Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 46 077 576 at 10.30am on Wednesday March 27
Here we go again: The health minister and seven MECs are to petition the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal against a compulsion order issued by the Pretoria High Court. The order says nevirapine must immediately be provided to HIV-positive pregnant women where feasible, pending a Constitutional Court hearing on the matter on May 2 and 3.
Coalescing: An array of companies under the aegis of the South African Business Coalition on HIV/Aids. The intention is to set up a pool of expertise that will empower the private sector to deal with HIV/Aids in the workplace.
Breaking the law: Young men in Limpopo villages who are having sex with goats, claiming they are afraid to sleep with women for fear of contracting HIV/Aids. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals urged anyone with information to come forward so that the men could be prosecuted.
Launched: A five-year programme led by Britain and five African nations to find an effective cream to prevent infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The programme will include South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon and Zambia.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 991 989 at 12:55pm on Thursday March 21
Little Support: Men who have sex with men receive little attention in sexual health and HIV/Aids programmes even though there is a high risk of HIV infection, a study conducted in Africa found. Of the 250 men interviewed in Dakar, Senegal, only a paltry 14% used condoms for receptive anal intercourse.
Newly appointed: New members of the Gauteng Aids Council appointed to the organisation this week include HIV/Aids activist Mercy Makhalemele, representing women, Mpho Mokone for the unions, and others drawn from the broad spectrum of civil society such as the media, people with Aids, business, religious and sports bodies. The council has to date mobilised 9 000 volunteers and has adopted a programme of action that runs from April to February next year.
Overwhelmed: The South African government, which cannot cope with the welfare and health needs of more than 700 000 Aids orphans, many of whom are infected with the virus, according to a new study. The head of the University of Fort Hare’s Centre for Development Studies, Priscilla Monyai, warned that African governments and their populations are faced with enormous welfare and health needs that threaten to swamp their already over-stretched resources.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 891 554 at 12.32pm on Thursday March 14
Targeted: The trucking industry, whose rates in the spread of HIV/Aids in Southern Africa are among the worst, according to the government’s Cross Border Road Transport Aids Project report.
Be warned: The Institute for Security Studies issued a chilling warning that if sodomy in prisons is not curbed, the spread of Aids is set to proliferate and result in massive loss of lives in the next five to 10 years. The number of prisoners who had died from unnatural causes such as Aids increased from 186 in 1995 to 1 087 in 2000 – almost 500%.
Rejected: Free nevirapine offer from a German pharmaceutical company by the Gauteng government. MEC for Health Dr Gwen Ramokgopa said such offers were not sustainable. She said the drug cost R6,43 a mother and child and the province had spent R38 000 on nevirapine.
Collaborating: The National Community of Women Living with HIV in Uganda (Nacwola), the International Community of Women Living with HIV and CLS Development Services who are developing a project with a view to extending Nacwola’s Memory Project to other African countries. The project encourages families to talk openly about their HIV status.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 791 121 at 1.11 pm on Thursday March 7
Honoured: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni received a Commonwealth award for action on HIV/Aids because he “began speaking out about HIV/Aids long before other national leaders and … put in place the necessary measures to control the epidemic in Uganda”. Museveni responded with a controversial assertion that part of his success was due to an alleged absence of homosexuals in the country.
Hallelujah: Religious leaders from different faiths held a two-day conference in Durban to establish a national interfaith task team that will coordinate activities against HIV/Aids.
Smooth running: Zola clinic in Soweto, site of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation programme that focuses on HIV/Aids prevention, was visited this week by former presidents of South Africa and the United States, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, accompanied by the father of the Microsoft founder.
Thumbs up: Mandela’s proposal that anti-retroviral drugs be made available. Mandela and Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang met at his request on Monday to discuss his proposals. The matter will be discussed at an ANC national committee meeting next weekend.
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 45 690 177 at 12.46pm on Thursday February 28
Heroin injection: The United Nations International Narcotics Control Board says that the number of people injecting heroin in South Africa has risen by 40% over the past three years with serious implications for the spread of HIV.
Test for trouble: A genetic test can identify the 5% of people at risk of a life-threatening reaction if they take the anti-retroviral drug abacavir against HIV/Aids. Patients with the triggering genetic factor can then be given an alternative drug.
New virus: A new simian immuno-deficiency virus, SIVgsn, similar to HIV-1 has been identified in Cameroon. The discovery has relaunched debate on the origin of HIV/Aids in humans.
Cover up: Catholics For a Free Choice has launched an advertising campaign in calling for the Vatican to change its anti-condom policy. The ads, reading “Banning condoms kills” and “Catholic People Care, Do our Bishops?”, are to be erected near highways in Gauteng and Cape Town.
Children’s villages: Kwazulu-Natal is considering developing children’s villages for Aids orphans. Premier Lionel Mtshali said the villages would be for children, but with adult supervisors, teachers and social workers.