A mobile phone-based health programme designed to improve access to sexual health information and boost safe sex in rural central Uganda had the opposite effect, according to the findings of a Yale University study published in May. full report

Insecurity in Bangui increases food prices, lay-offs	Tanzanian high-risk groups denied HIV services
Linking early warning to early action in the Sahel	Lack of access, rains hinder aid to Jonglei IDPs

Smuggling devours Ivoirian cashew revenue

ABIDJAN, 13 June 2013 (IRIN) - About a third of Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew nuts are smuggled abroad every year, robbing the country of a valuable income stream. full report

Preparing for floods in West Africa

DAKAR/NIAMEY, 14 June 2013 (IRIN) - West African and Sahel countries are setting up measures to minimize flood damage as the annual rainy season approaches. The African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development (ACMAD) in a seasonal weather outlook says near-average or above-average rainfall is likely over the western Sahel, which stretches across Mauritania, Senegal and western and central Niger. full report

Calls for AU, UN to take action in Sudan’s Blue Nile State

NAIROBI, 12 June 2013 (IRIN) - The UN and the African Union must step forward and take decisive action to stop Sudan from committing war crimes against civilians in Blue Nile State, says a new Amnesty International report, dismissed as “false” by Khartoum. full report

Uganda running out of ARVs, HIV test kits

KAMPALA, 12 June 2013 (IRIN) - Uganda has run out of most antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), HIV testing kits, drugs to treat opportunistic infections and several crucial diagnostic tools for HIV care, according to a recent Ministry of Health stock status report. full report

Sierra Leone braces for cholera season

FREETOWN, 12 June 2013 (IRIN) - As the fleeting storms of May give way to the persistent downpours of June, the National Cholera Taskforce in Freetown, Sierra Leone, is working to prevent a repeat of last year’s cholera outbreak. full report

Thousands still missing HIV treatment following CAR coup

KAMPALA, 11 June 2013 (IRIN) - More than 15,000 people living with HIV in the Central African Republic (CAR) had their life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) treatment interrupted as a result of the instability before, during and after the 24 March coup by the Séléka rebel group. NGOs are now struggling to ensure these people resume their regimens to reduce the risk of illness, drug resistance and death. full report