Your daily Selection of IRIN Africa PlusNews reports, 7/12/2006

[Guest guest]

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

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - RWANDA: Poverty, landlessness exacerbating impact of HIV

2 - SOUTH AFRICA: Soap star on drugs!

1 - RWANDA: Poverty, landlessness exacerbating impact of HIV

KIGALI, 12 July (PLUSNEWS) - More than 60 percent of Rwanda's eight million

people get by on less than a dollar a day, but grinding poverty is an even

greater threat to HIV-positive people.

Rwanda, one of the world's poorest countries and the most populous in central

Africa, has an estimated 340 people per square kilometre. The land is also very

unequally divided, with the majority having tiny plots or none at all to

cultivate.

" Families that have to look after AIDS orphans have nowhere to grow food and

nowhere to find money for their medical treatment. I am looking after my

daughter's children but have no money for school fees and, sometimes, even for

food, " said Annette Nyiraneza, an elderly widow in the capital, Kigali.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), more than 800,000

Rwandan children have been orphaned by AIDS and the 1994 genocide that killed

nearly a million people. Most of these children are being raised by relatives

who are actually too poor to look after their immediate families. The result is

thousands of households headed by children, who are often forced to perform

sexual favours to feed their families, making them even more vulnerable to HIV.

Nyiraneza said her daughter used to help cultivate the family's tiny plot but

fell ill, and she is too old and weak to work, so she and her grandchildren

depend on handouts from nongovernmental agencies.

" When giving antiretroviral [ARV] drugs to HIV-positive people, especially in

the rural areas, we try to give nutritional support as part of the package, "

said Shakilla Umutoni, executive secretary of Reseau Rwandais des Personnes

Vivant avec le VIH/SIDA, an umbrella body for 800-plus organisations for people

living with the virus. " One cannot expect people who cannot afford to buy food

to adhere to their drugs [regimens]. "

Umutoni, whose organisation is supported by the Global Fund for AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria, the US Agency for International Development and the

British government's Department for International Development, said providing

nutritional support was difficult.

" We have to ensure the whole family is well fed, because if they are not, they

may all have to share the small portion of the HIV-positive person, or they

could become malnourished and fail to look after their sick relative, " she

explained.

Persuading people to spend their money on medication rather than food was a

constant challenge. " It is necessary to improve the quality of life of these

people, so that they have the basic needs such as food, after which they can be

taught the importance of taking their medicines in the correct dosage, " she

said.

The Rwandan government provides free antiretroviral drugs, but the health

centres are often too far away - Unicef estimates that 88 percent of women have

to walk for more than an hour to reach a health facility, an impossible journey

for people with immune systems compromised by illness or malnutrition.

" Providing HIV services to people in Rwanda goes beyond giving people ARVs, "

Umutoni said. " They need food, they need education and sensitisation, and also

need home care and follow-up. "

[ENDS]

2 - SOUTH AFRICA: Soap star on drugs!

JOHANNESBURG, 12 July (PLUSNEWS) - In a first for South African television, a

popular soap opera is to write an HIV-positive character in the stage of AIDS

infection into the story.

Greig Coetzee, head writer of the daily show, 'Isidingo', hoped the move would

help break down the stigma against HIV/AIDS and raise awareness about the

progression and treatment of the disease.

He told PlusNews that the character, Nandipha Matabane, would have been living

with the HI virus for some time and would need to start antiretroviral (ARV)

treatment.

" The character has been part of a step-by-step aim to keep our viewers informed

on every aspect of what it would be like to live with HIV and then AIDS, " he

said.

Coetzee suggested that with recent advances in treatment availability, there was

a sense that AIDS was not taken as seriously as it was before, and to some

degree people were now even a bit " blasé " about it.

" Some people either ignore it, or even have a fatalistic approach. Our aim is to

show the public and our throngs of viewers [estimated at about a million] that

it is possible to live with AIDS and manage it. We plan on keeping the character

as real as possible. "

Nandipha, who is one of the programme's most appealing characters, has been

kidnapped, sexually assaulted by an abusive ex-boyfriend and lost her baby ...

before being diagnosed with HIV.

" But despite the odds being against her, she was able to move beyond the

discrimination ... this already speaks of the everyday situation of most women,

not just in South Africa, but across the globe, " Coetzee commented.

Research showed that one in four South African women have been raped or are

suffering domestic violence.

In a speech to mark International Women's Day earlier this year, UN

Secretary-General Kofi n noted that as a result of such retrogressive

behaviour, more than half of all adults living with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

are women.

Actress Hlubi Mboya, who plays Nandipha, shared these sentiments, and noted that

the situation also helped her in getting into character. " Aside from the plight

of the millions of people who are living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, I was

also able to relate to the experiences of those people close to me that are

affected by this pandemic, " she told PlusNews.

Mboya was concerned by the huge number of people who were either in denial or

sceptical about the life-prolonging benefits of ARVs.

An estimated six million South Africans are living with HIV/AIDS - some 16

percent of the adult population - yet the stigma attached to the disease has

caused many to avoid testing and treatment, and families routinely cover up the

cause of death when a member succumbs to an AIDS-related illness.

" This has the driving force for how my character would deal with her progression

from an HIV-positive status to advanced AIDS infection and back to a healthy

life with HIV again. We want to prove to our audience that it is not a death

sentence, and that with the proper care and support an infected person is able

to live a long and productive life. "

Warren , executive director of the Centre for AIDS Development Research

and Evaluation, welcomed the move by the show's producers to educate their

viewers.

" People often speak of AIDS fatigue and being tired or bored of constantly

hearing about the impact of the disease. This offers a fresh approach to how

someone can cope with infection through the correct course of action, "

said.

He was confident that the character's struggle and success with AIDS would have

an impact on how her fans perceived HIV prevention, treatment and care. " It

definitely helps in terms of role-modelling for viewers, most of whom are

usually able to identify with certain characters and emulate their inspiring

example. "

[ENDS]

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

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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.]

PLUSNEWS

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Subscriber: AIDS treatments

[Guest guest]

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

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the

humanitarian community

[These reports do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENT:

1 - RWANDA: Poverty, landlessness exacerbating impact of HIV

2 - SOUTH AFRICA: Soap star on drugs!

1 - RWANDA: Poverty, landlessness exacerbating impact of HIV

KIGALI, 12 July (PLUSNEWS) - More than 60 percent of Rwanda's eight million

people get by on less than a dollar a day, but grinding poverty is an even

greater threat to HIV-positive people.

Rwanda, one of the world's poorest countries and the most populous in central

Africa, has an estimated 340 people per square kilometre. The land is also very

unequally divided, with the majority having tiny plots or none at all to

cultivate.

" Families that have to look after AIDS orphans have nowhere to grow food and

nowhere to find money for their medical treatment. I am looking after my

daughter's children but have no money for school fees and, sometimes, even for

food, " said Annette Nyiraneza, an elderly widow in the capital, Kigali.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), more than 800,000

Rwandan children have been orphaned by AIDS and the 1994 genocide that killed

nearly a million people. Most of these children are being raised by relatives

who are actually too poor to look after their immediate families. The result is

thousands of households headed by children, who are often forced to perform

sexual favours to feed their families, making them even more vulnerable to HIV.

Nyiraneza said her daughter used to help cultivate the family's tiny plot but

fell ill, and she is too old and weak to work, so she and her grandchildren

depend on handouts from nongovernmental agencies.

" When giving antiretroviral [ARV] drugs to HIV-positive people, especially in

the rural areas, we try to give nutritional support as part of the package, "

said Shakilla Umutoni, executive secretary of Reseau Rwandais des Personnes

Vivant avec le VIH/SIDA, an umbrella body for 800-plus organisations for people

living with the virus. " One cannot expect people who cannot afford to buy food

to adhere to their drugs [regimens]. "

Umutoni, whose organisation is supported by the Global Fund for AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria, the US Agency for International Development and the

British government's Department for International Development, said providing

nutritional support was difficult.

" We have to ensure the whole family is well fed, because if they are not, they

may all have to share the small portion of the HIV-positive person, or they

could become malnourished and fail to look after their sick relative, " she

explained.

Persuading people to spend their money on medication rather than food was a

constant challenge. " It is necessary to improve the quality of life of these

people, so that they have the basic needs such as food, after which they can be

taught the importance of taking their medicines in the correct dosage, " she

said.

The Rwandan government provides free antiretroviral drugs, but the health

centres are often too far away - Unicef estimates that 88 percent of women have

to walk for more than an hour to reach a health facility, an impossible journey

for people with immune systems compromised by illness or malnutrition.

" Providing HIV services to people in Rwanda goes beyond giving people ARVs, "

Umutoni said. " They need food, they need education and sensitisation, and also

need home care and follow-up. "

[ENDS]

2 - SOUTH AFRICA: Soap star on drugs!

JOHANNESBURG, 12 July (PLUSNEWS) - In a first for South African television, a

popular soap opera is to write an HIV-positive character in the stage of AIDS

infection into the story.

Greig Coetzee, head writer of the daily show, 'Isidingo', hoped the move would

help break down the stigma against HIV/AIDS and raise awareness about the

progression and treatment of the disease.

He told PlusNews that the character, Nandipha Matabane, would have been living

with the HI virus for some time and would need to start antiretroviral (ARV)

treatment.

" The character has been part of a step-by-step aim to keep our viewers informed

on every aspect of what it would be like to live with HIV and then AIDS, " he

said.

Coetzee suggested that with recent advances in treatment availability, there was

a sense that AIDS was not taken as seriously as it was before, and to some

degree people were now even a bit " blasé " about it.

" Some people either ignore it, or even have a fatalistic approach. Our aim is to

show the public and our throngs of viewers [estimated at about a million] that

it is possible to live with AIDS and manage it. We plan on keeping the character

as real as possible. "

Nandipha, who is one of the programme's most appealing characters, has been

kidnapped, sexually assaulted by an abusive ex-boyfriend and lost her baby ...

before being diagnosed with HIV.

" But despite the odds being against her, she was able to move beyond the

discrimination ... this already speaks of the everyday situation of most women,

not just in South Africa, but across the globe, " Coetzee commented.

Research showed that one in four South African women have been raped or are

suffering domestic violence.

In a speech to mark International Women's Day earlier this year, UN

Secretary-General Kofi n noted that as a result of such retrogressive

behaviour, more than half of all adults living with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa

are women.

Actress Hlubi Mboya, who plays Nandipha, shared these sentiments, and noted that

the situation also helped her in getting into character. " Aside from the plight

of the millions of people who are living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa, I was

also able to relate to the experiences of those people close to me that are

affected by this pandemic, " she told PlusNews.

Mboya was concerned by the huge number of people who were either in denial or

sceptical about the life-prolonging benefits of ARVs.

An estimated six million South Africans are living with HIV/AIDS - some 16

percent of the adult population - yet the stigma attached to the disease has

caused many to avoid testing and treatment, and families routinely cover up the

cause of death when a member succumbs to an AIDS-related illness.

" This has the driving force for how my character would deal with her progression

from an HIV-positive status to advanced AIDS infection and back to a healthy

life with HIV again. We want to prove to our audience that it is not a death

sentence, and that with the proper care and support an infected person is able

to live a long and productive life. "

Warren , executive director of the Centre for AIDS Development Research

and Evaluation, welcomed the move by the show's producers to educate their

viewers.

" People often speak of AIDS fatigue and being tired or bored of constantly

hearing about the impact of the disease. This offers a fresh approach to how

someone can cope with infection through the correct course of action, "

said.

He was confident that the character's struggle and success with AIDS would have

an impact on how her fans perceived HIV prevention, treatment and care. " It

definitely helps in terms of role-modelling for viewers, most of whom are

usually able to identify with certain characters and emulate their inspiring

example. "

[ENDS]

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

Mail@....

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.]

PLUSNEWS

Tel: +27 11 895-1900

Fax: +27 11 784-6759

Email: Mail@...

To make changes to or cancel your subscription visit:

http://www.irinnews.org/subscriptions

Subscriber: AIDS treatments