5 May 2017
In the small maternity ward of a run-down health clinic in Delft, a half hour drive from Cape Town, the wooden benches in the waiting area are filled with young women and girls from the poor surrounding townships. Nozuko Manong, in her white-and-blue nurse's uniform, calls out a name and escorts a young woman into a small consulting room where the paint is peeling from the walls. Gently, Manong tells the patient the result of…
3 May 2017
The nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) announced today the start of the first clinical trial of its three-month vaginal ring designed to prevent two of the greatest risks to women’s health: HIV, which disproportionately strikes women of reproductive age, and unintended pregnancy, a leading contributor to maternal mortality. The three-month vaginal ring is designed to slowly — and simultaneously — release…
4 May 2017
Plenty of progress has been made in the fight against AIDS. Deaths peaked in 2005, at around 2m people. By 2015 that number had fallen to 1.1m. One big reason is that, of the 36.7m people currently infected with HIV, 18.2m are taking antiretroviral drugs that can hold the virus back for decades. Their number has risen more than twentyfold since the turn of the century.But not all the statistics are so encouraging. Around 1.9m…
27 April 2017
Early antiretroviral therapy (ART) is highly acceptable to the majority of young women with HIV in South Africa, according to research published in AIDS and Behavior. Rates of virological suppression remained at over 85% regardless of CD4 threshold for starting treatment, and answers to a questionnaire showed that over three-quarters of participants were willing to start treatment when their CD4 count was above 500 cells/mm3…
19 April 2017
South Africa - A study conducted by Dr Yogandra Naidoo found that the fear of being discriminated against and stigmatised has made it impossible for HIV and AIDS sufferers in the south Durban township to disclose their status and living their lives.The findings also revealed that poverty’ gender power relations and stigma were major social factors contributing to the growth of HIV and AIDS.
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29 April 2017
It has always been a public secret that women bear the biggest brunt of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, but now, gender activists are saying the cost of that burden is more often than not, understated. From having to sacrifice their other economic and social roles to taking up unpaid 'work' at home in caring for patients living with HIV and AIDS, the burden is proving to be too much on women, activists who are lobbying for policy…
30 April 2017
Kenya - Sexually active young women and girls aged 15 to 24 are among the high-risk groups targeted in the May 4 rollout of a new method meant to protect HIV-negative people from contracting the virus. The approach, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), involves people at high risk of contracting HIV taking an antiretroviral pill, Truvada, daily to lower their chances of getting infected.
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24 April 2017
In Africa, women and girls are the most vulnerable in regards to violence, lack of education, gender equality and health issues. The Kelowna Grandmothers For Africa work towards restoring hope, dignity and the chance to move forward with their dreams through community based programs. The need continues for more funding to be directed to grassroots initiatives that in turn will build resilience and economic independence.
…23 April 2017
Miranda was four months pregnant and extremely anxious when she got her first HIV test. She had long been afraid of a positive diagnosis, and shortly after stepping into a tent offering free HIV tests at a taxi stand in central Johannesburg, her fear was confirmed. Miranda—who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her safety and privacy—had never been tested. “[I thought], It’s not going to happen to me.… [But] part of me knew…
10 April 2017
"If I have sex, I could go to jail." This is the reality of life for women living with HIV in Canada. It's a story I heard a few weeks ago from an African woman who had recently immigrated to Vancouver and is now faced with the profoundly isolating experience of being a Black HIV-positive woman in Canadian society. This may come as a surprise to anyone unfamiliar with HIV in Canada: Women (and men) who are living with HIV are…
24 April 2017
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently issued the first Consolidated guideline on sexual and reproductive health and rights of women living with HIV. The guidance is written for health care providers and aims to support them to provide effective care to meet the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights of women living with HIV. In addition to clinical recommendations, the guideline emphasises the importance of…
12 April 2017
India has passed a landmark bill which aims to ensure equal rights for those living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, passed by the country's parliament on Tuesday, will make it illegal to discriminate against people living with and affected by HIV. It is the first of its kind in south Asia, and will make India the largest country in the world to ban this kind of discrimination.
15 April 2017
Horcelie Sinda Wa Mbongo was only 11 years old when she discovered that she was HIV positive. The 22-year-old Fine Arts student, who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo and lives in the UK, was born with HIV. And now, she is campaigning to end the stigma around HIV/AIDS.
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14 April 2017
You're invited to join a webinar with the World Health Organization (WHO) on the newly released guidance on hormonal contraceptive eligibility for women at high risk of HIV. It is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, April 26 at 9 a.m. U.S.-East Coast, 3 p.m. South Africa, 4 p.m. Eastern Africa.
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5 April 2017
The Treatment Action Campaign’s Norah Mathe – now 25 years old and healthy – is on a mission to change the fact that although one in every 10 South Africans has HIV, only about a quarter of young people know how the virus is transmitted. These are the figures according the latest Human Sciences Research Council’s study on HIV prevalence.
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5 April 2017
An international group of researchers involved in the ANRS 12174 randomised controlled trial of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for infants say that it is high time we started giving PrEP to all breastfed babies of HIV-positive mothers in countries where the likelihood of transmission via breastfeeding remains significant.
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3 April 2017
“We have high youth unemployment and high teenage pregnancy,” Mr. Obed, a traditional leader in Shiselweni, Swaziland, told UNFPA. Yet many conservative, rural communities have resisted publicly discussing topics that would improve the health and rights of young people – including adolescent pregnancy, gender-based violence and sexually transmitted infections like HIV.
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9 April 2017
Reporter Bridget Mananavire talks to village health worker Mandy Mugari of Seke, Zimbabwe who plays an essential role in the primary health system to fight against HIV/AIDS. She explains her mission to expand access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care under very difficult conditions, and the potential to achieve sustainable epidemic control and end AIDS as a public health threat.
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On Thursday, 6 April 2017 Athena Network will be launching the #WhatWomenWant campaign to share and spread the word about what adolescent girls and young women want. This campaign will be used as a vehicle to amplify adolescent girls and young women's voices, connect with others, and build across and between issues, sectors, and movements. The campaign calls for sustained investments in women-led partnerships and feminist organizing to advance…
23 March 2017
A counsellor at the local AIDS Secretariat [in Antigua and Barbuda] said that its records have shown a reverse trend in the transmission of the HIV virus, as the rate of infection among females has increased. Oswald Hannays said the discovery is worthy of note because, “where in the early [stages] you had perhaps five to six males for every female that were infected, we now have an almost even one to one ratio.” The…