AFRICA: IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 345, 27 July 2007
JOHANNESBURG, 27 July 2007 (PlusNews) - NEWS:
PlusNews In-Depth: At the Cutting Edge - male circumcision and HIV
SUDAN-UGANDA: HIV programmes disregard HIV among the elderly
GLOBAL: New findings could extend lives of positive children
ZAMBIA: New testing method set to improve child survival
GLOBAL: MSM still marginalised in AIDS response
GLOBAL: Essential new AIDS drugs unaffordable for developing countries
GLOBAL: AIDS community moving too slowly on male circumcision
SOUTH AFRICA: Positive mothers, children need more to reach MDGs
Resources/Events
1. Resource: Evaluating the safety of vaginal microbicides: the fundamentals - Global Campaign for Microbicides
2. Conference: The Pan African Health Congress 2007, 18 to 19 September, Johannesburg, South Africa
Vacancies
1. HIV Counsellor Trainer Supervisor, WHO - Khartoum, Sudan
2. Programme Specialist, HIV/AIDS, UNDP - Dakar, Senegal
PlusNews In-Depth: At the Cutting Edge - male circumcision and HIV
Is mass male circumcision the new big thing in HIV prevention, or is it a risky social experiment that threatens to divert funding from tried and tested interventions?
This PlusNews In-Depth includes stories from Zambia, Senegal, Mozambique and South Africa and looks at some of the issues surrounding the controversial idea of mass male circumcision programmes.
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SUDAN-UGANDA: HIV programmes disregard HIV among the elderly
Agnes Buya*, 66, lies in the infectious diseases ward of Juba Teaching Hospital in southern Sudan. Painfully thin, she has been suffering from tuberculosis for the last year. "I came to the hospital a few days ago; the family who were caring for me couldn't look after me anymore," she told IRIN/PlusNews. "As soon as I got here the doctor tested me for HIV and found me positive."
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GLOBAL: New findings could extend lives of positive children
Only 15 percent of children who need treatment are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, the world's largest gathering on AIDS and science, heard on Wednesday in Sydney, Australia.
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ZAMBIA: New testing method set to improve child survival
A new testing method will make it possible for babies below the age of 18 months to be accurately screened for HIV. Infants up to this age still carry their mother's antibodies and, using the usual testing method, can test HIV positive when, in fact, they are negative.
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GLOBAL: MSM still marginalised in AIDS response
Widespread and worsening HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) threaten to devastate this marginalised group, researchers warned this week at the fourth International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, in Sydney.
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GLOBAL: Essential new AIDS drugs unaffordable for developing countries
Sizable reductions in the cost of antiretroviral (ARV) medication in recent years have allowed millions of HIV-positive people in the developing world to access the life-prolonging drugs, but international humanitarian agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says those gains are facing a serious setback.
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GLOBAL: AIDS community moving too slowly on male circumcision
Six years, over US$20 million, and probably one million new preventable infections; that's how much it took for AIDS researchers to be convinced that male circumcision should be considered as a prevention strategy.
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SOUTH AFRICA: Positive mothers, children need more to reach MDGs
Paediatric AIDS and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) are still stumbling blocks as South Africa hits the halfway mark in its race to meet the 2015 deadline for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
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Resources/Events
1. Resource: Evaluating the safety of vaginal microbicides: the fundamentals - Global Campaign for Microbicides
This document offers an introduction into vaginal microbicides - what they may mean for women in the fight against HIV and AIDS as well as the process of developing the products in terms of clinical trials and approval.
To download the report, go to www.global-campaign.org
2. Conference: The Pan African Health Congress 2007, 18 to 19 September, Johannesburg, South Africa
The conference will feature health officials from around the continent as they discuss issues such as ARV access, Uganda's HIV and AIDS projects, and malaria control. The conference seeks to facilitate networking between ministries, NGOs, procurement and funding agencies, and the local and global private sectors.
For more information, go to www.panafricanhealth.com
Vacancies
1. HIV Counsellor Trainer Supervisor, WHO - Khartoum, Sudan
Using Global Fund grants, voluntary testing and counselling (VCT) services are being scaled up in Sudan. This includes a planned increase in VCT clients from 12,000 to 144,000 and patients on ART from 2,400 to 40,000 between 2007 and 2011. With these goals in mind, the WHO is seeking a HIV Counsellor Trainer Supervisor to facilitate the training and establishment of a network of HIV and AIDS counsellors.
Responsibilities:
- Train HIV and AIDS counsellors, outlining their roles in VCT, health provider initiated counselling and testing, and antiretroviral adherence
- Mentor identified trainers in the field of counsellor supervision and identify tools for supervision
- Develop an appropriate HIV counselling programme within the national TB programme, including aspects of active reporting, treatment adherence, and strengthening patient cross referrals
- Support the development of the outreach counselling programme
- Oversee the development of a communication programme encouraging VCT with stakeholders
Requirements:
- Degree in education, psychology or counselling, with professional HIV and AIDS counselling qualification and eight years experience
- Strong VCT programming skills
- Excellent training facilitation and personal mentorship skills
- Good cross-cultural sensitivity, with previous work experience in developing countries an advantage
Application deadline: 6 August, 2007
For more information, go to http://unjobs.org
2. Programme Specialist, HIV/AIDS, United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) - Dakar, Senegal
Responsibilities:
- Assist in preparing national workplans, budgets, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) plans, and procurement and supply management (PSM) plans in close consultation with the senior procurement manager
- Provide advisory services to country offices during implementation to ensure programmes produce specified results
- Monitor delivery of grants and aid and re-allocation if necessary
- Maintain strong relationships with the Global Fund Secretariat to support efficient programme implementation
- Ensure country offices are continuously apprised of all changes, adapt to internal policies and procedures, and run according to UNDP regulations
Requirements:
- Advanced university degree in relevant field including public health, public/business administration or international development studies
- Seven years relevant work experience, preferably in programme management including demonstrated capacity in leading implementation of complex grants
- Fluency in both English and French
Application deadline: 1 August, 2008
For more information, go to http://jobs.undp.org
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