Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 587 596 at 9.51am on Thursday February 21
Proposed: An integrated HIV/Aids research entity by the University of the Witwatersrand, which will bring together all the research and policy work being undertaken at the university. Wits has nine key research units focusing on HIV/Aids. University vice-chancellor Professor Norma Reid made the announcement this week at her installation ceremony, saying the initial funding of R5 600 000 ($500 000) will come from the Carnegie Foundation.
Sentenced: A 25-year-old Swedish man, to five years in prison and a fine, for knowingly infecting two women with HIV between 1997 and 2000. According to court documents he didn’t tell the women of his infection because he feared being rejected. The court found that Fawzi Ali Batum acted with a “recklessness and indifference toward the plaintiffs” that justified the prosecution’s charge of aggravated assault.
Sceptical: Mozambicans who do not accept the existence of Aids, as stated by its government in an application for funding from the United Nations-managed Global Fund to Fight Aids. Janet Mondlane, the head of the country’s National Council to Fight Aids, appealed to the fund saying that the country still has an uphill battle with the disease.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 487 353 as of 10.46am on Thursday February 14
Working together: Former rival Aids researchers Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo have joined forces after a more than 10-year feud over who discovered the HI virus. Gallo acknowledged on Wednesday that Montagnier was the first to find the virus. The researchers now want to raise money to develop and test at least five potential HIV vaccines together with the United Nations.
Not doing enough: The United States government is doing too little to fight Aids, according to US senators and Aids activists. US President George W Bush intends to commit less than $900-million to the fight against Aids this year. But UN Secretary General Kofi Annan estimates that $7-billion to $10-billion is needed each year to prevent the spread of the disease and treat the 40-million people already infected.
Deadly Drop: Within three years most Africans will not live to see their 48th birthday unless action is taken to stem the spread of HIV/Aids, a conference on population heard this week in Ethiopia. Without action, the life expectancy at birth in Africa is going to decline to an average of 47,5 years in 2005, a fall of 15 years in two decades, says Prosper Poukouta, a demographer working with the African Development Bank.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 389 504 at 3.43pm on Thursday February 7
Coughing up: The Free State government, after announcing plans to donate R1-million to NGOs doing HIV/Aids-related projects among the province’s communities. The province’s health department says the money has been budgeted for use this year and is part of the partnership to enable the government and private sector to fight the HIV/Aids and tuberculosis pandemics. The money has been made available to NGOs, community-based organisations and faith-based organisations.
Turned down: What could have been billions of dollars from a new global fund to combat HIV/Aids, by Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel. Jeffrey Sachs, head of Harvard’s Centre on Macroeconomics and Health, urged the government to access the fund to finance treatment for people living with Aids. Manuel said South Africa did not need the money and that its problem rather lay in the government’s ability to deliver.
Honoured: Two Wits University researchers, with the 2002 Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, for their work on preventing mother-to-child HIV infections. The recipients, Professor James McIntyre and Dr Glenda Gray, are co-founders of the perinatal HIV research unit at the Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 286 795 as of 12.31pm on Thursday 31 January
Increasing pressure: The Treatment Action Campaign and the Public Service Accountability Monitor have called on the Eastern Cape government to administer the anti-retroviral drug nevirapine to HIV-positive mothers. The groups estimate that each year more than 10 500 babies in the Eastern Cape become HIV- positive. They disputed Premier Makhenkesi Stofile’s belief that the province could not afford such a programme and say a national government study showed the programme would achieve an overall saving.
Taking its toll: Aids, on hundreds of drivers in the transport industry who die of the disease every month, according to Cross-Border Road Agency chairperson George Negota. He also expressed concern about commercial sex workers who have become a common sight along roads. He says an effort will be made to stop the spread of the disease at border towns such as Komatipoort, Messina and Ramatlabama.
Passed on: Dr David W Barry one of the pioneers of the Aids drug AZT died of a heart attack during a business outing. He codeveloped AZT and was also a chief advocate for a “cocktail” treatment using more than one drug to combat the Aids infection. He was 58.
Aids helpline number: 0800 012 322