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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 246, 12 August 2005
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Farm workers neglected in HIV/AIDS prevention
SOUTH AFRICA: Govt to consider routine testing
SOUTH AFRICA: HIV/AIDS to take heavy toll on health services
CAMEROON: FHI ends clinical trial of ARV drug Tenofovir
CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Farm workers neglected in HIV/AIDS prevention efforts
Constantly moving, keeping an ear open for fresh opportunities, migrant farm workers in Southern Africa are often a forgotten population, for whom little is done to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in an already high-risk environment.
A study conducted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in the region along the border between South Africa and Mozambique brings into sharp focus how living and working on farms makes workers more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
Researchers noted that high-risk sexual behaviour between men and women working on farms was common, and the "incidence of concurrent sexual relationships was unexpectedly high".
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SOUTH AFRICA: Govt to consider routine testing
The South African government is considering whether to make HIV tests routinely available at public health facilities.
Individuals wishing to know their HIV status currently undergo voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) but only 850,000 South Africans - in a population of around 45 million - have been tested in the past four years.
Views on testing have begun to shift: last year Botswana became the first African country to introduce routine testing in its health sector, with Malawi and Lesotho following suit.
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV/AIDS to take heavy toll on health services
The cost of health services in South Africa will increase sharply in the next few years as a result of HIV/AIDS, researchers have found.
By 2007, large numbers of HIV-positive South Africans would start falling ill from AIDS-related diseases, placing a heavy burden on the country's public healthcare sector, according to the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) of the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Rising HIV-prevalence rates in South Africa would aggravate the situation - the rate for pregnant women attending antenatal clinics grew from 27.9 percent in 2003 to 29.5 percent in 2004.
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CAMEROON: FHI ends clinical trial of ARV drug Tenofovir
A US-based research organisation has announced that it will end the controversial testing of the anti-AIDS drug, Tenofovir, on sex workers in Cameroon.
In a statement Family Health International (FHI) said, "Over the next month, women will return to the clinic for their final visits. By the end of September 2005, the site will be closed."
Tenofovir is an antiretroviral (ARV) drug manufactured by US pharmaceutical company Gilead, and sold under the brand name 'Viread' for the past three years.
More details
[ENDS]
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Le portail d'informations générales de la Côte d’Ivoire
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Sida Info Services
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Le Fonds mondial de lutte contre le SIDA, la tuberculose et le paludisme
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Le Réseau Afrique 2000
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