IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 287
Africa
9 June 2006


NEWS:

INDIA: UN report spotlights HIV/AIDS rates in children
KYRGYZSTAN: World Bank and government pledge to battle HIV/AIDS
THAILAND: Increased HIV/AIDS awareness needed - UNAIDS
LESOTHO: Govt intensifies efforts to help rape survivors
LAOS: TV and radio dramas boost HIV/AIDS awareness among migrants
KENYA: My brother's keeper - community care saves lives
BOTSWANA: Care for caregivers at new centre

LINKS

1. African Regional Youth Initiative- New Website
2. AIDS
3. Johns Hopkins AIDS Service

VACANCIES

1. National Project Coordinator: HIV/AIDS Prevention in the Transport 
Sector - Pretoria, South Africa


NEWS

BOTSWANA: Care for caregivers at new centre

A new centre in Botswana is piloting some innovate strategies to address 
the emotional and medical needs of HIV/AIDS healthcare providers.

The Tshedisa Institute in the capital, Gaborone, is the brainchild of 
several doctors working in the local private and public health sectors, 
who recognised the need to provide healthcare workers, exhausted and 
overworked by the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic, with more support.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6041


INDIA: UN report spotlights HIV/AIDS rates in children

The total number of HIV/AIDS cases in India has reached an estimated 5.7 
million, surpassing South Africa's 5.5 million cases, the Joint United 
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) said in its 2006 report, released 
last week.

The UNAIDS 2006 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic counted children 
under 15 years and adults over 49 when assessing infection rates.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6046


KYRGYZSTAN: World Bank and government pledge to battle HIV/AIDS

The World Bank's regional project to control HIV/AIDS in Central Asia 
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has signed an 
agreement to fight the epidemic in the Central Asian country.

"We need to strengthen national coordination mechanisms on fighting AIDS 
and this agreement will help us to do so," Tilek Meimanaliev, head of 
the World Bank's Central Asia Regional AIDS Control Project, said last 
week in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6012


THAILAND: Increased HIV/AIDS awareness needed - UNAIDS

An overwhelming majority - 85 percent - of Thai youth do not consider 
HIV an issue they need to be personally concerned with, after nearly a 
decade without any mass public awareness campaigns on HIV/AIDS, 
according to a UN official.

"Public information, which was once ubiquitous, has dropped off the 
radar screen," Patrick Brenny, Country Coordinator of the Joint United 
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Thailand, said on Wednesday at 
the launch of the UNAIDS 2006 report in the Thai capital, Bangkok. 
"There is a strong recognition that prevention programming needs to be 
ramped up," he added.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6029


LESOTHO: Govt intensifies efforts to help rape survivors

The Lesotho government is to improve medical care provided to sexual 
violence survivors after rape cases reported in the first three months 
of this year climbed to almost the total number for 2005.

According to Motselisi Mosotho, a member of the Child and Gender 
Protection Unit (CGPU), 484 rape cases were registered by the police in 
the tiny land-locked kingdom between January and March this year, 
compared to 501 cases in the whole of 2005.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6050


LAOS: TV and radio dramas boost HIV/AIDS awareness among migrants

Naive and unfamiliar with the world beyond their isolated, tight-knit 
communities, young job seekers from Communist-ruled Laos are at high 
risk of being trafficked into the booming sex industry in neighbouring 
Thailand, officials fear.

As a result, the government has made a film to raise awareness of the 
potential dangers of crossing the border to seek work, including the 
possibility of contracting HIV/AIDS, and is also involved in using radio 
to educate job seekers.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6051


KENYA: My brother's keeper - community care saves lives

Rural communities in desperately poor western Kenya, tired of waiting 
for help that never comes, are bringing hope to families that would 
otherwise starve or die of health problems.

"Many of our neighbours have seen their parents, children and other 
relatives perish from HIV/AIDS, so we have decided to step in and help 
where we can," said Steven Walele, a member of the Bungoma Orphans, 
HIV/AIDS and Poverty Organisation (BOHAPO), a community-based 
association in the village of Kabula.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6055



LINKS

1. African Regional Youth Initiative- New website

The African Regional Youth Initiative is has launched a new website, 
that boasts interactive features including blogs, the addition of 
content by registered users, and much more.

Access the site: http://www.africaninitiative.org/af


2. AIDS

The website of 'AIDS', the official journal of the International AIDS 
Society, which publishes the latest research on the pandemic.

Of all AIDS-related journals, 'AIDS' has the highest impact and is read 
by top international clinicians and researchers.

Access the site: http://www.aidsonline.com


3. Johns Hopkins AIDS Service

This website serves as a resource for physicians and other healthcare 
professionals providing care and treatment to patients living with 
HIV/AIDS.

Access the site: http://www.hopkins-aids.edu



VACANCIES

The International Labour Organisation is seeking suitable candidates for 
the recently created position of National Project Coordinator - HIV/AIDS 
Prevention in the Transport Sector in South Africa.

Interested candidates are requested to email their application, 
including an updated CV and at least three references, to: 
ndlovu@ilo.org or post to: The Director, ILO Pretoria Office, P O Box 
11964, Hatfield, 0028


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


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