The article focuses on a new era of unity and action on HIV/AIDS education and prevention in South Africa which has come about in part due to the influence of deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka and Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge on the country's AIDS policy. A discussion of the changes the two have recommended and implemented for AIDS education and prevention is presented. South Africa's plans to unveil a new strategic 5-year plan for the prevention, treatment, and care of people with HIV/AIDS on World Health Day, 1 December 2006 are discussed.
Equity and HIV/AIDS
South Africans hope for a new era in HIV/AIDS policies
Kapp C: The Lancet 368(9549), 1759-1760, 18-24 November 2006
Study reveals extent of rape in spread of HIV/AIDS
Baleta A: The Lancet Infectious Diseases 6 (12), December 2006
The article begins by describing a pupil's description of a gang rape, dubbed “streamlining”, which is the predominant form of sexual violence perpetrated against women in rural Eastern Cape in South Africa. The high school student was part of a South African Medical Research Council study of 1370 men which aimed to find out why South African men rape, the risk factors and patterns involved, and why rape is so prevalent. Alarming findings included that that one in five men between the ages of 15 and 26 years had raped a woman at least once in their lives (most of them having done so for the first time at 17 years of age); and thatthe more advantaged the men, as defined through maternal education, earning power or wealth, the more likely they were to rape.
Talking freely about sexuality in Zambia
id21 Insights, November 2006
Various factors make young people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS: earlier puberty and later marriage, sexual and gender norms, sexual abuse, poverty, mixed messages about sexual behaviour and lack of condoms. Schools and communities in Zambia work together to build knowledge, values and skills and create positive peer pressure to help young people. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance supports 'Young, Happy, Healthy and Safe' (YHHS), a Zambian non-governmental organisation, to implement a pilot project for improving young people's sexual and reproductive health and preventing HIV.
A longer interval between first sex and first marriage is correlated with a higher rate of HIV
Bongaarts J: Population Council, 2006
One of the most puzzling features of the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan frica is the large variation in its size among countries. For example, the proportion of adults infected ranges from 33% in Swaziland to less than 1% in Mauritania, Madagascar and Senegal. This study investigates the possibility that late age at first marriage, and a long period of premarital sexual activity, may be risk factors for HIV infection. The relationship between marital status and the prevalence and incidence of HIV is examined.
Africities Summit: Report of special session on HIV and AIDS
United Nations Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders (AMICALL) on HIV/AIDS in Africa, September 2006
The fourth Africities Summit was held in Nairobi , Kenya from 18-22 September 2006. The theme for the Summit was “Building Local Coalitions for the Implementation of the Millenium Development Goals in African Local Governments”. During the Africities Summit 2006 a series of special and thematic sessions were organisedto provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share information, experiences, good practices, achievements and constraints towards attaining the MDGs and to also table recommendations on ways forward.
Dealing with HIV and AIDS: Solutions in ordinary people's actions
id21 Insights 64, 2006
Over the past several years, the HIV virus has spread in an alarming, complex and often hidden manner. Ordinary people, local and global communities and various organisations have responded to the epidemic in various ways. They offer many lessons but few have been widely adopted. The latest issue of id21 insights asks: “What can we learn from this diversity of response? Can we find better ways to help scale up the coverage, quality and impact of civil society action?" Guest editor Jerker Edstrom from the Institute of Development Studies says that it is important for health systems to involve clients, communities and affected groups in planning and negotiating HIV testing, treatment, care and social protection arrangements.
Exploring the impacts of HIV/AIDS on patient and carer well-being in the Caprivi Region, Namibia
Thomas, F: Social Science & Medicine, 63(12), 3174-3187, 2006
It is generally assumed that caring is a substantial burden upon households afflicted by HIV/AIDS. However, as a ‘private’ household responsibility, little is known about the experiences of either those who provide the care, or those receiving care, despite the fact that the process may extend over several years and may have a greater impact upon the livelihood security and well-being of the household than the actual death of the ill person. Drawing upon data collected through solicited diaries, this paper explores how illness and the daily and long-term duties of caring amongst a sample of households in the Caprivi Region of Namibia impacts upon the physical and psychological well-being of ill people and their carers.
Funeral associations - for the living as well as the dead
IRIN News, 22 November 2006
Support for Ethiopian families affected by the AIDS pandemic has come from an unexpected source - local funeral associations, known as edirs. An edir is a traditional 'burial society' to which members make monthly contributions and receive a payment to help cover funeral expenses in return. Nearly every modern Ethiopian is thought to be a member of at least one edir, either a neighbourhood association, one based at work, or operating along age or gender lines. Now one edir changed its constitution to allow members to draw a quarter of their 2,000 birr (US$238) funeral payout before death, and permit a small extra fee to be levied to pay for additional social support from Tesfa, an organisation providing help, particularly in the area of HIV, to 26 affiliated edirs.
Invitation for public comment on draft WHO/UNAIDS guidance on provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling
WHO, 28 November 2006
Since June of this year, the World Health Organization and the UNAIDS Secretariat have been coordinating a consultative process to develop guidance on provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling in health care settings. The latest draft of the guidance document in English is now available. An Executive Summary of the document is available in French, and will soon be available in Spanish. The full text of the document in these languages should be available on the same website by December 18. WHO are now seeking broad public comment on this document. If you wish to provide comments, please follow the instructions that appear on the website and send in your comments according to the following schedule:
o English comments by 5 January, 2007; and
o French and Spanish comments by 19 January, 2007.
Malawi: Limping PMTCT programme failing infants
IRIN News, 21 November 2006
Despite being largely preventable, mother-to-child transmission of HIV accounts for 30% of all new infections in Malawi and is the second major mode of transmission after unprotected sex. Every year, an estimated 30,000 babies are born HIV positive. Relatively simple interventions to lower the risk of infection are available to only a small number of women and lag far behind the country's antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programme, which now reaches 70,000 HIV-infected people, or about 40 percent of those who need them.