IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 312
Africa
1 December 2006


NEWS:

SOUTH AFRICA: 'AIDS' death certificate causes a stir
KENYA: Rising drug, alcohol abuse threatens HIV/AIDS gains
ZAMBIA: More than 10 girls raped every week
NAMIBIA: Orphans bear the brunt of WFP cash shortfall
KENYA: Activists upset as UK introduces TB screening for visa
   applicants
AFRICA: AIDS treatment still a pipe-dream - report
JORDAN: AIDS high-risk groups must be controlled, says senior official
IRAQ: "Men here believe they are immune to the disease"


EVENTS

1. HIV/AIDS and its Impact on Business in Africa - 22 to 25 January 2007

RESOURCES

1. "All Together Now" - Community mobilisation for HIV/AIDS toolkit

VACANCIES

1. Sexual Health Manager - Pretoria (Tshwane), South Africa
2. HIV/AIDS Clinical Nurse - Lesotho


NEWS

SOUTH AFRICA: 'AIDS' death certificate causes a stir

In the first case of its kind in the country, a South African 
pathologist has been brought before the Health Professions Council 
(HPCSA), a national health watchdog, for mentioning AIDS as the cause of 
death on a medical certificate.

Greer van Zyl, a spokesperson for the HPCSA, confirmed that the 
next-of-kin of a young woman who died in April 2005 had filed a 
complaint against former state pathologist Dr Leon Wagner, but said that 
so far only the formal complaint had been made and the hearing to decide 
the matter had been postponed.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6575


KENYA: Rising drug, alcohol abuse threatens HIV/AIDS gains

Kenya recorded a drop in HIV prevalence from 6.1 percent in 2005 to 5.9 
in 2006 but rising substance abuse could reverse advances made in the 
fight against HIV/AIDS if left unchecked, the National Agency for the 
Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) has warned.

Sexual transmission is the most common way the virus is spread, but 
NACADA national coordinator Jennifer Kimani said needle sharing by 
injecting drug users also contributed to the epidemic, while alcohol 
abuse led people to make risky sexual choices. "People lose their 
inhibitions when they use drugs and alcohol, they lose their sense of 
responsibility and that fear of HIV/AIDS that one usually has."

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSReport.ASP?ReportID=6574


ZAMBIA: More than 10 girls raped every week

A Zambian nongovernmental organisation (NGO) revealed this week that it 
records eight cases of rape of young girls every week at its centre in 
the capital, Lusaka.

The statistics were released by the Young Women's Christian Association 
(YWCA) of Zambia to mark the start of the global campaign, '16 Days of 
Activism Against Gender Violence', which runs from 25 November - 
International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - until 
International Human Rights Day on 10 December.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6573


NAMIBIA: Orphans bear the brunt of WFP cash shortfall

A funding shortfall faced by the United Nations World Food Programme 
(WFP) could force thousands of vulnerable Namibian children to go hungry 
in the coming weeks.

"It's an unjust and preventable tragedy that children - especially 
orphans - become the victims of funding shortfalls," said John Prout, 
WFP Country Director for Namibia. "The international community should 
not forget that a hungry child in Namibia is every bit as desperate as a 
vulnerable child in the rest of the world."

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6578


KENYA: Activists upset as UK introduces TB screening for visa applicants

AIDS activists in Kenya are calling for the United Kingdom (UK) to 
repeal a recent decision to introduce tuberculosis screening for Kenyans 
applying to enter the UK for more than six months.

"We should all fight the disease as an international community, and not 
victimise poor countries," Dr Ignatius Kibe, a leading advocate for 
treatment access in Kenya, said at a press conference this week.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6581


AFRICA: AIDS treatment still a pipe-dream - report

Global communities and national governments are failing to scale up 
antiretroviral (ARV) treatment in poor countries, said a group of 800 
AIDS activists from more than 125 countries.

In its latest report, 'Missing the Target #3: Stagnation in AIDS 
Treatment Scale Up Puts Millions of Lives at Risk', released ahead of 
World AIDS Day on 1 December, the International Treatment Preparedness 
Coalition (ITPC) said the momentum created by the World Health 
Organisation's (WHO) campaign was rapidly fading from most government 
interventions.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6580


JORDAN: AIDS high-risk groups must be controlled, says senior official

Despite the low prevalence of AIDS in Jordan, the existence of 
vulnerable groups that could become infected with the virus and the 
difficulty in tracking them are the biggest challenges for the country's 
new strategy on AIDS, a senior health official said.

"If we do not control high-risk groups such as sex workers, men having 
sex with other men and injecting drug users - which exist in Jordan, but 
are hidden - we might face an HIV epidemic in the future," Dr Ali 
Ass'ad, Secretary General of the Ministry of Health and Director of the 
National AIDS Programme, said during the launch of Jordan's national 
strategy for AIDS on Wednesday.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6576


IRAQ: "Men here believe they are immune to the disease"

Iraq has traditionally had one of the lowest incidences of HIV/AIDS in 
the Middle East. This started to slowly change after the US-led invasion 
in 2003 brought hundreds of foreigners into the country, opening the 
doors for the spread of the virus, health workers say.

The Baghdad-based AIDS Research Centre said that new cases are appearing 
monthly and with the current chaos in the public health services, 
patients might suffer severely with the lack of appropriate medicines.

Nearly 100 Iraqis with AIDS have registered with the centre but 
authorities believe that about twice this number exist who have not 
registered.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/aidsreport.asp?reportid=6577


EVENTS

1. HIV/AIDS and its Impact on Business in Africa - 22 to 25 January 2007

One of the major challenges facing the continent is to gather resources 
and translate knowledge and experience into treatment and prevention 
programmes.

This conference at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg, South 
Africa, seeks to address the consequences if business continues to 
ignore current warnings and statistics.

Register at http://www.aidsafricaconference.com


RESOURCES

1. "All Together Now" - Community mobilisation for HIV/AIDS toolkit

This toolkit, produced by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, describes 
the process of encouraging community mobilisation for prevention, care, 
support and treatment activities. It uses tried and tested approaches to 
help facilitate communities to become actively involved in the 
assessment, design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and scaling 
up of HIV/AIDS projects and programmes.

It can be downloaded at: http://www.aidsalliance.org


VACANCIES

1. Sexual Health Manager - Pretoria (Tshwane), South Africa

OUT, a non-governmental organisation supporting the rights of lesbian, 
gay, bisexual and transgender people in South Africa, seeks a suitably 
trained individual to manage the group's direct sexual health services 
campaign.

This would include implementation of targeted HIV prevention programmes; 
coordination of OUT's HIV testing and treatment programmes and facility; 
product development; and mainstreaming sexual orientation issues into 
broader sexual health programmes.

The ideal candidate should have at least 3 years experience in 
implementing HIV/AIDS or sexual health programmes; a graduate degree in 
psychology, health sciences, development studies or related fields.

Applications, with three contactable references, should be faxed to:

+27 12 344 6501
or e-mailed to:
director@out.org.za
or posted to:
PO Box 26197, Arcadia, 0007

Closing date is 12 noon, 11 December 2006.



2. HIV/AIDS Clinical Nurse - Lesotho

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the international medical humanitarian 
organisation, opened a new HIV/AIDS programme in Lesotho in 2006. The 
programme operates in the Health Service Area of Scott in collaboration 
with the management of Scott Hospital and primary health care staff.

Responsibilities:

- Provide direct clinical care for HIV patients in hospital and rural 
clinics

- Provide in-service support to nurses on all HIV-related medical 
activities

- Participate actively in strategic discussions about key medical 
components of the programme

- Participate in strategies to improve uptake of dedicated HIV services

- Support the medical team in managing drug supply

- Assist with development and implementation of appropriate infection 
control measures

- Participate in monitoring and evaluation tasks


Requirements:

- At least 2-3 years experience in a public health facility (experience 
with management of HIV-related conditions including ART essential)

- Previous experience in team management, preferably as sister in charge 
of a clinic

- Demonstrated commitment to fight against HIV/AIDS

- Fluency in English, Sesotho strongly preferred

- Good communication skills

- Willingness to work in a remote rural area

- Registration with the South African Nursing Council as a professional 
nurse

- Computer literacy


Initial one-year contract (renewable) with a probation period of three 
months.

To apply, send comprehensive CV and covering letter with two references 
by 15 December 2005 to Lauren Rolls, HR Coordinator, Medecins Sans 
Frontieres, PO Box 27401, Rhine Road, Sea Point 8050 or email to 
msf.sa@mweb.oc.za.


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


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