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.
Equity in Health
Africa Launches Own AIDS Vaccine Initiative
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.
Nonoxynol-9 Not Effective in Preventing HIV Transmission, WHO/CONRAD Report Says
The chemical nonoxynol-9, which is found in at least 18 over-the-counter spermicides sold worldwide, does not reduce the spread of HIV as once thought and could increase the likelihood of HIV transmission, according to a joint report released last week by the World Health Organization and Eastern Virginia Medical School's Contraceptive Research and Development Program.
Risking health?
Peri-urban natural resource development projects can have both positive and negative consequences for residents and workers. There are various possible health risks, argues this new report summary from iD21.
The Spread and Effect of HIV-1 Infection in sub-Saharan Africa
A detailed analysis of HIV-1 epidemiology in sub-Saharan Africa traces the spread of the virus to four factors: the subordinate position of women, poverty and the breakdown of social services, rapid urbanization, and war.