IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 142
Africa
15 August 2003


NEWS:

ETHIOPIA: Call for better HIV/AIDS campaigns
SOUTH AFRICA: Daunting challenge for AIDS drug rollout
BOTSWANA: Expanding ARV therapy
SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS drug rollout still months away
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui gets $8 million for HIV/AIDS patients

LINKS

1. Women, Children and HIV/AIDS
2. Children in Distress (CINDI)
3. Textbook of HIV/AIDS Pathology

CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH

1. Ethical Research Guidelines
2. Scaling up the Response of the Private Sector in the Fight Against
HIV/AIDS
3. Treatment for rape survivors

VACANCIES

1. Youth Programme Coordinator
2. Interpersonal Communications Specialist

ETHIOPIA: Call for better HIV/AIDS campaigns

Ethiopia must radically expand the country's voluntary testing centres if
it is to curb the AIDS scourge, a conference heard on Friday.

Gebeyehu Mekonnen, who heads the Family Guidance Association of Ethiopia,
said offering testing to the entire population was a vital weapon in the
war against the deadly virus.

His call came at a conference sponsored by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
on how to "live positively" with HIV.

According to the Ethiopian government, some 2.2 million people are
infected although some experts working with HIV/AIDS say it could be much
higher. An estimated 600 people a day are dying from AIDS.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2389

SOUTH AFRICA: Daunting challenge for AIDS drug rollout

After getting the long awaited go-ahead from cabinet to start a national
antiretroviral (ARV) programme, South Africa's health department is now
faced with the daunting challenge of drawing up a strategy for
distributing the anti-AIDS drugs to the millions of people who need them.

Senior health department officials met on Monday to discuss a rollout plan
of ARV drugs to public hospitals, health department spokesman Sibani
Mngadi told PlusNews.

This meeting followed last week's instruction by the cabinet to the
department to urgently develop an operational plan for a national
treatment programme by 30 September 2003.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2379

BOTSWANA: Expanding ARV therapy

The opening of a new HIV/AIDS care clinic in northern Botswana has helped
extend the reach of the government's national treatment and prevention
programme.

The Infectious Diseases Care Clinic at Maun General Hospital was
officially handed over to the government last week by the African
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP), as part of its support to
Botswana's antiretroviral (ARV) drug programme.

ACHAP is a public-private partnership backed by the Bill and Melinda
Gates, and drug company Merck, foundations.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2378

SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS drug rollout still months away

The South African cabinet has finally approved the provision of AIDS drugs
to HIV-positive citizens through the public health system. It has
instructed the health ministry to act "with urgency".

But people living with HIV/AIDS will have to wait six to nine months
before they can access the drugs.

According to the joint task team - whose report on the costing of a
national treatment plan was accepted by cabinet on Friday - a treatment
programme should be implemented in phases over a two or three year period.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2373

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Bangui gets $8 million for HIV/AIDS patients

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has granted the
Central African Republic US $8.2 million to support the government's
efforts in providing cheaper treatment for HIV/AIDS-infected people,
state-owned Television Centrafricaine reported on Friday.

An agreement for the funding was signed on Friday in the capital, Bangui,
between the UN Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative, Stan
Nkwain, for the Fund, and Prime Minister Abel Goumba, for the government.

Nkwain said the funds, to be managed by the UNDP, would be used to care
for HIV/AIDS patients.

More details:
http://www.irinnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=2368


LINKS

1. The Women, Children and HIV/AIDS website is the result of a
collaboration between the Francois-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Centre at the
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), and the Centre
for HIV Information (CHI) at the University of California San Francisco,
which aims to disseminate information on a number of HIV/AIDS topics.
http://www.womenchildrenhiv.org/

2. Children in Distress (CINDI) is an informal consortium of South African
NGOs, in which each role-playing NGO is conducting one or more pilot
projects in an attempt to develop solutions to what will be the major
social issue facing the country over the next 50 years or more – the
millions of children who will be orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
www.togan.co.za/cindi/

3. The Textbook of HIV/AIDS Pathology includes a general discussion of the
pathophysiology of HIV infection, organ system pathology of AIDS, and
descriptions of the opportunistic infections and neoplasms associated with
AIDS, as well as a general discussion of issues, including safety and
education, related to the AIDS epidemic.
http://www-medlib.med.utah.edu/WebPath/TUTORIAL/AIDS/AIDS.html


CONFERENCES/EVENTS/RESEARCH

1. The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)
believes that HIV positive women are uniquely placed to contribute their
knowledge, skills and experience to all research conducted on this issue,
as well as to all research exploring more effective ways of preventing
acquisition or further transmission of the HI virus.

Much current research on HIV ignores gender-related differences with
regard to transmission, the effects of the virus on the individual
concerned, and appropriate forms of care or treatment for that individual.
Much current research also ignores the effects of the research process
itself on the psychological and economic well-being of the individual
women concerned.

ICW has recently developed draft ethical guidelines and categories for
classifying participatory research protocols for consideration in
developing socioeconomic research programmes.  The guidelines can be found
on ICW's website:
http://www.icw.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=2911th

2. The conference on Scaling up the Response of the Private Sector in the
Fight Against HIV/AIDS is structured as a consultative meeting, with
participants coming together to unveil the West Africa Private Sector AIDS
Network, and explore how groups operating in the Economic Community Of
West African States (ECOWAS) can form linkages to promote dialogue,
exchange of information and protocols, and expand access to treatment in
the sub-region.
For more information and registration: http://www.a5coalition.org/

3. New Sexual Offences Bill: Why has the South African government removed
HIV treatment clauses?
Joan van Niekerk - national coordinator of Childline - who headed the Law
Commission task groups that drew up the new Sexual Offences Bill and the
new Child Care Bill, and Charlene Smith, rape survivor and journalist,
will examine the shortfalls (and plusses) of the new legislation on 19
August 2003, in the Committee room of the Centre for the Book, Queen
Victoria road, Cape Town, South Africa from 10am to 1pm.

Issues to be discussed:

- The excision of the Treatment Clause - for HIV, sexually transmitted
illnesses, pregnancy and counselling - why it needs to be reinstated
- The use of post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to prevent HIV here and
elsewhere in the world: Costings; Impact; Toxicity
- The legal implications of the Bill
- Testimony from rape survivors and experts about the need for a treatment
clause.

For more information:
Charlene Smith
South Africa
Email: clsmith@global.co.za
Tel: +27.11.6467637
Tel: +27.824958716

Joan van Niekerk
Tel: 083 303 8322


VACANCIES

1. Youth Programme Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee (IRC) invites applications from
qualified candidates for the position to oversee the implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of its Unaccompanied Minors Repatriation
Project.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Directly supervise the national staff project manager and several other
project staff located in three field sites across the country
- Strengthen national staff capacity to engage the IDP/returnee youth in
clubs involving: recreation, sports, non-formal education, life-skills
training, literacy, adolescent reproductive health (HIV/AIDS prevention)
and other psychosocial support activities for children
- Liaise with local authorities and local partners to involve them in
programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and to ensure
community participation and ownership of youth programme activities
- Represent IRC at regular meetings on youth programming with government
officials, UN agencies, NGOs, and local partners, as appropriate
- Develop new programme concept papers and proposals for submission to
donors (potential new programming opportunities include demobilisation of
child soldiers)

REQUIREMENTS:

Fluent in English and French (written and spoken). Demonstrated experience
in application of community-based, participatory techniques. Demonstrated
experience in conducting needs assessments and evaluations of youth
programmes. Demonstrated ability to supervise staff and manage a team in a
cross-cultural setting. Excellent communication skills, interpersonal
skills, representational skills. Commitment to national staff development.
Strong computer skills (including MS Office, MS Project, EPInfo/SPPS
preferred). Strong proposal and report writing skills. Flexibility,
security analysis skills, problem-solving skills, ability to work
independently and meet deadlines. Willingness to live/work in a relatively
unstable security environment.

EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

Master's Degree in social work, education, international development, or
related field required, and a minimum of 3 years' experience in overseeing
youth programmes (preferably child reunification/child demobilisation
projects) in developing countries, preferably in Africa.

Interested Applicants are urged to apply online at: http://www.ircjobs.org

2. Interpersonal Communications Specialist

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Developing training curriculum and tools to assist country programmes in
the development of IPC activities
- Providing direct support to field programmes in the design of IPC
modules and activities
- Evaluating both proposed and actual IPC activities
- Providing support in the review of marketing plans and strategies, and
other marketing-related activities
- Other duties and special projects as needed

REQUIREMENTS:

- At least 2 years of field experience in Africa or Asia in the design and
implementation of IPC activities in HIV/AIDS with high risk groups
(truckers, CSW, IDU, etc.)
- Advanced degree in communications and/or marketing preferred
- Familiarity of Voluntary Counselling and Testing principles and
one-on-one and peer counselling
- Experience with condom promotion preferred
- Familiarity with the international development field, and key marketing
issues and concepts
- Exceptional interpersonal and organisational skills

Please apply online at www.psi.org.  No calls or emails please.


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

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