2000

AFRICA: IRIN AIDS Weekly Issue 5/00: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 15, 2000; 1. News AFRICA: Red Cross looks to its own on HIV/AIDS issue The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has made a frank admission that it needs to do more in view of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, but also to tackle the disease and its effects within its own organisation and in t
AFRICA: Wanted - Leadership On AIDS: UN Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 9, 2000; Johannesburg - African leaders are to assemble in the Nigerian capital Abuja in April next year as the next step in a process of building continent-wide political commitment to action against HIV/AIDS. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit, to be organised by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, follows on fr
SOUTH AFRICA: Albright kicks-off three nation African tour: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 8 December (IRIN) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Friday praised the role South African women have played in transforming the country since apartheid ended, but she said more work needed to be done to empower women, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Albright arrived in South Africa on Thursda
SOUTH AFRICA: Local puppet group breaks silence surrounding HIV/AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; The innovative Talking Hands Puppet Theatre Company is using short plays to teach children and teenagers fundamental life skills and to break the barrier of silence surrounding HIV/AIDS, Eastern Cape News said this week. There s an incredible culture of silence in this country and apathy, said Talking Hands organiser E
UGANDA: Successful example of strong response to AIDS - UNAIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; UNAIDS has praised Uganda for its efforts in turning around the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country. Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to recognize the threat posed by AIDS to development. It understood early on the importance of long-term efforts in both prevention and care, said Dr Peter Piot, Executive
ZAMBIA: HIV/AIDS depletes Zambia's teacher population: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; Although Zambia s school enrolment has continued to grow at an annual rate of 2.3 percent, the rising prevalence of HIV/AIDS continues to deplete the population of teachers at an alarming rate, news reports said this week. In 1998, the Zambian ministry of education reported that 1,331 teachers died as a result of AIDS.
NAMIBIA: HIV/AIDS Charter launched: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; A new pocket-sized HIV/AIDS Charter of Rights was launched on 1 December, International AIDS Day, in the Namibian capital Windhoek. The booklet provides guidelines with regard to confidentiality and privacy of those who are HIV-positive. According to the Charter, people living with HIV-AIDS have the right to confidenti
NIGERIA: Endorsement of traditional medicine for HIV/AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 8, 2000; After years of ambivalence on the issue of traditional medicine, Nigeria s federal government said it would accord traditional medicine practice formal status in the national health system, the news agency PANA reported. Health Minister Tim Menakaya said in particular the government was interested in the use of traditi
AFRICA: IRIN Focus on improving the response to AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 6, 2000; [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] ADDIS ABABA, 6 December (IRIN) - In the doom and gloom surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, what can be overlooked is that there are examples of what works in combating its spread, experts at the Africa Development Forum (ADF-2000) on AI
AFRICA: Fighting the stigma of AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - December 5, 2000; ADDIS ABABA, 5 December (IRIN) - Accused of not doing enough, African leaders were urged this week to take up the challenge of combating the scourge of HIV/AIDS across the continent. The analogy repeatedly used at this year s Africa Development Forum on leadership and AIDS, organised by the UN Economic Commission for A
AFRICA: IRIN Briefing on men and HIV/AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 30, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 30 November (IRIN) - Engaging men as partners in fighting HIV/AIDS is one of the surest ways to change the course of the epidemic, UNAIDS has said in a new report, and this year has chosen Men Make a Difference as the title of its global campaign. Why men? HIV/AIDS affects both men and women. Worldwide, t
ETHIOPIA: HIV/AIDS a hidden danger in Somali Region: Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 29, 2000; KEBRE DEHAR, Ethiopia , 29 November (IRIN) - Lying on a raffia mat on the floor, staring listlessly at a passing nurse, a young boy finds it too much effort to move his limbs, or his head. Only his huge sunken eyes move, slowly. Tuberculosis I think, says the senior nurse, Abdullahi Bedel Teken. Most of the patient
AFRICA: HIV/AIDS figures stabilise: Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 29, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 29 November (IRIN) - For the first time, there are signs that new HIV/AIDS infections may have stabilised in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, UNAIDS said in its annual epidemic update released on Tuesday. New infections in 2000 totalled an estimated 3.8 million compared with 4 million in 1999, the AIDS
NAMIBIA: AIDS drugs in 2001: Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 24, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 24 November (IRIN) - Namibia said it would make some HIV-AIDS drugs available to patients from next year. Health Minister Dr Libertina Amathila told a one-day national AIDS conference in Windhoek on Wednesday that the government was negotiating for cost reductions because Namibia was not ready to take loa
ZAMBIA: Chiluba speaks of devastation of AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - November 22, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 22 November (IRIN) - Zambian President Frederick Chiluba said on Wednesday the AIDS pandemic was so overwhelming that his government was unable to cope with its human cost, Reuters reported. In a rare statement on AIDS on the Day of Affirmation for people living with AIDS, Chiluba spoke of the personal pa
IRIN AIDS Briefs: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 26, 2000; SOUTH AFRICA: Trade Unions lobby for cheaper AIDS drugs South Africa s giant labour federation the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) is to lobby foreign pharmaceutical firms to cut prices of anti-AIDS drugs and will push government to import the drugs more cheaply. We cannot allow pharmaceutical companies
News HIV/AIDS Policy Guidelines Announced: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 26, 2000; The South African government this week announced new guidelines for treating people living with HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the launch of the guidelines, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said that although the government was still considering the possibility of procuring cheaper HIV/AIDS drugs through parallel import
ETHIOPIA: Changing attitudes to HIV/AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 17, 2000; NAIROBI, 17 October (IRIN) - President Negaso Gidada said on Monday that Ethiopia had secured more than US $60 million dollars in credits from international financial institutions, including the World Bank to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. He said the credit was in addition to budgetary allocations made by the governmen
SWAZILAND-MALAWI: IRIN Focus on AIDS drug crisis: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 12, 2000; [This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] MBABANE, 17 October (IRIN) - Anti-retroviral drugs can prolong the lives of people living with AIDS, but poverty, bureaucratic lapses and misinformation are limiting the life-saving potential of drug therapy in Africa s worst-hit countries, anal
RWANDA: Government initiates AIDS programme for army: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 9, 2000; NAIROBI, 9 October (IRIN) - In a bid to effect an AIDS control programme initiated by the Rwandan government for the army, more than 50 army officers attended a three-day workshop on the modalities of controlling the disease and counselling techniques. The Rwanda News Agency (RNA) quoted the country s defence minister,
ANGOLA: Health minister reports on AIDS, malaria, TB: Integrated Regional Information Networks - October 2, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 2 October (IRIN) - Angolan Health Minister Albertina Hamukuaya said in the city of Huambo last week that about 470,000 HIV-positive cases have been recorded in the country between 1985 and 1999, the official news agency Angop reported. Hamukuaya said that the national health system has helped over 45,000
AFRICA: Red Cross societies vow to tackle HIV, diseases head on: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 12, 2000; ABIDJAN, 25 September (IRIN) - The heads of African Red Cross and Red Crescent societies vowed on Monday to work harder to beat the diseases and food shortages that have been killing millions of people each year in Africa. They also called for a massive increase in resources to address public health and food security i
SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki tries to clarify HIV/AIDS viewpoint: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 21, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 21 September (IRIN) - President Thabo Mbeki has made his clearest statement yet on HIV/AIDS, saying that the South African government s response to the epidemic was based on the thesis that HIV causes AIDS and that an effective response to the epidemic demanded that all the factors contributing to the spr
AFRICA: Focus on HIV at Red Cross/Red Crescent conference: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 12, 2000; ABIDJAN, 21 September (IRIN) - Health issues, including HIV/AIDS and its impact on African societies, and food security top the agenda of the Fifth Pan African Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies that began on Thursday in Ouagadougou. The President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cre
BOTSWANA: First paediatric HIV/AIDS clinic to be bui: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 19, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 19 September (IRIN) - Botswana President Festus Mogae has announced plans for southern Africa s first clinic for children with HIV/AIDS. Mogae was quoted in news reports on Tuesday as saying that the clinic, the Baylor Children s Clinical Centre for Excellence, was a US $10 million public- private sector
ZIMBABWE: MPs reject compulsory HIV/AIDS tests for prisoners: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 15, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 15 September (IRIN) - Zimbabwean parliamentarians, under pressure from human rights groups, on Thursday rejected a bill that would have subjected all prison inmates in the country to compulsory HIV/AIDS test, news reports said. The government in July proposed the compulsory testing for all communicable di
ZAMBIA: New approach to fight AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - September 12, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 12 September (IRIN) - The Zambian Health Ministry has launched a research programme that will unite the country s traditional and Western-trained doctors in the country s fight against HIV/AIDS, Zambian news reports said on Tuesday. The Ministry of health was quoted as saying that traditional healers were
BENIN: AIDS Foundation launches fund-raising campaign: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 28, 2000; ABIDJAN, 28 August (IRIN) - The Benin AIDS Foundation has launched a campaign aimed at raising money to help people living with HIV, PANA reported. The money collected through the campaign, during which people are being asked to donate coins, will go toward paying for basic drugs to treat opportunistic diseases, promot
BENIN: AIDS Foundation launches fund-raising campaign: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 28, 2000; ABIDJAN, 28 August (IRIN) - The Benin AIDS Foundation has launched a campaign aimed at raising money to help people living with HIV, PANA reported. The money collected through the campaign, during which people are being asked to donate coins, will go toward paying for basic drugs to treat opportunistic diseases, promo
SOUTH AFRICA-NAMIBIA: No to Aids-drugs loan: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 23, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 23 August (IRIN) - South Africa and Namibia have rejected an offer by the United States of US $1 billion each year in loans to sub-Saharan African nations for the purchase of US-manufactured HIV/AIDS drugs, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. Namibia and South Africa rejected the of
SOUTH AFRICA-MOZAMBIQUE: SA to probe reports of HIV- linked dismissals: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 18, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 18 August (IRIN) - The South African government said on Thursday it would investigate accusations by the Mozambican government that some South African mining companies were terminating contracts of HIV positive Mozambican workers. South African Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana was quoted in news repor
SOUTH AFRICA-AIDS: Getting the messages across: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 16, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 16 August (IRIN) - A raft of youth-targeted television and radio programmes tackling sex education have hit South Africa s airwaves as part of an in-your-face civic campaign on AIDS awareness. Brash, candid and explicit, in a culture where children and youths may find it difficult to talk to their parents
BOTSWANA: Government to provide free HIV/AIDS drug: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 11, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 10 August (IRIN) - President Festus Mogae of Botswana has said that his government would provide free HIV/AIDS drugs at public health facilities for people living with the disease. Addressing the women s wing of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party, Mogae said that with the financial support of internati
BOTSWANA: HIV disclosure law to be introduced: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 11, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 11 August (IRIN) - The Botswana government says that it plans to introduce an HIV disclosure law which would compel HIV positive people to disclose their status to their sexual partners, news reports said on Friday. Health Minister Joy Phumpahi was quoted as saying: We only want legislation to compel a
ANGOLA: AIDS programme needs US $12 million: Integrated Regional Information Networks - August 10, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 10 August (IRIN) - Angola requires about US $12 million to finance the activities of the country s national AIDS control programme, media reports said on Thursday. Quoting the deputy health minister, Natalia do Espirito, the reports said there was a need for improved education campaigns to prevent the fur
ETHIOPIA: New HIV/AIDS toll: Integrated Regional Information Networks - July 24, 2000; NAIROBI, 24 July (IRIN) - Nearly 50,000 people have died of HIV/AIDS in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in the past 16 years, AFP reported at the weekend quoting the Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research institute. According to projections in a study released by the institute on Friday, a further 500,000 people w
ETHIOPIA: New HIV/AIDS toll: Integrated Regional Information Networks - July 20, 2000; ABIDJAN, 20 July (IRIN) - Ghana s parliament has urged politicians to make the subject of HIV/AIDS into a campaign issue during the run-up to presidential and parliamentary polls, the Daily Graphic reported on Wednesday. If politicians include HIV/AIDS prevention messages in their campaigns it would help other efforts
SOUTH AFRICA-AIDS: Minister defends refusal to provide new drug: Integrated Regional Information Networks - July 19, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 19 July (IRIN) - South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday that the AIDS drug nevirapine will not yet be made available for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV/AIDS because some things still have to be cleared up in order to make informed policy deci
SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki's AIDS speech disappoints: Integrated Regional Information Networks - July 10, 2000; DURBAN, 10 July (IRIN) - With calls from the audience of what about HIV? , South African President Thabo Mbeki opened the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban on Sunday night by saying that poverty was the main killer in Africa and the main reason for ill-health across the continent. We cannot blame everything
GHANA: HIV tops 400,000: Integrated Regional Information Networks - June 15, 2000; ABIDJAN, 15 June (IRIN) - About 400,000 Ghanaians have contracted the deadly HIV virus and another 37,296 have developed AIDS, the country s AIDS control co-ordinator, Dr. Kweku Yeboah, said. Indications were that an estimated 120,000 children in Ghana have been orphaned by the pandemic, The Chronicle , an Accra daily,
MOZAMBIQUE: HIV/AIDS growing in Mozambique: Integrated Regional Information Networks - June 6, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 6 June (IRIN) - The spread of HIV/AIDS is growing so rapidly in Mozambique that at least one million children are expected to be orphaned by the disease in the next five years. Ian MacLeod, a spokesman for UNICEF, told IRIN on Tuesday that an estimated 350,000 Mozambican children have already been orphane
GHANA: Law to combat AIDS: Integrated Regional Information Networks - June 6, 2000; ABIDJAN, 6 June (IRIN) - A Ghana-based Canadian AIDS project manager, Thomas Agyarko-Poku, has called for a law that would compel religious and other identifiable bodies to contribute effectively to creating awareness of HIV/AIDS, The Chronicle of Accra reported on Monday. Agyarko-Poku said given the scope of the AIDS
BURUNDI: Rural population increasingly affected by HIV-AIDS: Integrated Regional Information - April 14, 2000; NAIROBI, 14 April (IRIN) - The recorded incidence of HIV-AIDS had stabilised in urban areas of Burundi in the past few years but a significant increase had been noted in cases in rural areas, apparently due to the state of crisis combined with traditional practices, Agence Burundi Presse (ABP) reported on Thursday.
AFRICA: UNAIDS and WHO welcome approval of HIV drug: Integrated Regional Information Networks - April 6, 2000; A joint UNAIDS /WHO statement said experts had agreed to recommend the use of cotrimoxazole in sub-Saharan Africa NEW YORK, 6 April (IRIN) - The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) have welcomed the recommendation of an anti-infection drug for use among HIV-positi
SOUTH AFRICA: Free drugs for HIV patients: Integrated Regional Information Networks - April 4, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 4 April (IRIN) - Pfizer , the international pharmaceutical company, says that it has made an offer to the South African government to provide free drugs to poor AIDS/HIV patients. Thabi Nyide, associate director for corporate affairs of Pfizer-South Africa told IRIN on Tuesday that the offer involved one
GHANA: Nation sitting on an AIDS time bomb - From 1994 to 2004 there would be a 500 percent increase in the number of new HIV cases if nothing is done about the situation: Integrated Regional Information Networks - February 9, 2000; ABIDJAN, 9 February 2000 (IRIN) - The National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) in Accra says it expects that by 2014 AIDS will account for 35 percent of all deaths, PANA reported on Monday. The report, released at the weekend ahead of a national crusade to be launched on Thursday, said: The epidemic is so pervasive and s
AFRICA-AIDS: How reliable are the figures?: Integrated Regional Information Networks - January 17, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, 17 January (IRIN) - In the welter of grim estimates outlining the depth of Africa s AIDS crisis, one nagging question remains: How reliable are the figures? According to UNAIDS , the estimates are provisional and updated as improved knowledge becomes available. This improved knowledge along with methodolo
RWANDA: Worrying scale of HIV-AIDS problem revealed: Integrated Regional Information Networks - January 6, 2000; NAIROBI, 6 January (IRIN) - Some 60 percent of patients in Rwandan hospitals had AIDS-related illness and over 400 000 people in the country had been infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported on Wednesday, quoting the Director of the National AIDS Control Programme, Dr Ntaganira Inn
ZAMBIA: Pregnant HIV-positive women get AZT: JOHANNESBURG, 13 November (IRIN) - Zambia, one of the sub-Saharan; African countries worst hit by the deadly AIDS pandemic, is to put thousands of pregnant women on the drug AZT , agencies reported on Monday. Dr Moses Sichone, director of the government s national secretariat on HIV and AIDS said that the government would test about 10,000 pregnant women. Those who tested HIV-posi

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