Launch of the 2008 Global Report on AIDS
AIDS Burden Highest in Southern Africa
Johannesburg, 29 July 2008 - The global AIDS burden is still harshest in
Southern Africa with nine countries accounting for 35 per cent of all
HIV infections and 38 per cent of AIDS deaths in 2007, according to new
data from the UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS epidemic.
South Africa continues to have the largest epidemic of any country with
an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV. Among 15-24 year olds
in South Africa women and girls account for more than 90 per cent of new
infections. However compared to previous years the South African
epidemic does appear to have stabilized as have the epidemics in Malawi
and Zambia. [more]
2008 High-Level Meeting on AIDS concludes in New York
The 2008 United Nations High-level Meeting on AIDS came to a close on Wednesday evening, 11 June 2008. During the two day meeting representatives from member states
reviewed progress made in the response to the AIDS epidemic and highlighted challenges still to overcome.
[read more]
[closing press release]
[concluding remarks]
[summary of High Level Meeting]
Adcock Ingram’s ARV recall
Pharmaceutical manufacturer Adcock Ingram has issued a recall of certain batches of Adco-Nevirapine and Adco-Zidovudine (what is commonly known as AZT) due to a
packaging error. It was discovered by Adcock Ingram that blister packs of Adco-Nevirapine had been packed into nine packs of Adco-Zidovudine.
The Nevirapine blister packs were labelled correctly but they had been inserted into AZT boxes. [more]
Young women, girls and HIV in Southern Africa. What must be done
UNAIDS
Regional Support Team for
Eastern and Southern Africa, in partnership with the Reproductive
Health and HIV Research Unit of the University of the Witswatersrand,
convened a technical meeting on young women and girls’ vulnerability to
HIV infection in Southern Africa. The meeting, which was held on 17 –
19 June 2008 in Johannesburg, brought together experts from the UN,
World Bank, SADC, government representatives from southern Africa,
civil society and academia, to share emerging evidence and
interventions on specific areas that contribute to the vulnerability to
HIV infection of young women and girls in Southern Africa. [more]
Zimbabwean reporter receives Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa
Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Rugoho-Chin’ono was named the 2008 recipient of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa and overall winner of the
2008 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards at a July 19 gala event in Accra, Ghana. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa recognizes substantive
reporting on the broader social and economic impact of the epidemic, as well as reporting that breaks new grounds in public education on the epidemic.
Statement from the Joint UNEP-UNAIDS Meeting to
Review a Position Paper on HIV/AIDS and Climate Change
A
Joint Position Paper on HIV/AIDS and Climate Change was
commissioned by UNEP and UNAIDS. The draft Paper prepared by three
consultants from the Australian National University, Professor Tony
McMichael, Dr. Colin Butler and Dr Haylee Weaver, was reviewed in a
technical meeting held in Nyon, Geneva, on 20 May, 2008. Several UN
agencies, research institutes from Switzerland, India, South Africa and
Canada as well as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies were represented at the meeting.
Partners in
implementing effective AIDS responses
'Scaling Up Through Partnerships:
Overcoming Obstacles to
Implementation' was the theme of the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers'
Meeting which concluded successfully on 7 June in Kampala, Uganda.
The meeting, hosted by the Government of Uganda and the US
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), drew more than
1,700 HIV programme managers, researchers and stakeholders from
around the world. Cosponsors included the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, UNAIDS, UNICEF, the World Bank, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Global Network of People
Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+).
Strengthening
work with MSM in Africa
Despite signs
that gay and other men who have sex with men (MSM) are better
organized and more visible than ever, the words 'overlooked' and
'sidelined' are currently being used to describe the HIV epidemics
that are thriving unchecked among MSM across sub Saharan
Africa.
Comparing data
in 2008 Country Progress reports on AIDS in Eastern and Southern
Africa
The progress of national efforts to
tackle AIDS is regularly
reported in Eastern and Southern Africa. As AIDS responses mature,
the quality and depth of monitoring and evaluation continually
improves, leading to a better understanding of the various
epidemics and an increased appreciation of the strengths and the
weaknesses of the national responses to AIDS.
Many AIDS programmes report against both targets developed
nationally and against targets developed internationally. Countries
that signed the 2001 Declaration of Commitment are required to
report against 25 indicators (see Fact sheets 2). Some of these
indicators are also used to track progress towards the Millennium
Development Goals and progress towards achieving universal access
by 2010.
This advocacy and information pack brings together key data
submitted to UNAIDS in national progress reports in Eastern and
Southern Africa in early 2008.
The UN Special
Envoy on AIDS in Africa
Ms Elizabeth Mataka
OPEN LETTER TO GOVERNMENTS IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA
World Bank lays
out new AIDS strategy for 2007-2011
In a new report launched 14 May 2008,
the World Bank reaffirms
its commitment to a long-term engagement to the AIDS response in
Africa.
The new publication, The World Bank's commitment to HIV/AIDS in
Africa: Our agenda for action, 2007-2011, reports that AIDS remains
the leading cause of premature death and is a major threat to
development in Africa. It also states that the disease has
disproportionately hit women and young girls, who need the legal,
social, and economic power to protect themselves, access treatment
and care, reverse infection, and stem stigmatization.
Carrying the
Olympic flame for PLHIV in Tanzania
Dhamiri Mustapha, a young Tanzanian
woman living with HIV, was
one of the 80 dignitaries who carried the Olympic flame during the
five-kilometre torch relay in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on 13
April.
Assessing
country progress
AIDS responses in Eastern and Southern
Africa reach a number of
important milestones this year as progress, strengths and ongoing
challenges are assessed against a number of agreed international
targets and promises.
In 2001 UN member states signed a
Declaration of Commitment on
HIV/AIDS which included a series of ambitious targets and reports
on progress against these targets are submitted every two
years.
Guidance on
communications to support the scale-up of male circumcision
programmes
Male circumcision is increasingly
being incorporated into
national HIV prevention programmes - especially in settings where
HIV prevalence is high and the prevalence of circumcision is low.
Effective communications is a vital component of any scale-up
strategy. A number of partners have developed a guidance document
for programme managers and policymakers describing how to plan and
manage communications to support the scale-up of male circumcision
in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Strong communications support is vital
to ensure clarity about
the relationship between male circumcision and HIV prevention.
Misinformation about male circumcision and strong opinions, both
for and against the procedure, present challenges that should be
acknowledged and addressed in scale-up plans.
For further information and a copy of
the guidance click here.
