This online course will review recent advances relating to the human right to adequate food, and also develop skills in applying it in specific contexts. It will use the Yahoo! Groups software. The course will begin on March 20, 2006 and end on June 12, 2006. It will be offered online through TRANSCEND Peace University. Detailed information about the course and about TPU and its registration procedures is available at http://www.transcend.org/tpu/

“It’s a government set-up,” “It’s a white man’s disease,” “Getting close to chickens kills.” Since Africa’s first cases of the deadly H5N1 virus were reported in northern Nigeria early this month, rumours, conspiracy theories and scepticism have been rife. And as the federal government steps up the battle to stem the spread of the virus, many Nigerians are still puzzling over what to make of this strange poultry disease that has created such panic in the west.

Science, human rights and good governance can make the world a better place, begins the introductory article of the latest Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) newsletter. "This is why we must protect all these things. If they are undermined, our country's development will falter. Ordinary citizens must make sure that government respects science and our rights and that it ensures that scientific and technological advances benefit all. Science must be held to account for its inadequacies. But we must not allow our own government to misuse legitimate questions about science to refuse us our rights." Click on the link to read the newsletter.

The Zimbabwean government has allocated about $830,000 to purchase antiretroviral drugs for people living with HIV/AIDS in the country, Owen Mugurungi, head of the AIDS and TB unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, said last Wednesday, Xinhuanet reports. Speaking during a Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service forum on universal access to treatment in Zimbabwe, Mugurungi said the drugs would benefit at least 25,000 HIV-positive people currently on antiretroviral therapy.

As indicated by its name, this Citizens' Jury is a space to share knowledge, dialogue and inform decisions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in relation to the future of farming in Mali. This event involved farmers - men and women - from all districts of the Sikasso region in Mali. The Citizens' Jury on GMOs took place in Sikasso between 25 and 29 January 2006. Follow the link to access the outcome document, which presents the recommendations of the 45 men and women farmers from all districts of the region of Sikasso who met to cross-examine specialist witnesses and deliberate on the issue of GMOs and farming futures in Mali.

An outbreak of cholera in the southern Sudanese city of Juba has claimed the lives of 59 people since the first case was reported there two weeks ago, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. The ICRC said in a statement that it was airlifting 30 tonnes of emergency medical supplies from Kenya to Juba to treat those infected. More than a thousand cases of cholera have been reported in Juba, southern Sudan's capital, since 6 February, the agency said.

As soon as Moussa Diouf saw the bird lying sick on the ground, the young man from a village on the edges of Senegal’s giant Djoudj bird reserve, dropped it in a plastic bag and dashed off post-haste to the main rangers’ office. Diouf was worried the bird might be carrying “the new sickness”. But the head ranger smiled on opening the bag. “It’s a common sparrow which is moulting and has become vulnerable because it can’t fly very far,” said Major Ibrahima Diop, who heads a squad of 43 rangers working in the Djoudj reserve, a national showcase of 16,000 hectares of low-lying mangrove swamp.

Southern Africa is home to nearly two-thirds of those living with HIV/AIDS globally. Despite significant obstacles, a huge response has been mounted by a host of government, private and civil society organisations. There is a general expectation that the media plays an important role in responding to the epidemic. But what exactly is that role? How successfully is it played in individual developing countries? And how could it be improved? A new report from Panos deals with these questions.

HIV/AIDS advocates and health officials in Zambia say efforts to treat HIV-positive people in the country over the past year should have focused more on the quality of treatment rather than the number of people receiving treatment, South Africa's Independent Online reports. Zambia in 2005 aimed to have 100,000 HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral drugs by the end of the year, but the country was able to reach only about half its target in that time.

Climate change that strengthens the El Nino weather patterns could endanger food supplies for more than 20 million people in Africa, a new study warns. El Nino is a warming of the water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that is associated with changes in air pressure and the movement of high-level winds that can affect weather worldwide. In the past, El Ninos have occurred every four to seven years, but many climate experts worry that continuing global warming will lead to stronger and more frequent events. A new analysis of 40 years of African crop and livestock records shows a close association between El Ninos and variations in production of corn, sorghum, millet and groundnuts such as peanuts.

The Communication Initiative is operating a new discussion forum on health communication for the Health Communication Partnership, called 'Why invest in health communication? The forum will focus on the following questions: Do you have an opinion on investment in health communication? Is it enough? Are there discernable trends? How do we measure them? What would you like to see and why? Who should we be lobbying and how?

Medical experts from Africa's Great Lakes region are meeting in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, to plan ways of countering epidemics in the region. Outbreaks of malaria, cholera, meningitis, dysentery and, lately, the avian influenza are some of the epidemics under discussion in the four-day workshop that began on Monday. Experts representing Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Tanzania are in attendance.

This publication from SATELLIFE provides an overview of SATELLIFE's experiences using hand-held computers for both information dissemination and data collection and reporting. The document draws heavily on experience with SATELLIFE's largest project, the Uganda Health Information Network (UHIN). This document focuses not only on the technical aspects of setting up a handheld computer project, but discusses organisational issues and promotion of local ownership.

Eliminating even modest fees for HIV testing can greatly increase the number of those tested in Tanzania and thereby enhance Aids-prevention efforts, US researchers have said. In a two-week pilot programme, the daily average of people tested for HIV at a clinic in Moshi jumped from four to 15 when the standard test fee of Tsh1,000 ($0.95) was waived, according to a study by Duke University Medical Centre.

In a move to address the critical shortage of nurses, several nursing colleges will be re-opened, Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has announced. She said that her department had been contemplating the move, but that they had waited for the go-ahead from President Thabo Mbeki in his state of the nation address. “We have got to train as many nurses as possible. Even if we train too many and some leave,” said Tshabalala-Msimang at a media briefing in parliament.

The impact of AIDS on the military has been a topic African armed forces have preferred to keep under wraps, concerned with issues of national security. But in a step towards greater openness, military and civilian experts from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) gathered last week in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, as part of an advisory group to discuss a regional response to AIDS in the defence sector.

Frightened poultry workers on Monday shunned medical examinations for bird flu in northern Nigeria, where the presence of the deadly H5N1 virus which can affect humans was reported last week. Only about 20 of the estimated 160 employees of Sambawa Farms in Jaji, Kaduna State, turned up for a medical screening conducted at a nearby clinic by a joint team of federal and state health officials. Workers told IRIN that many of their colleagues stayed away because they were frightened of being detained by authorities if tested positive.

Children affected by HIV/AIDS do not receive enough care and support, UNAIDS said last Thursday ahead of the third Global Partners' Forum in London, Reuters reports. The forum, hosted by UNICEF and the UK Department for International Development, is bringing together advocates from 50 countries and 90 international organizations to address ways to improve policies that support children affected by HIV/AIDS.

More than 100 cases of suspected meningitis, including 15 fatalities, have been recorded in six Sudanese states since early January, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) has reported. The agency said at least 136 cases had been reported in the states of Khartoum, Blue Nile, Kassala, Sennar, West Darfur and Gederef.

An outbreak of the deadly avian flu has been confirmed in Nigeria, wiping out in one fell swoop over 46,000 poultry at a farm at Jaji, Kaduna, reports the Vanguard newspaper. The bird flu is caused by avian influenza viruses, which occur naturally among birds. The virus in humans results in serious illness that spreads easily  from person to person. Apart from the Sambawa Farms, some farms in Kano and Plateau States have also been quarantined by government for pathological tests in  search of a possible infection.