allAfrica.com: Africa: Daily HIV/Aids Report (Page 1 of 2)

Global Challenges

U.N. To Hold Meeting in June To Examine HIV/TB Coinfection Worldwide

[Mar 27, 2008]

A United Nations meeting scheduled for June 9 will examine the relationship between HIV and tuberculosis worldwide with the goal of creating a strategy for the millions of people living with both diseases, Jorge Sampaio, the U.N. special envoy for TB, said in New York on Tuesday, Reuters reports.

"What we need from that meeting is to come out of it with a common strategy to scale up efforts to systematically address HIV/TB coinfection," Sampaio said, adding, "Scientific knowledge leads us this way. On-the-ground experiences lead us this way." According to Sampaio, between 12 million and 15 million people, or about one-third of HIV-positive people worldwide, are living with HIV/TB coinfection. According to the World Health Organization's 2008 global TB report, 700,000 of the 9.2 million new TB cases reported in 2006 occurred among HIV-positive people.

Sampaio said that HIV is a "massive challenge" for global TB control, especially because of the emergence of drug-resistant TB (Reuters, 3/25). He said that multi-drug resistant TB is reaching record high levels and that the disease is distressing health care systems worldwide. Only 10% of all MDR-TB cases likely will be treated this year due to shortages of drugs and laboratory facilities, Sampaio said. He called on international leaders to increase their efforts to fight TB and to ensure that there is a coordinated approach to address HIV/AIDS and TB (U.N. News Service, 3/25).

NPR's "Morning Edition" on Wednesday reported on efforts to improve diagnosis of TB in Africa and the recent WHO report. The segment includes comments from researcher Neel Gandhi, who has studied TB in South Africa; Giorgio Roscigno, CEO of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics; and Peter Small of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Wilson, "Morning Edition," NPR, 3/26). Audio of the segment is available online.

Link to this story.

British, French Governments To Partner With Soccer Organizations To Increase School Enrollment, Address HIV/AIDS in Africa

[Mar 27, 2008]

The British and French governments on Thursday are expected to announce that they are partnering with global soccer organizations to increase school enrollment and address HIV/AIDS in Africa, London's Guardian reports. The United Kingdom will commit 500 million pounds, or about $1 billion, to the initiative, which aims to help enroll 16 million African children in school. The initiative will be launched during a summit in London, according to the Guardian.

Under the initiative, the British and French governments will each support eight million children, and the soccer organization FIFA will announce a parallel initiative to recruit soccer players worldwide to help fund school enrollment. The British Premier League will allocate about 480,000 pounds -- or about $960,000 -- in partnership with Sport Relief to support AIDS widows and orphans in Kenya. According to the Guardian, most of the money will go toward subsidies for AIDS orphans to enroll in school. The British Football Association will help to train teachers in Botswana, Lesotho and Malawi as soccer coaches. In addition, the French Ligue Professionnelle de Football and the Federation Francaise de Football will aim to train 3.8 million additional teachers needed to obtain universal primary education by 2015.

According to the British government, the initiative is an essential part of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's efforts to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals -- which include curbing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Although an additional 41 million places for school enrollment have been created since 2000, about 72 million children of primary school age worldwide, 33 million of whom live in Africa, do not have access to education (Borger, Guardian, 3/27).

Link to this story.

Brazilian Government Launches Initiative To Reduce HIV/AIDS Among Young MSM

[Mar 27, 2008]

The Brazilian government on Tuesday launched a campaign to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS among men ages 13 to 24 who have sex with men in the country, EFE News Service reports. The initiative will use public service announcements on radio and television stations to promote condom use and deliver safer-sex messages nationwide. The campaign also will place posters with HIV/AIDS prevention messages in public areas, such as train stations and bus stops, EFE News Service reports.

The Ministry of Health said that 41.1% of HIV cases recorded in 2006 occurred among MSM in the 13-24 age group, up from 24.8% 10 years earlier. Health Minister Jose Gomes Temporao also presented a study that found 226 HIV/AIDS cases per 100,000 men ages 13 to 24, a rate 11 times higher than the general population.

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Use our pull-down menus to find more stories