Europe’s undocumented migrants struggle to access healthcare

NAIROBI, 25 April 2013 (IRIN Global) - Europe's financial crisis and rising xenophobia are complicating access to medical treatment for undocumented migrants, according to a new report by the international NGO Médecins du Monde (MdM). full report

Shortages of new one-a-day ARV pills in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, 19 April 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Just days into the rollout of fixed-dose combination (FDC) antiretrovirals (ARVs) by South Africa’s HIV treatment programme - the world's largest - activists are raising fears of drug shortages. full report

Unwelcome side effects of mining in Mozambique

TETE, 11 April 2013 (IRIN Africa) - It is 15.45 in the afternoon and two young women are already sitting outside the Night Clinic in Moatize, a small town in Mozambique's northern Tete Province, near one of the largest coal mines in the southern hemisphere, owned by Brazilian mining giant, Vale. The national 123 road cuts through the town, and the clinic lies just off it, intentionally located to bring its services as close as possible to its target patients: miners, truck drivers and sex workers. full report

Boost for healthcare in DRC

NAIROBI, 31 March 2013 (IRIN Africa) - The British government has announced a major new programme aimed at providing essential healthcare to six million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The five-year, US$270.7 million project will focus on rebuilding health facilities, training health workers, and supplying drugs and equipment. full report

Activists fear less focus on HIV after 2015

BANGKOK, 28 March 2013 (IRIN Asia) - As a UN high-level panel completes worldwide consultations to pick development goals for 2015 and beyond, PlusNews consulted experts to see how HIV/AIDS might fit into this new agenda. full report

Indonesia to override patents for live-saving medicines

JAKARTA, 25 March 2013 (IRIN Asia) - The Indonesian government hopes to implement one of the largest ever examples of “compulsory licensing”, which will enable the generic manufacture of drugs still under patent. full report

Tackling poverty and disease with innovative health financing

MAPUTO, 19 March 2013 (IRIN Global) - Mozambique has become the latest African country to implement a financial transaction tax (FTT) and airplane levy to fund health services in developing countries, part of the UNITAID initiative. Philippe Douste-Blazy, board chairman of the international financing mechanism, spoke to IRIN about the state of play in innovative health financing. full report

Mozambique’s first HIV vaccine trial heralds new era in local research

MAPUTO, 15 March 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Mozambique has completed its first HIV vaccine trial and is set to embark on a second, a demonstration of the country’s increased HIV research capacity. full report

In Brief: Condoms needed in PNG prisons

BANGKOK, 14 March 2013 (IRIN Asia) - A Papua New Guinea (PNG) study released today calls for condoms to be made more widely available in prisons. full report