African ministers at the world summit in Johannesburg have agreed on action aimed at halving the number of people on the continent without water and sanitation by 2015. Richard Jolly, a UN adviser on water, said a permanent African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) would meet regularly "to find ways of providing water to all Africans".
Equity in Health
Zim Set to Get Global AIDS Funds
THE long awaited Global Fund on HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria is now ready to disburse money to five countries that are still to be named, while working out mechanisms on the rest, a senior World Health Organisation official has said. Zimbabwe is one of the few African countries whose proposal was approved and is set to get $1,3 billion (US$22 million). The first tranche of $55 million is expected to be made available soon.
A bold proposal for poor African nations: Forget the debt
Some activists have begun encouraging African nations to stop paying debt payments and instead spend the money on health, education and social programs, such as anti-AIDS efforts, the Boston Globe reports. Although development specialists have suggested that the debt of sub-Saharan African nations be forgiven, others doubt that such a move will happen and have suggested a "more provocative" solution for the nations. Both Poland and Bolivia in the 1980s stopped paying their debts and later had their debts cancelled because they used the money to fund "social causes," according to the Globe.
Drugs, youth and the fairer sex in the face of AIDS 2002
Access to treatment, women and young people, those were the key points of the 14th International Conference on AIDS held in Barcelona, Spain. More than half of new infections occur among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 worldwide, yet young people's needs and concerns are rarely taken into account when planning strategic interventions to halt the spread of HIV. This was clear in regards to the number of young people attending the conference; out of the 15,000 delegates only 200 were young people.
EU to donate funds to fill gap left by withdrawal US funding
The European Union will grant 32 million euros, or about $31.8 million, to the United Nations Population Fund and the International Planned Parenthood Federation in an effort to "fill the gap" left by the Bush administration's decision to withdraw the United States' $34 million contribution to UNFPA. The funding will go to reproductive health care projects operated by UNFPA and IPPF in 22 developing nations. The money will be used to fund pre- and postnatal care programs, family planning services, sexually transmitted disease prevention, counseling on "avoiding [unintended] pregnancies and unsafe abortion".
Genomics and World Health
The most up-to-date WHO publication on the subject, the report attempts to help WHO Member States to ensure that genome technology is used to reduce rather than exacerbate global inequalities in health status.
New UNAIDS report warns AIDS epidemic still in early phase
A new report released by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) warns that the AIDS epidemic is still in an early phase. HIV prevalence is climbing higher than previously believed possible in the worst-affected countries and is continuing to spread rapidly into new populations in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Malaria threat on heels of drought
The coming of the rains in Southern Africa in the next few months will end the region's drought but usher in a new threat - an upsurge in malaria, Africa's number one killer. "Our past experiences from the '92 drought and other droughts is that after the drought breaks and the first rains fall there is a natural biological response from the mosquitoes. They move in large numbers. We must prepare to keep malaria down when the rains come," said Shiva Marugasampillay, chairman of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) 2002 Southern Africa Malaria Control Conference.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29261
TANZANIA: Government stands by malaria policy
Following recent confusion over the potential side effects of a new malaria drug - Sulphadoxine-Pyrimethamine (SP)- the Tanzanian health ministry has reiterated its faith in the drug as the most effective method of treating the deadly disease.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29259
Testing the market for the female condom in Zambia
The female condom could reduce the spread of HIV by increasing the prevention options available to sexually active adults. Marketing of the female condom at subsidised prices began in Lusaka, Zambia, in 1997. How effective has this been? Do people know about female condoms and are they likely to use them?