U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Southern Africa

Tel: +27 11 880 4633
Fax: +27 11 880 1421
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za


SOUTHERN AFRICA
IRIN-SA Weekly Round-Up 349
3 - 9 November 2007


CONTENTS:

SWAZILAND: Declare HIV/AIDS a "humanitarian emergency"
MADAGASCAR: Cooperatives keep vanilla farmers afloat
SOUTH AFRICA: Gap between haves and have-nots yawns wider
ANGOLA: Mystery disease strikes 284, kills four
ZIMBABWE: Thirsty Bulawayo struggles with diarrhoea
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Stop Zimbabwean deportations say refugee organisations
ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again


SWAZILAND: Declare HIV/AIDS a "humanitarian emergency"

The impact of HIV/AIDS in southern Africa, which has 9 of the world's 
most affected countries, needs to be reassessed as a "humanitarian 
emergency" on its own, enabling interventions to be made timeously, a 
leading AIDS researcher argues in a new paper.

For this to happen, Alan Whiteside, director of the Health Economics and 
HIV/AIDS Research Division of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South 
Africa, said in the paper, co-authored by researcher Amy Whalley, the 
conventional understanding of a humanitarian emergency has to be 
rethought.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75160


MADAGASCAR: Cooperatives keep vanilla farmers afloat

In the face of plummeting vanilla prices, forming financial cooperatives 
has kept several thousand vanilla farmers in northeastern Madagascar 
afloat.

The price of vanilla, the Indian Ocean island's chief export, has fallen 
steadily from a record high of US$450 per kg to $500 per kg in 2003, to 
just $50 per kg by early 2005, reaching about $30 per kg in 2007. Most 
vanilla production is concentrated in the fertile area of Sava, in the 
northeast, where about 70 percent of the population depends on the spice 
to make a living.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75174


SOUTH AFRICA: Gap between haves and have-nots yawns wider

An off-the-cuff remark by a leading trade unionist that millions of 
South Africans were economically better off under apartheid than under 
democratic rule has highlighted the country's stubborn poverty rates, 
but also scored points for the unionist's favoured candidate in an 
increasingly fractious presidential succession race.

About a third of South Africa's roughly 48 million people live on US$2 
or less a day, even though the country is Africa's economic powerhouse 
and contributes about 25 percent of its gross domestic product. The 
growing disparity in income between rich and poor now ranks as one of 
the widest in the world.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75191


ANGOLA: Mystery disease strikes 284, kills four

The number of people affected by a mystery illness that has already 
claimed the lives of 4 children on the outskirts of the Angolan capital, 
Luanda, has climbed to 284. Contaminated food is a suspect but 
authorities are still in the dark as to the exact cause.

The symptoms include weakness, drowsiness, muscle spasms, a confused 
state of mind, dizziness, and difficulty in walking and speaking, but 
the culprit disease has yet to be identified. Authorities are waiting 
for the results of blood, urine and faeces samples that have been sent 
for testing.

See reports: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75194 and 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75231


ZIMBABWE: Thirsty Bulawayo struggles with diarrhoea

More than 3,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in Bulawayo, 
Zimbabwe's second city, in the last two months, as residents struggle 
with water shortages.

Since the outbreak was first reported in August, the city has 
experienced a 10-fold increase in cases, from 300 to 3,600, up to the 
second week of November. The Bulawayo's water woes began early this 
year, when 3 of its 5 supply dams were decommissioned due to low water 
levels. The two remaining dams have failed to meet its daily water 
requirement.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75193


SOUTHERN AFRICA: Stop Zimbabwean deportations say refugee organisations

A prominent international refugee organisation is calling for an end to 
the deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans by neighbouring countries.

After a month-long fact-finding mission to the region, Refugees 
International, a US-based non-governmental refugee advocacy group, 
published a bulletin, Zimbabwe Exodus, on its observations. Deportations 
are very costly for the host governments and do not achieve the goal of 
deterring undocumented migration, the report said.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75215


ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again

When Zimbabwe registered a decline in HIV prevalence rates in 2004, and 
again in 2006, the news was met with scepticism, but new official 
figures released on Wednesday indicate the downward trend has continued, 
with rates falling by 10 percent over the past 5 years.

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, assisted by a group 
of international experts, based the new seroprevalence rate on HIV 
infection in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, and estimate 
the level among the adult population at 15.6 percent, according to a UN 
statement.

See report: http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75144


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