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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 320, 26 January 2007
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
SOUTHERN AFRICA: UNICEF report shows mixed HIV/AIDS response
SOUTH AFRICA: Life insurers still snubbing HIV-positive clients
AFRICA: Throwing the book at AIDS
SOUTH AFRICA: Joining the HIV battle makes good business
ZAMBIA: Shielding children from their HIV status does more harm than good
ZIMBABWE: Costs of ARVs spiral
BURUNDI: Prisoners form HIV-positive association behind bars
EVENTS:
JOBS:
SOUTHERN AFRICA: UNICEF report shows mixed HIV/AIDS response
Some countries made progress in protecting and supporting women and children affected by HIV/AIDS during 2006 but huge gaps remained, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned in a new report last week.
In its 'Children and AIDS: A Stocktaking Report', the agency charged that the overall global response was still "tragically insufficient".
More details
SOUTH AFRICA: Life insurers still snubbing HIV-positive clients
Most South African life insurance companies have little or no cover available to potential clients who are HIV-positive, despite the disease now being much more manageable than in previous years.
Cape Town-based AIDS activist Brett Anderson recently became the latest of a long list of people left out in the cold as a result of these limited services.
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AFRICA: Throwing the book at AIDS
What AIDS prevention method lasts a lifetime and is particularly effective among young women? Education, delegates attending the World Social Forum [http://wsf2007.org/] in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, heard this week.
In parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, young women are up to six times more likely to be infected with HIV than their male counterparts. That has a lot to do with the imbalance of power between the sexes, according to Charles Abani, regional operations manager for Africa with the anti-poverty NGO, ActionAid.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Joining the HIV battle makes good business
Behaviour change has been widely identified as the key to reducing new HIV infections, but so far neither governments, religious leaders nor AIDS organisations have had significant success in convincing large numbers of people to change their risky sexual behaviour.
The late-comer to trying to address this problem is the corporate sector: the source of marketing and advertising experts with the best proven track record in influencing behaviour.
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ZAMBIA: Shielding children from their HIV status does more harm than good
Zambia's attempts to promote paediatric antiretroviral (ARV) drug adherence are being undermined by families and communities who shield children in their care from knowing their HIV/AIDS status, health experts say.
"Disclosing their status to an HIV-positive child is a difficult process and it requires specialised skills in paediatric counselling but, unfortunately, many affected communities and families are lacking such counsellors and skills," Canisius Banda, a spokesperson in the Zambian Ministry of Health told IRIN/PlusNews.
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ZIMBABWE: Costs of ARVs spiral
A rise of more than 100 percent in the price of antiretroviral drugs is likely to put the life-prolonging medication beyond the reach of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans living with HIV.
Pharmacists in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo increased the price of a monthly course of ARVs from an average of Z$30,000 (US$120 at the official exchange rate) to between Z$80,000 (US$320) and Z$100,000 (US$400), telling IRIN/PlusNews the price hike was an inevitable response to the country's economic woes.
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BURUNDI: Prisoners form HIV-positive association behind bars
HIV-positive inmates in Mpimba Prison in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, have found that the best way to survive the hardship of being incarcerated in the overcrowded facility is by banding together to support each other.
Originally named 'Mboshwe Kabiri', Kirundi for 'detained twice', the association for prisoners living with the virus later settled on a more uplifting name, 'Turemeshanye', meaning 'support one another'.
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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