14 June 2017
A staggering 2,000 girls and young women are infected with HIV every week in South Africa. Basic Education Deputy Minister Enver Surty presented the department's integrated policy on HIV, TB and STIs and said the implementation of the policy was the responsibility of all managers within education and health systems. Another department staff, Amanda Rozani, said the policy will be the first of its kind which addresses HIV and…
6 June 2017
The Zambezi Region of Namibia faces a raft of developmental challenges hampering efforts to remedy sexual reproductive health rights and HIV and AIDS. Some health facilities in the region are not accessible to residents that find themselves in the vast sparsely populated region. To reach health facilities for some residents that are mostly destitute means having to walk over 10 kilometres, risking crossing paths with dangerous…
13 June 2017
A survey conducted in South Africa among 650 young women (ages 16-24) found that 1 in 20 women not receiving HIV treatment reported uncaring, judgmental health staff as the primary barrier to care. The report states that the number of mentions of rude‚ untrustworthy and unsupportive care from nurses is notable and worrying.
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12 June 2017
Many countries have increased treatment of HIV-infected pregnant women to lower their chances of infecting their babies, but most countries do not automatically continue treatment for those women after delivery - important for keeping them healthy long-term. Dr. Chewe Luo of UNICEF she said adolescent girls (10-18 year olds) are too often ignored by global HIV testing, prevention and treatment programs. Without protecting them…
1 June 2017
A new study published Thursday examined what stalled an early attempt at an anti-HIV gel, and found certain types of vaginal bacteria broke down the protective medication before it had time to work. “This is an important study, it does tell us that this is another factor we have to consider.” said microbiologist Sharon Hillier of the University of Pittsburgh.
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2 June 2017
The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) through funding from the Global Fund and support from the Kenyan government has launched a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) project in Turkana County that aims to address HIV risk amongst the adolescents and young women aged between 15-24 years. The project that was launched on 31 May 2017 in Kalokol, Turkana is being spearheaded by KRCS and National AIDS & STI Control Programme (NASCOP)…
5 January 2017
Canada has one of the world’s strictest legal standards when it comes to criminalizing HIV non-disclosure, resulting in a high prosecution rate for people living with HIV. Ground-breaking PhD research from SFU health sciences graduate Sophie Patterson, a physician, finds that women living with HIV are more likely to face a legal obligation to disclose their HIV status compared to men. She says this is because women face…
5 June 2017
Some 315 vulnerable girls and women were happy graduates on May 26 as they completed a mentorship and skills course managed by a three-year project of Plan International Uganda and Uganda Youth Development Link (UYDEL). Rogers Kasirye, executive director of UYDEL, said they graduated after being trained in skills like catering, electrical engineering, bakery, plumbing, welding and sweater knitting, among others. He added that…
1 June 2017
The report titled, ‘Reinvigorating the AIDS response to catalyse sustainable development and UN reform’ (A/71/864), finds that progress on reducing new HIV infections among adults has stalled, women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic, particularly in Africa, and financing for a global response is not sufficient. The report further highlights challenges related to higher risks of HIV…
30 May 2017
Amanda Soto's life was turned upside down in 2012 when she learned she was HIV-positive. Feeling lost, Soto was referred to Newly Empowered Women, a facility that helped her move on with her life. "I'm very proud of her. I'm proud of the fact that this program was able to make a difference in her life," Michelle Durham, executive director of BEAT AIDS, a nonprofit organization, said.
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29 May 2017
Uganda is committed to having an HIV free generation and is working towards realizing zero new HIV infections and zero AIDS related deaths. But one critical question still hangs unanswered. The problem of stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS and society’s attitude to it is still a big question that needs an answer. Women living with HIV often experience domestic violence, the non-provision of basic needs, marital…
22 May 2017
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says girls account for nearly 80 per cent of new HIV infections in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Felicitas Zawaira, the Director, Family and Reproductive Health Cluster, WHO Regional Office for Africa, said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday. Zawaira said most recent data from the organisation showed that only 13 per cent of these adolescent girls, and nine per cent of adolescent boys had…
22 May 2017
Community health workers (CHWs) are members of a local community who are chosen to provide basic healthcare and to promote healthy practices and illness prevention. However, despite the crucial service they provide in rural communities with limited access to healthcare or in places where reliance on traditional healers and birth attendants is the norm, community health workers remain unpaid for their service. Community health…
19 May 2017
Age-disparate sexual relationships are associated with new HIV infections among young women in Zimbabwe, particularly for young women with partners ten years older or more. The findings come from a 15-year study by Imperial College London, Zimbabwe’s Biomedical Research and Training Institute and the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care, and is the first large scale study to track the association between intergenerational…
23 May 2017
Leading HIV/AIDS researcher Quarraisha Abdool Karim has been honoured with an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Johannesburg in recognition of her contribution towards improving the quality of life of women in Africa. With extensive research contributions that spans over 25 years’ Professor Abdool Karim’s commitment to create a deeper understanding on the growing HIV epidemic in South Africa and the factors…
23 May 2017
A recent study published in SAARC Journal of Tuberculosis, Lung Diseases & HIV/AIDS shows that wives of migrant workers in Nepal are at a higher risk of HIV, not because they are not aware of it but because they are scared to ask their husbands about their potentially risky sexual behaviour while abroad. "Two-thirds of the research participants had generally good knowledge of HIV and its mode of transmission, but half of…
15 May 2017
Gracious is an 18-year-old girl who was diagnosed with HIV at the age of 13. However, her family was afraid to tell her about her HIV status and instead told her that she had a heart condition. Gracious told her friends at school that she was on medication for her heart condition. However, the friends suspected that she was HIV-positive because she was often sick. Gracious took her medication to school in order to prove her…
15 May 2017
The statistics are well-known. African Americans bear the heaviest burden of HIV infection of all racial or ethnic groups in the United States, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And the burden of this disease is carried squarely on the shoulders of African-American women. Their rates of new HIV infections are more than three times higher than those of white women and four times those of Hispanic women.…
14 May 2017
At least 213 HIV-infected women have given birth to healthy babies in the government-run hospitals of Chhattisgarh in 2016-17, a State health official has said. “The health department is committed to secure the child from infection in the womb of a HIV-positive mother,” Chhattisgarh’s health services director R. Prasanna told PTI. The multi-medicine treatment process has yielded better results, with 213 HIV-infected women…
14 May 2017
President Jacob Zuma's wife, Tobeka Madiba-Zuma, on Saturday launched the Listen to the Girl Child campaign in KwaZulu-Natal. The Tobeka Madiba-Zuma Foundation, in partnership the eThekwini Municipality and the UN Aids programme, said it led a dialogue in sexual health, violence directed at children, girls and women, for 500 girls from schools around Inanda, KwaMashu and Ntuzuma in Durban. The campaign aims to provide ongoing…