Prisoners living with HIV and AIDS at three Bangkok area prisons are able to receive proper medical care, thanks to a program begun by Doctors Without Borders. Starting in 2009, the Thai government will assume responsibility for all HIV/AIDS programs in prisons.
The former UN special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa is condemning a proposed peace settlement for Zimbabwe that calls for amnesty for President Robert Mugabe.
A new report on medical treatment for children living with HIV says that about two-thirds of ailing Kenyan youth are not getting access to the antiretroviral (ARV) treatment they urgently need. A 100-page report by Human Rights Watch says about 40-thousand Kenyan youth could die in the next two years if they don't receive the drugs, which are freely provided by the government but are currently only reaching another 20-thousand Kenyan children. Human Rights Watch spokesman Ben Rawlence says there are not enough community health workers to help children gain access to testing and treatment.
The Institute of Medicine says the United States needs to spend more money to help improve the health of people around the world. The Institute, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, makes the recommendation in a report containing suggestions on global health policy for the incoming Obama administration.
Defectors from South Africa's ruling African National Congress are holding a conference that is to formally announce Tuesday the creation of a new political party. They plan to contest national elections due early next year.
World leaders are in Dakar, Senegal, calling for an increased emphasis on prevention in the global fight against HIV and AIDS at the 15th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa. But African civil society members working to fight AIDS say a projected funding shortfall could threaten their efforts.
While some Asian nations have managed to slow or even arrest the rate of new HIV infections, Indonesia is struggling to contain an epidemic. The United Nations estimates that as many as 270,000 Indonesians are living with the disease and most do not know it.
A new United Nations report says early diagnosis and treatment can significantly improve the prospects for survival of newborn babies exposed to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
A new study says AIDS could be nearly eliminated in a decade, if everyone was tested and drugs were prescribed as soon as a person tested positive. Although based on a theoretical model, researchers say they hope to further study the intriguing results of the mathematical model.
The international medical group Doctors Without Borders said Burma's military government must act now if it wants to address one of Asia's most serious epidemics of HIV/AIDS.
More than a thousand people living with HIV and their allies are expected to gather near the White House today in a preemptive public demonstration for AIDS advocacy. They are staging a pretend inauguration ceremony to urge President-Elect Barack Obama to improve the way the United States fights AIDS domestically and globally.
The number of independent churches is growing in many parts of Kenya, especially in low-income areas. These are usually started by people who promise healing, salvation and other rewards, often in exchange for money. With names such as the Maximum Miracle Centre and Winner's Chapel, these churches draw people who used to belong to mainstream congregations.
Academy-award-winning actress and activist Charlize Theron has been named a U.N. Messenger of Peace. Her special focus will be on ending violence against women.
In many African countries, a nurse is the only health worker a patient might ever see. But most nurses are not well trained at diagnosing common diseases, and this can be a problem. However, as Rose Hoban reports, some nurses in Kenya now have a new low-cost, low-tech tool right at their fingertips to help them reach the right diagnosis.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Monday promised Zimbabwe US$169 million in its eighth round of funding, finalized over the weekend by the board of the international health organization at a meeting in New Delhi, India.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria expressed satisfaction on Friday at the release by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe of US$7.3 million in monies which had been provided to the country but that the central bank had failed to produce for months.
Zimbabweans struggling to survive HIV/AIDS were anxiously awaiting the outcome of a meeting Friday in New Delhi of the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, following the revelation that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe diverted funds provided the country, potentially sinking Zimbabwe's hopes for more funding.
This week, the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis reported it would no longer fund projects in Zimbabwe through the central bank after more than $7 million of its funds disappeared from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
President George W. Bush's administration has in recent years won widespread international praise for its efforts to prevent AIDS and treat people infected with HIV. Health workers expect the new American president to continue, and even expand, these initiatives. International health economist Mead Over advises the next administration in Washington to modify the current US strategy to provide AIDS relief to many in the developing world from an "Emergency Plan" to what he terms a "sustainable policy."
Countries experiencing conflict often are increasingly susceptible to the spread of infectious disease as their health systems become disrupted or even collapse. A prime example of this phenomenon is in Afghanistan - a country at war for the past seven years and experiencing frequent conflict over the past few decades. But as Rose Hoban reports, many nongovernmental organizations are working to curb the spread of infectious disease within Afghanistan and across its borders into Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan.
In a small northwestern town in the Central African Republic, one man who has been HIV positive for nearly 20 years is leading an individual crusade to help others with the same disease. Jeremie Nadoum convinces them to leave their shame behind and grow vegetables together so they can survive. In the latest installment of VOA's Making a Difference, Nico Colombant reports, the only thing Nadoum complains about is not getting enough outside help.
A leading magazine on HIV/AIDS says whoever wins the US presidential election Tuesday, November 4th, should develop a national strategy to fight the disease. POZ Magazine says more than one million Americans live with HIV and 14 thousand people died of the disease in the United States in 2006. It's estimated that 25 percent of those infected with the AIDS virus don't know it.
In many parts of the world, patients with HIV arrive at a clinic not because they're sick with HIV, but because they are sick with tuberculosis. As VOA's Rose Hoban reports, some new research is revealing the best way to treat these patients.
A prominent South African AIDS activist has said the stigma of having AIDS in China is leading to needless deaths and that more outspoken advocates are needed. But, as Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing, Chinese authorities have a habit of silencing activists.
In another blow to Zimbabwe's tottering health care sector, the opportunistic infections clinics at Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals in the capital and Chitungwiza Hospitals in the nearby satellite dormitory town have been forced to close their doors after their doctors and nurses joined a widening strike by health professionals.
Conclusions of a U.S. study recommending that the HIV-positive people begin taking antiretroviral drugs sooner than has been practiced to date has been well received by AIDS activists in Zimbabwe, where something like one in five adults are estimated to have been infected, but the government is not ready to act on the findings.
A World Health Organization study finds half of all deaths in Africa are children under 15, and people under age 60 account for half of all deaths around the world. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva on the latest assessment of the Global Burden of Disease.
A new study says those infected with HIV, the AIDS virus, should receive drug treatment much sooner than is currently recommended. It says those who delay treatment until their immune systems are badly weakened are 74 percent more likely to die sooner than those who start treatment earlier.
Human trials are being planned for a new tuberculosis vaccine that's designed to better protect HIV-positive people from TB. People infected with the AIDS virus (HIV) are more susceptible to TB because they have much weaker immune systems. As a result, health officials say both diseases are now closely linked and must be addressed at the same time.
Red Cross and Red Crescent societies from around Africa concluded a Pan-African conference in South Africa looking at the challenges to humanitarian efforts during the next four years. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.
In Washington Tuesday, the White House hosted a summit on international development. The White House says given the impact of the financial crisis around the world, it is even more important to pursue a joint development agenda, which includes lifting people out of poverty, increasing educational opportunities and fighting disease.
Tuberculosis, an ancient disease, kills 1.7 million people each year, almost all in the developing world. Health experts say the death toll is likely to grow because new drug-resistant strains have emerged. Leta Hong Fincher reports on tuberculosis and new photographs of its victims.
Both candidates in the upcoming U.S. elections, and their platforms, promise to support investments to improve global health. They say they will enhance funding to reduce maternal and infant mortality, and to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world.
An altarpiece that tells the story of the AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa has been unveiled in London. It was created by the people from South Africa's Keiskamma valley on the country's Eastern Cape, a region that has been particularly devastated by the spread of the virus. The altarpiece, which will be on display for the next three weeks, is not only a message of hope but a reminder to the world that AIDS continues to claim lives.
UNAIDS says children under the age of 15 account for one in six AIDS-related deaths around the world and one in seven new HIV infections. In some countries, AIDS is the leading cause of death for those under age five. While AIDS drugs formulated for children are available, the head of a Kenyan orphanage warns that resistance to them is growing.
About a year ago, there was some discouraging news about AIDS vaccine research. A promising vaccine candidate failed when it apparently made test subjects actually more susceptible to HIV infection.
South Africa's parliament has elected African National Congress deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe as the third post-apartheid president of the country. VOA's Delia Robertson reports from our Johannesburg bureau, the new president made it clear he did not intend to deviate from the former president's policies.
Ranbaxy Laboratories says all of its drugs are safe, including those supplied to African countries to fight AIDS. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has blocked more than 30 medications made by the giant pharmaceutical company. Other countries have started their own investigations.
Eleven key cabinet ministers and three deputies have resigned and will leave their posts along with President Thabo Mbeki Thursday. However, as VOA's Delia Robertson reports from our Johannesburg bureau, the Finance Minister says he will be available to the incoming president if he chooses.
Analysts are expressing concern over the situation in South Africa, where President Thabo Mbeki has formally offered his resignation. The ruling African National Congress (ANC) pressured Mr. Mbeki to step down before his second term ends next year. This follows a judge's suggestion that the president may have interfered in a corruption investigation to ensure the prosecution of ANC leader Jacob Zuma, a political foe of Mr. Mbeki.
One of the most devastating events of the past quarter century was the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Out of a population of close to 7 million people, at least 800-thousand people were killed. Many left behind were children who lost family members, and frequently one or both parents. As Rose Hoban reports, the toll is especially heavy on those children who took on the burden of caring for younger siblings.
Zimbabwe's National Network of People Living With HIV/AIDS has asked the central bank and government to provide its 120,000 members with food under the government's so-called Basic Commodity Supply Side Intervention program, known as Bacossi.
Climatologists, veterinarians, and medical researchers meeting in Nairobi, Kenya have agreed to work together to combat what they describe as a "continental health disaster" in the making as a result of climate change. They say such collaboration also requires the involvement of local communities, who can report outbreaks of diseases before they become epidemics.
The U.N. Children's Fund says progress on reducing maternal mortality has been far too slow and must now be accelerated. In its just launched Progress for Children Report, UNICEF finds more than half a million women in developing countries die every year from complications due to pregnancy or childbirth.
Among the most urgent problems facing Zimbabwe's national unity government is the HIV/AIDS pandemic which continues to ravage the country's population.
Health activists target salons for marketing female condoms and information, making them well suited for educating women about the benefits of condoms made for women. Project supporters hope the plan will help reduce women's exposure to the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina in Blantyre says Malawi's conservative culture prohibits women from openly discussing reproductive issues. In general, condoms and other measures to prevent pregnancy and reduce sexually transmitted disease have been considered the domain of males.
Doctors have noticed for some time that their HIV-positive patients have had lower bone density. They saw their HIV patients' bones were more brittle than those who don't have HIV. And, as Rose Hoban reports, brittle bones tend to break more easily.
Hunger and malnutrition are claiming lives in the Zimbabwean prison system. Sources in the national prisons service said 15 prisoners have succumbed to food deprivation at the Chikurubi Maximum and Harare Central prisons in the capital.
Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations say that they continue to be barred from providing humanitarian assistance despite government claims that food distribution and other forms of aid can resume if NGOs meet new registration and reporting requirements.
Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations attempting to provide HIV/AIDS-related aid to people living with the disease say many of their would-be clients continue to suffer though the government nominally lifted a ban on such services weeks ago.
A study released this week finds that the virus that causes AIDS is spreading in New York City at three times the rate in the United States. Health officials say New York has long been the epicenter of the U.S. AIDS epidemic because the city is home to sizable populations considered most at-risk for contracting the virus.
At the recent International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, activists called for a reinvigorated international commitment to prevent HIV/AIDS, which has claimed more than 25 million lives since the disease was first identified in the early 1980s. In 2007, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But the disease is preventable. That's the message that members of a non-profit group in Mexico are taking to the streets - with considerable success.
Among the trends discussed at the recent International AIDS Conference in Mexico City was the alarming prevalence of HIV infections among men who have sex with men. MSM, as it's known, is a description of a behavior and not a homosexual lifestyle. In low and middle-income countries, HIV infections among men who have sex with men are many times greater than the rate in the general population. As we learn in this report activists want funding priorities redirected and are calling for a reversal of the widespread homophobic policies fueling the epidemic.
Former Congolese warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba is at the International Criminal Court in the Hague awaiting trial on charges related to violence committed by his troops in the Central African Republic. While raping sprees against women in the capital Bangui have been well publicized, sexual violence also took place in other parts of the vast, lawless country, and against men as well. And the sordid pattern continues. VOA's Nico Colombant reports in this the second part of a series on neglect and challenges in the mostly lawless Central African Republic.
Zimbabwean non-governmental organizations focused on HIV/AIDS say their treatment and support programs aimed at people struggling to live with with HIV/AIDS remain significantly scaled back despite government promises to allow them to resume such activities.
The Ugandan government says it wants to launch an official drive to circumcise much of Uganda's male population as part of its efforts to reduce the rate of HIV infection in the east African country. Recent studies conducted in several African countries, including Uganda, suggest that circumcision may offer significant protection from the virus that causes AIDS.
Half of all injection drug users in Thailand are thought to be HIV-positive. However, AIDS activists say the country's war on illegal drug use and discrimination against drug users make it harder for many to get lifesaving treatment.
Efforts by activists to force India's government to strike down a Victorian-era law banning homosexuality are gaining momentum. It is another sign that India's deeply conservative society is changing. Raymond Thibodeaux reports from Bangalore, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
The 17th International AIDS Conference came to an end Friday in Mexico City, with calls for more access to treatment for those suffering from the deadly disease and more attention to prevention methods that have proved effective. The next AIDS conference will take place two years from now in Vienna and, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, organizers hope there will be more progress on these issues by then.
Among the 20,000-plus scientists, community leaders, policy experts and activists at the just-concluded International AIDS Conference in Mexico City (August 3-8) were 1,000 young people from around the world. While they attended sessions, workshops and protest rallies, their mission in Mexico City was to represent the 5.4 million young people living with HIV and the more than 15 million who've been orphaned by the disease.
A new report says the rate of HIV infections among men who have sex with men is many times greater than HIV infections in the general population. The report by the American Foundation for AIDS Research, or amfAR, was released this week at the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City. As VOA's Rosanne Skirble reports, activists are calling for targeted prevention programs and resources, especially in low- and middle- income countries, where the problem is most acute.
At the international AIDS conference, the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders says much more must be done to improve pediatric AIDS services. The group, also known as MSF, treats over 10,000 children worldwide with anti-retroviral drug therapy. It also has many programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
The 17th International AIDS Conference is winding down in Mexico City. The closing ceremony will be held Friday. This was one of the biggest and most expensive such conferences, drawing more than 24,000 participants from all over the world. But there has been no major announcement and, as VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, the multi-million dollar conference has spawned a few critics.
A Zimbabwean child rights activist told delegates to the the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City on Thursday that rape as a form of political violence seems likely to boost the rate of HIV infection among women and girls in the Southern African country.
In the Kitui district of eastern Kenya, children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and grandparents who have lost their sons and daughters to the scourge live together in houses on more than 400 hectares. Nyumbani Village also contains services like schools and a clinic. The goal of the village is to become a self-sustaining support system.
At the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, new findings show that male circumcision efforts are lacking in Africa, despite evidence the procedure helps reduce the risk of HIV infection.
It's estimated that about 15 million children under age 18 have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. Most are in sub-Saharan Africa, with two to three million in South Africa alone. One organization is taking steps to prevent the country's AIDS orphans from becoming - what it calls - a lost generation.
Among the many advocacy groups taking part in the 2008 International AIDS Conference in Mexico City is the Canada-based Blueprint for Action on Women and Girls and HIV. Their mission is to improve the status of the 15.4 million women living with HIV/AIDS, or about half the global number affected by the disease. The group has developed a system of report cards to evaluate the AIDS prevention efforts of individual countries around the world. Among the report cards released in Mexico City this week is one rating the southern African nation of Zimbabwe.
At the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this week, there has been a great deal of discussion about violence and discrimination directed at homosexuals and lesbians, often based on the mistaken assumption that they are responsible for the disease. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, participants in the conference also see improvements in attitudes as a result of education and government actions to protect people from discrimination.
Tuberculosis is one of the leading causes of death in people with HIV, resulting in an estimated13 percent of AIDS deaths worldwide. As Véronique LaCapra reports, doctors working with the World Health Organization stress the need to coordinate the response to these two catastrophic epidemics, and to integrate TB screening and treatment into HIV care.
Human Rights groups at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City are calling on Iran to release two world-renowned physicians who have been detained in their homeland. VOA's Greg Flakus has more from Mexico City.
The 17th International AIDS Conference got underway in Mexico City Sunday and will continue through Friday. Along with government officials, private non-profit groups and medical researchers, the conference has drawn activists and representatives of grassroots groups from around the world. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, most of their focus is on better treatment for those infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS as well as prevention.
The Zimbabwean government said Monday that it is partially lifting the ban it imposed in June on the distribution of food assistance by nongovernmental organizations so as to allow those groups seeing to the nutritional needs of HIV/AIDS patients to restart their programs.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton wrapped up a three-day, four country trip to Africa with an address at a hospital in Senegal. Brent Latham reports from our West Africa bureau in Dakar, Clinton praised a French-led project to provide medicine to children in developing countries infected with HIV.
More than 25 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, scientific advances are helping HIV-positive people live longer. But some of the same problems that existed in the early days of the epidemic continue today, such as stigma and discrimination.
The 17th International AIDS Conference opened in Mexico City Sunday with calls for greater efforts to combat the disease and find a cure. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from Mexico City, there is an emphasis as well on prevention and treatment in the developing world, where most AIDS victims are found.
On the eve of the International AIDS Conference, which begins in Mexico City Sunday, researchers at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston claim to have discovered a way to destroy the HIV virus that causes AIDS. If their hopes are confirmed in further tests, it could represent a major breakthrough in fighting the deadly disease.
The World Health Organization says exclusive breastfeeding can save millions of infant lives every year. As World Breastfeeding Week gets underway, W.H.O. and its partners are promoting mother's milk as the best way to give babies a healthy start in life.
A new report says HIV/AIDS is hurting political development in southern Africa, in part by the loss of experienced politicians struck down by the disease. The group says southern Africa has only two percent of the world's population, but nearly half of the 38 million people infected with HIV/AIDS. VOA's William Eagle reports from Washington the report by a South African research group will be the focus of a panel discussion and webcast at the upcoming 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City.
PRESS RELEASE - Washington, D.C., July 31, 2008 - Voice of America (VOA) is sending a team of 18 journalists to the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, August 3-8, to provide comprehensive coverage of the disease around the world.
President Bush has signed a bill committing $48 billion to the global fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. VOA's Michael Bowman reports from the White House, the bill vastly expands a U.S. program that already treats millions in Africa, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere.
In the latest United Nations assessment, Asia is reporting gains in the fight against the HIVAIDS epidemic, thanks to more access to vital medicines and growing public awareness, lowering rates of infection in Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. But, as Ron Corben reports from VOA's South East Asia Bureau other highly populated states, such as Indonesia, Bangladesh and China, remain troubled by higher infection rates.
AIDS experts say treating HIV/AIDS effectively requires more than medications such as anti-retroviral drugs; it requires good nutrition, food security and sustainable livelihoods. This is one of the topics to be discussed at the 17th International AIDS conference in Mexico City.
An upbeat United Nations agency reports significant progress over the past two years in preventing HIV infections, but says more money will be required, especially in the battle against AIDS.
The head of the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) says there were no big surprises in the latest UNAIDS report. Richard Burzynski says, "I think we've been starting to hear some of this information. I think what's complex when we're looking at some of the information they're bringing...there are three key areas. One is there has been an increase in prevention and treatment services with some measurable results. But clearly it's not going to be even close to sufficient to meet universal access targets that were set by the G8 and other governments for 2010.
The latest update on the HIV/AIDS epidemic was released Tuesday. The UNAIDS report says an estimated 33 million people are now living with HIV, the AIDS virus. It says in 2007, there were 2.7 million new infections, while two million people died of AIDS last year.
The seventeenth international HIV/AIDS conference is set to begin in Mexico City on Sunday. The gathering will once again focus the globe's attention on a disease that has so far claimed more than two million lives, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Experts say at least 33 million people are currently living with HIV. In Mexico, journalists will be confronted with the task of covering an event attended by thousands of people, with masses of information disseminated. The media will also have to present new developments in the battle against HIV/AIDS to their audiences, in ways that both entertain and inform.
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) says increasing attention is being paid to women and girls in the world's response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. But it says the focus on these groups as being particularly vulnerable to the disease is still not enough. The organization is hoping this will change at the International AIDS Conference set to start in Mexico City on Sunday.
Protecting the rights of those vulnerable to HIV/AIDS is the goal of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, based in Toronto. The group, founded in 1992, will be represented at the XVIIthInternational AIDS Conference in Mexico City. It wants to expand awareness of its mission: advocating for law reform and for the human rights of people living with HIV, such as sex workers, prisoners and drug users.
"Universal Action Now" is the theme of the upcoming XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico City [3-8 August]. The conference will look at some of the issues that are impeding that goal, with daily panels of plenary speakers and workshops. Among the factors that will be considered are a lack of political will to allocate funding, and discrimination against those who are HIV positive.
Twenty-five thousand people are expected to participate in the 17th International AIDS Conference [August 3-8] in Mexico City. The conference theme, "Universal Action Now," is a renewed call to combat the viral pandemic that has gripped the world for nearly 30 years.
The world's largest AIDS conference begins next Sunday night. The 17th International AIDS Conference is being held in Mexico City from August 3rd through August 8th.
New research shows Africans and people of African descent could be up to 40 percent more likely to get HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, than people of other races. The study marks the first discovery of a genetic risk factor for HIV.
A new study may shed some light on why sub-Saharan Africa is the hardest-hit region in the world when it comes to HIV/AIDS. Researchers say people who are infected with parasitic worms are much more vulnerable to infection with HIV, the AIDS virus.
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono overcame the country's controversial media laws to produce a documentary about the many Zimbabweans suffering with and dying of HIV/AIDS that won the 2008 CNN Multi-Choice African Journalist of the Year Award.
A new report says more then 25 years into the AIDS epidemic, prevention remains a top priority in battling the disease. However, it says donor support for condoms and contraceptives in developing countries remains stagnant and far below projected needs.
Many children, teens and even adults across America turn to comics for entertainment. The super-heroes that fill comic book pages tell stories of tragedy and triumph. Now one comic book author is using his art to help people understand HIV/AIDS. Paige Kollock, in New York has this report in our series on those people around the world who are Making a Difference.
The US government has decided not to go ahead with a proposed AIDS vaccine trial called "PAVE 100." The decision comes a few weeks before the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City - and after a controversy earlier this year about the safety of another AIDS vaccine trial.
Congressional renewal of PEPFAR, President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, repeals a travel ban that was enacted in 1986 when it was believed that HIV-infected travelers intrinsically posed a danger of infecting the general public. Over time, attitudes have changed with a greater understanding of the sexually transmitted disease. But it took a persistent lobbying effort by a coalition of 160 activist groups to convince legislators that the laws had to change. Rachel B. Tiven of New York-based Immigration Equality helped lead the repeal campaign in Congress. She says that lifting the ban sends a particularly strong signal to many Africans who until now have been excluded from entering the United States.
The US Senate voted Wednesday night to reauthorize PEPFAR - the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. But in doing so, it also boosted spending to $48 billion over five years. That's up from $15 billion. What's more, it lifts the travel ban on those who are HIV positive, who want to come to the United States; and it supports efforts to overcome the healthcare worker shortage.
Earlier this year, President Bush said the United States would spend $350 million over five years to fight seven of the world's most common parasitic and bacterial diseases affecting hundreds of millions of people in tropical regions of the world. A Washington-based global health network is urging Congress to fully fund the initiative, and encouraging other developed nations to join the effort. VOA's Michael Bowman reports.
Around the world, women are far more likely than men to be poor, ill-housed, under-educated and victimized by war and discrimination. To help women help themselves and their communities, the Global Fund for Women, or GFW, a San Francisco-based organization, gives $8 million a year to support grassroots projects. So far, the GFW has helped to fund community-based development projects in 167 countries.
The US Senate later today is expected to approve an extension of PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. But on the eve of the vote, legislators continued to wrangle over terms of the $50 billion package, which was expanded earlier this year by the House of Representatives to include funds for combating malaria, and tuberculosis in African countries and other world health trouble spots. Negotiators had hoped to win final Senate approval with White House support before President Bush had left for the G8 summit in Japan earlier this month.
Health experts and others in Zimbabwe say rape and other forms of sexual abuse have become common as ruling party youth militia continue to terrorize rural and urban communities.
About 160 organizations have joined forces to call for the lifting of a travel ban on HIV positive people, who want to come to the United States. The organizations want the US Senate to lift the ban as part of legislation to re-authorize PEPFAR, the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
Is teen sex on the rise in the United States? In June, 17 Gloucester, Massachusetts's high school girls under the age of 16 revealed they were pregnant. Actress Jamie Lynn Spears gave birth to a baby girl. New data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention show that by every measure the decade-long decline in sexual activity among high school students leveled off between 2001 and 2007, and the rise in condom use by teens flattened out in 2003. However, the survey found hints that teen sexual activity may have begun creeping up and that condom use among high school students might be edging downward. The issue of sexual activity by teens and how information about sex is conveyed to them is most controversial.
Doctors say regular, nutritious meals are vital to the success of anti-retroviral drugs that treat HIV/AIDs. But in Kenya, many people with AIDs cannot afford nutritious food, so the drug treatments are less effective. Now, Kenya's Moi University and Indiana University in the United States have launched a program to give "nutrition prescriptions" to HIV-positive patients who lack access to good food.
Leaders of the world's advanced economies have been meeting with counterparts from some of the world's poorest African nations on the first day of the G8 summit in northern Japan. As VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Hokkaido, the G8 leaders are facing criticism for failing to come through on promises they made to Africa's neediest inhabitants.
Next week, G8 leaders will hold their annual summit in Hokkaido, Japan. Some observers say with climate change, the food crisis and soaring energy costs, leaders may pay less attention to other issues affecting developing countries.
Dr. Robert Gallo is considered among the best scientists in the United States. He is the bio-medical researcher who discovered the first retrovirus in humans, which causes a rare form of leukemia. But he is best known for his work in identifying HIV as the virus that causes AIDS. His virology findings have led to a new line of research on viruses that cause several forms of cancer. Zulima Palacio has more in this latest edition of our series, Making a Difference.
U.S. President George W. Bush says religious-based charities have made a "remarkable" difference in the lives of needy people in the United States and Africa during his presidency.
Three players from England's Manchester United Football Club have joined forces with UNICEF for a multi-media AIDS awareness advertising campaign in Sierra Leone.
More than 60 nations came together at the U.N. Security Council Thursday to condemn sexual violence against women as a weapon of war. The United States holds the rotating presidency of the council this month, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chaired the special session.
U.S. President George Bush has given America's highest civilian honor to the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Marine General Peter Pace.
Forty million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Antiretroviral drugs - or ARVs - can slow down the progression of HIV and delay the onset of AIDS by decades or more. However, these medications are available to only one-third of those who need them. The impact ARVs can have is graphically depicted in a new photo exhibit, jointly produced by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the photographic cooperative Magnum. VOA's Rosanne Skirble reports the organizers hope the exhibit will bring the need to support universal free access to the drugs into sharp focus.
Zimbabwean police on Wednesday ordered all civic organizations in Gweru, Midlands province, and Gwanda, Matabeleland South province, affiliated with the National Association of Non-Governmental Organizations to close their doors.
Humanitarian and health officials have called the eastern DRC the worst place in the world for women. Brutal rapes have become a commonplace weapon of war, and doctors have even described the situation as sexual terrorism.
Global leaders convened Monday in what is being billed as the first-ever forum to discuss the dual epidemics of TB and HIV. The high level discussions come ahead of a two-day meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on HIV/AIDS.
Since the beginning of the HIV epidemic in the 1980s, biochemical researchers have spent years and billions of dollars looking for medications to treat the infection. Some effective drugs have been found. But many other promising chemicals have had to be discarded. Now, as we hear from Rose Hoban, there may be a way to return them to the medical arsenal.
In a study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report on a drug cocktail that they say reduces the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV through breastfeeding, while a second study challenges conventional notions of how long HIV infected mothers should breastfeed their infants to reduce the risk of transmission.
The Love Life Caravan is passing through Benin, as it travels the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor. The almost month-long campaign attempts to educate people along the corridor about HIV and AIDS.
The World Economic Forum on Africa opens Wednesday in Cape Town, South Africa. And one of the issues being addressed is tuberculosis and its new and stronger strains known as MDR and XDR-TB.
The Rwandan government wants to use advanced information communication technologies, or ICTs, to transform its traditionally agricultural society into what has been dubbed "the Singapore of Africa". Pilot projects to hook schools and clinics up to the internet are already underway, and there is a growing number of telecenters that enable rural people to access the Internet. Cathy Majtenyi reports from Rwanda on the impact of initiatives taken so far and future ICT development plans.
A new report finds nearly three million HIV-positive people in low and middle-income countries now are receiving life-saving anti-retroviral treatment. While praising this accomplishment, the World Health Organization says millions of people still lack access to prevention and treatment.
The post-election violence in Kenya disrupted many social services, including health care. Among those affected were people being treated for HIV/AIDS.
The Former UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa warns that ending conflict, without stopping sexual violence against women, makes peace a "mere illusion." He says widespread rape and assaults in Liberia and the DRC are examples of where peace and reconciliation efforts are at risk.
The World Health Organization calls the adoption of a strategy that will help developing countries access life-saving drugs a breakthrough. WHO officials say several other resolutions adopted by the 193-member World Health Assembly will go a long way toward tackling longstanding, new and looming threats to global public health.
In 2000 the United Nations adopted the Millennium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. One of these is halving the number of people living in extreme poverty. However, with only seven years left, campaigners are concerned that at the present rate of aid to poor countries, the goal may not be achieved.
Tens of thousands of discarded plastic shopping bags in Zambia are changing the lives of women and children affected by HIV AIDS. They use the bags to crochet purses and other artistic products that help them earn income for their households. From Lusaka, Zambia, Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Danstan Kaunda says the Chikumbuso Widows Center in the township of Ngombe in Lusaka has become a safe haven for widows, old women and orphans. The township, with a population of 92,000, is said to have the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in Lusaka.
Researchers say it is possible to tell how well anti-HIV drugs are working by monitoring how compliant patients are about taking their medication. Investigators say the monitoring works at least as well as more expensive AIDS tests in resource poor countries.
With the HIV/AIDS epidemic now 25-years-old, the World Bank has launched a new strategy to combat the disease where it is the most prevalent -- Africa.
Researchers have determined that commonly prescribed triple-drug combination therapies that use old antiviral drugs are the most effective for suppressing the deadly virus that causes AIDS. The findings have major implications for doctors as they grapple with different drugs to treat HIV infected individuals.
The World Bank says HIV/AIDS will remain an unprecedented economic, social and human challenge in sub-Saharan Africa for years to come. A new report by the bank calls on African nations to increase efforts at slowing or preventing HIV infection. It estimates there are 22-and-a-half-million people on the continent living with HIV/AIDS, and it says the disease is the leading cause of premature death.
Stakeholders in Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS are proposing a common African approach to curbing the pandemic. More than 70 percent of the world's infected are said to live in sub-Saharan Africa. Voice of America English to Africa's Lameck Masina reports that statistics show more than two thirds of all people with HIV/AIDS live in Sub-Saharan Africa, where more than three quarters of all AIDS deaths in 2007 occurred.
Many people with HIV/AIDS in Malawi are getting more protein these days and as a result are healthier. They're getting it from fish, through a project funded by the European Union. An international humanitarian aid organization, WorldFish Center, runs the effort, known as Aquaculture for HIV/AIDS Households. It encourages fish farming among families affected -- and infected -- by the pandemic. The center encourages fish farming among the vulnerable populations in developing countries. Voice of America English to Africa Service's Lameck Masina reports that scientists at the WorldFish Centre say families taking part in the project have shown a 150 percent increase in the consumption of fresh fish.
Namibia is one of the Southern African countries worst hit by HIV/AIDS. The latest survey by the ministry of health indicates a rapid increase in the infection rate. Liue Kauta is the HIV/AIDS coordinator in the ministry. She told Voice of America English to Africa reporter Lameck Masina that despite the alarming increase, the government is taking strong measures to fight the disease.
In Ghana -- a new effort to fight AIDS in Africa. The Africa Life Aid Project is the creation of the Ghana-based charity the Woyome Foundation for Africa, which is pressing for interventions in the fight against the disease. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina says the Africa Life Aid Project includes a series of events to raise funds to fight the pandemic.
Ghana's government is taking a new approach in fighting HIV, which has infected several hundred thousand Ghanaians. Voice of America English to Africa's Lameck Masina was in Accra and reports on some of the challenges facing the government as it works to improve the care and support of its AIDS patients.
Although the government and researchers halted most clinical trials for an AIDS vaccine, a research institute in Baltimore continues its work on the most deadly virus of our times. Vaccine trials were stopped late last year when it appeared the drug put some people at a higher risk of getting the disease. Scientists at the Institute for Human Virology are hard at work developing a new vaccine. VOA producer Zulima Palacio has the story, beginning with a scientist in the institute's lab.
Wednesday, May 7th is World AIDS Orphans Day. It's a grassroots campaign that calls on donor countries to commit at least 10 percent of their AIDS funding to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children.
As this year began, the United Nations reported that nearly 31 million adults and 2.5 million children were living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Sub-Saharan Africa is by far the hardest-hit region. With just over 10 percent of the world's population, it is home to more than two-thirds of all people living with HIV. More than 1.5 million Africans died of AIDS last year. While the statistics themselves are dramatic, a Christian humanitarian organization is trying to dramatize the issue in a more personal way. World Vision is taking two portable African villages on tour across the United States. As Tom Banse reports, the exhibit designers confront the question of how to get everyday Americans to care about AIDS in Africa.
As researchers work to defeat HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - they have developed an ever-increasing number of medications. "But to date most of these rely on trying to cripple the virus or inhibit one of the viral proteins," explains Dr. Pamela Schwartzberg, a senior investigator at the National Genome Research Institute. And the problem with this approach, according to Schwartzberg, "is that because the virus rapidly mutates, those inhibitors are subject to the rapid development of resistance."
Each year, malaria takes the lives of more than one million people in sub-Saharan Africa, many of them children. The disease is caused by a parasite spread by mosquitoes, and such simple protections as mosquito nets on beds can dramatically reduce the rate of infection. Mike O'Sullivan reports, health workers and members of non-government organizations who spoke in Los Angeles see progress and challenges in the fight against the disease.
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama's relationship with his controversial former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, has put the spotlight on race as an issue in this year's U.S. presidential campaign. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.
What started out as Africa Malaria Day was being observed worldwide for the first time on Friday. Health organizations have long said that most of the one million deaths every year attributed to malaria happen in Africa. But a newly-introduced malaria test that gives results in 15 minutes shows not every case of fever means malaria, which is how many health workers have previously diagnosed the disease.
The violence that surrounded the disputed elections in Kenya in December proved particularly difficult for people with HIV/AIDS. Like thousands of other Kenyans, many fled for their lives, and, in their cases, they missed drug treatments or ended up living in places that made their conditions worse.
California physician Dr. Martina Fuchs wanted to help in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian earthquake and tsunami. Mike O'Sullivan reports, the decision led her to create a charity called the Real Medicine Foundation, which offers health care and help for the poor in 11 countries.
U2 Rock star Bono explains RED is not a charity. RED is a brand name for a number of consumer items sold by big companies who give a slice of their profits to The Global Fund
Zimbabwe's deepening post-election political crisis has exacerbated the plight of the country's children, according to relief workers who say the political impasse and rising violence are blocking the provision of aid to the country's most vulnerable citizens.
Development specialists in Zambia are encouraging farmers to plant trees - the Jatropha and Moringa -- to help with their nutritional and even fuel needs. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Sanday Chongo Kabange in Lusaka tells us Southern Africa has long struggled with shortages of energy and food, and the malnutrition caused by the food shortages. But scientific studies have proved that a tree native to India, the Moringa, can reduce malnutrition, especially among people living with HIV.
As stronger and deadlier strains of tuberculosis emerge, current drugs used to treat the disease are becoming ineffective. But it may take many years to develop new medications that can tackle multi-drug and extremely drug resistant TB.
Pope Benedict is set to make his first official visit to the United States, home to an estimated 80 million Catholics - the third largest national Catholic population in the world, after Brazil and Mexico. On his schedule are a meeting with President Bush at the White House and talks with American Catholic leaders. He's also expected to mention the charity work being carried out by Catholics around the world. Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provides aid to Africans in 30 countries across the continent.
Alligators are more likely to make people think of life-threatening injuries than new ways of healing. But researchers in Louisiana have found that alligators - and their unusual immune system - may one day help us in our fight against serious infections, as Véronique LaCapra reports.
Recent surveys of American Catholics indicate that many are out of step with the Vatican's teachings on contraception and abortion. With Pope Benedict visiting the United States beginning April 15, some Catholics are asking the church to take another look at these issues.
The past few decades have been marked by the appearance of many new, deadly diseases: HIV, ebola virus, SARS and drug-resistant tuberculosis, to name a few. Scientists now know where each of these diseases emerged. For example, they know SARS probably came first from bats in East Asia, crossed into other mammals and eventually got into humans. HIV is strongly suspected to have crossed into humans from primates. Is there a pattern in the emergence of these diseases? As Rose Hoban reports, scientists now say there is.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has announced a new plan to improve food security programs in 15 African countries. The agency is appealing for $43.5 million to finance the five-year plan. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Red Cross headquarters in Geneva.
Scientists say treating genital herpes, which is rampant throughout sub-Saharan Africa, does not prevent the spread of the virus that causes AIDS. But researchers remain convinced that genital herpes, a sexually transmitted disease, makes people more vulnerable to HIV.
In Zambia, health officials say the injectable contraceptive Depo Provera is safe to use, following allegations earlier this year that it was contaminated with the AIDS virus, HIV. In January, the Ministry of Health pulled the contraceptive from the market for testing.
A new survey finds that women living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, face high levels of social stigma. Susan Blumenthal, senior policy and medical advisor for amfAR, the foundation for AIDS Research that released the national survey, says stigma is a major obstacle to the treatment and care of women infected with the virus. "In part because of more poverty, fewer resources and the social inequities that surround women's lives in many societies."
A community-based organization in Malawi is helping wives of prisoners through an initiative known as the Women With Husbands In Prison project. It provides the women with basic needs, such as food, clothing and shelter. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina says "Ali Moyo" means "while still alive," and the project working on behalf of prisoners' wives is being run by the Ali Moyo Interaction, Development and Support organization. It sponsors projects that help the disadvantaged and its philosophy is that Malawians should pull together now "while still alive," and not only at funerals.
When you're sick and go to the doctor, frequently the doctor will stick you with a needle, draw some blood, and use that to help diagnose your problem.
The House of Representatives has approved bipartisan legislation by a vote of 308 to 116 to provide $50 billion over the next five years for U.S. efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS around the world, and fight tuberculosis and malaria. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, similar legislation is pending in the Senate.
A U.S. Senate hearing focused on the use of rape as a weapon in armed conflicts, and what the United States can do to try to crackdown on the practice.
Beijing health officials are promoting a blood drive to ensure there is an adequate supply of a type of blood that is far more common among non-Asians. It is the latest in a long list of preparations that the city is making as it gets ready for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
A new report warns that if prevention efforts in Asia are not expanded, nearly 10 million people in that region will be infected by the year 2020 with the virus that causes AIDS. From United Nations headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.
Tuesday, US government officials and top scientists met near Washington to discuss the future of AIDS vaccine research. The meeting was called following the failure last September of a promising vaccine candidate in human trials.
A new United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) publication issued shortly before the March 24 observance of World Tuberculosis Day, underscores the devastating impact that the spread of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) has had on TB death rates in developing countries. It outlines the amplified risks of dying from TB for AIDS patients and for TB carriers who are also infected with HIV. UN Special Envoy to Stop TB, former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, addressed TB concerns in New York on Tuesday. He noted that of the estimated one-point-five million TB patients dying annually, 200-thousand also have HIV.
AIDS researchers are discussing where to go next, after a potential vaccine failed in two human trials several months ago. As VOA's Kent Klein reports, numerous approaches were considered at the Summit on HIV Vaccine Research and Development.
As the world marks international Tuberculosis day, a new study has revealed a frightening rise in the past 15 years in tuberculosis cases in Africa. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Southern Africa Bureau in Johannesburg.
Scientists who have worked for decades to find a vaccine for the HIV and AIDS infections will meet next week at the U.S. National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland to chart a future course for research. A few months ago, two human trials of a potential vaccine were halted when it appeared the drug was ineffective, and in some cases, increased the risk of getting the disease. VOA's Melinda Smith spoke Friday with Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading international expert on HIV and AIDS.
There's news today of a major setback in the search for an AIDS vaccine. The Washington Post newspaper reports that two trials of the most promising vaccine candidate not only did not protect people from the aids virus, but may have actually put them at risk of infection.
The global human rights organization, Amnesty International says that HIV and AIDS are devastating poor women and children in South Africa. In a report released in London, Amnesty says that poverty, gender inequality and unemployment remain major contributing factors.
The human-rights group, Amnesty International says that women in rural South Africa are hardest hit by rampant poverty, unemployment, and gender inequality. And, says Amnesty, because of this, they face a higher risk of being infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
A World Health Organization report says the rate of tuberculosis infections is going down across the globe, but also notes that progress in the fight against the disease is too slow. VOA's Mandy Clark reports from London.
The chairman of a key U.S. House subcommittee, along with health advocates, last week urged that the United States spend more to address basic health needs of children and pregnant mothers in the developing world.
Some U.S. lawmakers are expressing concern about reductions in health spending for Africa proposed in a Bush administration budget request for the 2009 fiscal year. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, the issue was among topics discussed as the U.S. Global Aids Coordinator and an official of the U.S. Agency for International Development testified on Capitol Hill.
Female genital mutilation, or FGM, is a traditional practice that is performed throughout the Horn of Africa and other parts of the continent. The procedure is often called female circumcision, and it is illegal but still common in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, where health care workers, activists and others are working to end it.
The United Nations estimates that 2.5 million children are infected with HIV/AIDS, with nearly 90 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Activists in the fight against the disease say one of the best ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission of the HIV virus is to prevent unintended births.
Coalitions of AIDS activists and American business leaders lobbied hard to boost PEPFAR, the Bush administration's signature AIDS relief effort, above the president's 30-billion dollar reauthorization target. In his State of the Union address last month, President Bush had asked congress to double the initial 2003 infusion of 15-billion dollars over the first five years of the program. But in its first legislative test on Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, PEPFAR funding won strong bipartisan support in the fight against HIV/AIDS to reauthorize the next five-year infusion for at least 50 billion dollars.
PRESS RELEASE - Washington, D.C., February 28, 2008 -- The Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) will conduct four town hall meetings on maternal health and child survival during the month of March in four cities across Nigeria. The focus will be on issues of prenatal care, malaria, measles and polio immunizations.
A key congressional committee has approved and passed on for consideration by the House of Representatives legislation to dramatically increase U.S. funding to help prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis around the world. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.
The United Kingdom office of the United Nations children's fund is urging the British government to ensure that G8 countries fulfill their promise to provide all pregnant women with HIV access to drugs that prevent transmission of the virus to their babies by 2010.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is growing, as is the more deadly form of XDR-TB, or extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis. A new report, which surveyed 90,000 tuberculosis patients in 81 countries between 2002 and 2006, records the highest rates of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis ever found.
President Bush is pressing U.S. lawmakers to double funds for fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports Mr. Bush says his trip to Africa last week convinced him that American aid is making a difference.
Recent civil wars in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast destabilized neighboring southeast Guinea with a flood of refugees and increased poverty. Health workers say the movement of displaced people and an increase in sexual assaults have caused the region to have the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the country.
A team of international disease experts has accused rich nations of committing a crime by luring African health professionals away from their home countries where their services are badly needed. From London, Tendai Maphosa has more in this report for VOA.
Both harmful and beneficial bacteria live in and on people's bodies. Lactobacillus is one of the so-called 'good' bacteria, found in the vaginas of 80 to 90 percent of healthy women. However, some research has indicated that women infected with HIV have altered levels of this and other beneficial bacteria present in their vaginas.
President George W. Bush this week visited Africa to highlight the United States' role in helping to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief - also known as PEPFAR - is credited with saving thousands of lives in Africa, by giving medicines, care and treatment to HIV-positive people. But while Africans laud Mr. Bush and his fellow Americans for providing billions of dollars towards anti-HIV/AIDS initiatives, PEPFAR is facing several challenges in the U.S. itself as the program comes up for renewal in Congress.
President Bush is in Ghana where American money is helping slow the spread of HIV/AIDS. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush is again pressing the Congress to double AIDS funding over the next five years to $30 billion.
One of Rwanda's leading journalists, Shyaka Kanuma, says it's a "long time" since he's witnessed such "exuberance" in his home land as that caused by today's visit to Kigali by United States President George W. Bush. Kanuma - who's the editor of Focus newspaper - covered the event.
President Bush is in Tanzania where he has announced a new initiative to fight malaria. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the program aims to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to every Tanzanian child under five.
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is launching a $65 million dollar appeal Friday to fight HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa.
Following their 11th conference in Burkina Faso, officials with the only pan-African non-profit organization dedicated to HIV-positive women say there is a still a lot to do to fight stigma and violence against infected women. Phuong Tran has this report from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar with additional reporting from Zoumana Wonogo in Ouagadougou.
An international human-rights group says the arrests and trials of eight men suspected of being homosexual in Egypt threaten both public health and human rights. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.
Health and aid workers in the west African country, Guinea, say they face many challenges to help victims of HIV/AIDS, mostly because of a lack of funding and inadequate information campaigns. Nico Colombant reports from Nzerekore, Guinea, near the border with Sierra Leone.
A new study involving monkeys suggests that antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV could also protect people from getting infected with the virus. The development is being hailed by AIDS researchers. VOA's Jessica Berman reports.
Cryptosporidium is a water-borne parasite that's responsible for many of the cases of diarrhea that affect children in the developing world. In more developed countries, cryptosporidium is often a problem for people who have compromised immune systems, such as those with AIDS or cancer. Rose Hoban reports on a new development in combating the pathogen.
The World Health Organization says it is very concerned for the health of tens of thousands of people who fled their homes following post-election violence in Kenya at the end of December. WHO reports people displaced by ethnic clashes in the Rift Valley lack critical health care. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.
A United Nations report released February 1 shows rape is being used as a weapon in Kenya as the country is roiled in ethnic violence since the December elections. The survey of rape victims was conducted in the Nairobi Women's Hospital between December 27 and January 20 and describes the cases of 152 women, children and men who were sexually assaulted during the violence that broke out after Kenya's disputed presidential election at the end of December.
One of the highlights of President Bush's State of the Union initiatives for African countries was his appeal for congress to double his 2003 five-year commitment of 15 billion dollars for fighting HIV-AIDS. However, advocates promoting congressional legislation in the weeks and months ahead say the president's 30 billion-dollar request amounts to little or no new funding increases for AIDS treatment, since the raised levels he asked for Monday night have already been approved by congress in earlier budgets. A coalition of AIDS advocacy groups headed to Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby key congressional leaders to raise annual HIV-AIDS appropriations above 6 billion dollars for next year and beyond.
International relief organizations are urging President Bush to increase the amount of funding for a special AIDS program that has provided relief to millions of people in developing countries, especially in Africa.
One of the foreign visitors saluted by President Bush during his State of the Union speech is a 35-year-old nurse from Tanzania. Tatu Msangi, a single parent, became pregnant and soon discovered she was HIV-positive. With US assistance through President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Msangi received counseling and treatment at a Tanzanian clinic that have helped her survive and have kept her two-year-old daughter Faith HIV-free. Msangi and her daughter joined First Lady Laura Bush in the audience at the US Congress Monday night to hear the president recognize the impact of US overseas assistance programs for AIDS patients.
With President George Bush planning a trip to Africa next month, Africans will be monitoring his State of the Union speech tonight (Monday), hoping for more initiatives to help poor countries.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan says instability is threatening progress in public health. Dr. Chan reviewed the global health situation in an opening speech to the 34-member WHO Executive Board, which is meeting this week to tackle key global health issues. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from WHO headquarters in Geneva.
Google's philanthropic arm has announced $25 million in new grants and investment to help "make the world a better place." The computer search engine is focusing on projects that include disease and disaster prevention, helping small and medium-sized enterprises, improving the flow of information to hold governments accountable, and developing renewable energy sources. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.
The political violence and turmoil has taken its toll on women in Kenya. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) says there's been an increase in rapes, including gang rapes. Also thousands of pregnant women are unable to get to medical facilities. The UN agency is working closely with the Red Cross to supply "clean delivery kits," which include plastic sheeting, soap and blankets and razor blades to cut the umbilical cord.
In Kenya, a women's activist and her national NGO are bringing hope to thousands of abandoned teenage mothers. The group is called TEMAK, or Teenage Mothers and Girls Association of Kenya. The organization trains unwed mothers in how to make crafts and do other work that will help them support themselves and their children. So far, almost two thousand unmarried mothers and girls have been through the program. Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Ajanga Khayesi in Kisumu profiles TEMAK and its founder, Philomena Mashaka.
The link between nutrition and overall health is undisputed. But what of the link between nutrition and educational and economic achievement? VOA's Michael Bowman reports from Washington, where medical researchers and international development workers presented findings from a major study on the importance of boosting nutrition in the developing world.
The U.S. government is expressing concern over what it calls an "escalating trend" of Chinese repression of human rights activists. The comments come just a day before high-level U.S.-China meetings are due to begin. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Beijing.
One of the most pressing health issues in the world is curbing the spread of HIV - the virus that causes AIDS. Previous research has indicated that men who are circumcised have a much lower risk of acquiring the virus when they have sex. But health officials have questioned whether adult men would be willing to be circumcised, especially if the men perceived that the procedure might affect their ability to perform sexually or enjoy having sex. Rose Hoban reports on a new study that may answer that question.
In what is being hailed as a major step in the fight against HIV/AIDS, U.S. researchers have identified 273 proteins that are key to reproduction of the virus that causes AIDS. As we hear from VOA science correspondent Art Chimes, that gives scientists many potential new targets for drugs to disrupt the sophisticated lifecycle of the virus.
Scientists say they have identified more than 200 proteins in the human body that help the AIDS virus multiply and spread. The discovery gives researchers many more possibilities for developing new drugs to halt the disease.
Acute shortages of hard currency have resulted in the exhaustion of private pharmacy stocks of about half of all the pharmaceuticals they usually sell, pushing the price of those drugs that are available beyond the reach of most Zimbabweans.
Two sisters, just seven and five years old, are starring in a film aimed at saving people's lives. The short documentary follows the girls around the 2006 International AIDS conference in Toronto, as they talk to those at the vanguard of the fight against the pandemic. Malcolm Brown has the story.
A spokesman for the United Nations World Food Program said Wednesday that the agency has scaled up the distribution of food in Zimbabwe to reach some 3 million of the most vulnerable population segments in the first quarter of 2008.
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.