Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 2/17/2004

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network

CONTENT:

1 - AFRICA: First ladies vow to fight mother-to-child HIV/AIDS infection

2 - BURUNDI: Germany gives €7.5 million for water, refugees, HIV/AIDS

control

3 - ZIMBABWE: Free ARVs available from next month

1 - AFRICA: First ladies vow to fight mother-to-child HIV/AIDS infection

KIGALI, 17 February (PLUSNEWS) - Five African first ladies and

representatives from four other countries have vowed to redouble their

efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS on the continent and, in

particular, to prevent mother-to-child infections.

" The first ladies emphasised the need for urgent action in scaling up both

HIV prevention and care services, " a communiqué issued on Monday in the

Rwandan capital, Kigali, after a two-day conference of the first ladies,

said.

The conference, facilitated by UNAIDS, the UN World Health Organization

and the UN Children's Fund, ended on Saturday. It was attended by the

first ladies of Gabon, Kenya, Rwanda, the Republic of Congo and Senegal.

Those from Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and Uganda sent representatives.

The first ladies and officials of two pharmaceutical companies – Abbott

Laboratories and Boehringer-Ingelheim – agreed to increase cooperation in

expanding access to prevention-of-mother-to-child-treatment (PMTCT)

services for greater numbers of HIV positive mothers and their children.

According to the communiqué, the first ladies and the two companies agreed

to expand the uptake of Abbott’s 'Determine HIV Test' and

Boehringer-Ingelheim’s 'Viramune' donation programmes in their countries.

" In response to concerns raised by the first ladies about the

sustainability of the PMTCT donation programme after 2005, the companies

informed them that they will continue the donation programme indefinitely,

until a better medical intervention may be developed, " the communiqué

read.

Moreover, the two pharmaceutical companies agreed to increase services in

the countries in need of the PMTCT donation programmes.

The companies also agreed to provide information and the cooperation

required to support the first ladies develop public information campaigns

in their countries about HIV care including anti-retroviral treatment

services, PMTCT services and the Abbott and Boehringer-Ingelheim PMTCT

donation programmes.

" A number of anti-retroviral regimens are available to prevent HIV

positive mothers from passing the virus to their newborn children, " the

communiqué said. " The selection of these drug regimens should be made at

the national level, based on national assessments of efficacy, safety,

drug resistance, feasibility and acceptability. "

The meeting between the first ladies and the pharmaceutical companies was

part of the strategic planning of the Kigali conference whose theme was " A

Mother's Face in the Fight against AIDS " .

[ENDS]

2 - BURUNDI: Germany gives €7.5 million for water, refugees, HIV/AIDS

control

BUJUMBURA, 17 February (PLUSNEWS) - Germany and Burundi have signed a

cooperation agreement under which Germany will provide €7.5 million (US

$9.5 million) for a water supply project, the rehabilitation of refugees

and internally displaced people as well as HIV/AIDS control.

Burundian Foreign Minister Terence Sinunguruza and the German ambassador

to Burundi, Bernd Brown, signed the agreement on Friday in the capital,

Bujumbura.

Many areas in Burundi experience acute water shortages, particularly the

northern province of Kirundo and several communes of the northwestern

provinces of Bubanza and Cibitoke, which are prone to frequent cholera

outbreaks.

However, Sinunguruza did not disclose the specific regions that would

benefit from the aid.

The agreement was signed at the end of weeklong visit by Brown who was in

the country to present his letters of credence to President Domitien

Ndayizeye.

[ENDS]

3 - ZIMBABWE: Free ARVs available from next month

HARARE, 17 February (PLUSNEWS) - Government hospitals in Zimbabwe's two

major urban centres, Harare and Bulawayo, will start providing free

antiretroviral (ARV) drugs next month, in partnership with UNAIDS, the

World Health Organisation (WHO) and the local health ministry.

The programme, unveiled last week, is part of WHO's " Three by Five " vision

of providing three million people globally with access to ARVs by 2005.

" The Three by Five programme is part of our efforts in assisting the

Zimbabwean government with the provision of antiretrovirals, " WHO country

representative to Zimbabwe, Everisto Njelesani, was quoted as saying.

He added that health personnel were already being trained in the

administration of ARVs, and the drugs would be rolled out to other parts

of Zimbabwe as the scheme expanded.

However, Zimbabwean AIDS activists said there were significant challenges

to implementing the programme.

Lynde Francis, founder of The Centre, an organisation providing treatment,

care and counselling for people living with HIV/AIDS, said the first

requirement, before making ARVs available, was to revive the collapsing

health sector - undermined by a lack of funding, low staff morale and the

exodus of skilled staff to other countries.

" Our health delivery system is in such a shambles that drugs for some

opportunistic infections cannot be found, " Francis said. " The need to

administer ARVs would be reduced drastically if areas like the prevention

of mother-to-child transmission were given attention, " she pointed out.

" The [implementation] committee is full of learned professors and doctors,

but there are no women or people living with HIV - how can they be

passionate about implementing the Three by Five programme if they are not

affected by AIDS? " asked Francis, who has lived with the virus for 18

years.

Believe Dhliwayo, coordinator of Zimbabwe Activists on HIV and AIDS,

questioned the urban focus of the programme.

" Providing treatment to urbanites first, ahead of rural dwellers, raises

issues of human rights, " charged Dhliwayo. " The people in rural areas, whe

re there are vulnerable orphans being looked after by grandparents, should

be given first priority. "

He noted that there was an urgent need to educate both patients and health

care workers about ARVs - which are extremely powerful drugs and require a

strict regimen - before they were administered.

" The implementation of the Three by Five initiative should be accompanied

by an information blitz, because there is a lot of vital information that

patients and health providers should have. Treatment literature on issues

like adherance and nutrition should be a priority before everything else, "

said Dhliwayo.

An estimated 24.6 percent of Zimbabweans are HIV-positive, but very few

are able to afford the ARV medication that could extend their lives.

[ENDS]

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