In Brief: UN urges Asia to focus on gender in HIV policies
28 June 2010 (PlusNews ), The UN is urging Asia Pacific governments to step up their efforts to address gender inequalities in HIV response as rates of infection among women in the region continue to rise.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89650
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SWAZILAND: Poor health services hamper PMTCT progress
28 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Swaziland has made remarkable progress in reducing HIV transmission from infected mothers to their babies, but health activists worry that this may be stalled or even reversed if lapses in basic health services are not addressed.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89655
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SOUTH AFRICA: Who's tracking the world's biggest ARV programme?
25 June 2010 (PlusNews ), The world's largest antiretroviral (ARV) programme may be operating in the dark most of the time, according to a long-awaited review of the HIV/AIDS national strategic plan (NSP) released by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC).
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89624
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FUNDING: New US grant to boost health systems
24 June 2010 (PlusNews ), The United States has named the first eight recipients of its new Global Health Initiative (GHI) Plus grant, aimed at strengthening health systems in developing countries.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89600
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SOUTH AFRICA: Hidden toll from TB
23 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Shocking results from a study involving post-mortem examinations at a hospital in KwaZulu-Natal Province have revealed the extent to which tuberculosis (TB) is taking a toll on the lives of young, HIV-positive South Africans.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89588
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AFRICA: Straight talk with MSF medical coordinator Dr Eric Goemaere
22 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Dr Eric Goemaere is the medical coordinator of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in South Africa. His career in HIV and AIDS has spanned decades, moving from an era in which antiretroviral (ARV) drugs were beyond the reach of most, to a time where millions are living with HIV and on treatment. IRIN/PlusNews sat down with Goemaere to ask him about the future of funding, drugs and the fight against HIV.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89406
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SOUTH AFRICA: HIV infection rate slowing - study
21 June 2010 (PlusNews ), South Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic may finally be slowing, according to a new study which found a 35 percent decline in the rate of new HIV infections between 2002 and 2008.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89565
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SOUTH AFRICA: Study backs nurse-monitored HIV treatment
18 June 2010 (PlusNews ), A South African study suggests that nurses are able to manage patients on antiretroviral (ARV) therapy as effectively as doctors, supporting the case for “task-shifting” in HIV treatment.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89539
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AFRICA: AIDS activists slam Obama
17 June 2010 (PlusNews ), AIDS activists are to march on the US Consulate in Johannesburg on 17 June to protest against the deaths they say will result from President Barack Obama's "anti-treatment policies".
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89516
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AFRICA: World Cup HIV campaigns
17 June 2010 (PlusNews ), The 2010 FIFA World Cup is underway in South Africa and HIV/AIDS campaigners are taking advantage of the international focus on Africa to raise awareness about HIV. IRIN/PlusNews lists some of the campaigns running during the month-long tournament from 11 June to 11 July.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89517
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TANZANIA: Party hearty, but beware of HIV
16 June 2010 (PlusNews ), It is six o'clock in the evening in the village of Mabukweni, in northeastern Tanzania's Mkinga district, where Mbaruku*, 21, is looking forward to celebrating a friend's wedding at an all night party; he is sure he will meet a girl there to have sex with.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89508
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AFRICA: Mother knows best
15 June 2010 (PlusNews ), One after the other, the women entered the doctor’s office full of hope and expectation and left with a sense of doom: their pregnancies were confirmed but so was their HIV status – positive. To them it sounded like a death sentence, for themselves and their unborn babies.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89487
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KENYA: "What would happen if my penis refused to heal?" Why men refuse circumcision
15 June 2010 (PlusNews ), The government of Kenya is running an ambitious programme that aims to have 80 percent of all uncircumcised men - an estimated 1.1 million - circumcised by 2013. Most uncircumcised men live in the western province of Nyanza, where so far more than 100,000 have had the procedure, and the drive is seen as hugely successful.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89496
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SOUTH AFRICA: Poor MDR-TB knowledge among nurses
15 June 2010 (PlusNews ), South Africa has one of the highest rates of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), but a study has found that many nurses have not been trained to handle this deadly, difficult-to-treat strain of the disease.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89497
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EAST AFRICA: Pregnancy and HIV vaccine trials
14 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Unintended pregnancies during East African clinical trials of an HIV vaccine are proving problematic. "One or two women dropping out of a study of 40 people makes a big difference to the data," said Prof Omu Anzala, programme director of the Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89476
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KENYA: For the first time, money for ARVs
14 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Kenya has set aside an unprecedented 900 million shillings (US$11.25 million) for the first time in its annual budget to purchase life-prolonging antiretroviral medication; AIDS activists have welcomed the move but say more needs to be invested.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89479
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SOUTH AFRICA: TB patients not getting HIV counselling
11 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Too many tuberculosis patients are not receiving counselling about the link between TB and HIV, according to new research.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89441
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SOUTH AFRICA: Straight Talk with FIFA's Social Responsibility Head
10 June 2010 (PlusNews ), South African AIDS organisations have issued a statement lambasting FIFA, the world soccer body, for ignoring their requests to distribute HIV prevention information in stadiums and fan parks during the Soccer World Cup.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89429
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KENYA-SOMALIA: Halima*, "You find out very quickly who your friends are"
10 June 2010 (PlusNews ), In Somalia's conservative Muslim society it is extremely rare for someone living with HIV to speak out about their status, and even more so for a woman. But Halima*, a Somali refugee in Kenya and a mother of four in her fifties, told IRIN her story, which is also part of a recent IRIN Radio Somali programme.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89435
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GLOBAL: Factory closure could leave 7,000 babies without ARVs
9 June 2010 (PlusNews ), Civil society activists are protesting the closure of a factory that produces the only UN World Health Organization-pre-qualified version of a life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drug for infants.
http://www.plusnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=89424
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