IRIN HIV/AIDS Weekly - 300
Africa
8 September 2006


NEWS:

ZAMBIA: Advocacy groups put HIV/AIDS on the election agenda
SOUTH AFRICA: Comic book on HIV/AIDS education for deaf community
THAILAND: Refugees to get better access to HIV/AIDS drugs
KENYA: Music and drama teach lakeshore communities about AIDS
INDIA: HIV/AIDS battle spreads to rural areas
SUDAN: Fighting the HIV/AIDS enemy in Darfur
ETHIOPIA: WFP scheme sustaining thousands affected by HIV
KENYA: Widows who refuse to be inherited care for orphans

WEBSITE

1. AIDS 2006 Global Village

RESOURCE

1. Reasons for Condom Use Among Young People in KwaZulu-Natal:
    Prevention of HIV, Pregnancy or Both?
2. HIV prevention with especially vulnerable young people

VACANCIES

1. HIV/AIDS Project Officer - Somalia, Mogadishu



NEWS


ZAMBIA: Advocacy groups put HIV/AIDS on the election agenda

Advocacy groups in Zambia are forcing HIV/AIDS issues onto the agenda in 
the run-up to this month's general election.

"All election candidates should make clear their personal commitment to 
tackling HIV and AIDS because we want Zambian politicians to take a 
leading role in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We want them to tell us 
what they will do about the pandemic if we elect them to office, because 
they should recognise that HIV is as much an election issue as a better 
economy or improved education," said Felix Mwanza, project manager of 
Treatment Advocacy and Literacy Campaign (TALC), a civic organisation.

About one in five sexually active Zambian adults are infected, or 1.6 
million of a population of 10 million, but only 60,000 people have 
access to antiretroviral (ARV) medication.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6334


SOUTH AFRICA: Comic book on HIV/AIDS education for deaf community

Using illustrations of South African Sign Language instead of speech 
bubbles, a new comic book is reaching out to the deaf community with 
messages about HIV and AIDS, sexual violence and sexual rights.

The 14-page 'Are Your Rights Respected?' follows a group of friends 
attending deaf school as they learn about their sexuality, how to 
protect themselves from HIV, their rights to health and education, and 
how to deal with sexual abuse.

Judge Edwin Cameron, a prominent HIV/AIDS lobbyist, commented at the 
opening of an exhibition of artwork from the comic book on Saturday that 
deaf people were still "a politically, linguistically, socially and 
economically marginalised group", and information and education on HIV 
and AIDS, sexuality and sexual diversity largely bypassed the deaf 
community.

"Deaf people are dying without HIV testing or treatment, family or 
community support," he said.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6332


THAILAND: Refugees to get better access to HIV/AIDS drugs

Thailand is considering making life-saving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs 
available to refugees from Myanmar living with HIV/AIDS in camps along 
the Thai-Myanmar border.

Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister, promised to look into the 
plight of refugees living with HIV/AIDS after an appeal from Antonio 
Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

In an hour-long meeting with the premier last week, Guterres urged 
Thailand to include the refugees in its national programme to provide 
ARVs and initiatives for the prevention, care and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6331


KENYA: Music and drama teach lakeshore communities about AIDS

Lake Victoria, the world's second largest body of fresh water, is 
renowned for its rich harvests of tilapia and Nile perch, but the people 
living along its shores have the highest HIV-prevalence rate in Kenya.

Low literacy rates make music and drama the easiest ways of educating 
these communities about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, and well-attended 
competitions have enabled conservative communities to discuss more 
openly how HIV/AIDS is spread. "Here we talk about sensitive issues such 
as sexual intimacies," said Lillian Ondiek, senior project officer for 
the UK-based medical relief charity, Merlin.

The festival drew hundreds of people from offshore islands, who spent 
the entire day acting in plays, singing HIV-related songs and reciting 
original poetry about the pandemic's effects on their community. Winning 
teams were rewarded with trophies.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6341


INDIA: HIV/AIDS battle spreads to rural areas

India's economic revival has led to surging growth, malls and 
multiplexes and the creation of vast wealth. But the growth masks the 
situation in rural areas where millions of illiterate people continue to 
grind out a living in extreme poverty.

The basics - primary healthcare, education and clean drinking water - 
are often missing. It is rurally - where 70 percent of the population 
lives - that India is facing its greatest challenges in its battle 
against HIV/AIDS, according to India's National AIDS Control 
Organisation (NACO).

Urban middle-class India and the English-language media largely ignore 
the existence of this 'other India'. However, villagers unable to eke 
out a living are leaving for the cities in large numbers, making it 
difficult to compartmentalise the concerns of urban and rural India.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6344


SUDAN: Fighting the HIV/AIDS enemy in Darfur

A group of faith-based organisations is teaching communities affected by 
three years of conflict in the Darfur region of western Sudan to defend 
themselves against HIV/AIDS.

The lives of more than three million people have been disrupted, of 
which one-third are internally displaced. The Sudan Council of Churches 
(SCC), acting in partnership with Action by Churches Together (ACT), a 
group of nongovernmental organisations, and Caritas International, a 
Catholic relief agency, are working to prevent the spread of the disease 
in a culture where sexual matters are traditionally not discussed.

"People may have heard of HIV/AIDS but they do not know what it is, or 
how to protect themselves or care for the infected," Charlotte 
Brudenell, ACT information officer in Darfur, told PlusNews. "Generally, 
it is difficult to talk about things that concern sex in open forums in 
a Muslim society."

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6346


ETHIOPIA: WFP scheme sustaining thousands affected by HIV

A UN World Food Programme (WFP) initiative is providing nutritional 
support to thousands of poor, HIV-affected families in Ethiopia, where 
hunger is still a major problem more than twenty years after famine 
killed an estimated one million people.

"The scaling-up and expansion of our HIV/AIDS urban programme will allow 
WFP to continue working towards improving the nutritional status and 
quality of life of many thousands of people in Ethiopia, who are either 
infected or affected by HIV/AIDS," said WFP acting country director 
Abnezer Ngowi.

In terms of a US$9 million agreement, signed in August by WFP, the Addis 
Ababa HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office, and other local agencies 
and implementing partners, WFP will provide nutritional assistance to 
110,000 people in 14 towns across the country, including 54,000 
beneficiaries in the capital, Addis Ababa, until December 2007.

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6347


KENYA: Widows who refuse to be inherited care for orphans

St Claire's Orphanage in the western Kenyan city of Kisumu also shelters 
widows who do not wish to follow the traditional practice of being 
'inherited' by their husbands' brothers.

"When a man dies, his wife will be inherited by his brothers or close 
cousin - if she refuses, she is chased away. To them the disease that 
killed the man is immaterial, but what matters is that the wife is 
'cleansed' [by remarrying] so that she can be allowed to mix freely with 
the rest of the community," Sister Philomena Adhiambo, the home's 
director, told PlusNews. "This has added to the spread of HIV/AIDS in 
the Luo community."

Caroline Atieno, widowed at 23, commented: "After the death of my 
husband, the family made sure I had nothing; nothing to eat, and my 
house was falling down. My daughter didn't attend school. Here I can 
eat, I have shelter, I can wash my children's clothes and my daughter 
will attend school."

More details: http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6335



WEBSITE

1. AIDS 2006 Global Village

This site is open to delegates and non-delegates to the 16th 
International AIDS Conference, and also enables greater civil society 
involvement and exchange.

It contains details about Global Village events and participants, 
including a complete listing of Global Village sessions, with 
interactive activities that seek to involve those who could not travel 
to Toronto for the conference.

These activities are all accessible via at the Virtual Village site: 
http://globalvillage.aids2006.org/English/home.aspx



RESOURCE

1. Reasons for Condom Use Among Young People in KwaZulu-Natal: 
Prevention of HIV, Pregnancy or Both?

Although rates of both unintended pregnancy and HIV/AIDS are high in 
South Africa, programmes and policies rarely address both problems 
simultaneously.

In 'Reasons for Condom Use Among Young People in KwaZulu-Natal: 
Prevention of HIV, Pregnancy or Both?' researchers from the University 
of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban, South Africa, examine whether and why 
sexually active young men and women in KwaZulu-Natal use condoms.

Access the resource: 
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3202806.html


2. HIV prevention with especially vulnerable young people

'HIV prevention with especially vulnerable young people - case studies 
of success and innovation' is a new resource from the UK Department for 
International Development (DFID) - and the World Health Organisation 
(WHO) - supported 'Safe Passages to Adulthood programme'.

It shows how projects in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia and the 
Middle East are working with young people in contexts of special 
vulnerability to prevent HIV.

Access the resource: 
www.safepassages.soton.ac.uk/pdfs/vulnerableyp.pdf



VACANCIES

1. Concern, an Ireland-based NGO, seeks the services of an experienced 
HIV/AIDS Project Officer to provide overall management and support for 
the organisation's existing programmes in Mogadishu and surrounding 
areas in Somalia, with some international travel.

Suitable candidates should possess experience in partnership development 
and capacity building, training and facilitation skills, strong 
mentoring skills and good networking skills.

If interested, please submit a cover letter and CV to:
Concern
Mogadishu Office
K5,
Tel: 215350/853379

Reference Code: RW_6SJHZQ-30
Closing Date: 18 September 2006


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


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