IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 74
Africa
12 April 2002


NEWS:

AFRICA: Film educates youth on HIV/AIDS
AFRICA: Older people increasingly infected - report
PAKISTAN: Focus on HIV/AIDS prevention
KENYA: Drug shortages 'critical' - MSF
SOUTHERN AFRICA: SA position tragic - US legislator

LINKS:

1. New condoms website
2. Webcast - US Senate hearing on Global AIDS
3. AMICALL
4. Massive Effort Campaign

CONFERENCES/RESEARCH:

1. Volunteer deadline for AIDS 2002, Barcelona, Spain
2. Regional meetings on HIV/AIDS, Human Rights and Law
3. International Young People's Conference on AIDS
4. Sex hormones and HAART
5. The 'Pill' linked to Aggressive HIV


AFRICA: Film educates youth on HIV/AIDS

An African film targeting young men is being used across Africa to educate
youth about sexual health issues and HIV/AIDS.

Filmed in Zimbabwe, Yellow Card focuses on teenage pregnancy, which is
often considered a girl's problem, and explores what happens when a boy is
held accountable for his actions.

Through the story of Tiyane, a young soccer player who becomes a teenage
father, the movie tackles the issues of unplanned pregnancy, unsafe
abortion and HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1267

AFRICA: Older people increasingly infected - report

There is evidence that older people are increasingly being infected by
HIV/AIDS, according to a new UNAIDS report.

According to the report - "Impact of HIV/AIDS on older populations" -
older women appear to have higher incidence of infection than older men,
with the number of new cases among women having increased by 40 percent
during the past 5 years.

Despite 83 percent of all AIDS deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa,
very little was known about the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among older
people in this region, the report said.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1266

PAKISTAN: Focus on HIV/AIDS prevention

The HIV/AIDS epidemic threatening so many countries has not yet hit
Pakistan, but the risk of transmission remains high, experts say.

Doctors and officials told IRIN that male and female sex workers, truck
drivers, unscreened blood transfusions and needle sharing were the biggest
dangers.

"Right now the prevalence of HIV is low, but there are a lot of risk
factors which can contribute to a high prevalence rate," Syed Sharaf Ali
Shah, director of the government's AIDS control programme in the southern
province of Sindh, told IRIN. "It is an opportunity for us to act and
prevent it now."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1265

KENYA: Drug shortages 'critical' - MSF

A severe shortage of two antiretrovirals (ARVs) produced by leading
pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb in Kenya could have critical
repercussions for patients, says Medecines sans Frontieres (MSF).

Patients with no access to the drugs could put their health at risk by
having their treatment interrupted because the drugs needed to be taken
continuously, Daniel Berman of the MSF's Access to Essential Medecines
Campaign, told PlusNews.

According to the Kenya Coalition for the Access to Essential Medicines, a
survey of seven district hospitals revealed that six of the hospitals were
either completely out of stock of both drugs, or experienced irregular
supply shortages.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1264

SOUTHERN AFRICA: SA position 'tragic' - US legislator

The South African government's position on HIV/AIDS was described as
"tragic" by a key United States legislator on Monday.

Speaking during a tour of USAID projects in the Cape Town area,
Congressman Jim Kolbe, chair of the appropriations subcomittee with
oversight on foreign operations, reportedly said USAID was currently
injecting some US $54 million into South Africa.

A Sapa report quoted him as saying: "It is tragic that we have such a lack
of leadership on the part of central government to deal with this problem,
but we are getting services to where it is needed."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=1263


LINKS:

1. Condoms website - This new website from the John Hopkins Centre for
Communication Programmes is an update and expansion of the Condoms CD-ROM
first published in 1999 by JHU/CCP's POPLINE Digital Services. The website
has ideas on designing condom promotion campaigns and putting together
condom counselling information. You will also find calendars, flipcharts,
kits and manuals, novelties, pamphlets, posters, research abstracts, and
audio-visual materials from around the world. http://condoms.jhuccp.org/

2. View a webcast of the 11 April 2002 US Senate Health, Education,
Labour, and Pensions Committee hearing on "Capacity to Care: In a World
Living with AIDS".

Witnesses include:
- Elton John: Chairman - Elton John AIDS Foundation
- Sandy Thurman: President - International AIDS Trust
- Peter Mugyenyi: Director - Joint Clinical Research Center, Kampala,
Uganda
- Alan Rosenfield: Dean - School of Public Health, Columbia University
- Deborah Dortzbach: International Director - HIV/AIDS Programmes, World
Relief International
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/help/11apr2002

3. The Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa
(AMICAALL) website was launched this month to facilitate information
dissemination and the sharing of experiences. The website is available in
French and English. It includes information on AMICAALL strategy, the
UN/AMICAALL Partnership Programme, country activities, Alliance contacts,
documents and publications. For more information, please contact Milica
Tomasevic at milica.tomasevic@undp.org http://www.amicaall.org

4. The first phase of the new MASSIVE EFFORT CAMPAIGN website was recently
launched. The site will soon be featuring:

- World reports, photos and interviews from World TB Day activities around
  the world.
- Opportunities to lobby decision makers about the importance of
  controlling TB.
- A means to involve others in a global campaign against AIDS, TB, malaria
  and other diseases of poverty.
- Background on the new global campaign to mobilise society against
  diseases that keep people in poverty.

http://www.MassiveEffort.org



CONFERENCES/RESEARCH:

1. The deadline for volunteers' applications for the XIV International
AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, has been extended to 30 April. At
this time, the Volunteers' Department has received nearly 600 expressions
of interest and more than 300 applications.

The following organisations are supporting the Volunteers Department:
Spanish Red Cross, Projecte dels Noms, Voluntaris 2000, MDM, FAS-Salut
(Autonomous University Solidarity Foundation-Health), ACTUA Barcelona,
Barnataris, Temple Law School (USA), ICV (International Conference
Volunteers, Geneva), and INCAVOL (The Catalan Volunteering Institute).

For more information on the Volunteers' Programme, contact Blas Bayona at
bbayona@aids2002.com.

2. The AIDS Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre in Windhoek, Namibia,
is planning to host a meeting of organisations in sub-Saharan Africa which
work on HIV/AIDS, human rights and law with a view to providing a forum
for sharing experiences and ideas, and to establishing a regional network
of organisations working in this field. Organisations in the region which
are interested in getting involved, should contact: Michaela at
mfigueira@lac.org.na

3. The first International Young People's Conference on AIDS in Africa
will be hosted by Africa Young AIDS Coalition (Afyoac) from 28 May - 1
June 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya.

The conference will specifically bring together young researchers,
educators, advocates, counsellors and policy makers. The conference will
focus on the prevention needs of young people and look for appropriate
ways capable of bridging the existing communication, language, and
experience sharing gap between young HIV/AIDS activists in Africa.

For more information:

The Secretariat
Tel : 254 35  51512
Fax: 254 35 21834
Mobile: 072 -741222
Email: afyoac@hotmail.com

4. Less-than-normal levels of the hormone testosterone have been found in
some men with HIV/AIDS. This deficit in testosterone can lead to
depression, fatigue, low libido and difficulty maintaining muscle mass.
Reports of low testosterone levels were not uncommon among HIV-positive
men in the time before highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Now
that HAART is available, doctors in Spain recently conducted a study to
measure levels of various sex hormones in male HAART users. They found
links between certain classes of anti-HIV drugs and specific hormone
levels.

More information:
http://ww2.aegis.org/news/catie/2002/CATE-N20020402.html

5. In a study of 115 sex workers with HIV, those who were on hormonal
contraceptives - primarily birth control pills or injectable progesterone
- at the time of infection had a five- to seven-fold higher risk of
becoming infected with multiple strains of HIV than those not on hormones.
And having multiple strains of the virus leads to faster disease
progression.

More information:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/716617.asp?0dm=C216H


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

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