| ANTI GAY LAW BLOCKADES INDIA’S HIV RESPONSE |
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| Chennai, India (2010 Features): Sekar* was thrown out
of his family in 1992, when they found out he was a kothi -- a local term for
effeminate men.
“I was totally desolate and devastated,” Sekar
remembers. “I had nobody to support or help me. Relatives and people in the
neighbourhood started to look at me with suspicion and fear. I had to
discontinue my education and look for a job to feed myself.”...More» |
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| MALE CIRCUMCISION THREATENS PREVENTION EFFORTS IN MALAWI |
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| Chiradzulu, Malawi ( 2010 Feature): Chiradzulu, a district
in the southern region of Malawi is steeped in tradition. Male circumcision is
widely practised for cultural and religious reasons. As such, many youths are
circumcised at age 14 years and above.
Village headman Chindunguli says, many boys who are
circumcised in his village are practising unsafe sex because of messages they
are getting that circumcised males cannot contract HIV....More» |
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| ELOPING INTO AIDS: LOVERS IN MANIPUR RISK HIV TO BE WITH EACH OTHER |
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| Manipur, India (2010 Features): Manipur, home to 29,602
persons living with HIV, is among the states with high HIV prevalence rates in
India. One of the most common forms of marriage among the Meitei Hindus, the
dominant population in the state, is marriage through elopement. In the
primarily traditional societies of Manipur, even basic education on sexual and
reproductive health is still lagging for young people, making them vulnerable to
HIV and AIDS. ...More» |
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| MALE CIRCUMCISION MYTH UNDERMINES PREVENTION EFFORTS IN MALAWI |
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| Chiradzulu, a district in the southern region of Malawi is
steeped in tradition. Male circumcision is widely practised for cultural and
religious reasons. As such, many youths are circumcised at age 14 years and
above.
But there is a problem. Village headman Chindunguli
says, many boys who are circumcised in his village are practising unsafe sex in
the belief that circumcised males cannot contract HIV....More» |
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| LOSING COUNT: THE DISABLED LOST IN JAMAICA'S HIV RESPONSE |
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| Kingston,Jamaica (2010 Features): While there has been
growth in the number of initiatives developed to address HIV and AIDS among the
disabled over the years in Jamaica, many disabled persons and those who work
with them say a key concern is lack of data because the situation of disabled
communities and HIV has not been properly assessed. "It is something that we
need to work on but we have not started on it yet." ...More» |
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| NEPALI SEX WORKERS HAVE LIMITED ACCESS TO HIV CARE |
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| Kathmandu, Nepal (2010 Features): Till she turned to sex work, Radha* , a woman from rural Nepal, did not know what a condom was. The sex trade made her aware of the importance of condom-use in preventing sexually transmitted infections such as HIV. ...More» |
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| MALAWI GAINS COULD BE NIXED BY ‘SCANDALOUS’ INFECTIONS |
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| Nearly 30,000 HIV-positive babies are born every year in
Malawi – one of the poorest countries in the world – because there just aren’t
enough clinics to offer counselling and services to mothers. Of these, 25,000
babies die within the year. It’s a massive preventable tragedy in a country with
90,000 new infections every year, say health policymakers and NGOs....More» |
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| Limited condoms threaten Zambia’s HIV response |
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| Goal 52 also states that member states should, “... ensure expanded access to
essential commodities including male and female condoms”. The Zambia UNGASS
Report 2008 notes that there was a significant increase in condom use among
adults aged 15 – 49 years old, from 2.3 percent in 2005 to 45.6 per cent in
2007, yet the country continues to fall below the 50 per cent mark. Limited
availability of and access to condoms are among some of the barriers to condom
use....More» |
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| Cutting to the Root of the Problem - Is Circumcision the Hope for HIV Prevention in Zambia? |
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| Goal 52 on prevention in the Declaration of Commitment signed in 2001, emphasises that, “by 2005 countries should ensure that they have a wide range of prevention programmes which take account of local circumstances, ethics and cultural values...” In Zambia, the promotion of circumcision as a prevention strategy by some agencies has resulted in an increase in men seeking to have the procedure done and ignoring other prevention methods. Health officials and civil society organisations are concerned about the impact this may have on the HIV prevention activities. They emphasise that circumcision in and of itself cannot be used as an intervention to fight HIV....More» |
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| Prisons and HIV: Elephant in the living room for Zimbabwe Prisons |
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| Globally, men who have sex with men (MSMs) have very limited access to HIV-prevention services. In 2007, only 39 per cent of countries with concentrated or low epidemics had implemented HIV risk reduction programmes for MSMs. In Zimbabwe, same sex relations are against the law. The country also has a huge male prison population with a high rate of HIV infection. As with most prison populations, consensual and forced sex takes place. However Zimbabwe’s laws and cultural mores mean that it is impossible to implement prevention programmes for this population. Zimbabwe has much work to do to meet the 2010 goals. ...More» |
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| Failing grades: Thousands of children lack AIDS education in Lesotho |
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| In Lesotho, while HIV education has been instituted in a few high schools, social and cultural norms make it impossible to deliver this education at the primary level, where many children are infected or affected by HIV. ...More» |
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| ZIMBABWE’S LOOMING CRISIS: HIV AND TB ON THE FARM |
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| Zimbabwe’s farms have long been in the news for the government’s controversial programme of settling black farmers on white-owned agricultural land. But risky sexual behaviour which can fuel the HIV epidemic is emerging as a major problem in the countryside. Death rates are high, and as one farm supervisor says, ‘who will do the menial tasks?’...More» |
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| VIOLENCE PUTS SEX WORKERS AT RISK IN ST. MAARTEN |
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| Philipsburg, St. Maarten (2010 Features): Maria (28), Rosa (30) and Ana (32)* arrived in St. Maarten to work as exotic dancers in their bid to end their financial woes. However, they were forced to work as sex workers under tough conditions. ...More» |
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| SEX WORKERS IN THE CARIBBEAN HOPE FOR BETTER FUTURE |
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| Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (2010 Features): Passion. She went for a cliché of a name. This Guyanese mother of five has sold sex for just under a quarter century. Passion began selling sex when she was 14 and her family’s sole breadwinner fell ill. As a young woman, she plied her trade in Linden, a bustling port town. Now, at 38, she solicits ‘regulars’ over her mobile phone ...More» |
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| SEX WORKERS RISK IT ALL IN LESOTHO |
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Maseru, Lesotho (2010 Features): Most sex workers in Lesotho are forced by economic circumstances to offer their services without the use of condoms.
“For one round, it is Loti 50 (approximately US$7) with a condom or Loti 100 without,” says Pinki Mafane, an 18-year-old sex worker in Maseru. According to a 2007 UNAIDS report on HIV, Lesotho is among nine countries in which life expectancy has dropped to below 40 years. ...More» |
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| CONFIDENTIALITY: A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD |
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| Mutare, Zimbabwe, 2010 Features: Stakeholders in Zimbabwe are lobbying for the amendment of laws to allow medical personnel to disclose the HIV status of their clients to either spouses or close relatives providing home-based care. In a country where poverty forces people to prefer home-based care over hospitalisation, caregivers are informed of their kin’s HIV status, and not informed to take precautions every time they handle their dear ones’ bodily fluids, to prevent being infected. ...More» |
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| CRIMINALISAION OF SEX WORKERS BOOSTS HIV INFECTION RISK |
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| Johannesburg, South Africa (2010 Features): A number of South African NGOs are lobbying for the decriminalisation of sex work, demanding the removal of laws that make adult sex work and aspects of the sex work industry a crime. The continued criminalisation of sex workers has contributed to their stigma, isolation and violation of human rights. The fact that most sex workers are women, that their work is illegal and that they are shunned by their communities, exposes them to exploitation. ...More» |
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| MULTIPLE SEXUAL PARTNERS, LOW CONDOM USE PUSHES HIV EPIDEMIC IN LESOTHO |
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| Maseru, Lesotho (2010 Features): Dependence on migrant labour has resulted in men being away from
home for long periods of time, and the breaking of family support structures.
This coupled with deep-rooted cultural practices that allow men to be in sexual
relationships with more than one woman has led to an increase in multiple sexual
partnerships among migrant labourers. Further, condom usage remains taboo,
leading to a high HIV infection rate among men in Lesotho. ...More» |
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| Flunking Life: HIV lessons learnt but not lived in South Africa |
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| In South Africa, the rate of HIV infection among young
people continues to rise, although HIV education has been part of schools’
curricula since 2001 and despite widespread public education campaigns.
Increased knowledge about HIV has not translated into safer behaviour. The late
stage at which children are exposed to HIV education as well as social and
cultural norms may be driving risky behaviour and countering the effects of HIV
education. ...More» |
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