IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 304
Africa
6 October 2006


NEWS:

CAMEROON: Imprisoned homosexuals face high HIV risk
BOTSWANA: Female condom gets a makeover
SOUTH AFRICA: Prisons AIDS survey draws mixed reaction
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Give peacekeepers ARVs, new study urges
SOUTH AFRICA: Civil society coalition announces new HIV/AIDS action plan
SOUTH AFRICA: Business AIDS strategies need revisiting - SABCOHA
ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive farmworkers are forgotten
LIBERIA: Fears about continuation of ARV programmes

EVENTS/RESOURCES

1. AIDS Alliance CD-ROM
2. New publication: 'Advancing Reproductive Health and Family Planning
    through Religious Leaders and Faith-Based Organizations'

VACANCIES

1. Health Action AIDS Programme Associate, Physicians for Human Rights,
    Nairobi
2. Project Manager: HIV Prevention Trials, Cape Town



NEWS

CAMEROON: Imprisoned homosexuals face high HIV risk

Ten days after completing a one-year prison sentence for homosexuality
during which he was raped and abused, Alim died from an AIDS-related
illness at the Central Hospital in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.

Homosexuality is a crime under Cameroonian law, punishable by up to five
years in prison. Alim was one of 30 people arrested at a bar in Yaounde
in May 2005. Most of the men were released, but Alim was one of nine
transferred to Yaounde Central Prison.

Lambert, another of the men transferred to Yaounde Central, cared for
Alim until his death in June of this year and confirmed that some of
them had been assaulted and raped in their cells.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6439


BOTSWANA: Female condom gets a makeover

Botswana's government has turned to advertising and marketing to give
the usually unpopular female condom more prominence in its fight against
HIV/AIDS.

Officially relaunched as 'Bliss' by a local creative and marketing firm,
the new name and packaging are expected to encourage more women to use
it.

"The earlier product's packaging was dull and did not stand out much, so
we decided to use brighter colours and a sexy name. The sexual
connotations implied by the name already piques the attention of both
men and women," Derick Muchena, an art director at the company
responsible for rebranding the condom, told PlusNews.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6440


SOUTH AFRICA: Prisons AIDS survey draws mixed reaction

South African activists have cautiously welcomed government plans to
gauge the impact of AIDS among inmates and prison staff by means of a
national survey.

The Department of Correctional Services said it aimed to test 12,500
prisoners and officials over two months in order to design suitable
interventions to help stem the pandemic in its facilities.

Although welcoming the announcement, Jonathan Berger, a lawyer at the
AIDS Law Project (ALP), said he failed to see how the survey would
identify which offenders were in need of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6435


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Give peacekeepers ARVs, new study urges

As the African Union (AU) moves towards establishing a formal
peacekeeping brigade, a new study has suggested the need for troops on
missions to be supplied with anti-AIDS medication.

"Botswana and South Africa are the only two countries in Southern Africa
which supply their troops on external operations with 'takeaways' of ARV
[antiretroviral] prescriptions for 90 days," said Martin Rupiya, one of
the authors of the study, 'The Enemy Within: Southern African
Militaries' Quarter-century Battle with HIV and AIDS'.

The study, backed by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an
Africa-based think-tank, deals with the experiences of armies in
Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6436


SOUTH AFRICA: Civil society coalition announces new HIV/AIDS action plan

A coalition of South African civil society organisations on Tuesday
revealed their response to the South African government's calls for
greater unity in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a national AIDS lobby group, has
joined forces with other civil society organisations, including the
South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), the South African
Council of Churches, the AIDS Consortium and the Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU), to launch "an action plan to save lives."

According to a coalition statement, the first phase will be a two-day
conference on South Africa's HIV crisis to achieve "national consensus
on targets and programmes for HIV prevention and treatment, care and
support, as well as on the restructuring of the National AIDS Council
(SANAC), and to present this consensus statement to the government."

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6430


SOUTH AFRICA: Businesses AIDS strategies need revisiting - SABCOHA

South Africa's Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA) says certain
business sectors are still feeling the effects of the pandemic, despite
having workplace initiatives in place.

Citing the findings of the 2005 Bureau for Economic Research (BER)
survey, SABCOHA director Brad Mears told PlusNews the mining,
manufacturing, transport and finance industries were especially
hard-hit, "but this would be expected in businesses such as these, which
are both capital- and labour-intensive, and usually have the largest
numbers of people in their employ."

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6431


ZIMBABWE: HIV-positive farmworkers are forgotten

Little is being done to provide treatment and care for Zimbabwean
farmworkers living with HIV/AIDS since the government launched its
controversial fast-track land redistribution programme in 2000.

Historically exploited, the chaotic reform programme and a series of bad
droughts have deepened the vulnerability of the remaining farm labourers
working the land.

On Bryne Farm, about 55km west of the capital, Harare, Lloyd Munapo*,
39, was diagnosed as HIV positive in 2001. He can no longer work and
relies on his wife, Anna*, to get by. She is also HIV-positive, but can
still join other labourers every morning in the fields.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6432


LIBERIA: Fears about continuation of ARV programmes

The National Programme to fight AIDS (NACP) in Liberia says it is
concerned about the future of programmes distributing antiretroviral
(ARV) medicines after a grant from the international financing body,
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, ends in December.

In June 2004 the Global Fund approved a request by the Liberian
government to provide US$7.6 million over two years to fight AIDS in
this small country, which had been ravaged by 14 years of civil war.
Programmes for scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment were
launched in December of the same year but, according to Lwopu Bruce,
director of the NACP, without new funding these initiatives will stop at
the end of 2006.

More details:
http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6426




EVENTS/RESOURCES

1. The International AIDS Alliance has published a CD-ROM with over 200
publications and resources aimed at HIV/AIDS NGOs and CBOs in developing
countries, or organisations that support them. It features reports and
briefings on a range of HIV/AIDS issues, including prevention, civil
society development, care and treatment, and orphans and vulnerable
chilren.

To order a free copy, go to: www.aidsalliance.org/sw10249.asp

2. Pathfinder International has published 'Advancing Reproductive Health
and Family Planning through Religious Leaders and Faith-Based
Organizations,' a report describing how the organisation succeeded in
enlisting religious leaders in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and
Uganda to spread knowledge and acceptance of its various reproductive
health and family planning initiatives, and to challenge harmful
traditional practices.

To order a hard copy, contact: tech-comm@pathfind.org
To download the document, go to:
www.pathfind.org/Publications_RH_Resources_Community_Mobilization



VACANCIES

1. Health Action AIDS Programme Associate, Physicians for Human Rights,
Nairobi

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) mobilises health professionals to
advance the health and dignity of all people through action that
promotes respect for, protection of, and fulfillment of human rights.
PHR is seeking an experienced professional to work with local partners
to launch a health-professional-led AIDS and Health Rights Advocacy
Network in Kenya.

Responsibilities:

- Serve as direct liaison between PHR and the Kenyan Human Rights
Commission (KHRC)

- Work closely with KHRC staff, PHR staff and the Kenyan Network
leadership to build a health professional advocacy movement

- Educate and mobilise Kenyan and other East African health professional
students to become effective AIDS policy advocates

- Monitor US and other donor-funded AIDS programmes and policies in East
Africa

- Participate in and represent PHR and the Network at periodic
conferences in Kenya, other parts of Africa, and other parts of the
world

- Together with colleagues at the KHRC and PHR, work with Ugandan
partners on joint advocacy and training

- Write reports, newsletter items and web content, and maintain regular
communication with supervisor


Qualifications:

- Bachelor's Degree

- Experience in organising, advocacy, and/or policy analysis, preferably
in AIDS in Africa

- Past work experience in East Africa strongly preferred

- Strong verbal and written communication skills

- Strong organisational skills, attention to detail and follow-through

- Strong strategic thinking skills and sound judgment

- Strong public speaking skills

- Creativity and ability to be energetic self-starter

- Strong commitment to human rights and global health issues

- Experience using PC software, including email, Word, PowerPoint and
database programs


Application deadline: 19 October

Email a cover letter and resume to Resume Coordinator:
resumes@phrusa.org or mail to Resume Coordinator, Physicians for Human
Rights, 2 Arrow Street, Suite 301, Cambridge, MA 02138. For more
information, visit the PHR web site:
http://www.phrusa.org/about/index.html


2. Project Manager: HIV Prevention Trials, Cape Town

The Infectious Disease Epidemiology Unit of the School of Public Health
& Family Medicine at the University of Cape Town is seeking a Project
Manager to run clinical trials and assist with overall management of the
HIV Prevention Trials site at the Uluntu Centre in Guguletu. This is a
contract post with the initial contract lasting for one year.

Responsibilities:

- Assist in the day-to-day operations of the trial site

- Be a principal investigator/study co-ordinator for the new prevention
trials

- Oversee the successful conduct of these trials


Qualifications:

- MBChB or equivalent qualification with at least two years' clinical
experience, preferably in HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and/or
gynaecology

- Master's degree or specialist qualification in Epidemiology and
Biostatistics

- At least two years' experience working at a senior research level

- Experience managing research staff


Remuneration will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Application deadline: 20 October

Send a cover letter indicating the post you are applying for, your CV,
and telephone and email details of two referees, to: Ms. Zarina Cupido
(Ref: 1215-MG), School of Public Health & Family Medicine, UCT,
Rondebosch 7701 or email: zcupido@cormack.uct.ac.za


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


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