IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 228
Africa
28 January 2005


NEWS:

AFRICA: WHO's '3 by 5' plan gains momentum
AFRICA: Older people neglected by HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns
BOTSWANA: Raising youth AIDS awareness like 'trying to fight a dead
   animal'
CAMEROON: Clinical trial of anti-HIV drug on sex workers in question
ETHIOPIA: New strategy launched to combat HIV/AIDS
NIGERIA: MSF to expand HIV/AIDS treatment scheme
SOUTH AFRICA: Generic AIDS drug maker gets US approval
SWAZILAND: Tempers flare as govt pays orphans' school fees

CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES

1. Sexually Transmitted Infections conference
2. Call for HIV/AIDS Media Training Events
3. Training on Community-Based HIV/AIDS Programmes

VACANCIES

1. Regional Technical Advisor (RTA), Catholic Relief Services (CRS)


NEWS:

AFRICA: WHO's '3 by 5' plan gains momentum

The second half of 2004 was a busy time for African governments as they
cranked up the rollout of anti-AIDS drugs to their HIV-positive citizens.

In sub-Saharan Africa the number of people on antiretroviral (ARV)
treatment doubled in just six months, with up to 310,000 people on
medication by December 2004, and there are now well over 700 sites in the
region that can deliver ARVs.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS this week released the
second progress report on the '3 by 5' initiative - three million people
in the developing world on ARV therapy by the end of 2005 - at the World
Economic Forum meeting in Switzerland.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4412


AFRICA: Older people neglected by HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has changed African family structure. At a time in
their lives when older people might traditionally have expected to be
supported by their adult children, they are instead forced to care for
their sick children and orphaned grandchildren - with very little support.

According to a report presented by HelpAge International (HAI) at the
Ageing in Africa conference in South Africa last year, the burden of care
is not the only way the epidemic affects older people - they are also at
risk of HIV transmission through sexual activity.

"People think older people are not interested in sex, especially older
women. But they are interested, they do engage in sex, and they do get
infected - even though the number is not big," HAI's Regional
Representative for Africa, Tavengwa Nhongo, who wrote the report, told
PlusNews.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4419


BOTSWANA: Raising youth AIDS awareness like 'trying to fight a dead
animal'

It's a well-known fact among young Batswana that their country has one of
the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world; they know what HIV/AIDS is,
what causes it, and ways to prevent it.

But when you live in townships like Old Naledi, Broadhurst and Bontleng
and are surrounded by stigma, poverty, death and disease, all these grim
statistics and AIDS messages can leave you understandably disillusioned.

On a hot, dry Monday afternoon in Old Naledi, the largest township in the
capital, Gaborone, a group of young people sit under a tree. This is the
weekly meeting of the township's youth taskforce - advisors to the Urban
Youth Project (UYP), a sexual and reproductive health campaign targeting
unemployed youth, commercial sex workers, orphans and street children.

Theatre group leader Emmanuel (last name withheld) admitted that talking
to young people about HIV/AIDS was like "trying to fight a dead animal".

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4409


CAMEROON: Clinical trial of anti-HIV drug on sex workers in question

The government of Cameroon has said it may stop the clinical trial of an
anti-AIDS drug being tested on 400 sex workers in the port city of Douala,
following allegations that the women are receiving inadequate counselling
and medical care.

The drug in question is Tenofovir, an antiretroviral (ARV) drug
manufactured by US pharmaceutical company Gilead, which has been sold
under the brand name Viread for the past three years.

Now the drug is being tested as a possible prophylactic to prevent people
becoming infected with the HI-virus.

However, AIDS activists in Cameroon and France have alleged that the women
volunteers taking part in the clinical trial in Douala have not been
sufficiently informed of the risks involved.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4421


ETHIOPIA: New strategy launched to combat HIV/AIDS

Ethiopia is beginning to turn the tide in the war against HIV/AIDS, but
the virus is still devastating the country, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
said on Monday.

Speaking at the launch of the government's new three-year anti-HIV/AIDS
strategic plan in the capital, Addis Ababa, Meles warned that hundreds of
thousands of people were still dying.

His comments came as the government began the first-ever distribution of
antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) for up to 30,000 people this year. Estimates
are that ARVs could prevent 78,000 AIDS deaths in the first year, if all
people living with HIV/AIDS had access to the treatment

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4399


NIGERIA: MSF to expand HIV/AIDS treatment scheme

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday it planned to sharply
increase the number of people living with HIV/AIDS who receive
comprehensive treatment and counselling for free in Lagos, Nigeria's
largest city.

Tobias Luppe, who runs the MSF access to essential medicines campaign in
Nigeria, told PlusNews that the number of people provided with
comprehensive treatment and counselling in this city of 14 million people
would rise four-fold, from 250 at present to nearly 1,000 by the end of
this year.

MSF-Netherlands launched the HIV/AIDS care and support project at Lagos
General Hospital last August to offer a comprehensive programme of
treatment to people with HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4398


SOUTH AFRICA: Generic AIDS drug maker gets US approval

South African generic AIDS drug manufacturer, Aspen Pharmacare, has become
the first African firm to win approval from the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for its production plant.

The FDA conducted a pre-operational review and close inspection to
ascertain good manufacturing practice at Aspen's Port Elizabeth facility
in September last year.

As a result of this approval, funds from the US President's Emergency
Plans for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) can be used to purchase Aspen-manufactured
drugs for use in countries where the local drug regulatory agency has
approved them.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4407


SWAZILAND: Tempers flare as govt pays orphans' school fees

A near riot at a Swazi primary school this week, when parents tried to
register their children as orphans to qualify for government support, has
underlined the resentment created by efforts to help the growing numbers
of vulnerable children.

"Children whose parents can afford to pay school fees felt it was unfair
that they had to pay, when government was paying for orphans. They said,
'Why should these children be rewarded because their parents got AIDS and
died?'" a teacher at Khuphuka Primary School near the capital, Mbabane,
told PlusNews.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4420



CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES

1. The International Union against Sexually Transmitted Infections (IUSTI)
will be holding their ninth world congress from 15-18 November 2005 at The
Imperial Queen's Park Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. It will be hosted by the
Consortium of Thai Training Institutes for STDs and AIDS (COTTISA). The
theme of the meeting is 'STI/HIV: Multidisciplinary Approaches - East
Meets West'.

Each day of the conference will begin with a plenary session comprising
presentations that will provide broad and timely summaries of advances in
particular areas. The plenary session will be followed by scientific
sessions, each comprising symposia and several oral presentations. Posters
will be displayed throughout each meeting day. Oral and poster
presentation will be selected from abstracts submitted.

Tracks

Basic Science
Clinical Science
Social Science
Behaviour Science
Epidemiology
Prevention Strategies
Sexual Health

Topics

- Epidemiology of Genital Herpes in the Developing World
- Ethics and Laws related to HIV/AIDS
- HIV/AIDS dynamics and behaviour change
- Interaction between STIs and HIV
- Development of safe and effective Microbicides: where are we?
- Vaccines for HIV/ STIs
- Male circumcision and STI/HIV

For more information:
Dr Chavalit Mankalaviraj - Congress Secretariat
Secretariat World IUSTI 2005
C/O Bangrak Hospital, 189 Sathorn Road
Bangkok 10120
Tel: +66-2-676 5383
Fax: +66-2-286 3013 or email chavalit@cottisa.org

2. Panos London is gathering information on training activities for
journalists wanting to develop their skills in reporting on HIV/AIDS. This
information will form part of a new web resource for the media launched by
the World Bank - the AIDS Media Centre (AMC) - www.aidsmedia.org. It will
also be available on the Panos London website - www.panos.org.uk.

There is currently no comprehensive, up-to-date listing of media training
events available, which can make it difficult for journalists,
particularly in developing countries, to find out about training events in
their countries.

Panos London is calling for anyone who organises or funds HIV/AIDS media
training events to provide them with the following information:

- The name of the event
- Who is organising it
- The date and time of the training
- Country where the event is taking place
- A short description of the training, including who the event is for, the
main topics, registration details and closing dates for applications
- If available, a hyperlink to organiser's web page, application form,
concept note etc.

Please email details to: hivaids@panos.org.uk

3. Global Health Action will be holding a training course to provide
practising health professionals and programme managers with necessary
skills to help them to design, manage and evaluate successful
community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support programmes.

The course will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 11-16 July 2005. According
to Global Health Action, at the end of this training participants will be
able to:

- plan, organise and lead community surveys, needs assessment and asset
mapping
- develop and carry out sound approaches to strategic planning, staffing,
monitoring and evaluation
- develop and implement an action plan for a community-based HIV/AIDS
project

Follow-up to the event will include: a three-day workshop in January 2006
to report on project implementation and receive technical assistance on
topics chosen by participants; technical assistance provided through an
e-mail forum; a field visit to an HIV/AIDS programme site in Nairobi; and
a one-year follow-up survey to evaluate project implementation.

The cost of the course is US $1,450, which includes the six-day course, a
three-day workshop in January 2006, 6 months of technical assistance via
the internet, lunch and snacks. Participants will receive a $45 per diem
that may be applied to accommodation and meals. Participants are
responsible for their own travel costs and securing their own visas.

Applications must be received at Global Health Action by 12 April 2005.

For more information:

Global Health Action, Inc.
1902 Clairmont Road
Decatur GA 30033 USA
Tel: 404 634 5748
Fax: 404 634 9685
gha@globalhealthaction.org



VACANCIES

1. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is looking for a Regional Technical
Advisor (RTA) for HIV/AIDS for its Central African Regional Office.

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

To provide technical assistance to CRS Central African country programmes
in the area of HIV/AIDS and to promote the vision, goals, objectives and
strategies of the HIV/AIDS sector in the Central Africa region.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Provide technical assistance to CRS country programmes in the
development, implementation and monitoring of HIV programmes
- Coordinate regional HIV/AIDS activities such as workshops
- Provide general technical assistance in the development, implementation
and evaluation of HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation activities, with
particular attention to multisectoral interventions. Ensure that all
activities are consistent with current CRS strategies and policies
- Review HIV/AIDS project idea notes, concept papers, and project
proposals
- Assist programmes in the development of quantitative and qualitative
assessments
- Develop systems to regularly disseminate information on best practices
and lessons learned in HIV/AIDS programming to CARO country programme
staff
- Conduct regular technical visits to HIV/AIDS country programmes
- Coordinate closely with other RTAs for HIV/AIDS to disseminate
information requests from CARO country programmes and to share with CARO
lessons learned from HIV/AIDS programming in other regions
- Provide country programmes with trip reports offering recommendations
for HIV/AIDS programming
- Contribute to the design of regional and agency policies regarding
employees affected by HIV/AIDS, and ensure their application in CARO
country programmes
- Coordinate requests for external consultancies in the area of HIV/AIDS
and short-term consultancies of other CRS staff
- Serve as a regional resource on all aspects of Agency HIV strategies and
policies, as well as on funding-related information from the Global Fund,
World Bank, USAID, Catholic donors and other potential donors

REQUIREMENTS:

- Advanced degree (master's or Ph D preferred) in public health or
health-related field
- Minimum of three years of experience in international health development
and/ or AIDS programmes, preferably in Africa, and should include
programme management experience
- Demonstrated capacity to understand and advise on critical technical and
operational issues related to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and mitigation
- Excellent writing and communication skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively on a
team, and as a team player
- Experience in designing and implementing participatory planning and
evaluation methods
- Knowledge of spreadsheets and budgeting, computer literacy and
familiarity with Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint presentations
- Willingness to travel frequently
- Proficiency in French, Spanish or Portuguese. Fluency in spoken and
written French and English required

The incumbent will be based in a CRS country programme in Central Africa
(Abuja, Kinshasa, or Yaounde). The position will require extensive travel
(at least 40 percent) throughout Central Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad,
Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, Equatorial
Guinea) and trips to CRS headquarters in Baltimore, as necessary.

To apply for this position please go to the CRS website at 
www.catholicrelief.org

In your cover letter please include requisition number I 04 124, source 
code IRIN and salary requirements.


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Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


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