Compiled by Martin Flynn & Bruce Wainwright
Spiralling inflation hits
Zimbabwe HIV care
In a country where one child dies of Aids and another is orphaned every 20
minutes, the need for UNICEF’s new, bold campaign in Zimbabwe has never
been more evident.
The campaign aims to improve the care, health, nutrition and education of
children in a country where three infants are infected with HIV every hour,
primarily from their mothers, and one in eight die before the age of five.
The treatment and care of HIV positive children is hampered by the shortage
of foreign currency which is preventing the purchase of essential antiretrovirals
and other medical supplies. And with inflation running at over 913 per cent
a month, the health service is in a state of collapse. There are also acute
shortages of food and petrol. However, the story is not entirely one of universal
gloom. For example, the country continues to lead by example in caring for
vulnerable children. More than 90 per cent of orphans have been absorbed by
extended families. Two in five households in the poorest rural areas have
taken in orphans or vulnerable children, but only half of them have received
any form of support or aid.
Meanwhile, UNICEF has annou-nced that the UK has donated £22 million
to support orphaned and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe.
The British funding, over four years, will go towards increasing school enrolment
for children affected by HIV/Aids and will also be used to pay for family
and community support programmes.
There are thought to be several thousand asylum seekers from Zimbabwe currently
living in the UK. An undisclosed number of them are believed to be HIV positive
and fighting to stay in the country.
HIV activists take to the streets in Cape Town
HIV activists shout slogans during a Treatment Action Campaign march in Cape
Town last month.
The march was in support of community-driven HIV prevention work to prevent
two million new infections by 2010 in South Africa, a country with one of
the highest HIV infection rates.
Global Fund aims for $1 billion in grants
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria has voted to launch a new round
of grants costing up to $1 billion.
The vote came despite uncertainty about the willingness of governments to
fund further expenditure.
Since 2002, the Fund has approved $5 billion in grants to increase access
to antiretroviral and malaria treatments, distribute anti-mosquito netting
and increase TB testing. These programmes are fully funded at present, but
these initial five-year grants are now winding down and will soon require
major financing if they are to continue.
The Fund’s executive director, Richard Feachem, said: “Hundreds
of thousands of people are alive today who otherwise might not have been.”
Chair Carol Jacobs said countries and vulnerable populations were depending
on multi-year financial commitments from governments and closer business ties
in order to cover long-term funding for programmes. “We must not fail
them,” Jacobs said.
ActionAid campaigner Jess Worth said: “It’s now up to donors to
come forward with the necessary funds. Last year, not nearly enough was pledged
and many applications for funding were rejected.
“It’s outrageous that the Fund’s ability to provide new
grants has been permanently on a knife-edge because of the unwillingness of
the world’s richest governments to commit the necessary money.”
Last summer the G8 committed to universal access to Aids treatment by 2010
but provided no funding plan to support the target.
Mr HIV Positive Living 2006
Contestants in Botswana’s Mr HIV 2006 competition wave to well-wishers
at a function in the country’s capital Gaborone last month. Ten men
living with HIV competed for the title in a campaign to encourage HIV testing
and disclosure. The title was won by Thongbotho Goepanang (second right).
HIV risk depends on kind of lover
you are
A South African market research company claims to have identified five categories
of lover that can be ranked for HIV risk. The company, Markinor, says the
categories are: Faithful, Conservative, Responsible, Scared and Lover Boy.
Predictably, the group most at risk of contracting HIV is the ‘Lover
Boy’ (or girl) a high-risk group of single people who sleep around,
56 per cent of whom are male. The ‘Lover Boy’ group does not believe
that the risk of getting HIV/Aids is reduced by having fewer sexual partners.
They do not believe that Aids exists, or they believe Aids is not serious
or that it can be cured, the research found.
They also think that listening to the Aids message only spoils the fun and
are embarrassed about using condoms. The ‘Scared’ group still
have multiple partners but usually use condoms, while the other low-risk groups
are aware of the risks and either use condoms or stay with one partner.
Dr Francois Venter, president of the Southern African HIV Clinicians’
Society, said: “I think this research is simplistic and presumes people
do not change their sexual behaviour and risk groups. It’s also wrong
to assume that faithful lovers have no risk for HIV; married women remain
one of the highest-risk groups for HIV in South Africa.”
However, one myth the research exposed was that, contrary to popular belief,
professionals and the affluent are not immune to infection. The highest HIV
percentage increases between 2002 and 2005 in the country are among those
who are fully employed and with high levels of income and education.
Prince
Harry launches HIV charity in mother’s memory
Prince Harry pulls a face at his friend, six-year-old Mutsu Potsane, in the
grounds of the Mants’ase children’s home in Lesotho, southern
Africa.
The Prince launched his own charity last month in memory of his late mother,
Diana Princess of Wales, to help children orphaned by Aids in Lesotho. At
over 30 per cent of the adult population, the region has some of the highest
HIV rates in the world.
Words
“There are waiting rooms where people with HIV/Aids are waiting
for an empty bed, where someone has died the night before, where they then
go to die”
Sir Richard Branson on South African hospitals, from BBC online
“I want to get sick so the doctor will give me a grant and my children
will have healthy food. Even if I die, my children will be better taken care
of”
Zolile, a 25-year-old Durban mother, from the Wall Street Journal
“The land of the free? It’s the land of the slave. It’s
quite shocking that we rely on charities to take care of people with Aids.
In this country (the US), how difficult it is to get treatment. We’re
in a terrible system. It’s much better in Europe”
Openly gay Hollywood actor Rupert Everett in the Miami Herald
“The cost of the war in Iraq has cost the American taxpayer approximately
$274,146,167,464. This amount could have fully funded worldwide Aids programmes
for 27 years”
Sister Mary Elizabeth, from www.aegis.org
Our earlier approach to fighting Aids was misplaced, since we likened it to
a disease for sinners and a
curse from God”
Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, of Kenya’s Anglican Church, from
BBC news
