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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 226, 25 March 2005


	Wednesday 30 March 2005

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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 226, 25 March 2005

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

NEWS:

AFRICA: HIV/AIDS adds new dimension to TB threat
AFRICA: HIV complicates fight against TB
AFRICA: New Indian patent law could threaten ARV access
GUINEA: Government study shows HIV infections rising
SOUTH AFRICA: Caring for abandoned HIV-positive babies
SWAZILAND: UNAIDS praises community efforts to combat HIV/AIDS
AFRICA: Youth adopt HIV/AIDS strategic plan

LINKS:

1. AIDS Care Watch

CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES:

AFRICA: HIV/AIDS adds new dimension to TB threat

HIV/AIDS has changed the face of Africa's tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, which is now reaching alarming proportions, a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report, released on World TB Day, has found.

While most areas of the world have managed to curb the spread of the disease, TB incidence rates have tripled since 1990 in African countries with high HIV prevalence, and the numbers are still rising, warned WHO's Global Tuberculosis Control report for 2005.

For HIV-positive people, TB is the most frequent opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death. About 12 million people are co-infected with HIV and TB, and two-thirds of them live in sub-Saharan Africa.

More details

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AFRICA: HIV complicates fight against TB

Walter (not his real name) has spent four months of his young life confined to the children's ward at Sizwe Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.

His growth has been stunted by a version of tuberculosis (TB) that is resistant to the most widely available drugs, and the three-year-old has another 14 months at the hospital ahead of him, taking a powerful combination of alternative medications.

Walter caught a multidrug resistant (MDR) strain of TB from his mother, who is being treated in a different ward of the same hospital. He is also HIV positive - another legacy from his mother - which has made him more susceptible to MDR-TB, further complicating his treatment. Despite the lengthy stay at a hospital that specialises in MDR-TB cases, he still only stands a 50 percent chance of conquering the disease.

More details

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AFRICA: New Indian patent law could threaten ARV access

A piece of legislation currently under consideration by India's parliament has unleashed a flurry of protest all over the African continent.

For the past month a worldwide storm has been brewing among AIDS activists, who have expressed outrage at amendments in India's patent laws that will prohibit the production of cheaper, generic versions of patented drugs, including antiretrovirals (ARVs).

As one of the largest producers of generic medicines, two-thirds of which are exported to developing countries, India has played a crucial part in supplying affordable ARVs to African countries rolling out national treatment programmes.

More details

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GUINEA: Government study shows HIV infections rising

A new sentinel survey of pregnant women who underwent voluntary AIDS testing in maternity clincs, indicates that 4.3 percent of Guinea's adult population is infected with HIV.

That represents a big jump from the figure of 2.8 percent suggested by the previous sentinel survey carried out in 2001.

The new survey was conducted last year by the government's National Council for Fighting AIDS (CNLS) and the German aid agency GTZ. It was funded by the World Bank.

The results have not yet been officially published, but they were made available to PlusNews.

More details

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SOUTH AFRICA: Caring for abandoned HIV-positive babies

Mavis Samuels is part of the uMephi project (Zulu for 'To take shame away'), a national programme that searches for adoptive or foster parents for abandoned babies, many of whom are HIV-positive and have been orphaned by AIDS.

Samuels takes care of four abandoned and orphaned babies waiting for adoption in Chatsworth, a township near Durban on South Africa's east coast, and is one of 12 "housemothers" in seven of South Africa's nine provinces employed by the South African Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) Welfare Council.

To prevent creating a generation of "institutionalised children" who grow up separated from the rest of society, the Welfare Council decided a new approach was needed to address the rising number of AIDS orphans and HIV-positive youngsters.

More details

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SWAZILAND: UNAIDS praises community efforts to combat HIV/AIDS

Swaziland's efforts to tackle AIDS at the community level have won the praise of the executive director of the UN Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Peter Piot.

"I have seen how communities are standing up to fight against the scourge, especially the women, who are initiating projects to help those infected and affected, including orphans and vulnerable children," Piot said at the weekend.

During his visit to Swaziland, which has the world's highest HIV infection rate, Piot witnessed rural and township initiatives aimed at helping people living with the virus, and the growing population of children orphaned by the disease.

More details

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AFRICA: Youth adopt HIV/AIDS strategic plan

The Pan-African Youth Organisation Against HIV/AIDS (PAYA) on Friday adopted a five-year strategic plan to help stop the spread of HIV on the continent.

Representatives from all 20 countries who attended the five-day conference in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, endorsed PAYA's campaign.

More details

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LINKS:

1. AIDS-Care-Watch, a global campaign and civil society partnership, launched this week to coincide with World TB day, draws attention to the fact that in the first three months of 2005 alone, more people have died from AIDS-related conditions than the total number taking ARVs throughout the world.

The new AIDS-Care-Watch Campaign aims to raise awareness about AIDS-care options in Uganda, and hold institutions and organisations accountable for their explicit commitments to provide appropriate care to those in need.

During the course of this year, AIDS-Care-Watch is working with country-based partners to monitor whether previous commitments have been translated into care services at local and national levels. The campaign uses country-based reporting, documentation and analysis to hold relevant institutions and organisations accountable for their previous HIV/AIDS care commitments.

The AIDS-Care-Watch campaign is a global initiative that aims to reduce the number of HIV-related deaths in 2005. The campaign has over 100 NGO and civil society partners.

For more information about the campaign: www.aidscarewatch.org

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[ENDS]

Recent AFRICA Reports

Positive Muslims 'buddies' offer emotional support, 29/Mar/05

Caring for abandoned HIV-positive babies, 25/Mar/05

HIV/AIDS adds new dimension to TB threat, 24/Mar/05

HIV complicates fight against TB, 23/Mar/05

New Indian patent law could threaten ARV access, 22/Mar/05

Links

Le portail d'informations générales de la Côte d’Ivoire

Sida Info Services

Le Fonds mondial de lutte contre le SIDA, la tuberculose et le paludisme

Le Réseau Afrique 2000

PlusNews does not take responsibility for info in links supplied.

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