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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 262, 2 December 2005
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
SOUTH AFRICA: National survey finds young women most at risk of HIV/AIDS
MALAWI: Project aims to put the brakes on spread of HIV/AIDS
SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS activists take government to court again
AFRICA: Beyond ABC - The challenge of prevention
CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES:
JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
SOUTH AFRICA: National survey finds young women most at risk of HIV/AIDS
Over one in 10 South Africans are living with HIV, with young African women in informal settlements being at highest risk of HIV infection, a new study has found.
The survey was commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and conducted by South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Centre for AIDS Development Research and Evaluation (CADRE).
The study's breakdown of HIV prevalence by age, race and geographic location indicated that young African women living in informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga provinces are at most risk.
More details
MALAWI: Project aims to put the brakes on spread of HIV/AIDS
In an effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS among truck drivers and sex workers, the World Food Programme (WFP) and TNT, a Netherlands based logistics company, have set up a counselling and treatment centre at Malawi's border with Mozambique.
The Wellness Centre, also supported by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Malawian Ministry of Health, provides counselling and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to long-distance truck drivers and sex workers at the Mwanza border crossing.
"The transport industry in Malawi has been hugely affected by the spread of HIV/AIDS, [which has impacted on] WFP as well. In order to deliver food to the most vulnerable areas, WFP contracts private transporters to carry food aid coming from Durban [in South Africa] and Beira ports through the [Mwanza] border post," WFP country representative Domenico Scalpelli told IRIN.
More details
SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS activists take government to court again
South African AIDS lobby group Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and local doctors are taking legal action to force Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to close down the operations of vitamins entrepreneur Dr Matthias Rath.
TAC said in a statement on Tuesday that it had filed court papers against the Minister of Health, the Medicines Control Council, the Western Cape provincial Minister of Health, and several of Rath's employees and associates.
"In addition to [the aforementioned people], we are also suing our government and certain statutory bodies. We do so with great reluctance, but it is our mandate and duty to protect the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS," TAC commented.
More details
AFRICA: Beyond ABC - The challenge of prevention
In theory, preventing HIV/AIDS seems simple enough: give people information on how the disease is spread, and the desire for self-preservation will, naturally, make them adopt safer sexual behaviour.
The reality has proved much more complex. Almost 30 years after it was first diagnosed, ignorance about HIV/AIDS still persists. Even more challenging is the realisation that some of those who are aware of the message are ignoring it, or are powerless to negotiate safer sex.
More details
[ENDS]
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Links |
· AIDS Media Center
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· The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria
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· International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
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· AEGIS
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· International HIV/AIDS Alliance
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PlusNews does not take responsibility for info in links supplied.
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