IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 220
Africa
11 February 2005


NEWS:

AFRICA: World Bank and business groups launch guidelines
BOTSWANA: Lack of capacity closes NGO's doors
BOTSWANA: Shock visual tactics prove successful in AIDS education
COTE D IVOIRE: Tackling the 'Illness of Unknown Origin' with 'pockets
   of rubber'
COTE D IVOIRE: HIV/AIDS time-bomb ticking away in rebel north
KENYA: New tax jeopardises treatment access
UGANDA: Poverty affecting ART use among mothers
NAMIBIA: Policy aims to assist OVC
SOUTH AFRICA: Anti-AIDS drug tender yet to be awarded


HAYDEN'S DIARY

CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. New e-mail discussion forum on HIV/AIDS in Uganda
2. Sexual Violence Research Initiative: Request for Proposals
3. HIV/AIDS Survival Skills Workshop for Rural Women
4. Awards for Business Excellence

VACANCIES

1. World Health Organisation (WHO) HIV/AIDS Officer

NEWS

AFRICA: World Bank and business groups launch guidelines

The World Bank and the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS
(SABCOHA) launched Guidelines for Building Better Coalitions Against
HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa on Thursday.

Participants from 15 countries representing business coalitions and
national AIDS councils met for a week-long conference to map ways the
private sector could unite to fight the epidemic.

They plan to establish a regional network with products and services that
will serve the interests of business and governments in mounting an
effective and sustainable response to HIV/AIDS.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4470


BOTSWANA: Lack of capacity closes NGO's doors

As more HIV/AIDS resources begin flowing into developing countries, a lack
of capacity in some smaller AIDS organisations is making it difficult for
them to manage donor funding.

Botswana's Coping Centre for People Living with HIV/AIDS (COCEPWA) is a
case in point.

COCEPWA, an organisation supporting HIV-positive Batswana in seven centres
throughout the country, was recently forced to close after the African
Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) withdrew its funding.

"Our programmes were designed to counter stigma and encourage people with
HIV/AIDS to integrate into communities," said Ignatius Katumba Munyaradzi,
who was coordinating the organisation's activities in Maun. "We were
surprised when we received faxes telling us to go home."

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4465


BOTSWANA: Shock visual tactics prove successful in AIDS education

An HIV/AIDS education project introduced to Botswana about 15 years ago,
labelled at the time as "radical and insensitive" by the Ministry of
Health, is now an invaluable tool in combating the disease.

Launched at Athlone Hospital in the Lobatse region of Southern Botswana by
the facility's then chief medical officer, Edwin Mapara, workshops
included slide shows depicting clinical manifestations of HIV/AIDS such as
Kaposi's sarcoma (a type of skin cancer common in the advanced stages of
AIDS infection) and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Mapara told PlusNews that at first there was a strong outcry over the use
of such stark and realistic images, as HIV/AIDS information and education
in Botswana had mainly adopted a "luke-warm approach" that was not
aggressive enough.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4466


COTE D IVOIRE: Tackling the 'Illness of Unknown Origin' with 'pockets of
rubber'

HIV/AIDS is a serious subject, and usually not much fun. But this time it
was. In this remote spot of southern Cote d'Ivoire, it was as if the
circus had come to town.

Music boomed through the loudspeakers as local chiefs took their seats
under awnings that offered shade from the relentless tropical sun. Village
women performed a traditional dance. And a swish lady announced guest
speakers with a microphone.

The Cote d'Ivoire Network of Media Professionals against AIDS, known by
its French acronym REPMASCI, was kicking off its promotion campaign for an
AIDS lexicon in 16 local languages. Obodroupa, a village dominated by the
Bete ethnic group of President Laurent Gbagbo, had the honour of staging
the first ceremony.

A team of specialists have come up with local language equivalents for
words like 'AIDS' and 'contraceptives' to promote a better understanding
of the virus and its implications among Cote d'Ivoire's rural population.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4461


COTE D IVOIRE: HIV/AIDS time-bomb ticking away in rebel north

As the only girl in a family of five orphaned by HIV/AIDS, Awa Keita
spends the day cooking and cleaning for her brothers and her own baby boy.

Four months ago, life took a dour twist for the family marooned in the
war-hit north of Cote d'Ivoire. Awa and her son both tested HIV-positive.
But like millions of others, they cannot get medical help in territory
under rebel control.

As the war grinds on, causing more of the poverty that fuels the pandemic
and wearing down the few surviving health facilities, an HIV/AIDS crisis
looms ahead.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4471

KENYA: New tax jeopardises treatment access

A new regional tax is making it even more difficult for HIV-positive East
Africans to access anti-AIDS drugs, and jeopardising the region's plans
for meeting its targets under the World Health Organisation's '3 by 5'
initiative, activists told PlusNews.

The East Africa Customs Union has imposed a 10 percent duty on goods
imported into Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya, and also on goods from Kenya
exported to Uganda and Tanzania.

Patients in the already overstretched public health system will be feeling
the pinch, as the cost of medicines in the three countries is likely to
escalate. According to intellectual property rights lawyer Peter Munyi,
the pharmaceutical companies, reluctant to absorb the additional 10
percent, would pass the tax burden on to consumers.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4468


UGANDA: Poverty affecting ART use among mothers

Poverty is preventing many Ugandan mothers from using drugs that prevent
mother-to-child transmission of HIV and this has put more children at
risk, health researchers said.

"It is frustrating when these mothers come for a single dose of Nevirapine
to protect their unborn babies, but when they are discharged and told to
report back, they don't," Phillipa Musoke, head of the paediatrics
department of Uganda's Makerere University medical school, told PlusNews.

"Many will tell you they did not have resources like transport to come
back," she said.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4467


NAMIBIA: Policy aims to assist OVC

Namibia has launched a national policy to address the needs of the
country's 150,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), developed with
the support of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

At the opening of the third conference on OVC on Wednesday, outgoing
President Sam Nujoma said the policy would provide a foundation for
effective interaction between the government, communities and NGOs, to
reduce the vulnerability of OVC and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS.

"The high rate of new infections of young Namibians between the ages of 10
and 24 ... at 60 percent is alarming, and a clarion call to all of us to
fight the spread of HIV/AIDS," Nujoma said.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4469


SOUTH AFRICA: Anti-AIDS drug tender yet to be awarded

Almost a year after the South African government invited tenders for
anti-AIDS drugs from potential suppliers, the contract to supply the
national treatment programme has yet to be awarded.

The delays in the procurement process have increased the growing
frustration over the slow pace of the rollout. By the end of 2004 the
health department estimated that about 19,500 HIV-positive people were
receiving free antiretroviral medication from state facilities - about
half a million South Africans need treatment.

News reports last week revealed that the process appeared to have stalled
over the multinational drug companies' dissatisfaction with government
stipulations.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4460


HAYDEN'S DIARY

HIV Prevention 101: Ignoring the Church's views on condoms

Dear Diary,

A flurry of news this past month about the Catholic Church's opposition to
condoms has forced me to question its role in the global struggle against
HIV and AIDS.

In my opinion, the Vatican, with its firm anti-latex stance and undying
call for abstinence, is unwittingly putting many of its followers, as well
as non-believers, at risk of HIV infection.

In reality, abstinence is usually only achieved within the walls of a
convent or monastery ... and even that is debatable.

More:



CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH RESOURCES

1. Health and Development Networks (HDN) and the Ugandan Network of AIDS
Service Organisations (UNASO) recently launched a new email discussion
forum on HIV/AIDS in Uganda - Partners Uganda.

Partners Uganda is a national eForum for the debate and discussion on
HIV/AIDS-related health and development issues. The forum provides a
virtual meeting place for organisations and people at the national and
local levels to network, share experiences and ask for advice on issues
related to HIV/AIDS in the Ugandan context. It facilitates linkages and
information sharing between groups of people living with HIV/AIDS and
organisations working in the area of HIV/AIDS and other health-related
fields in a variety of sectors.

The eForum also provides a searchable archive of postings, including
reports from international and regional AIDS conferences related to
HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

It has a diverse membership, made up of:
-- non-governmental and community-based organisations
-- People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA)
-- Research institutes and centres
-- Educational establishments
-- Provincial and district level administration
-- Journalist/media groups

Use the search engine to find and browse through discussions on Partners
Uganda at:
http://eforums.healthdev.org/read/?forum=partnersuganda

To join, send a blank message to:
join-partnersuganda@eforums.healthdev.org

2. The Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) has issued a request for
proposals to host the SVRI Secretariat.

SVRI invites institutions, particularly in low- or middle-income
countries, to express their interest in hosting the Secretariat for the
Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) for an initial period of three
years, renewable by the SVRI Coordinating Group.

The SVRI aims to build an experienced and committed network of
researchers, policy makers, activists and donors to ensure that the many
aspects of sexual violence are addressed from the perspective of different
disciplines and cultures.

Deadline: 21 February 2005.

For more information: www.who.int/svri and www.globalforumhealth.org

3. The HIV/AIDS Survival Skills Workshop will take place from 27 March to
1 April 2005 in Tororo, eastern Uganda. This workshop is the first of its
kind in rural Uganda. The workshop is free to the participating local
women and is designed to empower them to become leaders and teachers in
their communities.

The facilitator, Lynde Francis, runs The Centre, an organisation based in
Harare, Zimbabwe, which has thousands of clients, most without access to
antiretroviral medication. Francis and her colleagues have developed a
successful and practical programme that improves nutrition, empowers
women, builds support networks, teaches alternative therapies, and
provides basic AIDS education.

US NGO, The River Fund, is jointly sponsoring the workshop with The Centre
and the Uganda Martyrs Orphans Project of Tororo. Lynde Francis is also
available to give talks or workshops while in Uganda in April 2005. Please
contact her at: centre2@africaonline.co.zw.

For more information:

Centurio Olaboro
Uganda Martyrs Orphans Project
(0) 778 43 900
www.ugandamartyrsorphansproject.org

4. The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) is calling for
submissions for the 2005 Awards for Business Excellence. The awards,
instituted in 1998, recognise outstanding business responses to HIV/AIDS
around the world.

The 2005 Awards will be presented at the GBC's Annual Gala Dinner in
Washington DC, USA, following a two-day global HIV/AIDS simulation, a
congressional meeting, and a business leaders meeting. Companies are
invited to submit their entry forms by 18 March 2005.

The 2004 awards recognized the work of Anglo American for Leadership, BHP
Billiton for Innovation, Coca-Cola Egypt for Community, Siemens for
Workplace, and Viacom International for Education and Awareness. Fourteen
other company programmes were also commended for their efforts.

Companies taking action on HIV/AIDS are encouraged to send submissions for
recognition in the following categories:

Business Excellence in the Workplace
Business Excellence in the Community
Business Excellence for Innovation
Business Excellence using Core Competency
Individual Business Leadership on HIV/AIDS

For more information on the awards and how to apply, please go to
www.businessfightsaids.org



VACANCIES

1. World Health Organisation (WHO) HIV/AIDS Officer - Angola, Botswana,
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, Rwanda.

Under the supervision of the WHO Country Representative, with programmatic
and technical guidance from the Regional Office and supported by the
Department of HIV/AIDS at HQ, the HIV/AIDS Officer for Prevention, Care
and Treatment has a critical role in each country.

In association with partners, he/she supports efforts of WHO at country
level, to provide technical and other assistance to government and
national partners in planning, implementing and monitoring programmes to
scale up HIV/AIDS treatment care and prevention in line with global '3 by
5' and national targets and standards.

As a member of the WHO Country or Liaison Office, he/she works with other
members of the WHO country team, other experts and relevant partners. In
some instances, the HIV/AIDS Officer for Prevention Care and Treatment
Scale-up covers more than one country.

For more information:
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/res.nsf/db900SID/OCHA-69AJYS?OpenDocument


IRIN-SA
Tel: +27 11 895-1900
Fax: +27 11 784-6759
Email: IRIN-SA@irin.org.za

[This Item is Delivered to the "PlusNews" HIV/AIDS Service of the UN's
IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations. For further information, free
subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail:
Plusnews@irinnews.org or Web: http://www.irinnews.org/aidsfp.asp . If
you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this
credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written
IRIN permission.]

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


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HIV-AIDS Weekly Issue                 www.cidi.org/humanitarian/hivaids