IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 275
Africa
17 March 2006


NEWS:

UGANDA: Stuck in the closet: gays left out of HIV/AIDS strategy
KENYA: Treating more than just HIV/AIDS in Nairobi's Kibera slum
ZAMBIA: A snip in time can save lives
CAMEROON: "Aunties" teach pregnant teenagers to prevent HIV/AIDS and
   STIs
TANZANIA: Mining firm to begin ARV provision
SOMALIA: Interim govt launches south-central AIDS commission

LINKS

1. HIV/AIDS and Emergencies

EVENTS

1. Small grants for print journalists
2. Partners Uganda electronic discussion forum

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

1. Epidemiologist - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Maputo Mozambique


NEWS:

UGANDA: Stuck in the closet: gays left out of HIV/AIDS strategy

In a dimly lit karaoke bar in a suburb of Kampala, the capital, Crystal
Namanya belts out Madonna's "Get into the Groove", following the words
as they run across a television screen. Her rendition is a crowd
pleaser, attracting applause and shouts of "you go, girl!" from her
fellow revellers.

This is no ordinary karaoke evening. Nearly everyone in the bar is gay,
something most Ugandans consider un-African and un-Christian. The police
have raided this secluded bar several times in the past year but, for
the time being, it is one of just a handful of places where the city's
gays and lesbians feel safe.

Homosexuality carries a huge stigma in conservative Uganda, and a
conviction for sodomy - deemed "an act against the order of nature" -
carries a life sentence in jail.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5782


KENYA: Treating more than just HIV/AIDS in Nairobi's Kibera slum

Kibera, the sprawling mass of tightly packed structures roofed with
corrugated iron that makes up the largest slum in Nairobi, the Kenyan
capital, is home to more than 600,000 people, most of whom relocated
from their rural homes in the hope of making their fortune in the city.

Disease is rife in Kibera, and the medical centres that operate here are
overwhelmed by the numbers they have to treat. Malaria is widespread, as
is TB, whose spread is exacerbated by the cramped living conditions.

HIV/AIDS is endemic - transactional sex is often the only means of
survival for many of the slum's young women. They trade their bodies for
as little as 20 shillings (US $ 0.30) - just enough for a small meal -
and are rarely in a position to negotiate the use of a condom.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5787


ZAMBIA: A snip in time can save lives

Fifteen year-old Chitambu Kalezyi recently came back from a month-long
bush camp where he participated in the mukanda traditional ceremony,
practiced by the major ethnic groups of the Northwestern province of
Zambia.

The mukanda also known as circumcision camps, are traditional "schools"
where local boys - aged from 12 to 17 - are circumcised.

Back in the capital, Lusaka, where circumcision has never been a
traditional requirement, more of Kalezyi's friends and even older men
are now queuing to have the operation.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5780


CAMEROON: "Aunties" teach pregnant teenagers to prevent HIV/AIDS and
STIs

Teenage pregnancy is a growing concern in Cameroon, where young people
make up most of the 5.5 percent of the population living with HIV.

Marlyse, 25, was just 18 years old when her four-month-old baby died,
while Lysette, 21, (last names withheld) is bringing up her six-year old
son alone - the boy's father is her uncle.

Neither of them turned out to be HIV-positive, but some of their friends
weren't as fortunate.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5769


TANZANIA: Mining firm to begin ARV provision

Tanzania's Williamson Diamonds Limited (WDL), located in Mwadui, some
800 km north of the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, will start
providing antiretroviral therapy to employees, their families and people
living in the surrounding villages this week.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5771


SOMALIA: Interim govt launches south-central AIDS commission

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government on Tuesday launched a
commission to coordinate HIV/AIDS activities in the central and southern
regions of the war-scarred Horn of Africa nation.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5779



LINKS:

1. In normal times the devastation brought about by HIV/AIDS is grave
enough. But when an emergency strikes - war, civil strife, man-made or
natural disasters, and epidemics - the potential for HIV infection can
increase significantly.

Until recently, the increased risk of HIV/AIDS in emergency settings had
been ignored by international humanitarian and relief agencies.
Typically, their emergency operations focus on meeting basic needs such
as food, water, sanitation and shelter, and on treating outbreaks of
infectious diseases such as cholera and dysentery. These agencies have
traditionally seen HIV as either a health issue to be handled through
medical responses, or as a long-term development issue.

Partly through the leadership of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee
(IASC), this approach is now changing. Responses to increased HIV/AIDS
vulnerability in emergency settings are now being integrated into
humanitarian and relief agency work plans at the earliest possible
moment of an emergency.

For more information on the IASC: http://www.aidsandemergencies.org


EVENTS:

1. The Panos Global AIDS Programme invites print journalists from
Southern Africa; Eastern Africa; Western Africa; the Caribbean; South
Asia to participate in a small grants programme aimed at raising debate
at country level on the progress made by their countries in the
attainment of the goals of the Declaration of Commitment agreed upon
during the United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions (UNGASS) on
HIV/AIDS held in June 2001.

The journalists will be expected to write investigative and analytical
features raising critical issues around their own country's response to
HIV/AIDS especially as they relate to the Declaration of Commitment.

Deadline: 28th March 2006

To apply, please send your CV and samples of related published work to:

Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) Paul Banoba
Email: pbanoba@panoseasternafrica.org.ug

Southern Africa (Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Walter Otis Tapfumaneyi Email: wtapfumaneyi@panos.org.zm

South Asia
Anushree Mishra Email: anushree@panosaids.org

The Caribbean
Patricia Watson Email: pwatson@panoscaribbean.org

More information can be found at:
http://panoseasternafrica.org.ug/grants.html and
http://www.panosaids.org/ungass/grants.htm


2. The Uganda Network for AIDS Service Organisations (UNASO) and Health
and Development Networks (HDN), in collaboration with the Constellation
for AIDS Competence will be holding a time-limited structured discussion
on: "AIDS Competence - sharing, using and strengthening experience with
local responses in Uganda".

This discussion will take place on the Partners Uganda electronic
discussion forum (eForum) between March - July 2006.

To join Partners Uganda eForum, send a blank email to:
join-partnersuganda@eforums.healthdev.org OR go to the website at
www.healthdev.org/eforums/partnersuganda

The overall aims of this discussion are to share knowledge and
experiences, and to raise awareness about the level of AIDS competence
present both organisationally and individually.

More information on the AIDS Competence Process (ACP) can be found on
the website of the Constellation for AIDS Competence at



JOB OPPORTUNITIES:

1. Epidemiologist - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Maputo Mozambique
Closing date: 01 Apr 2006

REQUIREMENTS:

- Medical doctor or nurse or allied medical profession with a
postgraduate qualification in Epidemiology or medical statistics with
practical experience in use of statistical software (EpiInfo, STATA,
SPSS)

- Experience in the field of routine data collection, cleaning &
analysis

- Experience in an HIV/AIDS and/or a developing country would be an
advantage

- Excellent communications skills (verbal and written)

- Knowledge of English is a must and willingness to learn Portuguese

For more information: epidemiologist@brussels.msf.org
Reference Code: RW_6LTH99-30


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


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