When it comes to sub-Saharan Africa's devastating AIDS crisis, there is an understandable tendency to latch onto any scrap of good news. Figures suggesting the epidemic is waning in some countries are being trumpeted by governments and international donor agencies as evidence that their prevention efforts are succeeding. But the real story behind increases and decreases in HIV prevalence is far less clear.
Equity and HIV/AIDS
Falling HIV rates tell complex story
PlusNews, 2 August 2007
In the wake of the LRA: HIV in Uganda and Sudan
Integrated Regional Information Network, 27 August 2007
In Uganda, the areas worst affected by the violence were close to the border with Sudan, far from the urban centres around which most camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) grew. It is the urban areas, such as Gulu in northern Uganda and Yei in southern Sudan, which have the highest HIV prevalence rates. Years of encampment and dependency on relief handouts have had a profound effect on the traditionally conservative Acholi. Alcoholism and sexual violence have become particular problems, and the heavy presence of soldiers, with money in their pockets, has also helped give rise to a sex industry. Many areas of southern Sudan and northern Uganda are rapidly opening up to trade, and health workers are worried that unless information about HIV reaches these populations early enough, they will be unprepared for the possibility of a rapid spread of HIV.
Innovative fish farming project for HIV-affected families doubles incomes and boosts household nutrition
WorldFish Center, 21 August 2007
Scientists at The WorldFish Center reported today that an innovative project to encourage fish farming among families affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi has doubled the income for 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption among rural communities. The findings were released in a review of a multi-year initiative by the Malaysia-based WorldFish Center, one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and World Vision, an international humanitarian aid organization, to promote aquaculture among “vulnerable populations” in Malawi.
AIDS drugs need for children
South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) 6299, 27 July 2007.
The 4th International AIDS Society (IAS) Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention concluded on 27 July 2007 with a call for anti retroviral drugs developed specifically for HIV-infected children.
Antiretroviral durability and tolerability in HIV-infected adults living in urban Kenya
Hawkins C, Achenbach C, Fryda W, Ngare D, Murphy R: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 45: 304-310, 1 July 2007
Frequent antiretroviral therapy (ART) switches in HIV-infected Kenyan urban adults might limit the efficacy of ART. The authors sound the alarm that this is a potentially serious threat to the sustainability of HIV treatment programmes in Kenya and other developing countries.
Avoiding slippery slope of drug-rationing debate
Butler A: BuisnessDay, 27 July 2007
International medical and public health journals contain a growing body of writing on the practical and ethical implications of the rationing of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment around the world. The brief title of one important article neatly encapsulates the dilemma facing health professionals: “Which patients first?” Medics in most developing countries talk about “targeting priority patients” in order to emphasise that universal access to ARVs is their ultimate ambition. Campaign groups also avoid the language of rationing because they believe it undercuts their campaigns for ARVs and allows governments to retreat from universal treatment commitments.The truth, however, is that only a small proportion of those who could benefit from ARVs around the world are receiving them.
Early treatment of HIV-infected infants with ART significantly reduces mortality
Violari A, Cotton M, Gibb D, Babiker A, Steyn J, Jean-Phillip P, McIntyre J: International Aids Society Conference, 25 July 2007
Treating HIV-infected infants with antiretroviral therapy (ART) as early as possible, within the first six to 12 weeks of life — rather than waiting until they show signs of immunological or clinical deterioration — dramatically decreases their risk of early death, according to findings from the Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) trial, a South African study presented today at the 4th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Treatment and Pathogenesis in Sydney.
Focus on drug access at HIV/AIDS meet
South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) #6299, 22 July 2007
Delegates at a major international conference on HIV and AIDS urged developed countries to help guarantee the supply of affordable drugs to combat the virus and the syndrome. Over 5,000 delegates from 130 countries were in Sydney to attend the Fourth International AIDS Society (IAS 2007) conference featuring the latest developments in HIV biology, pathogenesis, treatment and prevention science. It explored how the gap between research and practice can be bridged, particularly in developing countries that bear the brunt of the HIV pandemic.
Joining hands: Integrating gender and HIV/AIDS in Angola, Tanzania and Uganda
Hadjipateras A, Akullu H, Owero J: Agency for Research and Cooperation in Development (ACORD), July 2006
ACORD, an Africa-led international alliance working for social justice and equality, aims to prevent the further spread and mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS through community-based research and advocacy and working in alliance and partnership with others. This publication is documents and disseminates the lessons from research carried out by ACORD in Angola, Uganda and Tanzania.
Kenya: World Bank approves US$80 million HIV/AIDS program
Warutere P, Auma A: The World Bank, 26 June 2007
The World Bank approved a credit of US$80 million for Kenya to expand the coverage of targeted HIV and AIDS interventions to prevent and mitigate the impact of the disease. The Total War Against HIV and AIDS (TOWA) Project will assist Kenya to further reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, which dropped from over 13 percent in 2001 to about 6 percent in 2005, by further strengthening the governance of the National AIDS Control Council (NACC)— the lead agency for designing strategies and overseeing the implementation of programmes to control the pandemic. The programmes include use of grant funds by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which will be subjected to rigorous and transparent processes of selection, implementation monitoring and performance. This approach includes greater community oversight and blacklisting of NGOs that do not perform.