As Africa struggles to cope with the enormity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the grim legacy of the disease - the millions of orphans it leaves behind - remains one of the most pressing socio-economic concerns for the continent. Data from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) suggests that 19 sub-Saharan African countries will have a total of 40 million orphans by 2010, due in large part to HIV/AIDS.
Equity in Health
SOUTH AFRICA: Communities battle with explosion of AIDS orphans
A special report from IRIN plusnews
Further details: /newsletter/id/28655
To Stop AIDS, Africa Must Start Talking About Sex
In the special United Nations session on AIDS next week, there will be much discussion about international aid, about drugs and vaccines. But there is likely to be too little said about what is the primary means by which AIDS is spread in sub-Saharan Africa: risky heterosexual sex.
TOP BUSINESSES PLEDGE TO ACT ON HIV/AIDS
Following a meeting today with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan during the U.N. Special Session on AIDS, leaders of some of the world’s biggest companies, including The Coca-Cola Company and MTV Networks International, announced their commitments to fight the global AIDS epidemic, and called upon other business leaders to join the cause.
U.N. General Assembly to Vote Today on Declaration of Commitment
Following Monday's long day of debate over draft language that included references to specific HIV "vulnerable groups," such as sex workers, homosexuals and intravenous drug users, a finalized version of the United Nations' Declaration of Commitment for fighting HIV/AIDS on a global scale was submitted last night to delegates of the U.N. General Assembly special session on HIV/AIDS, who are expected to vote to adopt the document this afternoon at the conference's closing session, the Washington Post reports. Islamic groups and the Vatican had objected to the inclusion of such groups in the 20-page document, saying it would be "difficult" for them to endorse a plan that referred to behavior that is "illegal and against religious norms" in their countries. The language was removed after a lengthy debate that threatened to "overshadow" the conference's achievements and replaced with references to "risk behaviors, including sexual activity and drug use," the Post reports.
UN slated by Short for 'hyped' Aids fund
The global health fund conceived by the UN secretary general to combat HIV/Aids has been vastly over-hyped, will not get near its $7bn-$10bn target, and should not be seen as the answer to the pandemic in the developing world, Clare Short, Britain's international development secretary, told the Guardian yesterday.
UN SPECIAL SESSION ON AIDS: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT ON HIV/AIDS
Global Crisis – Global Action
We, Heads of State and Government and Representatives of States and Governments, assembled at the United Nations, from 25 to 27 June 2001, for the twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly convened in accordance with resolution 55/13, as a matter of urgency, to review and address the problem of HIV/AIDS in all its aspects as well as to secure a global commitment to enhancing coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat it in a comprehensive manner.
ZAMBIA: Youths against AIDS
A special report from IRIN plusnews
A concerted campaign anchored to popular teenage
culture is slowing down the rate of HIV-infection among one of Zambia's most vulnerable demographic groups: older teenagers in urban areas.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28654
ABC of AIDS
Treatment of infections
In those who are severely immunosuppressed, the treatment and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections remains important. This article, an adaptation of the 5th edition of the "ABC of AIDS," covers the management of opportunistic infections such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, cryptosporidiosis, as well as various viral, bacterial, and fungal infections in those with AIDS.
AIDS Strikes Five Nations Hardest: UN Study
India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa each have at least 2 million adults suffering from AIDS or infected with the HIV virus, according to a new UN statistical analysis released on Thursday.
AIDS-drug cocktail to be given to poor South Africans
The French humanitarian group Medicines Sans Frontieres (MSF) has launched an independently run and financed programme in Khayelitsha township outside Cape Town, South Africa, that provides a small group of impoverished people with AIDS access to a cocktail of three antiretroviral drugs. The programme will assess the feasibility of providing the therapy in a poor township from primary health-care centers run by local government. "Given the heatedpolitical context, we will be monitoring the project carefully," said Toby Kasper, coordinator of MSF's Access to Essential Medicines Campaign.