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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 284, 19 May 2006
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
NEPAL: HIV hospice for gay and transgender men offers hope
CONGO: Decay, disease, violence stalk convicts
INDIA: Human trafficking in the northeast fuelling HIV/AIDS - report
SOUTH AFRICA: The HIV testing debate: voluntary or opt-out?
KENYA: Music industry gets with the HIV/AIDS programme
UZBEKISTAN: Integrated approach to tackling HIV/AIDS on the streets
TANZANIA: Sexual abuse, poverty puts disabled at high HIV risk
EVENTS:
JOBS:
NEPAL: HIV hospice for gay and transgender men offers hope
There's no signboard outside the simple white-washed building at the end of the road, and neighbours have little idea of who its occupants are. But in this traditional Hindu society, where open discussion about HIV/AIDS remains largely taboo, that's not surprising.
Behind the well-trimmed lawn and flower beds of the two-story building lies Nepal's only hospice dedicated to caring for men who have sex with men (MSM) infected with HIV/AIDS, a particularly marginalized group in this impoverished nation of 28 million.
Funded by the Elton John Foundation and French NGO Sidaction, the hospice, located in a working class residential district of the capital, Kathmandu, provides one of the few rays of hope for MSM members living with AIDS.
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CONGO: Decay, disease, violence stalk convicts
Inside the crumbling, mildewed walls of Brazzaville's prison in the capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC), up to 12 men share cells designed to hold four inmates. The cells have neither running water nor toilets, and the few belongings convicts have are hung on nails or strewn across the filthy floor.
"There are serious problems with this facility," said Clive Obambi, a repeat offender serving time for theft. "The daily food ration is meagre, and we live in conditions that are hard to bear."
In addition, because of the slowness in processing case files, a prisoner can spend up to eight months in custody before arraignment.
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INDIA: Human trafficking in the northeast fuelling HIV/AIDS - report
Images of guns, drugs and rebels have long defined India's troubled northeast. Now, a study across eight states in this resource-rich, infrastructure-poor, conflict-scarred region seeks to highlight a new worry: the rising tide of human trafficking - mostly women and girls - and its potential for hastening the spread of HIV/AIDS.
India's northeast is home to 200 of the 430 odd tribal groups in the country. The region is also socially and culturally distinct from mainstream India. Along with Kerala, this pocket is the bastion of Christianity in the country.
The seven-month study carried out by the Nedan Foundation, an Indian NGO working in the largely isolated region, was sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to be released soon.
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SOUTH AFRICA: The HIV testing debate: voluntary or opt-out?
Supreme Court of Appeals Judge and HIV positive activist Edwin Cameron has added his voice to an international debate that has been mounting in recent months surrounding HIV testing.
At a memorial lecture earlier this month for his friend, Raymond Louw, a law professor, Cameron recounted how Louw had wilfully ignored all the telltale signs that he was harbouring the virus. Waiting until he was too sick to benefit from treatment, Louw was finally tested just seven weeks before his death.
Cameron asserted that the special protocols and procedures for HIV testing and diagnosis reinforced "the internal dimension of stigma" that had prevented Louw and others like him from taking a test.
Doctors, activists and experts in the field of HIV/AIDS interviewed by PlusNews mostly echoed Cameron's support for the introduction of routine testing in South Africa as a way of reducing both stigma and HIV transmission, and alerting patients at an early stage of the disease when interventions are more effective.
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KENYA: Music industry gets with the HIV/AIDS programme
Kenya's musicians are stepping up to the mike and using their talent and creative imagination to spread vital HIV/AIDS information among young people.
"It's good to sing about beautiful women and guys, but it is important to pass on a positive message - to let people know how to protect themselves from HIV," said Lovy Longomba, one half of the musical duo, The Longombas.
Lovy, 22, and his twin brother, Christian, are at the forefront of the music industry's fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2005 they wrote the club anthem 'Vuta Pumz' ('Take a Breath' in Swahili), a Kora-award-winning song warning of the dangers of HIV, but also encouraging HIV-positive people to stay upbeat and carry on with their lives.
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UZBEKISTAN: Integrated approach to tackling HIV/AIDS on the streets
On a street corner in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, an inauspicious doorway marks a new approach to dealing with the growing threat of HIV/AIDS in the country.
In an effort to combat stigma and encourage testing, the government has introduced integrated facilities under one roof: a clinic for anonymous testing, a needle exchange for intravenous drug users and an advice centre for sex workers.
In addition, in some parts of the country, an NGO where people living with the virus are available for counselling and support can also be found close to the other facilities.
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TANZANIA: Sexual abuse, poverty puts disabled at high HIV risk
AIDS activists in Tanzania are becoming increasingly concerned about rising HIV/AIDS among mentally and physically disabled people, a group generally perceived to be at lower risk of contracting the virus.
"Infections among disabled women have shot up astonishingly in recent months and we attribute this to their physical inability to ward off sexual attackers," said Dr Semkuya, who heads the antenatal section of the state-run Mwananyamala Hospital in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam.
"Some disabled women are lured into unprotected sex by partners who presume them to be in the low-risk group. Mentally sick women are raped, and we only discover this when they are pregnant and brought to antenatal clinics by the relations," he added.
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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