afrol News, 22 November - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the head of the Commonwealth has lauded the Ugandan government for striving hard to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict that plagued the country s northern region. She expressed delight to be associated with the democratic path and stability
afrol News, 14 November - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh has fired the Health Minister from office. Dr. Tamsir Mbowe was replaced by Dr. Malick Njie, who was the Director of Health Services at the time of the appointment. The new minister was formerly a medical army officer who was once incacerated in the main central
Maureen Mwanawasa is encouraging women to demand safer sex from their partners, not negotiate for it. Ms Mwanawasa recently made the statement at the launch of the FC2 female condom campaign at the Lusaka City Market, handing out condoms to the public. Negotiating for safer sex is a term that has become accepted world
The former Mozambican President, Joachim Chissano has become the winner of the inaugural Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership - the largest individual prize in the world. The prize worth US $5 million for 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter. Besides, the laureate gets US $200,000 a ye
A new study revealed that the anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment is failing among one third of sub-Saharan HIV/AIDS patients. Conducted by the Boston University School of Public Health in United States , the study, carried out in 13 sub-Saharan countries, was published by the Public Libray of Science. It showed that s
It s the middle of the afternoon and a group of teenagers are playing cards in a homestead in the town of Yei, southern Sudan . The girls are heavily made up and the boys sport cowboy hats and basketball vests. You can smell the cigarettes and vodka they are passing around, and there are hormones in the air. They a
A South African study has found no evidence that better nutrition can substitute anti-retroviral treatment (ARV). This comes at a time when South Africans have been debating whether nutrition can be an alternative to ARVs. South African Health Minister, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, firmly believed that eating garlic, beet
Scientists at the WorldFish Center discovered that an innovative project to encourage fish farming among families affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi has doubled the income for 1,200 households and greatly increased fish and vegetable consumption among the country s rural communities. These findings were contained in a re
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today lifted a suspension of grants funding on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programs in Chad . The grants, worth more than US$ 20 million over five years, were suspended in November 2006 due to concerns over the misuse of funds and the ability of the principal recipi
When it comes to sub-Saharan Africa s devastating AIDS crisis, there is an understandable tendency to latch onto any scrap of good news. Figures suggesting the epidemic is waning in some countries are being trumpeted by governments and international donor agencies as evidence that their prevention efforts are succeedin
The six Bulgarian medics convicted for infecting at least 438 Libyan children with HIV/AIDS have been reunited with their families. They were freed following a deal struck between Libyan authorities and the European Union. Upon arrival, they were pardoned by Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov. President Parvanov said
Bulgarian authorities will soon write to their Libyan counterparts, requesting the return of the six convicted medics. Libya s High Judicial Court had overturned the medics death sentence to life imprisonment for infecting 483 Libyan children with HIV/AIDS. This development came on the heels of condemnations and appeal
A group of prominent and renowned church leaders in Lesotho showed their commitment to promote dignity, equality and rights of all people, especially those living with HIV/AIDS in front of King Letsie III and Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili. They also pledged to discuss openly issues around HIV/AIDS - treatment, shun
A Supreme Court in Libya today confirmed the death penalty against the six foreign medics found guilty of infecting 438 Libyan children with the Aids virus. The confirmation came a day after a compensation deal was reached with the families of the children. The convicts - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor
It s often overlooked that one essential thing in the treatment of AIDS or HIV is good nutrition, was the message the American First Lady, Laura Bush, told reporters at Hospital Fann in Dakar, Senegal . Mrs Bush, who mounted a tour in five African countries, arrived in Senegal on Monday. She would use the tour to visi
The Zambian Ministry of Health has said it will prosecute two men promoting a HIV/AIDS treatment if they do not provide evidence of the drug s ability to cure. The duo are accused of selling Tetrasil, which has not been clinically tested, to private clinics as a drug to treat HIV/AIDS, contravening Zambia s procedures
The pharmaceutical group Roche has announced that it has signed two agreements with Ethiopia and Zimbabwe enabling the free transfer of technical know-how that will make possible the [local] production of a generic anti-HIV drug known as saquinavir. This represents a new step towards wider access to treatments against
A Senegalese scientist has disputed test results used by Gambian President Yayha Jammeh to support claims that he had found a cure for AIDS. Souleyman Mboup, a professor at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, said that the findings were made under false pretences and that, in any case, Jammeh s interpret
A new comprehensive report has established that carriers of HIV/AIDS in Uganda s northern war zone are facing significant difficulties in accessing assistance such as counselling, treatment and support. Issued by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) today, the report which focuses on the comprehensive map
Dressed in a tiny white skirt and a top, Linda, 16, (not her real name) struts into a nightclub in Madlambuzi, a sprawling rural settlement in Zimbabwe s Matabeleland South Province. Swinging to the deafening music, she scans the room for potential customers. She joins a group of visibly drunk girls with pints of clear
Over 60,000 orphans are to benefit directly from what the UN calls a landmark partnership , sealed by the government of Lesotho , the European Commission (EC) and the UN Children s Fund (UNICEF). European grants thus are channelled towards one third of Lesotho s orphans, most having lost their parents to AIDS. The
Tanzanian authorities are disturbed by the increasing number of teachers killed by HIV/AIDS. According to the latest report, between 1996 and 2006, 193 teachers died of HIV and AIDS-related diseases in the country s south-western district of Mbeya alone. With a population of 38 million, it is estimated that over two mi
An alarming increase in new HIV infections in young South African women suggests that outreach strategies - such as condom use and abstinence programmes - are failing to curb high-risk behaviour among teenagers and young adults, say researchers. The research, published in the March issue of the South African Medical Jo
After failing to persuade its young people to change their sexual behaviours, the South African government today announced a five-year plan to cut by half the number of new HIV infections in the country. South Africa has one of the world s highest HIV infection rates. The South African government said it is set to addr
People with same-sex preferences are still a largely ignored and underserved community in the design and execution of HIV-prevention programmes throughout much of Africa, gay rights activists have documented in a report. The discrimination against gays and lesbians by African health services contributed to the spread o
New research dramatically contradicts the popular conclusions of recently published reports, holding that male circumcision protects against contracting AIDS. Scientists looking at male circumcision and female genital mutilation (FGM) practices in Kenya , Lesotho and Tanzania
In a swift reaction to her comments casting doubts about President Yahya Jammeh s ability to cure HIV/AIDS, The Gambia government today ordered the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Dr Fadzai Gwaradzimba, to leave the country within 48 hours. Ms Gwaradzimba is asked to leave on 24 February. Officials of both the Gam
The Gambia s President, Yahya Jammeh, continues to attract more world attention after he had publicly announced that he personally discovered a cure for HIV/AIDS. Although his pronouncements had caused a lot of controversy in the world, Mr Jammeh is poised to ride on with his cure sessions. According to a release issue
An estimated 10,000 educators in South Africa are expected to die of HIV/AIDS within the next two years if there is no plan to quickly give anti-retroviral drugs to all needy educators, according to opposition reports. The ANC government is again criticised for not taking the AIDS pandemic seriously. South Africa s
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