More than 100 people have died from measles in the Chadian capital N'djamena and the surrounding southern provinces and up to 24,000 people could be infected with the virus, Medecin Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 6,000 reported cases nationwide, but MSF said the real figure could be two to three times higher.

Researchers trying to battle the outbreak of deadly Marburg virus in Angola claim that traditional healers' practices could be helping the virus spread. They believe that healers are re-using syringes and needles to inject patients. This, say the researchers, could explain why the virus is still killing an average of three people a day, one month after the outbreak was identified.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says it is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali. Jebali has been on a hunger strike since April 9 to protest his treatment in Sfax prison, about 142 miles (230 km) from Tunis. According to his lawyer Noureddine B'hiri, Jebali's health is deteriorating quickly. He is very faint and weak, B'hiri said, adding that Jebali's wife, Wahida Trabelsi, is demanding that an outside doctor be allowed to examine Jebali's condition.

The antics of the discredited Dr Rath, and our health minister's support for him, are dragging us back into the dark days of AIDS denialism, says this Health-E News article. After months of relative stability in government over HIV/AIDS treatment, we seem to be back on the rollercoaster of contradictions. The problem this time hinges around the curious fondness our Health Minister, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has for Dr Matthias Rath, a discredited vitamin seller. Rath has peddled his vitamin product, Vitacor, around the world. First he claimed it was a cure for heart disease, then cancer and now AIDS.

Over half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the world are found in sub-Sahara Africa, according to statistics released by a Tanzania-based health body. Dr Steven Shongwe, the executive secretary of the Commonwealth Regional Health Community for East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA Health Community), said that a recent survey among the 14 member countries in the body indicated that the region has an estimated 30 million people suffering from HIV/ AIDS, accounting for about 50 per cent of the worldwide total.

African church leaders have welcomed the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. However, South Africa's Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said he was sad that the new pope was unlikely to end the church's opposition to condoms.

The number of new polio cases recorded in Nigeria has declined sharply in recent months, but the country still accounts for more than half of all new cases of the disease recorded worldwide, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) said. WHO said in its latest surveillance report that 41 cases of polio were recorded in 12 states of Nigeria between 27 February and 16 April, down from 86 cases registered in 23 states of the federation during the same period in 2004.

Medical researchers in the Republic of Congo say that 30 percent of people in the country have sickle cell anaemia, a painful, usually fatal, disease that occurs almost exclusively among Africans and people of African descent. Previously, the percentage of Congolese thought to have the disease was between 20 percent and 25 percent.

On the billboard is a photo of two crested cranes - Uganda's national bird. "The Crested Crane sticks faithfully to one partner until death. Abstinence and faithfulness - 100% guaranteed," reads the caption below the entangled lovebirds. This push for abstinence and faithfulness in the fight against HIV/Aids has been welcomed by some sections of society, especially religious groups. However, others consider it dangerous to push the "A" for "Abstinence" and the "B" for "Be Faithful" if the "C" for "Condom" message is lost or diluted.

The number of AIDS-related deaths in Ethiopia could reach 1.8 million by 2008 unless the country takes steps to reduce the current prevalence rate and provide treatment for those living with the disease, according to a report released on Wednesday, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The 38-page report, titled "Ethiopia HIV/AIDS Emergency Plan," was conducted under the direction of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief by health officials from the United Nations, the United States, and the Ethiopian AIDS secretariat and health ministry.

"The last few months have seen an unprecedented and deliberate smear campaign against the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) [in South Africa] and its members, as well as the Medicines Control Council. However, the real aim of these attacks is to reinvent HIV denialism and to undermine the treatment of people who need antiretrovirals (ARVs)," says the TAC in a briefing statement to the media.

On 9 April 2005, journalist Hamadi Jebali started another hunger strike. He has been jailed since 1991. "We are concerned about Hamadi Jebali's deteriorating health. He is getting weaker with each successive hunger strike. It is deplorable that he is not given the food brought for him by his wife. Once again, we urge President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali to see to it that the journalist is released immediately and unconditionally," Reporters sans frontières (RSF) said.

The World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), threatens human rights by promoting a trade liberalization agenda that overrides efforts to improve livelihoods, finds a new report published by 3D ? Trade - Human Rights - Equitable Economy and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP). The report, 'Planting the Rights Seed: A Human Rights Perspective on Agriculture Trade and the WTO', is the first in a series designed to analyze the WTO AoA. The full report can be read at iatp.org or 3dthree.org.

On Saturday April 9th 2005, Student World Assembly (SWA) members from the Ghana Region participated in a momentous Aids Walk which aimed to raise awareness about the epidemic and different prevention methods. The walk was organized by the Ghana Region of the SWA and brought together 300 members from numerous SWA chapters. Educational packages and 3000 free condoms were distributed to interested people along the way. For more information visit the website through the URL provided.

The Tools and Resources page for African Journalists and Educators at the Datelinehealth-Africa web portal has been updated with new resources/links on ongoing Awards, Fellowships, Scholarships, Internships, Grants and Other supports.

A meningitis outbreak in Ethiopia has claimed the lives of 40 people and infected more than 433, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) told IRIN on Wednesday. Vivian Vansteirteghem, head of health and nutrition at UNICEF-Ethiopia said the country needed US $2.4 million to bridge a funding gap for vaccines and treatment.

The "Association for Health and Environmental Development (AHED) – Egypt" in collaboration with "People's Health Movement (PHM)" has the pleasure to announce its fifth general conference that will be held on May 14th and 15th, 2005. The conference, under the title " PEOPLE'S HEALTH: DETERMINANTS, CURRENT CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES", aims at identifying the current challenges facing people's health, determinants of ill health as well as identifying alternative strategies for better health situation. You can access the first conference announcement and application form on AHED's website www.ahedegypt.org where you can also find the Arabic versions of both the announcement and the application form. You may apply online via through AHED's website from this link http://www.ahedegypt.org/application.htm.

This Unicef paper looks at the links between sexual knowledge/ behaviour and educational level among young people. It argues that providing good-quality basic education and skills-based prevention education is fundamental to reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly for girls.

Employers abuse and neglect the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) of health workers in Municipal Clinics around the country, according to research recently released by the Municipal Services Project (MSP), the Industrial Health Research Group (IHRG) and the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU). The culture of neglect of workplace health and safety impacts not only on the healthcare workers, but also contributes to a declining quality of health care that they are able to provide to the communities they serve. The findings of this collaborative participatory research project were published in: “Who Cares For Health Care Workers?: The State of Occupational Health and Safety in Municipal Health Clinics in South Africa," Municipal Services Project, Occasional Papers No. 8, January 2005. The research, carried out by a collective of SAMWU members and conducted at 38 municipal clinics over an 18-month period, reveal a culture of reactivity and minimal legal compliance. OH&S is all too often reduced to the processing of compensation claims. No proactive or preventive procedures are in place for identifying hazards, evaluating risks, preventing workplace injury and illness, and maintaining a safe workplace.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday appealed for greater attention to AIDS patients' nutrition problems, an issue particularly deteriorated by food shortage in sub-Saharan Africa. Health specialists and social workers from 20 eastern and southern African countries opened a three-day WHO meeting in Durban on Monday, with aims to develop feasible strategies to help improve the health status of people living with HIV/AIDS. Nutrition is one of the critical aspects of the care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, which, however, has been largely ignored, said WHO's Director General Lee Jong-wook.