The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Monday threatened to challenge the Medicines Control Council (MCC) in court if it decided to ban the anti-Aids drug, nevirapine. "We haven't decided on an exact legal route yet but we will make sure that any reverse decision is heard. We're not going to quietly sit by if this is a serious threat," the TAC's Mark Heywood told reporters in Johannesburg. He was reacting to newspaper reports at the weekend that the MCC was reviewing its approval of nevirapine because it had concerns about its effectiveness and toxicity.
Equity in Health
Week-Old Infant Raped in South Africa
Police are investigating the rape of a one-week-old South African baby girl, the youngest child ever to be raped in the country, Reuters/Toronto Star reports. The attack occurred on Sunday in the city of Kwaminya in KwaZulu-Natal province. The infant is seriously injured but is in stable condition, Police Superintendent Lawrence Zondi said. It is not known who committed the rape. The incident is the latest in a "spate of child rapes fueled by the myth that sex with a virgin" can cure HIV/AIDS.
WSSD: Briefing paper on HIV/AIDS
In a briefing paper for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the devastating toll of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is examined. Its present and future impact on global sustainable development, especially for the poorest members of society and least developed countries, is discussed. Some of the suggested strategies for dealing with the most critical aspects of the disease are also reviewed.
Africa Launches Own AIDS Vaccine Initiative
Africa launches a campaign for a fairer share of funding into the development of an AIDS vaccine, saying it was unacceptable that the world's poorest continent received so little attention. Though more than 28 million Africans carry the virus that causes AIDS, less than 2% of world research funding goes towards fighting the unique strains of the disease in Africa. The AAVP (African Aids Vaccine Programme) is being coordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva, with African scientists leading the search. The African vaccine initiative requires $233 million over the 7 years that AAVP participants have given themselves to test and produce a cheap, effective and safe vaccine for the HIV/AIDS strains common in Africa, she said.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29207
AFRICA: 28 million Africans now living with HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS
More than 28 million Africans are now living with HIV/AIDS and in some countries over 30 percent of the adult population is infected, a UNAIDS statement has warned. "The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS is rolling back decades of development progress in Africa," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director. "Every element of African society - from teachers to soldiers to farmers - is under attack by AIDS," he added.
AFRICA: NEPAD criticised for not focusing on HIV/AIDS
Stephen Lewis, the UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS, has criticised the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) for its modest references to HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the opening of the People's Summit, an alternative to the G-8 Summit taking place last week, he said: "How can you talk about the future of sub-Saharan Africa without AIDS at the heart of the analysis?" Africa's development goals would remain an "impossible hope" until the HIV/AIDS pandemic was addressed, despite initiatives such as NEPAD, he warned.
Barriers to Accessing Free Condoms at Public Health Facilities Across South Africa
The authors studied the determinants of condom procurement at 12 health facilities in four health regions. Potential barriers to condom procurement included female gender and perceived risk of HIV. The authors conclude that because barriers to condom procurement vary from region to region, national-level interventions to promote condom procurement and use may be less appropriate than specialised interventions addressing locally relevant factors.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29204
Botswana: Washington Times Examines AIDS Epidemic
Botswana's AIDS epidemic, which affects approximately one-third of the nation's population, "threatens to undermine one of [Africa's] most democratic and best educated countries," the Washington Times reports in a profile of the country. According to a Harvard University Gazette article published in April, between 36% and 38% of Botswanan adults have HIV/AIDS, and 50% of women "most likely to become pregnant" -- those between the ages of 25 and 30 -- are estimated to be HIV-positive. The average life expectancy in the country is expected to fall from 64 years in 1998 to 42 years by 2010, the Times reports. In addition, health officials say the infant mortality rate will increase from 41 infant deaths to 65 per 1,000 live births. During a recent broadcast calling on residents to "come forward" to receive free medical supplies and prescription drugs, Botswana's President Festus Mogae said, "We are the most hideously affected country in the world. The pandemic is not abating".
Consensus Statement of National HIV/AIDS Treatment Congress
June 29th 2002
Between June 27th and 29th 2002, 750 delegates from all over South Africa attended the TAC/COSATU National Treatment Congress. Delegates heard presentations from many of South Africa's leading HIV scientists but also the day-to-day experiences of the epidemic of nurses, doctors and people living with HIV/AIDS. Delegates heard of many of the best practices South Africans are using to combat the epidemic, but there was also a belief that most people with HIV are not receiving adequate treatment, care and support. Furthermore HIV is already having a dramatic and negative impact on the health service.
Further details: /newsletter/id/29214
Defying Predictions, HIV in Africa Has Not Yet Peaked
"The scale of the Aids crisis now outstrips even the worst-case scenarios of a decade ago," according to a new UNAIDS Report on the Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic, and Africa continues as "the worst-affected region in the world." By 2020, according to UNAIDS numbers, over 25% of the workforce may be lost to Aids in some severely affected countries. "I wish I could come up with better news," said UNAIDS Executive Director, Peter Piot, briefing reporters Tuesday. "The Aids epidemic continues its expansion. It's now clear to me that we are only at the beginning of the Aids epidemic." This conclusion was unexpected, said Piot. Epidemiological modeling used to project the expansion of Aids had predicted that the spread of the disease would have "peaked" by now.