HIV and AIDS
From local meetings to advocacy campaigns, KCS document the way in which communities are currently responding to HIV and AIDS. KCs will also report announcements of new HIV testing and prevention schemes and highlight the successes and failures of existing programmes. The impact traditional healers, ARV stock-outs and expired medication have on the lives of those living with HIV is also reported, as are spikes and declines in HIV prevalence rates. KCs also document what life is like for people living with HIV and the impact culture and religion has on their choices around treatment and care. KC stories often examine the links between poverty and HIV, as well as the links between maternal health and HIV, told through the lenses of community campaigns and individual stories.
HIV prevalence increases in Amuria District, Uganda
The HIV prevalence in the eastern Uganda District of Amuria has increase, a new report indicates. more
‘I might die before my trial begins’: life as an HIV positive prisoner in Uganda
The woe of an HIV positive prisoner unmasks Uganda’s security forces and the judiciary’s inadequacy in handling people living with serious health issues in their custody, finds KC Goodluck Musinguzi. more
‘Hard labour’ for prisoners living with HIV
Prisoners livings with HIV at Ndorwa Government Prison say they are being exposed to heavy work which weakens their health. more
‘We are empowered to handle HIV in our communities’
When Collins Wanyama was invited to take part in community care course, sponsored by Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN), he knew his dream of improving his skills had come true. KC Hope Mafaranga reports. more
Warning over HIV home test kits
From www.bbc.co.uk
Illegal home testing kits for HIV are giving people incorrect results, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has warned.
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Farmers asked to use condoms
Farmers in Mwizi sub county, Mbarara district, Western Uganda have been urged to embrace the use of condoms. more
Register for debate on ‘treatment as prevention’
From www.aidstar-one.com
The sixth debate of the Emerging Issues in Today’s HIV Response Debate Series, titled ‘Treatment as Prevention’, will see expert panellists discussing whether countries should spend the majority of what is likely to be a flat or even declining HIV prevention budget on ‘treatment as prevention’.
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Rosemary, 23, South Sudan
Rosemary, 23, from South Sudan, is five months pregnant and a mother of two infants. She recently tested HIV positive and suspects that the father of her unborn child, who died in August this year (2011), infected her. Furthermore, she suspects her partner showed her fake test results so that he could claim to be HIV negative. more
Prevention of mother to child transmission failing at health centre, medics warn
Health workers in Western Uganda have expressed concern over the government’s failure to provide HIV testing kits, which they say is making a prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) program fail, despite it being a priority. more
HIV campaign in Amuria District, Eastern Uganda
The Aids Support Organization’s (TASO) manager in Eastren Uganda’s Soroti district, Patrick Igulot, has urged everybody to do whatever they can to prevent the spread of HIV in their midst. more
The Global Fund to transfer HIV grant in Mali from National AIDS Council to new recipient
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will transfer management of a US$28.77 million HIV/AIDS grant from Mali’s national AIDS council, the Haut Conseil de Lutte contre le Sida (HCLNS), to a new principal recipient at the end of the year. more
‘HIV/Aids response faltering’
From allafrica.com
Once touted as a success story in the fight against HIV/Aids, but recent evidence is shows that Uganda’s response to the scourge is faltering. go
Co-trimoxazole: job aids and information to increase and sustain use
From www.aidstar-one.com
Co-trimoxazole is an antibiotic that reduces rates of opportunistic infections, such as malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia, and death among adults and children living with HIV. Access to this intervention, however, remains inconsistent. A key barrier to appropriate Co-trimoxazole use is limited awareness about the benefits of using the antibiotic as a prophylaxis. go
Groundbreaking trial results on HIV treatment as prevention
From www.unaids.org
WHO and UNAIDS hail results from the HPTN 052 trial that show antiretroviral therapy to be 96% effective in reducing HIV transmission in couples where one partner has HIV. Results announced by the United States National Institutes of Health show that if an HIV-positive person adheres to an effective antiretroviral therapy regimen, the risk of transmitting the virus to their uninfected sexual partner can be reduced by 96%. go
A personal story of one the participants in the gene therapy study
From www.aidsmap.com
In April’s HTU, AIDSMAP featured a news story, reporting that a group of patients had had their CD4 counts boosted by a form of gene therapy – and declared that this could be the first step to a cure for HIV infection. Matt Sharp wrote an article on lymphoma for that same issue. He was one of the six participants in the gene experiment and so far, he writes, it seems to be working just fine. go
Zambian pioneer HIV/TB activist Winstone Zulu remembered
From www.aidsmap.com
The prominent HIV and TB activist Winstone Zulu has died at the age of 47 in hospital in Lusaka. Mr Zulu was diagnosed with HIV in 1990 and was the first person in Zambia to make a public statement about his HIV status. go