Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 113147 at noon on Wednesday June 22
Malawi’s commitment: Malawi has launched a comprehensive welfare plan to mitigate the impact of poverty and HIV/Aids on its estimated one million orphans.
The National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), launched by President Bingu wa Mutharika last week, provides a common platform for the government, NGOs and donors to address the myriad problems facing children. ‘HIV/Aids and chronic poverty are the major challenges facing children in Malawi. [These have] been exacerbated by the recurring food crisis,” said the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) project officer for OVC, Mayke Huijbregts. According to Unicef, the number of OVC is likely to increase by 50% by 2010.
Observers have noted that Malawi has a number of policy documents aimed at improving child welfare, but there is a serious lack of implementation.
‘Government is under pressure from donors to implement the plan, and Unicef will provide technical support,” said Huijbregts. So far, about R120-million has been sourced to cover implementation for two years, but the project is to run until 2009.
Source: Irin, June 21
Japanese aid: Japan says it will commit R30-billion to help Africa tackle infectious diseases such as HIV/Aids and malaria over the next five years.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi recently said that although European countries had pledged increased aid to Africa, Japan wanted to provide assistance that would lead to self-reliance.
According to the International Herald Tribune, the Japanese funds will be used to provide treated mosquito nets to combat malaria, as well as condoms and HIV test kits to help curb the spread of Aids.
Source: Plusnews, June 21
Estimated worldwide HIV infections: 63 012 339 at noon on Wednesday June 15
Growing concern: The HIV/Aids epidemic in Burma is ‘being fuelled by a mixture of ignorance, denial and lack of government action”, which is a ‘dangerous cocktail” that could result in an HIV/Aids prevalence consistent with some African nations, according to the Bangkok Post.
According to aid workers, about two-thirds of commercial sex workers in the capital city of Rangoon are HIV-positive and an estimated one-fifth of pregnant women in the commercial town of Lashio are infected with the virus. If current trends continue, as much as one-quarter of the population of Burma could be affected by HIV/Aids within the next 10 years, according to the Post.
Although the military government recently has supported HIV/Aids educational campaigns, it remains in a ‘state of denial”, saying Burma’s ‘culture and religion” limit the spread of the virus. The government says more than 300 000 of the country’s 54-million people are HIV-positive, but UNAids estimates that twice as many people between 15 and 49 are living with the disease.
Source: Kaisernetwork.org