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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 200, 24 September 2004NEWS COTE D IVOIRE: Private AIDS clinic brings hope to Abidjan slum For Swiss-born Lotti Latrous, founder of a private AIDS clinic in the slums of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire's economic hub, the cup is never half-empty, but always half-full. "Of 640 people hospitalised over the past two years, half of them died," she said, leafing through a large notebook. She sighed, looked away and managed a smile. "But the good news is that the others all went home." More details GABON: Government launches free AIDS helpline The government of Gabon has set up a free 24-hour telephone information helpline for people seeking information on HIV/AIDS and how to obtain treatment for the disease. The experimental helpline will be operated by staff based at the headquarters of the National Programme for the Fight against AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (PLNS/IST). The AIDS helpline - which can be called from any landline phone by dialling 1313 - is the second free telephone helpline to be set up in Gabon. More details SOUTH AFRICA: Risky sex and alcohol abuse - making the connection In a regularly flighted television advert in South Africa, a black screen appears with the words: Good Idea - get some rest. A young girl sleeping innocently then appears. The black screen emerges again with the message: Bad Idea - drinking before you do. Then the camera zooms out and reveals the young girl passed out on the pavement around the corner from a nightclub. Young South Africans have been inundated with campaigns on responsible drinking, but very few make the connection between substance abuse, particularly alcohol, and the associated risk of HIV infection. More details SOUTH AFRICA: Youth turn to activism on campus Gabriel Mahlangu is pleased with his work: 400 condoms handed out in half an hour. It's Friday and students at Vista University in Mamelodi township near Pretoria are making weekend plans. Mahlangu's black T-shirt with the logo "future leaders @ work" labels him as a volunteer at the Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA) at the University of Pretoria. He is one of 60 volunteers promoting HIV/AIDS prevention on campus. The volunteers have organised a Health Day with sports, music and dancing - this is where PlusNews found Mahlangu and his boxes of condoms. More details SWAZILAND: Grassroots approach to orphan care The Swazi government and the United Nations Children's fund (UNICEF) are canvassing the country's 55 rural districts in a novel initiative to collect ideas for developmental programmes aimed at orphans and vulnerable children. Key to these grassroots-generated ideas is the identification of responsible volunteers and authorities that can be counted on to implement them. More details MOZAMBIQUE: New protocol for malnutrition management to save lives Improved measures to tackle acute malnutrition in Mozambique are expected to save the lives of thousands of children and adults. During a five-day workshop last week, supported by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), about 100 health workers in the capital, Maputo, adopted a protocol outlining step-by-step guidelines for the management of acute malnutrition in children. More details ZIMBABWE: Women and children most vulnerable, UNICEF Faced with diminishing access to basic social services, the effects of three years of drought and the impact of HIV/AIDS, Zimbabwean families are in a desperate struggle to cope, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has warned. Now, life-saving interventions targeting the country's most vulnerable women and children have received a boost from a funding injection of Euro 1.6 million (about US $1.94 million) by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). More details KENYA: AIDS drugs to be manufactured within weeks A Kenyan pharmaceutical company will start manufacturing and selling generic versions of anti-retroviral AIDS (ARV) medications in the approaching weeks, a move that is expected to make the drugs considerably cheaper for those infected with the HI-virus across the East African region. More details ETHIOPIA: Leaders urged to publicly test for HIV/AIDS Ethiopia needs to expand its voluntary HIV/AIDS counselling and testing (VCT) centres to stem the tide of the pandemic, Julie Gerberding, a senior US health official, urged on Monday. Gerberding, director of the Centres for Disease Control, also called on public figures to have public tests to help end the stigma surrounding the virus. "Having a visible political leader getting an HIV test helps - there is no question about it," she said. "I would encourage all leaders to have an HIV test, as I have done." More details SOUTH AFRICA: A health system under pressure As South Africa rolls out its national treatment programme, the country continues to lose skilled healthcare professionals to wealthier nations abroad, leaving severe shortages in an already over-stretched public health system. On a Tuesday morning earlier this month at Johannesburg General Hospital's medical wards, an exhausted-looking Dr Candace Latilla was about to go off duty. But, as the only doctor on call that night, she would be back in a couple of hours. More details AFRICA: Greater commitment, more funding urged for treatment Despite a broad commitment to combating the spread of HIV/AIDS on the continent, African governments spend far too little of their own funds on intervention programmes, a new study has found. A review of national budgets included in 'Funding the Fight: Budgeting for HIV/AIDS in Developing Countries' showed that while many had developed strategic plans to tackle the virus, these were "poorly costed and budgeted". More details AFRICA: Thousands dying due to failure of coordination against fatal diseases Half a million Africans die each year because of a failure to coordinate the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Jack Chow, WHO Assistant Director General, said joint treatment of the world's two leading killer diseases would save thousands of lives. More details HAYDEN'S DIARY 1. Food for thought while waiting to die Dear Diary Today the Gauteng provincial health department said it was confident about meeting a March 2005 target to have 10,000 HIV-positive people on anti-AIDS treatment. It proudly stated that 5,055 of that target were already accessing the government's free drugs. But is news that just over 5,000 people are receiving life prolonging drugs really that great? More details [ENDS] |
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