1997

THAILAND: HIV Tests for Medical Students Stirs Rights Debate: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, December 30, 1997; Prangtip Daorueng; BANGKOK, Dec 30 (IPS) - A plan to have Thailand s medical students undergo HIV tests has opened a fractious debate on how to balance measures for the protection of public health versus individuals right to non-discrimination. This month, public universities have came under attack for agreeing to institute HIV tests for
AIDS-SRILANKA: AIDS Victims Fight Discrimination: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, December 30, 1997; Feizal Samath; COLOMBO, Dec 30 (IPS) - Sherman de Rose was beaten up after he set up Sri Lanka s first gay group, Companions on a Journey, two years ago. Fearing for his life, the gay activist and former Roman Catholic priest fled to Singapore but returned after two weeks. I could not keep running. I had to face up to the future.
HEALTH-CONGO: Handed a Death Sentence Even Before Their Birth: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Tuesday, 16 December 1997.; Sandrine Loubassou; POINTE-NOIRE, Dec 16 (IPS) - Audrey appears tired as she explains to a class of children how she contracted a terminal illness. Audrey herself is a child. She s just eight. But she has the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). She explains that she was infected while in her mother s womb. Mum died six years ago s
HEALTH-AFRICA: A Common Fund Needed To Combat AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Monday, December 8, 1997; Melvis Dzisah; ABIDJAN, Dec 8 (IPS) -- Health experts from around the world have gathered in the Ivoirian capital this week to try once again to map out new strategies to combat the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Africa. Some 4000 participants from 80 countries in Africa, Europe Asia, and The Americas are
HEALTH-AIDS: Condom Use in Haiti Relates to Income Levels: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Thursday, December 4, 1997.; Ives Marie Chanel; PORT AU PRINCE, Dec 4 (IPS) - Health workers in Haiti , fighting to stem the spread of AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases, have found that the efforts to increase the use of condoms depends more on the ability to afford them, rather than their availability. Many brands of condoms are available in Haiti, impor
HEALTH-LATAM: AIDS, the Dangers of 'Lowering the Guard': InterPress News Service (IPS) - Monday, December 1, 1997; Daniel Gatti; Att Eds: Pls relate the following item to HEALTH-THAILAND: Gov t Steps Up AIDS Drug Trials , moved earlier from Bangkok MONTEVIDEO, Dec 1 (IPS - Latin American Desk) - Inadequate prevention policies and the high cost of treatment mark the future outlook for AIDS in Latin America, said experts from several countries in
HEALTH: HIV/AIDS Timebomb Ticking in India: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Sunday, November 30, 1997.; Analysis - By Laxmi Murthy; NEW DELHI, Nov 30 (IPS) - By the turn of the century, the year by which Health for All was to be achieved, India is expected to have the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS - between five and eight million cases. The HIV virus that causes the deadly disease is spreading in previously untouched populations, the National AID
HEALTH-RUSSIA: Drugs Spark HIV Infection Explosion In Russia: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Friday, November 28, 1997.; Sergei Blagov; MOSCOW, Nov 28 (IPS) - Moscow heroin addicts use a simple, unscientific and potentially deadly method to test whether their drugs are ready for use -- they slit a vein and see if the blood coagulates in the liquid. If it passes the test then the narcotic is often shared round in a single syringe, doubling the chance th
HEALTH: AIDS Toll a Record 2.3 Million: InterPress News Service (IPS) - Wednesday, November 26, 1997.; Thalif Deen; UNITED NATIONS, Nov 26 (IPS) - An estimated 2.3 million people - the equivalent of the combined population of Brunei , Comoros , the Maldives , Equatorial Guinea and Qatar - died of AID
AFRICA-POPULATION: Family Planners Urged to Boost War on AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); November 21, 1997; Gumisai Mutume; JOHANNESBURG, Nov 21 (IPS) -- Family Planning Associations have been urged to accelerate the global war against the spread of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). An International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) conference, which ended here Friday, noted that Family Planning Associations have years of e
HEALTH-KENYA: New AIDS Treatment Runs Into Trouble: InterPress News Service (IPS); 20 November 1997; Judith Achieng'; NAIROBI, Nov 20 (IPS) -- A new treatment for AIDS, the latest in a line of cures introduced in Kenya , has run into trouble with medical authorities who have barred a U.S. national from praticing the treatment in the country. The treatment, known as the Ozone therapy , has been described by Kenyan medical authorities,
THAILAND-AIDS: No More Scare Tactics: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 12 November 1997.; Prangtip Daorueng; BANGKOK, Nov 12 (IPS) - His face is among the most recognised in Thailand today, thanks to the television advertisements he stars in. But Ittirak Smithsuwan is no glamourous hunk hawking the latest in fashion. The 31-year-old -- who appears in the ads with his mother -- represents the newest phase in Thailand s anti-AI
HEALTH: New Test Project for AIDS Work in Poor Nations: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 7 November 1977.; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Nov 7 (IPS) - A new project sponsored by the United Nations will attempt to bridge the enormous gap that exists in AIDS treatment between the industrialized countries of the North and developing nations. The Joint U.N. Pprogramme on AIDS ( UNAIDS ) is attempting to promote state-of-the-art AIDS care to underdev
INDIA-POPULATION: Campaign for Wider Condom Use Stirs Debate: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 6 November 1997.; Rahul Bedi; NEW DELHI, Nov 6 (IPS) - Indian officials are undertaking a countrywide campaign to popularise the use of condoms, in a move to step up efforts to contain the growth of the country s burgeoning population. As part this renewed drive, officials of the health and family ministry plan to station condom-vending machines at
LAOS: Facing the AIDS Time Bomb: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 31 October 1997.; Andrew Forbes; VIENTIANE, Oct 31 (IPS) - Just outside the terminal of the Laotian capital s Wattay Airport, the visitor s attention is captured by the image of a fierce-eyed yaksa, or demon, apparently preparing to dine on the world with the aid of a three-pronged trident. The sign is a reminder - if any were needed - that the AIDS v
ASIA-AIDS: Governments Need to Rethink Responses to AIDS Pandemic: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 29 October 1997.; Isagani de Castro; MANILA, Oct 29 (IPS) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a major problem for over a decade but the responses of most countries in the Asia Pacific region are still ineffective and often discriminatory against people with AIDS. Last July, in Goa, India , the state government justified the eviction of commercial sex workers
VIETNAM: This Time, the Vietnam War Is Against HIV: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 27 October 1997.; Satya Sivaraman; HANOI, Oct 27 (IPS) - At the height of its economic liberalisation programme in the early nineties, a popular ballad performed at Hanoi s state run opera hall depicted AIDS as a symbolic fallout of the rapid opening up to foreign influences. Five years later, as interest of foreign investors in Vietnam
CARIBBEAN-HEALTH: Targetting the Young in the Fight Against AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 22 October 1997.; Wesley Gibbings; PORT OF SPAIN, Oct 22 (IPS) - Prem turned 31 in August. Two weeks ago, he succumbed to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The last three weeks were the most painful for he and his family. His sister, a well-known national personality, who requested anonymity, says it was the most terrible thing I have ever seen.
RUSSIA: Cruel Treatment For 'Criminally Liable' Victims Of AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 22 October 1997.; Andrei Ivanov and Judith Perera; MOSCOW, Oct 22 (IPS) - Russia s Interior Ministry is in the process of converting an Arctic prison camp into a holding centre for jailed criminals with the HIV virus which causes AIDS. Interior Minister Anatoli Kulikov s order, and his choice of a correctional labour camp in the northern Pechora region for what is in e
INDIA-HEALTH: Legal Luminaries Seek AIDS Legislation: InterPress News Service (IPS); 21 October 1997; Mitu Varma; MUMBAI, India , Oct 21 (IPS) - It is eight years since Dominic D souza was arrested and incarcerated in solitary confinement in the western Indian state of Goa because he tested HIV positive. It turned him into India s best known HIV/AIDS activist. D souza has since succumbed to the disease. But the Act under which he
THAILAND: Business Sees Sense in Anti-AIDS Schemes: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 16 October 1997.; Prangtip Daorueng; BANGKOK, Oct 16 (IPS) - Seeing some of their young, most productive workers hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, more and more businesses in Thailand are stepping forward to help contain the human and economic damage from the deadly disease. As the disease continues to spread among the general population, businesses are reali
AUSTRALIA-HEALTH: Cultural Taboos Complicate Anti-AIDS Campaign: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 10 October 1997.; Sumegha Agarwal; SYDNEY, Oct 10 (IPS) - Australia has made major strides in its campaign against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, but social and cultural taboos are complicating efforts to raise awarness about the disease among various minority communities. The World Health Organisation lists Australia as relatively bright spots in the region s
SRI LANKA-HEALTH: Economic Cost of AIDS Complacency: InterPress News Service (IPS); Sunday, 5 October 1997.; Feizal Samath; COLOMBO, Oct 5 (IPS) - A lack of political will rather than a shortage of funds is restricting Sri Lanka s efforts to keep the AIDS epidemic under control, according to health workers here. Most of the funding for HIV/AIDS related programmes comes from U.N coffers and, according to Sri Lankan government rules, any moni
GULF-HEALTH: Partnerships Across Borders Against HIV/AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 2 October 1997.; Ahmad Mardini; ABU DHABI, Oct 2 (IPS) - The oil-rich Gulf states are trying to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS which has reached epidemic proportions in parts of Asia from where a large number of the region s expatriate population has come. In a new initiative aimed at preventing the disease from becoming a major health problem,
KENYA-POPULATION: Heading Into AIDS Storm: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 29 September 1997.; Moyiga Nduru; NAIROBI, Sep 29 (IPS) - Widespread concern that Kenya is heading into an AIDS storm has prompted the government to formulate a long- term strategy to deal with the scourge that already has killed nearly a quarter-of-a-million young Kenyans. Figures released last week by the Ministry of Health here show that the Acquire
INDIA-HEALTH: AIDS Watch, Poverty Watch: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 26 September 1997.; Mitu Varma; NEW DELHI, Sep 26 (IPS) - HIV now has another name -- the poverty virus. Known to devastate economies over Africa, the deadly precursor to AIDS could single-handedly unravel the gains of the ambitious economic restructuring plans initiated in India during this decade, experts say. The official figures, however, do no
BELIZE-HEALTH: Making the Link Between AIDS and Production: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 24 September 1997.; Rae Cashif; BELMOPAN, Sep 24 (IPS) - Health officials in Belize are concerned that the increasing number of young persons being diagnosed with the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is likely to start having an impact on the country s production targets. What is shocking for us at NAP (National Aids Programme) is the fact that th
INDIA-HEALTH: AIDS Prevention Begins At Home: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 24 September 1997.; Laxmi Murthy; SANGLI, India , Sep 24 (IPS) - From being a mysterious virus which strikes so-called high risk groups, the threat of AIDS has entered the average Indian household. No longer a disease afflicting only sex workers, truck drivers and homosexuals, AIDS has become a very real possibility for housewives and new-born infants.
HEALTH-ETHICS: US Medical Experiments in Third World Assailed: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 18 September 1997.; Jim Lobe; WASHINGTON, Sep 18 (IPS) - The most influential medical journal in the United States has assailed as unethical, US-funded medical experiments on HIV-infected women in the Third World. A blistering editorial in this week s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine compared ongoing experiments in Asia, Africa and th
HEALTH-AIDS: New AIDS Treatment Eludes Most Infected Mothers: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 8 September 1997.; Yvette Collymore; WASHINGTON, Sep 8 (IPS) - Despite major advances in research into AIDS, no affordable therapy is yet in sight to prevent transmission of the virus from mothers to babies in poor countries, according to health workers. Although scientists have reported progress in the treatment of AIDS in the United States and
THAILAND-HEALTH: Women's Unequal Status Undercuts AIDS Campaign: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 4 September 1997.; Prangtip Daorueng; BANGKOK, Sep 4 (IPS) - Thai women s lack of control over matters of sexuality and contraception poses a major hurdle in the fight against HIV and AIDS, denting aggressive efforts to change behaviour needed to curb the spread of the deadly pandemic. In the anti-AIDS campaign, researchers say they are coming up against d
INDIA-AIDS: Street Children Are Most Vulnerable: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 3 September 1997.; Bijoy Basant Patro; NEW DELHI, Sep 3 (IPS) - Uma (not her real name) was nine years old when she was first raped by a gang of homeless boys at the New Delhi railway station, where she also lives. She said it happened over and over again after that, until last year she became pregnant and delivered a still-born child on the platform. The 1
BANGLADESH-AIDS: Waking Up to the AIDS Disaster: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 2 September 1997.; Tabibul Islam; DHAKA, Sep 2 (IPS) - Going strictly by the numbers, Bangladesh could consider itself safe from the rapidly worsening AIDS epidemic that is sweeping neighbouring India and Burma . Only 61 people have been detected with HIV, the virus that causes the deadly AIDS.
MEXICO-HEALTH: Church Under Attack for its War on Condoms: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 29 August 1997; Diego Cevallos; MEXICO CITY, Aug 29 (IPS) - A furious debate is raging in Mexico over the proposal by Roman Catholic Archbishop Norberto Rivera that condom wrappers must carry a warning, similar to tobacco products, that This product may be hazardous to your health. Government officials, health experts, and international and non- gove
SOUTH PACIFIC-HEALTH: AIDS a Ticking Time Bomb: InterPress News Service (IPS); Sunday, 24 August 1997; Edmond Toka; PORT VILA, Vanuatu , Aug 24 (IPS) - The growing number of AIDS cases in the Pacific is threatening development prospects in the island nations which are struggling to keep their fragile economies afloat, according to health and economic experts. With very scarce domestic resources, preventing the spread of the kill
JAMAICA-POPULATION: Condom Distribution Proposal Sparks Riots: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 22 August 1997.; KINGSTON, Aug 22 (IPS) - How do you stem the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among prisoners? Distribute condoms, says the Commissioner of Corrections. Not so, say warders and inmates. When John Prescod, Commissioner of Corrections put that proposal on the table recently, he probably did not bargain for the cha
INDIA-AIDS: An NGO Gets Sex Workers to Enforce Condom Use: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 20 August 1997.; Meena Menon; SOLAPUR, India , Aug 20 (IPS) - It is dusk and in the fading light, the small shed on this busy highway in southwestern India is only barely discernible. Two women run inside and peer through the door. Are you from the police, they ask in fear. Located on a barren stretch of land, this shed is one of the many dhabas
INDIA-AIDS: Commerical Sex Makes Inroads Into Traditional Culture: InterPress News Service (IPS); 11 August 1997.; Meena Menon; DIMAPUR, India , Aug 11 (IPS) - By the side of the railway track, and very close to the busy train station here in this north- eastern Indian town, is a cluster of bamboo huts, each a tiny island in slimy, stagnant pools of water. The huts are hidden behind bamboo screens. But their occupants sit on chairs by the railw
MEXICO-HEALTH: Condoms - Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don't: InterPress News Service (IPS); 8 August 1997; Diego Cevallos; MEXICO CITY, Aug 8 (IPS) - While the Mexican government is promoting the use of condoms as the best AIDS prevention measure, police continue to crack down on people distributing - or even carrying - them. There is a total contradiction among authorities. I wish they would please reach agreement for the sake of the heal
ZIMBABWE: AIDS - The Right To Privacy Versus The Right To Know: InterPress News Service (IPS); 7 August 1997; Lewis Machipisa; HARARE, Aug 7 (IPS) - Health and human rights experts are divided over whether there should be legislation that gives those who take care of AIDS-infected people the right to disclose their patients conditions to their partners or close relatives. While conceding that privacy over health matters is a bic human right, s
NIGERIA-HEALTH: Time to Talk About AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 6 August 1997.; Remi Oyo; LAGOS, Aug 6 (IPS) -- The public announcement that the famous musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti died of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS), has lifted the cover on the silence surrounding the disease in Nigeria , experts here say. The more we keep issues of AIDS under the cover, the more difficult it will be deal
MUSIC-NIGERIA: The Enigma Of Fela Lives On: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 5 August 1997; Remi Oyo and Toye Olori; LAGOS, Aug 5 (IPS) - Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, the internationally renowned Afro-beat musician, has become Nigeria s first public figure whose death has been attributed to the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). He died yesterday (Saturday) in a hospital at approximately 5:30 pm. The immediate cause of the death is
AFRICA-HEALTH: Using Information to Save Lives: InterPress News Service (IPS); July 22, 1997; Lewis Machipisa; HARARE, Jul 22 (IPS) - Health is a Cinderella sector in many African nations: medical centres, often in various stages of disrepair, have few drugs and some of their broken-down equipment is not replaced since there is not enough money for that. Not that there are no resources, but these tend to be diverted from social
UNITED NATIONS: AIDS to Hit 1 Million Children, Warns UN.: InterPress News Service (IPS); Sunday, 13 July 1997.; Thalif Deen; UNITED NATIONS, Jul 13 (IPS) - The number of children with AIDS is expected to rise from 830,000 in 1996 to more than one million this year, according to a new U.N. report released here. The disastrous impact of AIDS on children has not been given enough attention, warns Peter Piot, director of UNAIDS
SUDAN-HEALTH: AIDS on the Increase in the Military, Report Says: InterPress News Service (IPS); July 10, 1997; Nhial Bol; KHARTOUM, Jul 10 (IPS) -- Soldiers fighting in Southern Sudan are one of the high risk groups for the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the virus which causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome(AIDS), a new health report says. According to the report prepared by Juba Teaching Hospital in Sou
SOUTH ASIA-AIDS: HIV Sneaks Across Open Borders: InterPress News Service (IPS); 7 July 1997.; Suman Pradhan; KATHMANDU, Jul 7 (IPS) - Open borders between some countries in South Asia and the sheer size of its population make the battle against the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) in the region very difficult, point out experts. Health experts see a link in the region between economic liberalisation, the lifting of state c
INDIA-AIDS: HIV Creates New Untouchables in India: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 8 July 1997.; R. Devraj; NEW DELHI, Jul 8 (IPS) - A donor-driven anti-AIDS programme targetted at sex workers, truck drivers and other high-risk groups is creating new untouchables in India , say volunteers. The worst-hit by an AIDS scare, the result of inappropriate awareness campaigns, are suspected HIV-carriers in the rural areas where prim
HIV/AIDS-BANGLADESH: Blueprint to Avert AIDS Disaster: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 4 July 1997.; Mostaf Kamal Majumder; ATTN EDITORS: The following item is by Panos Features, London, and is distributed by IPS for use of subscribers. DHAKA, July 4 (PANOS) - Bangladesh is at a cross-roads, said Dr Nasir Uddin of the Voluntary Health Services Society in Bangladesh. If the country and the people take action now, they have the opportunity to
ZIMBABWE-HUMAN RIGHTS: Bill Lets Spouse Off The Hook: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 3 July 1997.; Shehnilla Mohamed; HARARE, Jul 3 (IPS) -- A draft law which proposes an up to 20 years mandatory jail term for anyone who knowingly infects another with the virus that causes the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), excluding spouses, has women activists up in arms. Activists have been fiercely lobbying for a review of the Crimina
HEALTH: AIDS Spreads Faster in Prisons, Warns U.N.: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, July 01, 1997; UNITED NATIONS, (Jun. 30) IPS - The United Nations is alarmed at the increase in the spread of AIDS through one of the world s ideal breeding grounds for the deadly disease: the prison system. The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is spreading at a faster rate in prisons throughout the world than in the genera
HEALTH: World AIDS Campaign Focuses on Children /: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 27 June 1997; Niccolo Sarno; ATTN EDITORS: The following item is under embargo and may not be printed or otherwise reproduced before 10.00 GMT, Friday June 27. BRUSSELS, Jun 27 (IPS) - By the end of 1997, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ) expects 1 million children under the age of 15 years to be infected with the HIV virus
MOZAMBIQUE-POPULATION: AIDS Threatens Former War Zone's Recovery: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 19 June 1997; Delfina Mugabe; MAPUTO, Jun 19 (IPS) - Unlike the civil conflict that ravaged it from the mid-1970s to 1992, the war Mozambique now faces is one in which no guns are used, but it is equally, if not more devastating. The enemy is the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), which causes AIDS and it has been advancing at top speed. At t
SUDAN-HEALTH: Women Push Faltering Battle Against AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 30 May 1997.; Nhial Bol; KHARTOUM, May 30 (IPS) -- Market vendors are selling as paper for rolling tobacco, educational books on the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) which cost some $2 million to print. According to an official in the Ministry of General Education who declined to be named, the publication would have been a useful sch
HEALTH: AIDS Can be Treated, but Not For the Poor: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 28 May 1997.; Gustavo Gonzalez; GENEVA, May 28 (IPS) - Trials of new antiretroviral treatments against AIDS awoke prudent optimism in the scientific media, but the courses of drugs often prove prohibitively expensive for the poor countries. The triple combination therapies have given impressive short- term results, prolonging lives and reducing infec
NIGERIA-POPULATION: People Must Use Their Right to Choose: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 27 May 1997.; Remi Oyo; LAGOS, May 27 (IPS) -- Despite the marketing of condoms and other forms of contraceptives in Nigeria , the number of new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) continues to rise and the use of contraceptives remains low, health experts say. An estimated 41 million condoms are used each year in this West African
INDIA-TRADE: Border Trade With Burma Brings Drugs, HIV: InterPress News Service (IPS); Sunday, 25 May 1997.; A.B. Mahapatra; CHURCHANDPUR, India , May 25 (IPS) - Sha Unn lives in a shanty town of bamboo huts in this district of India s northeast Manipur state, an eight-hour bus ride from the country s border with Burma . A Burmese who came here as a young boy 40 years ago, Unn is a drug runner, helping smuggle narcotics from across the borde
UGANDA: Teen Paper Delivers 'Straight Talk' on Sex: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 19 May 1997.; Anne Akia Fiedler; ATTN EDITORS: The following item is by Panos Features, London, and is distributed by IPS for use by subscribers. KAMPALA, May 19 (PANOS) - A frank, funny and hard-hitting newspaper for Ugandan high school students is changing the way teenagers think about themselves and their relationships. Though the paper s impact is
SOUTH AFRICA: Mandela Counts the Cost of Free Health Care: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 19 May 1997.; Janine Simon; ATTN EDITORS: The following item is by Panos Features, London, and is distributed by IPS for use by subscribers. JOHANNESBURG, May 19 (PANOS) - Ask nurse Alleta Khanye about free health care services and her first reaction is to point to the crowded wooden benches of the Kathlehong North Clinic s waiting room. Aah, s
HEALTH: Prejudice Feeds AIDS Expansion in Prisons: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 29 April 1997.; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Apr 29 (IPS) - The AIDS virus is rife in the prisons of most countries, creating moral, cultural and religious which societies find hard to overcome, said the UN body responsible for fighting the disease. In some cases, as in France , the amount of HIV positive prisoners is up to ten times the level seen in loc
HEALTH-ASIA: Golden Triangle Heroin Trade Fuels HIV/AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 28 April 1997.; Rupa Chinai and Rahul Goswami; EDITORS NOTE: The following item is by Panos Features, London, and is reproduced here by IPS for the use of its subscribers. KOHIMA, India , Apr 28 (PANOS) - The expanding heroin trade in Southeast Asia s Golden Triangle - the world s largest source of illicitly grown pure heroin - is bringing with it a wave of new HIV
CHINA-HEALTH: AIDS Makes Deadly Inroads Into Hinterlands: InterPress News Service (IPS); 24 April 1997; Amy Woo; BEIJING, Apr 24 (IPS) - The fatal AIDS disease once considered by the Chinese to affect only foreigners is making dangerous inroads into the mainland, health officials here say. While the HIV virus that causes AIDS is usually found in coastal and border areas and cities, authorities say cases have begun to be reported
CHILE-HEALTH: AIDS and Free Speech: InterPress News Service (IPS); 22 April 1997; Gustavo Gonzalez; SANTIAGO, Apr 22 (IPS) - The refusal by two Chilean TV stations to broadcast public service announcements concerning AIDS awareness provoked a fierce debate over which is more important - the right to life, or freedom of speech. The Television Corporation of Catholic University - and the private TV channel, Megavision
SOUTH PACIFIC: Funding Crunch Cripples Anti-AIDS Campaign: InterPress News Service (IPS); 21 April 1997; Edmond Toka; PORT VILA, Vanuatu , Apr 21 (IPS) - Reduced aid funding in the fight against AIDS is forcing non-governmental organisations to take the lead from health ministries constrained by financial woes. Though governments set aside money for anti-AIDS campaigns in their annual budgets, some fail to deliver the amounts they all
THAILAND-HEALTH: AIDS Victims Carry On With Their Lives: InterPress News Service (IPS); 16 April 1997; Prangtip Daorueng; BUREERAM, Thailand , Apr 16 (IPS) - When Samran Kanka s husband died four years ago, he not only left her with the burden of raising the family alone. Worse, he left her infected with HIV. Samran is among tens of thousands of housewives in Thailand who got the deadly virus from their husbands. This group, the Public He
HEALTH-CUBA: Danger Lurks in Land of Romance: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 10 April 1997.; Dalia Acosta; HAVANA, Apr 10 (IPS) - Cubans have come to regard themselves as equal to anyone in the world when it comes to love and romance and the much of the world tends to agree with their assessment. Simple hallway conversations, evening get-togethers, glances on the street and other seemingly trivial moments are imbued with a
ASIA-HEALTH: AIDS Gets the Headlines, But TB Kills More: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 10 April 1997.; Johanna Son; MANILA, Apr 10 (IPS) - Tuberculosis kills many more people than AIDS, but the disease grabs more headlines and gets more funding for research and prevention. AIDS is still incurable, but is preventible. Tuberculosis, on the other hand can be cured by antibiotics. Or, so doctors thought until virulent strains immune to
HEALTH-CHILE: Frei Blasts TV Censorship in Anti-AIDS Campaign: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 10 April 1997.; Gustavo Gonzalez; SANTIAGO, Apr 10 (IPS) - The wrath of President Eduardo Frei has fallen on the conservative management of two TV stations who refused to air public service advertising spots as part of Chile s official AIDS prevention campaign. Frei has accused officials of the private Magavision network and the Catholic University s T
HEALTH: Government and Church Have Different role on AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 9 April 1997.; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Apr 9 (IPS) - The differences between governments and religious groups over the AIDS prevention campaigns could be resolved by each sticking to its own role, said executive director of the UNAIDS programme, Peter Piot. Our role is to protect the health of the population. The church has another role, said Piot.
HEALTH-AIDS: Refugees Especially Vulnerable to Growing Epidemic: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 9 April 1997.; Gustavo Capdevila; Attention Eds: Please relate the following to HEALTH: Government and Church have Different Role moved earlier from Geneva/ GENEVA, Apr 9 (IPS) - The AIDS (Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome) epidemic, to which refugees are particularly vulnerable, continues to pick up steam worldwide, the executive director of the
CUBA-HEALTH: Still a Jewel in Castro's Crown: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 7 April 1997.; Dalia Acosta; HAVANA, Apr 7 (IPS) - The health sector continues to figure among the jewels of the government of Fidel Castro, in spite of the economic crisis gripping Cuba . Still one of the top priorities of the Caribbean nation s social policy, public health will receive around seven percent of the annual budget this year - simila
HEALTH: Don't Drop the Guard on Infectious Diseases: InterPress News Service (IPS); 3 April 1997; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Apr 3 (IPS) - Humanity, overexcited about its own success in erradicating infectious diseases, got lazy about control and is now suffering the return of some of these illnesses and the emergence of some new strains. The communicable diseases, which respect no frontiers, constitute a threat which needs urgent at
ASIA-HEALTH: AIDS Plateaus in Thailand, But Hot-Spots Remain: InterPress News Service (IPS); 2 April 1997.; Johanna Son; MANILA, Apr 2 (IPS) - Once regarded as the epicentre of Asia s AIDS epidemic, Thailand is reporting a decline in new HIV cases. Australia and New Zealand report a leveling off in AIDS, especially among the homosexual population. These are two bright spots in the health picture of the Asia- Pac
SUDAN-POPULATION: AIDS Campaigners Preach to a Hostile Audience: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 1 April 1997.; Nhial Bol; KHARTOUM, Apr 1 (IPS) - Hostility towards anti-AIDS campaigners has been hampering efforts to limit the spread of HIV in Sudan , health ministry officials here say. In our efforts to minimise the effects of AIDS, we are currently trying to change people s attitudes, but if the people themselves do not want our campaign
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO-HEALTH: The High Cost of Sex Tourism: InterPress News Service (IPS); 24 March 1997.; Wesley Gibbings; PORT OF SPAIN, Mar 24 (IPS) - Tobago , that picturesque, northern- easterly portion of the twin island republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is fast realising that sex -- the fourth dimension of the tourism industry that sells sun, sea and sand -- be
SENEGAL-POPULATION: 'Risky Behaviour' Does not Always Equal AIDS: InterPress News Service (IPS); March 24, 1997; David Hecht; DAKAR, Mar 24 (IPS) - Offering sex for money (solliciting) is illegal in Senegal , but having sex for money is not. In this mostly Muslim African country, a sex worker may ply her trade as long as she is registered as a prostitute, has regular check-ups at a designated clinic and is discreet. Dakar, Senegal s capit
NICARAGUA-HEALTH: Dispute Over AIDS Danger: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 19 March 1997.; Roberto Fonseca L.; MANAGUA, Mar 19 (IPS) - A social health organisation in Nicaragua has accused the government of not doing enough to prevent the spread of AIDS and say there is a danger of a boom in the number of people infected by the virus. Pascual Ortells, director of the Nimehuatzin Foundation - an organization dedicated to the str
AFRICA-HEALTH: AIDS - Ray of hope in Uganda: InterPress News Service (IPS); Sunday, 9 March 1997.; Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga and Nana Rosine Ngangoue; KAMPALA/BRAZZAVILLE, Mar 9 (IPS) - Ten years down a road littered with the dead, dying and orphaned, Ugandans are beginning to see a ray of hope in the war against the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) that AIDS. A report by the Ugandan Health Ministry s STD/AIDS Control Programme (STD/ACP) shows that HIV infection i
U.S.-HEALTH: AIDS Deaths Decline, But Groups Warn Crisis Remains: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 3 March 1997; Farhan Haq; NEW YORK, Mar 3 (IPS) - New statistics showing a sharp drop in the number of deaths from acquired immune deficiency syndrome have cheered AIDS patients, but health groups warn that many people, especially the poorest, still remain at risk. The good news, confirmed last Thursday by the Centres for Disease Control (CDC),
SUDAN-HEALTH: UN Issues Call for Emergency Aid: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 18 February 1997.; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Feb 18 (IPS) - The next month is crucial in terms of prevention of meningococcal meningitis in Sudan , because of the tendency for outbreaks of the disease - which has an up to 40 percent mortality rate - at this time of year. Especially vulnerable are 1.25 million children and adolescents that make up part of
CAMEROON-ENVIRONMENT: Saving a Valuable Medicinal Plant: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 14 February 1997.; Tansa Musa; YAOUNDE, Feb 14 (IPS) -- Korup National Park in south western Cameroon is a scientist s delight. The park spans some 1,259 square kilometres and is a unique primary rain forest which has been described as a real living museum . Together with the Nigerian Cross River National Park, Korup, protects a significant area of
HEALTH: AIDS - Major Threat to Emerging Markets: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 11 February 1997.; Gustavo Capdevila; GENEVA, Feb 11 (IPS) - Young adults, the most productive sector of society, have been hardest hit by AIDS while the virus is wreaking its worst havoc in the developing world, according to the head of the United Nations HIV/AIDS programme, Peter Piot. The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) actually presents a th
ZIMBABWE-HUMAN RIGHTS: Baring The Ugly Facts: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 11 February, 1997.; Josephine Masimba; HARARE, (Feb. 9) IPS - Decried by some as abuse, defended by others as the norm, and most often completely denied, domestic violence afflicts more than half of Zimbabwe s women, according to a new study. Findings revealed in a survey by the Musasa Project, a non-governmental women s rights group, were examined at a wor
AIDS Appears to Stabilize Within the European Union: InterPress News Service (IPS); Wednesday, 29 January 1997; Eduardo Gomez Ortega; BRUSSELS, Jan. 29 (IPS) -- The incidence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) appears to have stabilized for the first time within the European Union (EU), except in Spain , Italy and Portugal , announced the European Commission today.
SOUTH AFRICA-HEALTH: AIDS Campaign Set Back By Drug Quarrel: InterPress News Service (IPS); Tuesday, 28 January 1997.; Gumisai Mutume; JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 28 (IPS) -- The recent controversy over a purported cure for the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has set back national AIDS education and prevention work, experts here say. Three University of Pretoria scientists declared last week that they had developed a new, affordable drug, Virodene P
CUBA: AIDS Vaccine Trials on Human Beings: InterPress News Service (IPS); Thursday, 16 January 1997.; Rolando Napoles; HAVANA, Jan. 16 (IPS) -- If you want to take the risk that s your business, but I m not going to let you put me and our unborn child at risk, said Reynol Morales pregnant wife when he told her he wanted to be a guinea pig for the new AIDS vaccine. There is always the fear that by putting ourselves in contact with the v
ZAMBIA: HIV Mothers Face A Dilemma -- Is Breast Really Best?: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 13 January 1997; Zarina Geloo; LUSAKA, Jan. 13 (AIA/GIN) -- Jane Mudenda is in a dilemma. She is HIV positive and has to choose whether to breast-feed her baby and risk passing on the infection or bottle feed with milk formula which is not only expensive but carries health risks like malnutrition and diarrhea. My neighbor, who is a gynecologist, tel
ZIMBABWE: Justice Department to Review Law on HIV Transmission: InterPress News Service (IPS); Friday, 10 January 1997.; Shenilla Mohamed; HARARE, Jan. 10 (AIA/GIN) -- Fierce lobbying by women activists against a draft law which proposes a maximum 20-year mandatory jail term for anyone who knowingly infects another with HIV/AIDS, excluding spouses, has forced the Justice Department to agree to review the proposed law. Following the publication of the draf
BRAZIL-HEALTH: Prevention Stepped up, AIDS Care Costs: InterPress News Service (IPS); January 10, 1997; Mario Osava; RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 10 (IPS) - AIDS is rapidly becoming an illness of the poor -- affecting mainly those dependent on a public health system already burdened by the high cost of caring for sufferers. In response the government has intensified a prevention campaign which has as its centrepiece the distribution of by the
NEPAL-HEALTH: HIV Bomb Ticks Away on Border With India: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 6 January 1997; Suman Pradhan; BIRGANJ, Nepal , Jan. 6 (IPS) -- This dusty and crowded border town between tiny Nepal and its giant neighbor to the south, India , might just emerge as one of the major centers for the spread of the deadly AIDS virus. Birganj, 120-kms from the capital city Kathmandu, is landlocked Nepal s bu
SOUTH ASIA-AIDS: HIV Sneaks Across Open Borders: InterPress News Service (IPS); Monday, 7 July 1997.; Suman Pradhan; KATHMANDU, Jul 7 (IPS) - Open borders between some countries in South Asia and the sheer size of its population make the battle against the Human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) in the region very difficult, point out experts. Health experts see a link in the region between economic liberalisation, the lifting of state c

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