Politics

Most of the world is on target to reduce the impact of tuberculosis (TB), but efforts have yet to bear fruit in Africa where the disease goes hand in hand with Aids, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.

The increasing rate at which children are being orphaned and abandoned in Lesotho has called for concerted action to regulate institutions that purport to be taking care of children.

The UNFPA Office for the Pacific is pleased to share with you the message of Executive Director of UNFPA, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid for 2006 International Womens Day.

It has long been known that malnutrition undermines economic growth and perpetuates poverty. Yet the international community and most governments in developing countries have failed to tackle malnutrition over the past decades, even though well-tested approaches for doing so exist. The consequences of this failure to act are now evident in the world's inadequate progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and toward poverty reduction more generally.

This year's Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)/Condom Week (12 - 18 February 2006) theme is - Just the two of us can prevent STIs - which aims to inspire individuals to seek STI treatment before they infect or re-infect their sexual partners.

Theft, bribery, fraud and extortion are rife in the world healthcare industry, robbing especially the poor of vital care, the sleaze watchdog Transparency International charged. The group also claimed that counterfeit drugs, particularly in developing countries, were responsible for the deaths of thousands of people each year and led to the increased spread of drug-resistant diseases.

KAMPALA, Uganda - As a woman living with HIV, I am often asked whether there will ever be a cure for AIDS. My answer is that there is already a cure. It lies in the strength of women, families and communities, who support and empower each other to break the silence around HIV/AIDS and take control of their sexual lives. I am a mother who has been HIV-positive for 14 years. I abstained until marriage and was faithful to my husband, but still I became infected. At the time, I knew nothing of HIV and felt powerless to discuss condoms or fidelity with my husband. When he died, I had to fight to keep my in-laws from grabbing my property, inheriting me and taking custody of my two children, aged four years and three months.

THIS promises to be another year of controversy, confusion and anxiety for South Africans on the health-care front, as government comes under renewed pressure to deal with its human resource crisis, speed up provision of AIDS drugs and implement a raft of new laws.

Contrary to expectations about the expense of antiretroviral therapy (ART), using ART in people with AIDS should be cost-effective for South Africa's public health sector according to a study published in January's PLoS Medicine (an 'open-access' medical journal). The cost of not using ART to treat people with AIDS is significantly greater - as patients with AIDS required more expensive time in the hospital and other medical care.

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 15 (IPS) - South Africa's high HIV prevalence has been described as the biggest challenge facing the country since apartheid. In light of this, one would expect to be bombarded with AIDS prevention messages on radio, television, billboards and bus stops. Yet some say that not enough of these messages are available.