IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 136
Africa
4 July 2003


NEWS:

LESOTHO: A way forward on HIV/AIDS
KENYA: Stiff competition for HIV/AIDS money
CONGO: Health minister urges increased efforts to fight illicit drugs
GHANA: HIV/AIDS drugs to be ordered for hospitals
MALAWI: AIDS drugs on street corners

LINKS

1. Saving Women's Lives
2. Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking
3. AIDSChannel email digest
4. Reproductive Health Outlook

CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. Call for proposals from HIV-positive leaders
2. Call for Presentations
3. Global HIV/AIDS Support from G8 Countries
4. We Want Access to Care - But What Care?
5. Tool to Assess Readiness for Initiating ART

VACANCIES

1. Training Manager


NEWS

LESOTHO: A way forward on HIV/AIDS

The first time Violet Mofokeng approached other women to talk about sex
and disease, it did not go well.

"They used to call us names and say 'Those people have AIDS'," said the
28-year-old mother.

But Mofokeng is persistent and articulate, and passionate about her work.
Each week, she and 200 other volunteer educators canvas their town of
Maputsoe, Lesotho, to inform people about HIV and how to protect
themselves, to dispel myths and to offer support to those living with
AIDS.

"It is unusual. We just go everywhere," said Mofokeng. "People think 'You
silly people out there talking about it.' But they get used to it."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2220

KENYA: Stiff competition for HIV/AIDS money

About 235 NGOs are in the running for millions of dollars to be made
available for HIV/AIDS projects from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS,
Malaria and TB.

The proposals are now being examined by a six-person committee, which has
to submit its recommendations to the Ministry of Health by 16 July.

"It's a question of competition for resources and recognition," said Alan
Ragi, Executive Director of the Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO). At
stake are US $26 million.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2218

CONGO: Health minister urges increased efforts to fight illicit drugs

The minister of health of the Republic of Congo, Alain Moka, has called on
the government, civil society and the public to better coordinate efforts
to fight illicit drugs.

In a statement issued on Thursday, to coincide with the International Day
Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Moka urged that such efforts
be focused on public education, psychological treatment of drug addicts
and reintegration of recovering addicts into normal daily life.

He said illnesses directly attributable to illicit drug use included
cancer of the lungs, throat, lips and tongue; mental problems;
tuberculosis; and HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2195

GHANA: HIV/AIDS drugs to be ordered for hospitals

Ghanaian health authorities have ordered antiretroviral drugs from
undisclosed sources to cater for the treatment of 2,000 HIV/AIDS patients
over the next two years.

"We are placing this order through recognised international agencies such
as UNICEF and the International Development Agency," Programme Manager of
the National AIDS Control Programme Dr Nii Akwei Addo told PlusNews.

Some of the drugs on the importation list are Zidovudine, AZT, Didanosine,
ddI, Indinavir, Nevirapine and Efavirenz. Usage of these drugs will,
however, be limited to specific hospitals such as the country's two
biggest hospitals in the capital, Accra, and in the second largest city,
Kumasi.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2221

MALAWI: AIDS drugs on street corners

Malawi's government has issued a warning to vendors involved in the
illegal sale of HIV/AIDS drugs, the Malawi Standard newspaper reported on
Friday.

Despite calls for their arrest, the informal businesses have maintained
that these were the benefits of a liberal economy.

However, the Registrar of the Pharmacies, Medicines and Poisons Board,
Patrick Tembo, said "Liberalisation doesn't mean trading in pharmaceutical
drugs. It is illegal. Only registered institutions like hospitals and
pharmacies are allowed to sell pharmaceutical drugs."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2208


LINKS

1. Saving Women's Lives - aims to educate and raise awareness of the broad
range of women's global health and rights issues, including reproductive
health, safe motherhood, poverty and economic development, violence
against women, women's social status and education.
http://www.savingwomenslives.org/

2. The Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking (HIVAN) showcases the positive,
creative and proactive approaches in the fight against HIV/AIDS. They have
currently focused largely on KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, but have drawn
in from national sources, the rest of Africa and abroad. They've also
tried to highlight partnerships, especially those which are multisectoral
and multidisciplinary.

The site also contains a comprehensive database of HIV/AIDS-related
organisations and individuals, and regularly updated listings of
international funding opportunities.
http://www.hivan.org.za

3. AIDSChannel email digest - this weekly email newsletter from
AIDSChannel.org features: the latest HIV/AIDS news; campaigns and alerts;
debate, analysis and comment from experts and campaigners; news of
resources to help tackle HIV/AIDS.
http://www.aidschannel.org/email_digest/

4. The Reproductive Health Outlook website includes useful web resources
related to the care and support of people with HIV/AIDS in low-resource
settings under their HIV/AIDS links.
http://www.rho.org/html/hiv_aids_links.htm


CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. The Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the
National Guidance and Empowerment Network of Uganda (NGEN+) are making a
special call for positive leaders to shape and participate in the
programme of the 11th International Conference for People Living with
HIV/AIDS. The theme of the conference is "The Dawn of New Positive
Leadership".

The Conference Programme Committee is soliciting proposals from HIV+
persons to give oral presentations and workshops. Like the oral
presentations, the workshops are intended to be led by people living with
HIV. A limited number of non-HIV people, however, could co-facilitate some
workshops. Further requirements regarding proposals:

- All proposals must include the person's name and contact information.
- All presenters and facilitators should register for the conference. If
you wish to have scholarship support, you should apply for that as well.
- All proposals must include a short abstract (no more than two
paragraphs) describing the topic of the presentation, and its relevance to
the conference theme and HIV/AIDS work.
- Proposals for workshops should include an additional paragraph
explaining the format of the workshop, the maximum number of people who
can attend, the intended benefits to the participants of the workshop, and
whatever restrictions should be placed on participation, for example,
whether the workshop should be open to HIV+ participants only.

The deadline for receipt of proposals is 24 JULY 2003. Proposals should be
sent to the GNP+ Conference Coordinator, Rick
Stephen, at: jazman1@worldonline.co.za.

If you have not yet registered, the deadline for scholarship applications
is 18 July 2003. Please remember you can apply directly via internet.
Please go to the GNP+ website at http://www.gnpplus.net and select the
"Conferences" link from the menu. From the Conference Web page it is also
possible to download registration and scholarship application forms (in
Microsoft Word format) in English, French, and Spanish.

All forms should be sent to GNP+ at the following address:
kampalaconference@gnpplus.net.
Rick Stephen
GNP+
P.O. Box 11726
1001 GS Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31.(0)20.423.4114
Fax: +31.(0)20.423.4224
Email: infognp@gnpplus.net

2. Family AIDS Caring Trust in Mutare, Zimbabwe holds discussion forums
once every 3 months in Mutare, and below are some of the topics to be
covered during 2003-2004. If you feel you are competent enough to present
a paper on any of the listed issues, contact the NGO for further
information. The forums usually last for 3 hours, therefore there will be
no accommodation, but transport costs will be reimbursed.

Discussion Forum Topics:

- Nutritional Supplementation and HIV/AIDS Progression
- Fostering and enabling environment for HIV amongst youth through mass
media
- HIV Risk Behaviour and Prevention Opportunities Among Men Attending Beer
Halls in Harare, Zimbabwe
- New Start Voluntary HIV Counselling and Testing Initiative Overwhelming
Response in Zimbabwe - February 2003
- Family Food Security and the HIV/AIDS crisis in the rural areas.
- Changing Identities?  Changing Options?
- Is Breast Not Best?  Feeding Babies Born to HIV Positive Mothers
- Natural Therapy in HIV/AIDS Infections and Related Problems
- Issues in Homecare in Southern Africa
- Positive Women: Voices and Choices
- Level of implementation of HIV/AIDS policy and accessibility to the
national trust fund by Zimbabwean NGOs
- Mira Newako Project- Reducing STI/HIV Risk among pregnant women and
their partners in Zimbabwe
- Legislation and AIDS
- HIV/STI prevention by vaginal microbicides
- HIV/AIDS Workplace policy

For more information:
Nyaradzai Mutiwanyuka F.A.C.T
P O Box 970
Mutare,
Zimbabwe
Tel: +263(20)67493/66015/63673
Fax: +263(20)65281
Email: nmutiwanyuka@fact.org.zw

3. The Kaiser Family Foundation has prepared a new fact sheet - "Global
HIV/AIDS Support from G8 Countries" - that provides a snapshot of how much
nations are spending to support efforts to address HIV/AIDS in highly
affected countries.

This fact sheet summarises bilateral assistance, as well as multilateral
assistance, through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria to support prevention, care and impact mitigation programmes. It
compares funding commitments by G8 members, discusses new US commitments
being considered by the US Congress, and explains different ways that
funds are allocated.

The fact sheet, along with other materials about HIV/AIDS, is available
at: http://www.kff.org/hivaids

4. The first pre-conference discussion, "Challenges To Scaling Up
Antiretroviral Treatment In Africa", on the AF-AIDS forum -
leading to the upcoming 13th International Conference for AIDS and
Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa (13th ICASA), Nairobi, 21 to 26
September 2003 - is now closed.

This week, AF-AIDS launched the second discussion focusing on
comprehensive HIV/AIDS care, "We Want Access to Care - But What Care?"

The issues surrounding the topic underpin the theme of the forthcoming
ICASA conference. There are two key questions to start the discussion:

- Has the focus on increasing access to ARV treatment diverted our
attention from improving other HIV/AIDS-related care services that would
improve the health and well-being of people living with HIV, and that
might also be essential for the successful expansion of ARV access?
- What do you see happening in your country or community?  Is the need for
basic care services and infrastructure ‘losing ground’ compared to ongoing
campaigns and a focus on achieving universal access to ARVs?"

5. The Tool to Assess Site Programme Readiness for Initiating
Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) was developed by John Snow, Inc. (JSI) under
the USAID-funded DELIVER project, following a logistics assessment of
Zimbabwe's readiness to initiate and expand ART.

The logistics assessment found a considerable range of initiative and
capacity which was unrelated to site type, size or location. JSI designed
the tool to provide sites, programme managers, and others conducting
assessments with some measure of a site's capacity to initiate ART. The
tool has been field-tested in a number of countries and undergone multiple
revisions based on feedback from the users. The purpose of the tool is to
establish a set of criteria to help the assessment of a site's readiness
to implement antiretroviral therapy, and to select ART sites based not on
site type, but on capacity, vision, and activities needed for rational
introduction and expansion of ART into HIV care.

The tool can also be used for site self-assessment, to assist sites and
donors to identify areas in need of technical assistance, and to assist
programmes in determining sites for ART introduction and scale-up.
Finally, the tool can identify areas in which site programmes can serve as
resources for other programmes.
http://www.developmentgateway.org/download/194772/Readiness_Tool_final.pd


VACANCIES

A local Zimbabwean NGO working with young people urgently requires the
services of a Training Manager to start as soon as possible.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Manages training within approved budgets.
- Implements all BCP/EFL courses as scheduled.
- Supervises employees reporting to him/her to ensure they meet
performance standards.
- Developing annual training budgets and plans.
- Training material development and revisions to existing training
material.
- Assign job duties and monitor task completion.
- Attend meetings representing organizational training.
- Prepare and review training reports.
- Conduct employee evaluations.
- Provide technical assistance to national- and regional-level staff on
issues relating to training.

REQUIREMENTS:

- Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science or related field, plus three years
of experience in Training/Teaching, at least two years of which were in a
supervisory role. A Diploma in Further Education and Training is a
distinct advantage.
- Demonstrated administrative experience, including the ability to
coordinate, monitor and manage training programme activities and/or
projects.
- Demonstrated skills in group process, shared decision making and
thorough knowledge of training methodology.
- Experience with training design and delivery.

Respond urgently and address your applications to:
The Programmes Director
Youth Alive Zimbabwe
PO Box 7222
Harare
Zimbabwe

Email your applications and curriculum vitae to: madzikanga@yahoo.com or
yazim@youthalivezimbabwe.co.zw


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

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