IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 272, 24 February 2006

[Guest guest]

AFRICA: IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 272, 24 February 2006

NEWS

ANGOLA: Safe fun during carnival urged, as Luanda prepares for annual party

AFRICA: Fishing industry - the one that got away in AIDS prevention

CAMEROON: Tuberculosis and AIDS soaring in prisons

TANZANIA: HIV/AIDS counselling centres set up in prisons

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans

ZIMBABWE: Youth instrumental in future HIV/AIDS decline - UNICEF

LINKS

1. AIDS-Care-Watch

CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES

1. Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Timeline of Key Milestones

VACANCIES

1. Senior Technical Advisor for HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment - Mozambique

NEWS

ANGOLA: Safe fun during carnival urged, as Luanda prepares for annual party

This weekend, Luanda will explode in a frenzy of gaudy costumes and masks, wild

drumming and dancing. On Saturday, as the sun sets over the Angolan capital,

tens of thousands of merrymakers will throng the seaside to watch carnival's

main event - the parade... these are three days of total partying.

" Carnival is a space of liberation, and also of risk, because there are excesses

of alcohol, drugs, sex and sexual violence, " said Coelho, president of

ANASO, the Angolan network of AIDS service organisations.

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5711

AFRICA: Fishing industry - the one that got away in AIDS prevention

The fishing industry in Africa faces a growing threat of HIV/AIDS, but

interventions to address the epidemic are still lagging behind.

Hall, director of the World Fish Centre, warned this week at a workshop

in Zambia on 'HIV/AIDS in the Fishery Sector in Africa' that if the sector was

to deliver any economic benefits for African countries, HIV/AIDS had to be

addressed.

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5708

CAMEROON: Tuberculosis and AIDS soaring in prisons

Victor N. no longer has the strength to get up from his straw mattress; he is

battling tuberculosis, which has struck for a second time in some months. One of

his cellmates in Edea prison near Douala is in the same state - too weary even

to fight the bedbugs lacing the thin cushion on which he rests.

Twelve people live in the tiny cell which adjoins a row of latrines, their

meagre possessions hanging on nails on the grime-blackened wall. No matter that

some are sick with a highly contagious disease, the prison is packed and there

is not a single spare space to quarantine TB sufferers.

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5710

TANZANIA: HIV/AIDS counselling centres set up in prisons

In a move aimed at stepping up the campaign against the spread of HIV/AIDS in

prisons, the Tanzanian government has started establishing vocational

counselling and testing (VCT) centres to provide services to penal institutions.

" We are now intensifying educational programmes through lectures and video

[shows] to wardens, prison officers and inmates, " Nicas Banzi, Tanzania's

principal commissioner of prisons, said on Monday.

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5700

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans

The South African government has begun addressing some of the problems over its

delivery of social services, particularly help to orphans and vulnerable

children (OVC), according to experts.

In the past two years, a strategy to address the shortage of social workers and

a change to the law enabling OVC in foster care to access grants has produced

results, said Selwyn Jehoma, the acting deputy director-general of social

security in the Department of Social Development. " In 2002, we had 150,000

children registered under foster care, now we have 300,000. "

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5704

ZIMBABWE: Youth instrumental in future HIV/AIDS decline - UNICEF

Further reductions in Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate depends largely on the

greater involvement of the country's youth in the fight against the pandemic,

according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Formerly a high prevalence country, Zimbabwe recently became the first Southern

African nation to report a significant decline in HIV infection, from 24.6

percent in 2003 to 20.1 percent in 2005.

More details:

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=5707

LINKS

1. AIDS-Care-Watch

This is a global partnership of over 250 NGO and civil society organisations

using avenues such as the multiple blogs hosted on this website to reduce the

number of preventable deaths by sharing ideas about and advocating for a

comprehensive care package for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Access the site: http://www.aidscarewatch.org/cms/index.asp

CONFERENCES/ EVENTS/ RESEARCH/ RESOURCES

1. Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Timeline of Key Milestones

Developed by the US-based Kaiser Family Foundation, this interactive web-based

timeline enables review of the major political, scientific, cultural, and

community events that have occurred over the history of the AIDS epidemic, from

1981 to present day.

Access the timeline: http://www.kff.org/hivaids/timeline

VACANCIES

1. Senior Technical Advisor for HIV/AIDS Care and Treatment - Mozambique

The Glaser International Paediatric AIDS Foundation, seeks a suitable

candidate to help oversee existing programmes for the prevention of

mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS in the Mozambican capital,

Maputo.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Participate in the development of an overall PMTCT and care and treatment

partnership that supports Mozambique's Ministry of Health.

- Provide technical direction and programmatic assistance in the management and

implementation of the relevant programme to ensure high quality service

delivery.

- Provide technical inputs and assistance to the health ministry and other

partners to increase access to treatment for children.

- Develop the capacity for child-friendly anti-AIDS treatment in the districts

where programmes will be expanded to.

QUALIFICATIONS:

- Medical Doctor with at least 2 years experience in HIV/AIDS and international

health.

- At least 3 years of proven project management experience in the design,

administration, management and implementation of international health programmes

in developing countries, including supervision and reporting.

- Masters in Public Health, PH.D or other relevant medical degree is an

advantage

CONTACTS:

Please visit http://www.pedaids.org to submit applications

Reference Code: RW_6M2UAA-81

[ENDS]

This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at

Mail@....

IRIN-SA

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: IRIN-SA@...

Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark,

ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and

the United States of America. For more information, go to:

http://www.IRINnews.org/donors

[This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information

service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its

agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer

to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of

use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Affairs.]

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.Plusnews.org/subscriptions/AIDSsubslogin.asp

Subscriber: AIDS treatments

Keyword: Africa