GLOBAL: IRIN/PlusNews Weekly Issue 461, 6 November 2009
JOHANNESBURG, 6 November 2009 (PlusNews) - CONTENTS:
GLOBAL: AIDS funding at "dangerous turning point"
BOTSWANA: A risky combination of alcohol and sex
KENYA: Cervical cancer, little-known killer of HIV-positive women
SWAZILAND: TB-HIV services needed to lower world's highest rates
BOTSWANA: Positive teens find refuge at their own club
BOTSWANA: Katlego Lally, "Being a teenager is very hard"
LESOTHO: Time to talk about sex and HIV
GLOBAL: AIDS activists laud lifting of US HIV travel ban
ETHIOPIA: Bright lights, big city is high risk for students
ZIMBABWE: Anna Matopodza, "When I tell people I am a grandmother, they do not believe me"
NAMIBIA: A long walk to universal access
MOZAMBIQUE: Task-shifting brings rapid scale-up of ART rollout
SWAZILAND: Thandi Xaba, "If you feel good about life it helps you stay healthy"
AFRICA: Using DOTS for TB, HIV and other chronic diseases
AFRICA: Electronic records can streamline health care
GLOBAL: AIDS funding debate heats up
TANZANIA: Low uptake of ARVs hampering universal access
EVENTS/RESOURCES
1. International Association for Physicians in AIDS Care Conference, 29 Nov - 1 Dec, 2009 - New Orleans, USA
2. November issue of the WHO Bulletin
VACANCIES
1. HIV Treatment and Care Officer, UNICEF - Bossaso, Somalia
2. Health & HIV/AIDS Coordinator, CARE - Freetown, Sierra Leone
GLOBAL: AIDS funding at "dangerous turning point"
Wavering international support for HIV/AIDS efforts is resulting in funding shortfalls that could wipe out a decade of progress in rolling out AIDS treatment, the international medical and humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), has warned.
full report
BOTSWANA: A risky combination of alcohol and sex
On a recent Wednesday evening, Gillian Otsile, a volunteer at a local NGO, Men Sex and AIDS, approached a group of young men drinking cartons of traditional sorghum beer at a tavern in Selebi-Phikwe, a mining town in northeastern Botswana.
full report
KENYA: Cervical cancer, little-known killer of HIV-positive women
Three years after being diagnosed with HIV, Alice Mworia, 28, went for a routine medical check-up during which she told the nurse she had noticed an unusual vaginal discharge; a test revealed she had pre-cancerous lesions on her cervix that could develop into cancer if untreated.
full report
SWAZILAND: TB-HIV services needed to lower world's highest rates
Swaziland not only has the world's highest HIV prevalence rate, it now also has the highest tuberculosis (TB) rate, but health officials warn that not enough is being done to integrate TB and HIV services.
full report
BOTSWANA: Positive teens find refuge at their own club
Raging hormones, peer pressure and coming to terms with a changing body image - growing up is difficult enough without the added burden of living with HIV, and keeping it hidden from friends and classmates.
full report
BOTSWANA: Katlego Lally, "Being a teenager is very hard"
Katlego Lally*, 17, belongs to a club for HIV-positive teenagers run by the Baylor Children's Clinic Centre of Excellence in Gaborone, Botswana's capital. She talked to IRIN/PlusNews about how the club has helped her overcome feelings of isolation and depression.
full report
LESOTHO: Time to talk about sex and HIV
Having more than one sexual relationship at the same time is driving the spread of HIV in small landlocked Lesotho. The health sector has long suspected this, but a new report by the National AIDS Commission (NAC), in partnership with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has confirmed it.
full report
GLOBAL: AIDS activists laud lifting of US HIV travel ban
A 22-year-old ban on people infected with HIV entering the US was officially lifted on 2 November, with the new rules taking effect in 60 days. AIDS activists have hailed the move as a major coup in the fight against stigma.
full report
ETHIOPIA: Bright lights, big city is high risk for students
Being a university freshman is an exciting time for any young person, but many students get carried away, partying too hard and taking sexual risks.
full report
ZIMBABWE: Anna Matopodza, "When I tell people I am a grandmother, they do not believe me"
When Anna Matopodza, 55, from a village in the Buhera district of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe, found out she was HIV-positive, she was anxious about who would look after her five children when she died. The thought of death haunted her for months; then she joined dance group and travelled around the world, teaching people about HIV/AIDS through song and dance.
full report
NAMIBIA: A long walk to universal access
In Onamutenya village, northern Namibia, the Shigwedha household leaves their homestead at the crack of dawn to make the monthly four-hour walk to fetch antiretroviral (ARV) medication from the local clinic.
full report
MOZAMBIQUE: Task-shifting brings rapid scale-up of ART rollout
The use of mid-level health workers rather than doctors to prescribe antiretroviral treatment (ART), a strategy called task-shifting, has enabled Mozambique to triple the number of facilities providing medication within six months, according to a new study.
full report
SWAZILAND: Thandi Xaba, "If you feel good about life it helps you stay healthy"
Thandi Xaba, 23, an aspiring actress living with HIV, belongs to an itinerant theatrical group in Swaziland who perform plays dealing with HIV/AIDS, often spiced with humour to engage the rural audience who sit beneath trees to watch the shows.
full report
AFRICA: Using DOTS for TB, HIV and other chronic diseases
Malawi's successful use of a well-known tuberculosis (TB) treatment system to scale up antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV could improve chronic disease management in other African nations, experts say.
full report
AFRICA: Electronic records can streamline health care
Replacing manual data with electronic health records would significantly improve the quality of care and enable African HIV treatment programmes to be scaled up more efficiently, say the authors of a new article on the subject.
full report
GLOBAL: AIDS funding debate heats up
The billions of donor dollars spent on combating HIV/AIDS in the last decade, often at the expense of other fatal diseases, have done little to strengthen weak national health systems, some global health experts argue.
full report
TANZANIA: Low uptake of ARVs hampering universal access
HIV-positive Tanzanians are not taking advantage of the availability of life-prolonging anti-retroviral medication in hospitals around the country, says a senior government official.
full report
EVENTS/RESOURCES
1. International Association for Physicians in AIDS Care Conference, 29 Nov - 1 Dec, 2009 - New Orleans, USA
The International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC), in association with amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, will host a two-track, abstract-driven international conference. The programme will feature state-of-the-art information about HIV Clinical Management approaches (Track A) as well as HIV Prevention, Testing, and Psychosocial Support (Track B) in developed and developing world settings.
To register, go to: www.iapac.org
2. November issue of the WHO Bulletin
A number of papers in the November issue of the World Health Organization's monthly bulletin address the theme of strengthening the linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV. In the lead editorial, Michel Sidibé and Kent Buse explain why these links are crucial to public health. Other topics include how China’s economic boom has inadvertently fuelled epidemics in sexually transmitted infections and HIV; efforts in Swaziland to link services for sexual health and HIV; and the need to address the reproductive health needs of HIV-positive women.
To view, go to: www.who.int
VACANCIES
1. HIV Treatment and Care Officer, UNICEF - Bossaso, Somalia
Responsibilities:
- Draft, implement, and monitor HIV treatment and care related projects in an evidence informed, timely and efficient manner
- Undertake field visits jointly with partners, Ministry counterparts, HIV officers, and other programme colleagues as necessary to monitor projects, as well as conduct periodic project reviews with government counterparts and other partners
- Liaise with the Ministers and Directorates of Health and key national partners regarding implementation of HIV activities in MOH facilities to ensure integration of HIV treatment and care services into the national health system
- Distribute in a timely manner all HIV-related health commodities and contribute to the development of an efficient system of distribution and receipt by implementation partners to all UNICEF supported sites
- Collect and analyze health facility based HIV data and produce reports for monitoring purposes in a frequency agreed with the HIV unit
- Collaborate with HIV prevention advisor and Safe Motherhood officer to ensure the prevention, treatment and care continuum in HIV programming and strengthened PMTCT programming
- Implement a national system for TB/HIV referral and collaborative activities and lead the implementation of the TB/HIV component in the Round 7 Global Fund TB proposal
Requirements:
- University degree in medicine, health, public health, social sciences or other related technical field (or equivalent combination of education and experience)
- Five years experience with at least one year of progressively responsible experience in HIV treatment and care programme implementation and monitoring or related field
- Fluency in English
- Communication, analytical and training skills
- Good writing skills
- Good computer skills including internet navigation, and various office applications
- Ability to work in an international and multi-cultural environment
Application deadline: 17 November
Qualified Somali nationals are invited to apply.
To apply, send applications with updated UN Personal History Form (P.11), updated CV and copies of academic certificates to somaliahrvacancies@unicef.org
2. Health & HIV/AIDS Coordinator, CARE - Freetown, Sierra Leone
Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic leadership and guidance for the Country Office health and HIV portfolio
- Play a leading role in new business development in the area of health and HIV across all sectors, including programme design and proposal development
- Ensure that systems are in place and are properly implemented to insure the proper management and execution of projects/programmes
- Manage grants/budgets and ensure compliance to both donor and CARE International policies and procedures as well as leading strategic development of the sector
- Network with relevant government ministries, donors, partners and other organizations ensuring linkages to others
- Ensure that programme activities are designed, implemented, monitored, and evaluated, in accordance with CARE's programming standards and approaches
- Strategically seek additional funding for CARE SL’s health portfolio
Requirements:
- Minimum of a Masters in Public Health or the equivalent combination of education and work experience
- At least seven years practical experience with an international development organization, managing large multi-million dollar projects under complex operating environments
- Demonstrated practical project management experience covering all aspects of the project cycle from design through to evaluation
- Programme development experience
- Demonstrated practical skills management in the administering of grants to rural communities
- Excellent organizational, leadership, and interpersonal skills
- Sound knowledge of child survival and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS issues and policies in the developing world, particularly West Africa
- Excellent communication skills, especially English language writing skills
- Project management skills
Application deadline: 23 November
To apply, visit: https://tbe.taleo.net/
|