Equity in Health

Discrimination Against People With HIV/AIDS

In the first half of 2000, the German national AIDS organization Deutsche AIDS-Hilfe e.V. (DAH) in Berlin presented the results of a study into international entry and residence regulations and the availability of medical treatment for people with HIV infection and AIDS. DAH had succeeded in collecting information from 166 countries. The results are disturbing.

Drug firm is to supply AIDS drug free in South Africa

As the legal campaign against the South African government’s decision not to provide antiretroviral drugs grows apace, it has emerged that the manufacturer of one of the drugs is about to supply the drug free of charge.

Ghana: Government Plans to Manufacture HIV/AIDS Medicine

Ghana hopes to begin manufacturing generic versions of HIV/AIDS drugs soon, the Accra radio JOY FM reported Minister of Health Richard Anane as saying. Two local pharmaceutical companies have been short-listed but the government plans to contract only one.

PAARL AIDS PROGRAMME A WORLD-BEATER

A programme being run in Paarl in the Western Cape to reduce the risk of babies contr!acting HIV from their mothers during birth is setting standards not only for the rest of South Africa, but for the world. The programme is offered at the provincial administration's TC Newman health care centre, one of 18 sites countrywide designated by the national health ministry as pilots for testing "operational issues" around the use of the anti-retroviral Nevirapine.

South African Government Sued
\'Refusal\' to Provide HIV-Positive Pregnant Women With Access to Nevirapine

The South African AIDS advocacy group Treatment Action Campaign and two other parties filed a lawsuit Tuesday against South African Health Minister Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and nine provincial health ministers in an effort to require the South African government to provide nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women cared for in the public health sector, Reuters/South African Broadcasting Corporation reports.

TANZANIA: Prostitutes Press For Legalization Of Trade

A Tanzanian prostitute who addressed an International Labor Organization-sponsored conference in Tanzania described the dangers faced by sex workers and demanded the immediate legalization of prostitution. It was the first time in Tanzania that a woman publicly described the experiences of prostitutes, African Eye News Service reports.

Telephone Hotlines Provide HIV/AIDS Information in Africa

Two African nations struggling to cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic have launched telephone hotline systems to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information about the disease. Callers in Nigeria and South Africa concerned about such basic questions as how the virus is transmitted, where to get tested, and how effective condoms are in preventing HIV/AIDS now have the answers at their fingertips.

Zimbabwe: Health Minister Rules Out Compulsory HIV/AIDS Tests

Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Timothy Stamps, has turned down a call by the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) to introduce compulsory HIV/AIDS testing of all patients, the 'Daily News' reported on Thursday.

Zimbabwe: New Sex Law to Curb HIV/AIDS

Zimbabwe has passed a new law that criminalises the deliberate transmission of HIV/AIDS, recognises rape in marriages, and imposes heavy penalties for other sexual offenses, AFP reported on Monday.

Chemists round on malaria

A molecular loop is looking like a promising candidate for the much-needed malaria vaccine. Developed by scientists in Colombia and Switzerland, the protein-like molecule primes a monkey's immune system, at least, to defend itself against the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

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