HIV/AIDS in Peru

The HIV/AIDS Department, located in the HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria(HTM) Cluster , was created in December 2000 to coordinate a more strategic, organization-wide response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to enable WHO to provide enhanced technical support in HIV/AIDS to countries and regional offices. Main Areas of Work - Tracking the Epidemic and Building Knowledge - Setting the Global Standards in Prevention and Care - Working with Countries

The World Health Organization's Regional Office for Africa on Tuesday launched a strategy aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/tuberculosis coinfection on the continent, Panapress/Afriquenligne reports.

On June 5, 1981, when the Centers for Disease Control reported five cases of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in young homosexual men in Los Angeles,1 few suspected it heralded a pandemic of AIDS. In 1983, a retrovirus (later named the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV) was isolated from a patient with AIDS.

1. Enhancement of Syndromic Management of STIs in the Selected Cross Border/High Transmission Sites: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland

Africa south of the Sahara is the region most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with more than thirty million people living with HIV and AIDS in the region. It is estimated that there are approximately 10 million young people aged 15-24 years and almost 3 million children under 15 years of age living with HIV.

The HIV prevalence rate among pregnant women in Swaziland increased to 42.6% in 2004 from 38.6% in 2002, according to preliminary findings from the country's latest HIV sentinel survey, IRIN News reports

The speech of the Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

'The Health Systems Trust, in its eighth of SA Health Review, has called for an urgent human resource strategy to stem the exodus of doctors and nurses to other countries and from the public to the private sector. Contributors to the Review said many of the health professionals who remained in the public sector were inadequately trained to manage key health challenges such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The annual review incorporated contributions from several health experts with this year's focus on the progress made in restructuring SA's health system. It also serves as a barometer for assessing the implementation of health policies. The review said STIs remained a major public health challenge as they contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS, Integration of HIV/AIDS and STI/TB services at the delivery level remains a key challenge. On average, every second client with an STI syndrome can he expected to be HIV infected, the Review continued. Contributors noted that last year saw provincial and local governments strengthening efforts to integrate health plans in a bid to avoid duplication. The Review said that the long-awaited passing of the National Health Bill did not happen, thereby deepening the legislative vacuum for establishingthe district health system. (Source: Business Day, 25 March 2003).

African countries have scaled up their HIV/AIDS response, but more needs to be done, according to UN Under Secretary-General and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Executive Secretary, KY Amoako. Amoako said that the key to tackling most of the continent's health problems was to strengthen economies. He was optimistic that the Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS in April 2001 would be implemented. He also discussed the impact of the Global Fund in Africa and the role of women in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With respect to the Abuja Declaration and the consensus reached at ADF 2000 on HIV/AIDS, efforts are underway to translate these commitments into reality. We at the ECA have established a health unit in the Economic and Social Policy Division to enable us provide assistance to member states in their efforts to follow through on these commitments. ECA and OAU, with assistance from UNAIDS and WHO are preparing an annual report on HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria which will report and serve as a monitor of the implementation of the commitments made. It is hoped that this report will be presented to African heads of state during their summit meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, later this year. (The full text of this interview raises a number of interesting topical issues on the HIV/AIDS debate - please read the full text online, or contact editor@hst.org.za if you do not have web access)