GLOBAL: IRIN/PlusNews Weekly Issue 502, 10 September 2010
JOHANNESBURG, 10 September 2010 (PlusNews) - CONTENTS:
KENYA: Musa,* "When the results came back we didn't think they could be true"
BOTSWANA: Amendment to end dismissal based on HIV status
SWAZILAND: Task-shifting could improve HIV treatment and prevention
SOUTH AFRICA: National HIV testing campaign disappoints
KENYA: Nomadic communities struggle to access PMTCT
KENYA: Kicking HIV out of Nairobi's slums
AFRICA: Drug-resistant HIV threat looming
KENYA: Help HIV-positive children in pain, urges HRW
SOUTH AFRICA: Pholokgolo Ramothwala, "You can never hide HIV forever"
EVENTS/RESOURCES
1. International Congress on Palliative Care, 5-8 October - Montreal, Canada
2. Scientific Strategic Plan, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
VACANCIES
1. Chief of Party, Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) or HIV Programme, Pact Inc. (Pact) - Nigeria
2. HIV/AIDS Costing Advisor, Global Health Fellows Programme (GHFP) - Washington DC, United States
KENYA: Musa,* "When the results came back we didn't think they could be true"
For the past five years Musa* and his wife have known that their HIV status was different [discordant]. Now the father of two healthy, HIV-negative children, he spoke to IRIN/PlusNews about how he and his wife - like many couples - did not know discordancy existed, and had trouble finding the answers and services they needed.
full report
BOTSWANA: Amendment to end dismissal based on HIV status
The Botswana government has passed an amendment to its Employment Act that will bring an end to dismissal based on an individual's sexual orientation or HIV status, but rights groups believe the legislation needs to go further.
full report
SWAZILAND: Task-shifting could improve HIV treatment and prevention
Swaziland has yet to act on a 2006 World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to alleviate health worker shortages through task-shifting and according to the Ministry of Health, the failure to do so is compromising scale-up of the antiretroviral (ARV) programme.
full report
SOUTH AFRICA: National HIV testing campaign disappoints
South Africa, home to the world’s largest HIV treatment programme, is trying to pull off the most extensive global HIV testing campaign but the ambitious initiative is facing some daunting realities.
full report
KENYA: Nomadic communities struggle to access PMTCT
Nomadic Kenyan women who test positive for HIV but live in remote areas far from the nearest health facility are missing out on the opportunity to prevent their children from becoming infected with the virus.
full report
KENYA: Kicking HIV out of Nairobi's slums
On a dusty football field in Mathare, one of the largest slums in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, young boys chase a rough, home-made ball. Their coach, Elias Mwangi, 21, a former drug addict, hopes football will not only keep the boys away from crime but motivate them to avoid behaviours that put them at risk of HIV.
full report
AFRICA: Drug-resistant HIV threat looming
HIV-positive patients about to start antiretroviral treatment are warned not to skip even the occasional dose of their medication because of the virus' ability to mutate rapidly and become drug resistant; but what about patients who have never taken treatment and already have a drug-resistant strain of the virus?
full report
KENYA: Help HIV-positive children in pain, urges HRW
A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the Kenyan government needs to do more to provide palliative care for children with chronic illnesses, including cancer and HIV/AIDS.
full report
SOUTH AFRICA: Pholokgolo Ramothwala, "You can never hide HIV forever"
Journalist and long-time HIV activist Pholokgolo Ramothwala, 32, was diagnosed HIV-positive at the age of 19. He runs his own communications company and writes an online diary about living with HIV. He spoke to IRIN/PlusNews about love, disclosure and discordance.
full report
EVENTS/RESOURCES
1. International Congress on Palliative Care, 5-8 October - Montreal, Canada
The programme will include focuses on pain management, paediatric care and holistic approaches.
For more information, visit: www.palliativecare.ca
2. Scientific Strategic Plan, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise
Published in the journal Nature, the plan strives to provide researchers, policy makers and donors worldwide with a shared vision of recent advances in field of HIV vaccine research in hopes of charting a way forward and accelerating research.
To download the plan, visit: www.nature.com
VACANCIES
1. Chief of Party, Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) or HIV Programme, Pact Inc. (Pact) - Nigeria
Responsibilities:
- Rapid roll-out and supervision of field office activities
- Oversight of financial management and procurement
- Planning, quality assurance and supervision of programme monitoring, evaluating and reporting
- Oversight of design and implementation of capacity-building activities with partners, beneficiary groups and other stakeholders
- Oversight of delivery, management, and monitoring of sub-grants
- Serving as Pact liaison to USAID and field partners
- Coordination with appropriate stakeholders in all aspects of project planning, monitoring, and implementation
- Performing other duties as assigned
Qualifications:
- Demonstrated experience in project implementation and management
- Experience managing and mentoring staff
- Working knowledge of donor regulations, including USAID rules and regulations. Sub-grant management experience preferred
- Experience managing international or community-based NGOs working in the field of HIV and OVC
- Experience with monitoring and evaluation best practices preferred
- Fluent English language skills, both written and spoken. Knowledge of local languages a plus
Application deadline: 15 October 2010
To apply, visit: www.pactworld.org
2. HIV/AIDS Costing Advisor, Global Health Fellows Programme (GHFP) - Washington DC, United States
Responsibilities:
- Provide technical assistance to USAID missions, multiple technical working groups and country PEPFAR teams in the assessment, design and implementation of HIV-related economic evaluations and cost analyses
- Monitor implementing partners' economic evaluation work in the field, including fulfilment of a technical advisory role on specific projects as assigned
- Serve as a member of the PEPFAR Finance and Economics Working Group and ad-hoc modelling working group
- Serve as a liaison and technical resource to the office of the global AIDS coordinator and other PEPFAR implementing agencies on cost analyses
- Participate in the annual PEPFAR country operational plan technical assistance and review process
- Maintain knowledge of state of the art economic evaluation practices and serve as a technical resource for various agencies
- Serve as a resource to junior team members and other staff in economic evaluation activities
Qualifications:
- Master's degree or higher in public health, health management, health economics, health policy, HIV/AIDS or other relevant field
- At least five years’ experience in public health programmes or activities; at least three years experience in cost analysis, economic evaluation and capacity building in developing countries
- Experience in resource mobilisation, research management and implementation, with at least two years’ experience in international or resource-poor settings
- Demonstrated understanding of accepted tools, techniques and frameworks for economic evaluation and cost analysis of HIV/AIDS interventions
- Demonstrated experience working with a wide range of development partners, including multilateral and bilateral donors as well as private foundations and civil society
- Demonstrated knowledge of internal processes within the U.S. government and/or other health sector development partners
- Experience with global health partnerships and disease-specific initiatives
- Strong interpersonal communication and writing skills and ability to work with diverse teams
- US citizenship or permanent residency required
Application deadline: 20 September 2010-09-09
For more details, go to www.reliefweb.int
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