IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 137
Africa
11 July 2003


NEWS:

AFRICA: Hopes that Bush brings fulfilment of AIDS funding pledge
NAMIBIA: Frustration over delay in drug rollout
SWAZILAND: Truckers change gear in HIV awareness
SWAZILAND: Data collection an effective weapon in HIV/AIDS prevention
BOTSWANA: Vaccine trials open officially
LESOTHO: New hope in fight against HIV/AIDS
TANZANIA: Remote areas to benefit from US $5.4 million grant
ZIMBABWE: Interview with J. Victor Angelo, UN Humanitarian Coordinator
UGANDA: Activists push for increased access to HIV/AIDS drugs
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: HIV/AIDS study underway at university
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Minister calls for tough AIDS law
MAURITANIA: World Bank approves US $39 m for HIV/AIDS and mining

LINKS

1. WHO Macroeconomics and Health website
2. FAO website on HIV/AIDS, Food Security
3. AREPP Educational Trust
4. International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS

CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. Stigma-AIDS eForum
2. New online youth publications
3. Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment
4. National AIDS Research Conference
5. VCT Expansion in South Africa

NEWS

AFRICA: Hopes that Bush brings fulfilment of AIDS funding promises

As President George W Bush visited several African countries this week,
the US response to Africa's HIV/AIDS pandemic fell under the spotlight.
Activists and lobby groups were watching closely and viewed this trip as
Bush's "last chance" to deliver on his US $15 billion emergency AIDS
pledge.

In January 2003, Bush declared that the funds would go towards "a work of
mercy" and the US would "lead the world in sparing innocent people from a
plague of nature". But according to activists, this pledge remains
unfulfilled.

"His budget proposal, released in February, failed to frontload the
spending, relied on slow-paced US agencies, and exaggerated the amount for
on-the-ground services specific to AIDS," a briefing by the Global AIDS
Alliance (GAA) noted.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2237

NAMIBIA: Frustration over delay in drug rollout

Frustration is mounting among activists over the Namibian government's
delay in providing anti-AIDS drugs to its HIV-positive citizens.

The government announced in April this year that it had budgeted US $10.9
million for the purchase of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs for HIV-positive
people. But while the health ministry has on numerous occasions indicated
their intention to provide treatment, this had not been translated into
action, activists told PlusNews.

"The Minister [of Health] makes these announcements [about the provision
of treatment] from time to time but we don't see anything happening on the
ground. This is frustrating ... because people are dying," AIDS Law Unit
project lawyer Delme Cupido told PlusNews.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2250

SWAZILAND: Truckers change gear in HIV awareness

Truckers and commercial sex workers in Swaziland have been targeted in a
regional HIV/AIDS prevention programme known as the "Corridors of Hope"
initiative.

"Long-distance truckers, bus drivers, and taxi drivers have fallen through
the cracks in previous AIDS programmes, and they now occupy the 'high
risk' category in Ministry of Health studies," Hlobise Ndlovu, marketing
and communications manager for the NGO Population Services International
(PSI) Swaziland, told PlusNews.

"It is shocking how many of our drivers are lost to AIDS each year. We can
hardly keep up [with] hiring and training new employees. My concern is
also with drivers who come back from the road and infect members of our
office staff with HIV," the manager of a commercial trucking firm told
PlusNews. "I can imagine the devastation that is caused at the drivers’
homes when they have sex with their wives. Some of the men are
polygamists."

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=2225

Data collection an effective weapon in anti-HIV/AIDS arsenal

A new information gathering programme will soon provide an essential
database of medical and other humanitarian needs in the agricultural heart
of Swaziland to fill gaps in the national records and bring much needed
insight into how best to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS.

"This is about stopping AIDS at its source and providing assistance to
HIV-positive people, but nothing can happen without information: Where are
the people in need, and what do they require?" said Futhi Msibi, who
helped set up the Total Community Mobilisation initiative in Malkerns, 30
km southeast of the capital, Mbabane.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2251

BOTSWANA: Vaccine trials open officially

The first trial of an experimental AIDS vaccine in Southern Africa began
this week in Botswana with the enrolment and injection of the first two
volunteers at the Princess Marina hospital in the capital, Gaborone.

"This study is a significant and hopeful step in Botswana's battle against
the scourge of AIDS," said Joy Phumaphi, Botswana's Health Minister. "The
volunteers of this trial exemplify the best of the traditional Botswana
values of altruism and selflessness. They are true heroes in this fight
for our country's future."

The research is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Health and the
Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership (BHP), established in 1996 by
the Botswana Government and the Harvard AIDS Institute.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2232

LESOTHO: New hope in fight against HIV/AIDS

Lesotho's HIV/AIDS programme received a boost recently with the
announcement of a US $12.5 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria.

The country's coordinating mechanism (CCM) submitted a proposal for
reducing HIV prevalence by 15 percent, by introducing and scaling up
existing government, community and NGO projects over five years.

The grant was formally approved at a meeting last week between a Global
Fund representative and a government delegation. Up to $10.5 million will
be allocated for the HIV/AIDS programme and $2 million for the TB
programme.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2229

TANZANIA: Remote areas to benefit from US $5.4 million grant for HIV
prevention

People living in remote areas in Tanzania are due to benefit from a US
$5.4 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, a public-private partnership formed in 2002 to attract resources
to fight the three diseases.

The Fund reported on Monday that the grant would cater for HIV preventive
education in the country over five years, "focusing on young people and
vulnerable populations in 12 districts".

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2238

ZIMBABWE: Interview with J. Victor Angelo, UN Humanitarian Coordinator

HIV/AIDS is the greatest barrier to progress in the developing world,
according to the recently released UN Development Programme (UNDP) Human
Development Report 2003.

In a interview, UNDP Resident Representative and Humanitarian Coordinator,
J. Victor Angelo, spoke about how the pandemic prevented poor nations from
meeting other development goals, and US President George W Bush's trip to
Africa.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2244

UGANDA: Activists push for increased access to HIV/AIDS drugs

Activists in Uganda are campaigning for increased access to life-saving
HIV/AIDS drugs, ahead of US President George W. Bush's visit to the
country.

Bush, who will be in Uganda for four hours on Friday as part of a
continental visit, has pledged to spend US $15 billion to tackle the
scourge of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Members of the Uganda Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines argued
that, although Uganda has been hailed as a success story in the war
against HIV/AIDS, doctors were still forced to turn many AIDS patients
away because they lacked the funds to purchase life-prolonging
anti-retroviral drugs.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2245

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: HIV/AIDS study underway at Bangui University

Research is currently in progress to determine the role of HIV/AIDS in the
high death rate among lecturers and students at
the University of Bangui, in the Central African Republic, an official
told IRIN on Saturday.

"The study will show those who died of HIV/AIDS or other diseases, and
those who were absent because of other reasons," Frederic Nguile, the
director of planning and archives at the university, said.

The study is being undertaken by a group of lecturers. Nguile said it was
feared that 50 percent of the deaths were due to HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=2227

Minister calls for tough law on HIV/AIDS

The Central African Republic's penal code, currently under review, will
provide for the punishment of people found guilty of deliberately
spreading HIV/AIDS, a government minister said on Monday.

Speaking during the opening of a four-day seminar on the penal code,
Justice Minister Faustin Mbodou said the law should be enacted to take
into account the "necessities of economic and social development".

The seminar brought together magistrates, lawyers, police officers and
professors of law to finalise a draft of the country's new penal code. The
UN Peace-building Office in the country, known by its French acronym
BONUCA, supported the workshop.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2231

MAURITANIA: World Bank approves US $39 m for HIV/AIDS and mining

The World Bank has approved a US $39 million financial package for
Mauritania to improve its mining industry and fight against HIV/AIDS, the
Bank reported on Tuesday.

The package consists of a $21 million grant for fighting HIV/AIDS among
its 2.5 million people.

The grant for fighting HIV/AIDS, the bank said, will build responses to
the epidemic through a Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Control Project that will
enable Mauritania to expand community-based initiatives, mainstream
HIV/AIDS into activities of government departments, involve the private
sector, maintain infection levels below the prevalence rate of one percent
and reduce opportunistic infections.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2239


LINKS

1. The new WHO Macroeconomics and Health website provides detailed
information on WHO macroeconomics and health work, the latest action in
countries, news, and links to related sites and its Working Group Reports.
Published documents and reports can be downloaded from the site. To ensure
that the website becomes a forum for sharing ideas, information and news,
readers are encouraged to submit their views and work on macroeconomic and
health issues.
http://www.who.int/macrohealth/en/

2. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched a website
designed to educate people about the links between HIV/AIDS and food
security.

The new site features FAO information related to HIV/AIDS and is intended
to be a comprehensive resource for researchers, policy-makers, NGOs and
infected people. It includes "concrete strategies and activities that
[staff in ministries of agriculture and rural development] can incorporate
into their day-to-day work.
http://www.fao.org/hivaids/

3. AREPP Educational Trust is an educational theatre organisation founded
in South Africa as a community-based educational trust. Their work is
currently focused on addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS, sexuality, life
skills, gender and all forms of abuse.
http://www.at.artslink.co.za/~arepp/intro.htm

4. The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW) is an
international network run by and for HIV positive women. ICW acts as an
information resource, and challenges discrimination and stigma,
encouraging self empowerment and
human rights for women living with HIV/AIDS.
http://www.icw.org


CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. Health and Development Networks (HDN) have teamed up with the
International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the Global
Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and UNAIDS, in the 3-year
Global Campaign against HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination "The
truth About AIDS. Pass it on..." launched in 2002.

The Stigma-AIDS eForum will be reactivated to provide a place where
knowledge, experience and practical solutions about stigma and HIV can be
discussed and shared. This is a global discussion and we hope to learn
from all regions of the world. Building on the discussion held on
Stigma-AIDS in 2001, the forum will focus on bringing local, national and
regional experiences of HIV-related stigma to the forefront. We hope it
will foster new partnerships between forum members and promote discourse
among people from different professions about both stigma and
discrimination, by increasing the direct participation of a wide range of
people, sectors and communities, predominantly from countries in the
South.

Following an extensive literature review that has already taken place,
four main areas will be explored:

- Stigma, discrimination and drug-related harm reduction
- Self-stigma or internal stigma
- Disclosure of HIV status
- Stigma and discrimination in institutions/workplaces

These topics will be discussed in a structured way. Key resource people
will provide invited contributions to launch, frame and inform the
discussion. In addition, background papers to support each topic will be
made available.

Following each discussion, a document capturing the highlights of the
discussion will be published in hard copy and on the web and all
contributors to the discussion will be duly acknowledged and cited.

To join this forum, send an email to: join-stigma-aids@healthdev.net or
visit the website at: http://www.hdnet.org

2. YouthNet, a programme of Family Health International, has released new
publications online. Youth Issues Papers are in- depth reviews of critical
topics regarding youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention. They
include an analysis of the issue, a literature review, case studies,
lessons learned, and ideas about criteria for best practices. Youth Issues
Paper 2 - Applying Social Franchising Techniques to Youth Reproductive
Health/HIV Services - is now available at:
http://www.fhi.org/en/Youth/YouthNet/Publications/YouthIssuesPapers.htm

YouthLens is a series of research briefs that summarise the latest
information on key issues regarding reproductive health and HIV prevention
among youth ages 10 to 24. Four new YouthLens are now available in Spanish
and French - all YouthLens briefs can be found at:
http://www.fhi.org/en/Youth/YouthNet/Publications/YouthLens+English.htm

3. The second IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment will take
place from 13 to 16 July 2003, in Paris, France. This conference is
organised by the International AIDS Society (IAS), which also organises
the International AIDS Conference (the next one will be near Bangkok,
Thailand, in July 2004).

The Paris meeting has been billed "THE international forum that brings
together scientists and clinical researchers working on HIV/AIDS from both
the developed and developing world, forging alliances to jointly address
the most pressing issues in the combat against this global emergency".

The final programme of the Paris conference has been posted at
http://www.ias2003.org/  The 360-page document (a 3 megabyte
file) can be searched on your computer for a keyword or phrase, such as a
medical term, drug name, or presenter's name.

Kaisernetwork.org will provide webcasts of the plenary talks and some of
the other major sessions.
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/paris2003

Medscape will provide conference coverage and continuing medical education
programmes based on this conference. Medscape coverage will include daily
news and expert commentary; an executive summary of the conference that
will be published within one week of the conference's close; and a series
of approximately 15 topical reviews, which will be available to physicians
for continuing medical education credit, will be published within 3 weeks
following the meeting. Slide kits and slide-based presentations of
selected conference sessions will also be published on Medscape.
http://www.medscape.com/hiv

4. Botswana's National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA), in collaboration
with all stakeholders and developmental partners, will be holding the
first-ever National HIV/AIDS/STI/and other related infectious Diseases
(ORID) Research Conference (NHASORC) from 7 to 12 December 2003 in
Gaborone.

The main aim of NHASORC 2003 is to provide a platform for sharing research
data and experience by scientists that have done, or are currently
conducting, or intend conducting, HIV/AIDS research in or about Botswana.
It will identify research gaps, impediments to research implementation and
coordination, as well as determine the scope of utilisation of
Botswana-generated research data, and existing sources of funding for
research in or about Botswana. Thus, NHASORC 2003 will be used as a
framework for streamlining national research priorities and determining
dissemination modalities in line with the recently finalised National
Strategic framework.

Interested national, regional and international individuals or groups that
would like to hold skills-building workshops, pre-conference and/or
satellite meetings are invited to submit their proposals.

For more information:

NHASORC 2003
NACA P/bag 00463
Gaborone, Botswana
Email: nacaemail@gov.bw or bmonare@gov.bw or cosborne@unicef.org
www.naca.gov.bw/nhasorc

5. EQUITY Project, implemented by Management Sciences for Health, has led
the rapid expansion of voluntary counselling and testing, and prevention
of mother-to-child transmission services in the most disadvantaged areas
of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The province now has 220 sites for
voluntary counselling and testing, and 92 for mother-to-child
transmission. For more information about this programme:
http://www.equityproject.co.za


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

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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