National Public Radio featured a piece this morning entitled “Botswana’s ‘Stunning Achievement’ Against AIDS.” The article reported Botswana’s very high rate of HIV and, equally, its remarkably thorough and effective response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Here’s an example of the success of the government’s response: “Transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their fetuses and […]
Remember “Silence = Death”? There’s more. Withholding = Death. Withholding necessary funds. Withholding lifesaving medications. Withholding life. In Nairobi last week, Patricia Asero Ochieng, Lucy Ghati, and Rose Kaberia joined Maureen and Anyango and many others to raise a ruckus about the trickle of Pepfar funding for people in Kenya living with AIDS. In particular, […]
The Guardian reports: “Cash payments help cut HIV infection rate in young women, study finds: Research in Malawi finds girls who receive regular payments are able to resist attentions of older men and avoid infection.” The headline pretty much says it all … or does it?
Epidemiologist Jonathan Smith is working to complete a documentary called ”They Go to Die,” about the lives of four former mineworkers that were sent home from the mine after contracting TB and HIV in the South African gold mines. The men–like thousands of men each year–are affected by a process known as ‘sending them home to die’ […]
In November came the news that the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria was in a financial crisis, because of declining donor commitments and failure by donors to honor existing commitments. The Fund’s board cancelled Round 11 of its funding applications, which was supposed to provide money for 2011 to 2013.
Just as South Africa is recovering from the havoc wrought by former President Thabo Mbeki’s AIDS denialism, now there’s a new politician spouting all sorts of nonsense – this time it’s Helen Zille, the leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance. She’s been active on Twitter and in the media, calling for the criminalization of HIV […]
The latest print issue of Foreign Policy Magazine has an essay by South African writer Johnny Steinberg on creative writing about the AIDS pandemic in that country. Steinberg covers the usual ground: that mainly white, gay men have written memoirs about AIDS; that memoirs about black men’s experiences with AIDS were written by white women; […]
After years of working in the United States, where they pay female drug users $300 to agree to be sterilized, Project Prevention has begun branching out to other parts of the world. Following a luke-warm reception in Britain, the organisation has now turned its attention to Kenya where it plans to start paying women living […]
Before we close out the year we have to give a nod to the Centre for Development of People (CEDEP) in Malawi, has won the 2010 AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) HIV, TB and Human Rights Award. ARASA is a partnership of over 50 civil society organisations working together to promote a human […]
The latest issue of the journal “Blood” includes an article reporting the effectiveness of stem cells on virtually eliminating the HI virus from a patient’s system. The HIV+ patient was being treated for acute myeloid leukemia with a stem-cell transplant combined with high-dose chemotherapy and radiation therapy: the researchers found that his HI virus levels were undetectable, […]
