PHA-Exchange> HEALTH Stories from PAMBAZUKA NEWS 70

[George(s) Lessard]

HEALTH

AFRICA: 28 MILLION AFRICANS NOW LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS
More than 28 million Africans are now living with HIV/AIDS and in some
countries over 30 percent of the adult population is infected, a UNAIDS
statement warned on Tuesday. "The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS is
rolling back decades of development progress in Africa," said Peter Piot,
UNAIDS executive director. Further details:
http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8504

AFRICA: AFRICANS STILL IGNORANT ABOUT AIDS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_2062000/2062156.stm
High numbers of people in Africa and other developing countries do not
realise that HIV/Aids can kill. Even in countries with high infection
rates a large majority of men and women believe they are not at risk of
contracting Aids, the UN Population Division says in a new report.

AFRICA: AGEING AND AIDS IN AFRICA
http://www.who.int/hpr/ageing/Research%20Update%20Fin.pdf
Of the total number of children under the age of 15 who had lost their
mothers or both parents to AIDS by 2000, 90% were in sub-Saharan Africa.
Most of those infected with HIV are people in their economically active
stages of life (15- 49). It is grandparents who have to care for their
sick or HIV-infected children and raise and support their orphaned
grandchildren. In most cases, they provide this care with little or no
state or other support.

AFRICA: BUSH PLAYS SHELL GAME WITH AFRICAN LIVES
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0206aids.html
On the eve of a meeting of rich country leaders in Canada, President Bush
has brought out a "new initiative" promising $500 million to prevent
transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to children. Intended to stave off
the embarrassment of coming empty-handed to a summit trumpeted as 
focusing
on Africa, the White House initiative is in fact a cynical move to derail
more effective action against AIDS.

BURUNDI: VACCINATION CAMPAIGN PROGRESSES, DESPITE FIGHTING
Despite continuing fighting in parts of Burundi, the vaccination campaign
launched last week was "moving forward as planned", Susanna Campbell, the
communications officer for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
says. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8453

GHANA: TB BECOMES MAJOR KILLER DISEASE
http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48672
Tuberculosis is claiming more lives in Ghana than any other diseases
including AIDS and kills about 20,000 people each year, Ghana News Agency
reported Monday. Dr Mohammed Bin Ibrahim, director of Western Region of
Health Services, made the remarks when launching the regional TB campaign
on Monday. About 40,000 cases were reported in the year 2000 in the west
African country, Ibrahim added. 

MALAWI: QUEST FOR HIV/AIDS TREATMENT FUELS BOGUS DRUG 
BOOM
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206210451.html
Many Malawians living with HIV/AIDS are forced to rely on illegal drugs in
a bid to treat opportunistic illnesses, ease suffering and prolong their
lives. 

SOUTH AFRICA: ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY REDUCES TUBERCULOSIS 
INCIDENCE IN
AREAS WHERE AIDS, TB ENDEMIC
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=11720
Highly active antiretroviral therapy can reduce the incidence of
tuberculosis in HIV-positive people by 80% or more in areas where the two
diseases are endemic, with the most protection being afforded to those
with advanced immune suppression, according to a study published in the
June 15 issue of the Lancet. 

SOUTH AFRICA: SA RESEARCHERS MAKE MALARIA BREAKTHROUGH
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=11&o=5145
South African researchers have made a breakthrough in malaria research
that will enable more effective drugs to be developed to treat the
parasite-based infection, a medical researcher said on Sunday. The
breakthrough was based on identifying how the malaria parasite handles
iron in red blood cells, said Giovanni Hearne, a doctor at the Wits
University's Medical School in Johannesburg. Malaria is transmitted to
humans through the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito and is a
huge problem worldwide, particularly in Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: TREATING AIDS SAVES MONEY, SAYS AIDS GROUP
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=11&o=5191
Not treating HIV-positive people was more expensive than buying them
medicine, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said in Johannesburg on
Monday. "That's the thesis that our experts are testing and they are
looking at hard figures to support it," TAC secretary Mark Heywood told
reporters in Johannesburg. Heywood was speaking ahead of a HIV/Aids
congress due to take place in Durban.

SUDAN: NEW HOPE FOR TREATMENT OF KILLER DISEASE KALA-AZAR
The recent development of a treatment for leishmaniasis, also known as
black fever, a disease that each year afflicts some 500,000 people
globally and kills at least 60,000, offers a ray of hope for thousands of
Sudanese who die each year from the disease for lack of treatment. Further
details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8451

UGANDA: 'FEMALE CONDOM NOT YET POPULAR'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200206200143.html
The female condom has not been well received because it interferes with
certain cultural sexual practices, a monitoring and evaluation specialist
has said.

ZAMBIA: CONTRACEPTIVE AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION 
PROTECTION IN
LUSAKA http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2809602.html Although
efforts are being made to integrate STI services into family planning
clinics in Zambia, these efforts need reinforcement. The educational
levels of both providers and their clients may be barriers to a successful
transfer of STI prevention information during client-provider
interactions.

ZIMBABWE: UPDATE ON STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER HIV/AIDS
A month after Zimbabwe's government declared a state of emergency over
HIV/AIDS to allow the importation and manufacture of generic drugs, not
much action has been taken and there are still a lot of unanswered
questions, Zimbabwe's National Network for People living with HIV/AIDS
(ZNNP+), told PlusNews. Further details:
http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8454

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