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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 252, 23 September 2005
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
GABON: Government cuts condom prices by 40 percent to help AIDS fight
NIGER: Food crisis drives young women to sell their bodies
SOUTH AFRICA: Churchmen move towards disclosing their HIV-positive status
WEST AFRICA: Global Fund financing gets greater oversight
CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
GABON: Government cuts condom prices by 40 percent to help AIDS fight
Gabon is slashing the price of male condoms in government-approved health centres by 40 percent in a bid to help prevent new HIV infections, health officials in the Central African country said.
Gabriel Malonga, the director of Gabon's National Programme To Fight AIDS (PNLS), said people would not have to pay more than 15 CFA (around 3 US cents) for a condom purchased at one of the centres, compared with the old price of 25 CFA.
"It's a price that beats all the competition, because what's important to us, first and foremost, is health," Malonga told IRIN.
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NIGER: Food crisis drives young women to sell their bodies
Ide can have sex with Mariam, a novice on the Niamey night scene, several times for only two or three dollars. "The most important thing for her is having something to put in the cooking pot the next day," he said.
Mariam is among a wave of young women recently taking to the streets of the Niger capital to sell their bodies to buy food for their families.
"I have to do it in order to eat," said Hajara, 16, as she walked along Rue de la Joie or "Pleasure Drive", in skin-tight jeans and t-shirt, constantly popping chewing gum as she spoke.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Churchmen move towards disclosing their HIV-positive status
Religious leaders in South Africa are slowly beginning to address HIV/AIDS in their communities, but many are still struggling to come to terms with their own HIV-positive status.
In a country where an estimated five million people are HIV-positive, three members of the clergy are hoping their public disclosure will help people become more tolerant of those living with HIV/AIDS
Mandla Mdabe, a Methodist lay preacher in Umlazi township near Durban, began to suspect he might be living with the virus after his girlfriend died of an unspecified illness in 2003. Last year his HIV-positive status was confirmed.
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WEST AFRICA: Global Fund financing gets greater oversight
Two challenges confront the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: to raise enough donor financing to cover needs on the ground, and to ensure that the available money is properly spent.
More than 60 percent of grants approved by the Fund are for Africa, based on proposals produced by Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs), who oversee project implementation. By the end of September, grants worth more than US $1.4 billion will have been awarded to projects in the West and Central African region, although only around $220 million has been disbursed.
It is a delicate balance between the priorities of speed - how rapidly funds aimed at saving lives are released - and accountability for how the programmes are run.
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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