IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 60
Africa
04 January 2002


NEWS:

AFRICA: VCT effective in HIV/AIDS prevention
SWAZILAND: HIV/AIDS threatens Swazi workforce
NIGERIA: Government to distribute 1 billion condoms to fight HIV/AIDS
SOUTH AFRICA: Youth ignoring HIV/AIDS

LINKS:

1. The Candlelight Memorial Campaign
2. Gender Magazine update

CONFERENCES/RESEARCH:

1. New way to tackle HIV/AIDS
2. Education for Self-Reliance: A Training Manual
3. Antiretroviral therapy and injection drug users
4. Impact of acute HIV infection
5. HIV/AIDS and the African Child: call for papers


NEWS:

AFRICA: VCT effective in HIV/AIDS prevention

HIV/AIDS voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) is a highly cost-effective
prevention strategy in developing countries, a recent study found.

VCT provides individuals and couples with knowledge of their status and
empowers them to seek care and support. Even when advanced HIV/AIDS
treatment is not easily available, individuals can receive assistance in
developing risk reduction plans based on their HIV status and sexual
relationships.

Despite this, many healthcare providers in developing countries believe
that VCT has a minimal role in preventing HIV/AIDS.

Researchers from the University of California, San Francisco conducted a
randomised controlled trial in Kenya, Tanzania and Trinidad to determine
the efficacy of HIV VCT in resource poor settings.

In Nairobi, a clinic was established in a poor neighbourhood and offered
VCT services to individuals and couples. The participants received
pre-test counseling, HIV testing as well as post-test counseling. Follow
up visits offered a behavioral survey and STD diagnosis and treatment.
Over 3,000 indviduals and 500 couples took part in the trials.

The researchers found that VCT for HIV-1 reduces unprotected intercourse
among individuals and couples. Reduction of unprotected intercourse was
significantly greater among those who tested positive for HIV-1.

Seventy percent of the individuals and 91 percent of the couples who
participated in the trial, revealed their status to their sexual partners.
These high rates of disclosure were attributed to the type of counseling
provided by VCT.

For more details: http://www.caps.ucsf.edu/publications/VCTS2C.pdf

SWAZILAND: HIV/AIDS threatens Swazi workforce

Swaziland's workforce has been heavily affected by HIV/AIDS and the
country could face an influx of migrant workers as a result of this.

Migrant workers from all over Southern Africa could soon descend on the
small kingdom to replace Swazi workers dying of HIV/AIDS, the IPS news
ageny reported this week.

Enterprise and Employment Minister Lutfo Dlamini revealed last month that
a major foreign company had pulled out of the country due to fears about
HIV/AIDS, rather than trade problems.

Leading AIDS activist Hannie Dlamini, told PlusNews that he was't
surprised by this because the government still hadn't produced a
comprehensive national AIDS policy. Dlamini heads Swaziland's AIDS support
organisation (SASO) - one of the country's few counselling agencies.

There are no reliable statistics available on how the country's workforce
has been affected by the pandemic. Stigma and discrimination have made it
difficult for workers to disclose their HIV status, Dlamini said.

The only evidence of the effect of HIV/AIDS on the workforce has been the
increasing numbers of absent workers and deaths.

NIGERIA: Government to distribute 1 billion condoms to fight HIV/AIDS

The Nigerian government will distribute at least 1 billion condoms to
Nigerians in the next five years in an attempt to curb the spread of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country.

Health Minister Alphonsus Nwosu was quoted as saying that the new
programme, sponsored by the British government, will involve the
distribution of 210 million condoms a year, the Xinhua news agency
reported.

The first phase of the condom distribution scheme will be carried out in
February. The minister was quoted as saying President Olusegun Obasanjo
was worried over the upsurge of the disease from 5.4 percent to 5.8
percent, as these figures showed that some of the interventions were not
having any effect, the report added.

SOUTH AFRICA: Youth ignoring HIV/AIDS

Irresponsible sexual behaviour, despite the threat of HIV/AIDS, is
threatening the future of South Africa's youth, a recent study found.

Alarmingly, the study suggested that only a small proportion of the youth
interviewed felt they were at risk of contracting HIV, despite 31 percent
admitting to having engaged in unprotected sex.

The project, 'Transitions to Adulthood in the Context of AIDS in South
Africa', interviewed over 3,000 teenagers from rural and urban settings in
KwaZulu Natal, the province with the highest level of HIV infection in the
country.

For the full story:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1174&SelectRegion=Southern
_Africa&SelectCountry=SOUTH_AFRICA


LINKS:

1. The Candlelight Memorial Campaign invites every community around the
world to become involved in the world's largest grassroots AIDS
mobilisation programme.  www.candlelightmemorial.org

2. Shaan, the IPS Online magazine on Gender and Human Rights has been
updated in January 2002, focusing on the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
The update includes a series of features as well as an analysis by Unifem,
the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
http://www.ipsnews.net/hivaids/index.shtml


CONFERENCES/RESEARCH:

1. New way to tackle HIV - Doctors in the US have come up with a new
potential treatment for HIV infection. The latest technique relies on
boosting the body's immune system so that it can fight the virus more
effectively. http://ww2.aegis.org/news/bbc/2002/BB020102.html

2. Education for Self-Reliance: A Training Manual on Reproductive Health
and Entrepreneurial Skills Development for Youths. For more information
contact: Mrs. Bola Odutolu Life Vanguards Osogbo, Nigeria Email:
livanig@skannet.com

3. Sexual and drug risk-related behaviours after initiating highly active
antiretroviral therapy among injecting drug users
http://www.natap.org/2001/dec/122701_8.htm

4.  Acute HIV infection: impact on the spread of HIV and transmission of
drug resistance http://www.natap.org/2001/dec/122701_3.htm

5. HIV/AIDS and the African Child: Health Challenges and Educational
Possibilities - Paper and panel presentations are sought that address this
complex health and social issue from all academic and practitioner
perspectives. Deadline for paper abstracts: January 15 2002. For more
information contact: Institute for the African Child, Burson House, Ohio
University, Athens, OH 45701 USA. lamin@ohio.edu www.ohiou.edu/toguna/


PlusNews is produced under the banner of RHAIN, the Southern African
Regional HIV/AIDS Information Service. RHAIN's members currently include:
UNAIDS-ICT/ESA, IRIN, SAfAIDS, PANOS, Health Systems Trust, Health &
Development Networks, GTZ/Afronets

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


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