THE United Nations Population Division has painted a grim picture of the HIV-AIDS epidemic spreading through Namibia and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In a new chart released by the UN Population Division, Namibia is said to be among eight countries where the life expectancy will have dropped by at least 17 years by 2005.
Equity in Health
ANGOLA: HIV/AIDS - Fighting the unknown
A special report from IRIN plusnews
Angola's civil war, which has isolated thousands of communities from the outside world for long periods over the past three decades, might also have prevented the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS across the country.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28653
Bush and Mbeki Discuss HIV/AIDS, 'Defend Positions' on the Issue
President Bush and South African President Thabo Mbeki "defended their positions on AIDS" yesterday when they met to discuss the epidemic and other issues pertinent to Africa, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Mbeki said that he "supported a comprehensive approach to South Africa's problems" -- a strategy that tackles "not just AIDS, but malaria, tuberculosis and various social problems deepened by poverty".
Government Disputes Life Expectancy Figures
Zimbabwe has dismissed as "exaggerated" a UN report asserting that life expectancy will drop to 27 years in a decade as a result of HIV/AIDS, the news agency IPS reported. The UNICEF Progress Report on Zimbabwe 2000, released in Harare this week, said that overall life expectancy has already dropped to 44 years from its peak of 62 years in 1990.
Scandal of fake and substandard drugs
During the past 100 years, disasters associated with prescription drugs have led to the introduction of laws to protect the consumer. The Biologics Control Act, for example, was passed by US Congress in 1902 after the death of ten children given diphtheria antitoxin contaminated with live tetanus organisms. Such tragedies are rare nowadays, but two reports in The Lancet this week signal renewed concern about the quality of orthodox medicines in some countries.
South Africa will not pay for antiretroviral therapy
South Africa's health minister has dashed any remaining hopes that her government will provide antiretroviral treatment for the estimated five million people who are infected with HIV. Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has told parliament again, and repeated in several group meetings, that her government cannot afford the drugs regardless of how low the price goes. She repeated the government's view that the infrastructure necessary to deliver the treatment is not uniformly available, and she expressed the government's continuing fears of "toxicity" and the development of resistance. The government is also afraid that patients taking the treatment will not fully comply with the regimen.
SOUTH AFRICA: Business wakes up to the HIV/AIDS threat
A special report from IRIN plusnews
The Ethembeni Care Centre in northern KwaZulu-Natal is set in a pleasant forest clearing just outside the industrial hub of Richards Bay. The region is in the eye of the HIV/AIDS storm in a province soon to experience negative population growth due to the disease. The hospice is currently home to nineteen patients, most are dying of AIDS-related illnesses. Volunteers lay their frail bodies out on the veranda every morning so they can enjoy the view and listen to the birds, between frequent bouts of TB-induced coughing. Ethembeni is the first industry-funded AIDS hospice in South Africa, and its symbolic of changing attitudes towards the epidemic on the part of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest business community.
Further details: /newsletter/id/28652
SOUTH AFRICA: Communities battle with explosion of AIDS orphans
A special report from IRIN plusnews
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.
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.