South African High Court acting Judge Naren Pandya last week ordered a man to pay his wife $116,400 (one million rand) in damages for infecting her with HIV, marking the first time in South Africa a woman has "claimed damages" for being "wilfully" infected with HIV by her husband.
Equity in Health
South African Court Orders Man to Pay Wife Damages for Infecting Her With HIV
UN Examines Conditions Related To Falling Birth Rates
Fertility rates in most high-fertility countries are declining, a UN workshop concluded last week, though some participants questioned whether this trend would continue, saying the decline was driven by crisis-- either by economic conditions or civil strife -- rather than by developments in social and economic conditions.
World Health Experts Fly in With TB Lifeline
World Health Organisation representatives will visit South Africa next month to assess whether the country qualifies for drugs being made available at hugely discounted prices which are effective against drug-resistant tuberculosis.
World Disasters Report 2001: Focuses on recovery
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Disasters disrupt life, livelihoods, economies, political systems, belief systems - in short, everything that makes society work. The 2001
edition of the World Disasters Report looks at how humanitarian agencies and governments can best help disaster-affected communities to recover, to become stronger and more disaster resilient. How can the gaps between short-term relief and longer-term recovery be bridged?Published annually since 1993, the World Disasters Report brings together the latest trends, facts and analysis of the world's ever-growing humanitarian crises.
'HIV Statistics Are Starting to Improve'
Latest statistics on the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia indicate that slowly things are starting to move in the right direction, out-going first development secretary at the Norwegian Embassy in Lusaka Kikkan Haugen has said. Speaking at his farewell party organised by the Family Health Trust yesterday, Haugen said prevalence rates among young girls were down and overall levels of the pandemic were also levelling off.
African Groups Disappointed by UN AIDS Declaration
African civil society groups packed their bags to return home distressed that commitments made at the recent UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV- AIDS would amount to mere rhetoric.
Asbestos workers buried in mass graves
HUNDREDS of former Cape Plc workers who died from asbestos related diseases before 1968 were buried in unmarked mass graves in the Northern Cape and the Northern Province, it was reported on Sunday. According to the television report about 15 000 people, including children as young as seven, were employed by the company between 1893 and 1979. SABC said documents in its possession indicated that the company colluded with the apartheid government to continue its mining operations in SA from 1968.
Biology or behaviour? HIV reduces the fertility of African women
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic. As the tragedy unfolds, there is growing evidence that HIV affects fertility and may influence fertility change across the sub-region. But what are the mechanisms underlying these changes and how should data be used to calculate more accurately the effect of HIV on fertility?
Epidemic May Lead To 40% GNP Drop In Some States
The global HIV/AIDS pandemic could cause gross national product in some hard-hit countries to shrink by 40% over the next 20 years, according to a report launched yesterday in New York by the UN Development Program. That development setback would jeopardize goals set at last year's UN Millennium Summit, including halving poverty by 2015.
HIV Test Kits to Be Given On Priority Basis
The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zambia combined with the inconsistent and sometimes limited availability of HIV test kits has prompted the Churches Medical Association of Zambia (CMAZ) to recommend to its member institutions an HIV prioritisation scheme.