part of a new accounting
procedure in Government in which free loans, services and allowances are
included into the Budget.

Condoms would become a major focus of the anti-AIDS war, the government
declared in the policy document. Earlier this year, the government
announced that it would set aside money to import condoms to encourage
safe sex. President Moi said he was embarrassed that his government had to
spend such a large amount of money to import condoms. Should the policy
proposal be approved, the condoms would be sold in health centres and
hospitals throughout the country, as well as social venues in urban
centres, the report said.

Although 100 million male condoms were used in Kenya each year - higher
than in other countries in the region - most sex remained unprotected, it
added.

GHANA: Folk media to be used in HIV/AIDS campaigns

CARE International and the CDC were working together to integrate folk
media into two existing HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in western Ghana,
the 'Kaiser Daily Report' reported on Friday .

According to the report, the programmes targeted were the Wassa West
Reproductive Health Project, which assists residents with family planning
efforts and HIV and STD prevention, as well as the Ashanti Region
Community Health Project.

The report said that according to the American Journal of Public Health,
the Ghana project - still in the research and planning phase - would
include folk media, combined with the broadcast of "long-running
serialised radio dramas" featuring characters who would "evolve to adopt
positive reproductive health behaviours". The Ghana project would also
augment the radio messages with public re-enactments by drama troupes and
through the incorporation of some of the broadcast themes into songs and
stories for community gatherings such as festivals.

LINKS:

1. The Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa. The PPASA provides
leadership in sexual and reproductive health and rights, recognising this
as a keystone to gender equity and sustainable development.
http://www.ppasa.org.za/

2. The National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA) is a
national organisation that coordinates the needs and resources of all
people living with HIV and AIDS in South Africa.
http://www.health.goc.za/hiv_aids/napwa.htm

3. The Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS
http://www.gnpplus.net/

CONFERENCES/RESEARCH/ARTICLES:

1. WHO recently released a 2000 update of its UNAIDS/WHO epidemiological
fact sheets on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. The fact sheets
contain country-specific data on HIV/AIDS and STD prevalence.
http://www.who.int/wer/76_27_52.html

2. Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS http://www.undcp.org/

3. Bambisanani: Community orientation to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
support. Published by the EQUITY Project/USAID, it is available at
http://www.cadre.org.za/publications.html


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 880-4633
Fax: +27 11 447-5472
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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