Djibouti has made significant progress in reducing maternal mortality over the past 10 years, but the number of women who die in childbirth is still high, the Djiboutian national coordinator for reproductive health, Safia Elmi, said. "In 1994, Djibouti's maternal mortality rate was 740 for 100,000 live births. That is a lot. By 2002, it had fallen to 690 deaths per 100,000 live births," Elmi told IRIN.

An estimated 21 000 Namibian children lost one or both their parents last year alone, the majority of which were Aids-related deaths.

In April of this year yet another Zimbabwean joined the staggering statistic of Aids related deaths. But Abel Phiri (real name withheld for the safety of his family) was not just a statistic, he was a man born with the same hopes and desires common to all humanity. The story of his sad end, as told by a concerned and compassionate friend, brings home the tragedy of life and death in this ravaged country. In the last year of his life, Abel Phiri’s meagre savings kept his family of six barely fed in a time of staggering inflation and dire food shortages. The year of untold misery was made even more agonizing by the poor health of his two youngest children.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki on Wednesday appealed for US $76 million to fund emergency relief operations to help some 3.3 million people affected by drought, saying crop failure brought on by inadequate rainfall amounted to "a national disaster".

As 15,000 scientists, policy-makers, advocates and People Living with HIV/AIDS gather in Bangkok for the 15th International AIDS Conference, a rising chorus of critics are challenging the strategy of President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Randall Tobias, US Global AIDS Coordinator, and other US officials in Bangkok are facing daily protests in Bangkok on issues ranging from the purchase of generic drugs through the President’s AIDS Plan to its highly controversial focus on abstinence-based prevention programs. "The international community has come to Bangkok under the banner of ‘Access for All’, but all too often the Administration’s AIDS plan is undermining this critical goal," said Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action.

Since the Kyafukuma Rural Health Clinic (RHC) in northwestern Zambia closed its doors in 2000 after the old building collapsed, villagers have had to make do with a cramped inadequate clinic. Now, growing frustration over the lack of satisfactory medical care has led to a community-driven initiative that promises improved access to health care. After years of waiting for the reopening of the RHC, a joint project by the state-sponsored Zambia Social Investment Fund (Zamsif) and local people is expected to hasten completion of a new RHC, including the construction and rehabilitation of quarters for five staff members.

"On 2 - 4 July 2004, more than 530 delegates - including more than 80 health workers and representing over 60 organisations and institutions - met at the first People's Health Summit (PHS) to discuss the crisis and inequity in the health system and the roll-out of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. While recognising the impact of the legacy of injustice and inequality of apartheid on the health service of our country and our people, delegates to the PHS expressed grave concern that in spite of many good policies, laws and programmes, the public health service is in crisis and the quality of many services is in decline."

The United States came under attack this week at the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, with some critics saying it is pressuring countries to give up their right to make generic AIDS drugs in return for free-trade pacts. Under WTO rules, developing countries can ignore foreign patents and produce their own versions of expensive drugs in times of health crisis. Yet there is nothing to prevent a country from setting patent restrictions in a bilateral agreement.

A new report by HelpAge International and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance highlights the critical role of older carers in sustaining families affected by HIV/AIDS. Entitled 'Forgotten Families', the report argues that 'when parents die, often leaving several orphans, the economic, social and psychological strains on families headed by older carers cannot be underestimated.' It urges international and national agencies and governments not to forget the needs of these families and calls for the older carers to have 'equal access to social and economic support.' Recent UNICEF figures show that some 60% of children orphaned by AIDS in southern Africa live with their grandparents.

The number of African nurses leaving their jobs to work in private hospitals and research firms within their countries or find better jobs abroad is increasing fast and aggravating the continent's health crisis, the New York Times reports. According to the newspaper, sub-Saharan Africa's low-income countries currently need at least twice as many nurses - around 620,000 - as there are now in order to take care of patients. During a World Health Organization annual assembly in May, African countries said they would seek compensation from developed nations for losing the investment they made on educating the nurses, who leave their countries in search of better opportunities abroad. The issue will be discussed again during the 15th International AIDS Conference.

Uganda has been ranked as the eighth country with the worst maternal death rate in the world. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) country representative, James Kuriah, said Uganda loses 505 women out of every 100,000 live births. Kuriah told New Vision: "This maternal mortality rate has earned Uganda position number eight, compared to other countries that have limited social services due to civil conflict, despite the fact that it has achieved remarkable socio-economic progress over the last 17 years.”

Although the objective of the World Health Organization's 3 by 5 Initiative - treating three million people with antiretroviral drugs by 2005 - is behind schedule, it is still possible, according to the first progress report for the initiative released on Saturday. The report - released in advance of the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand - estimates that 440,000 people currently are receiving treatment under the program.

The rapidly spreading virus of free trade has proved as fatal to those living with HIV/AIDS as the disease itself according to Health NOW!, a global alliance of activist groups fighting the patenting of life-saving medicine by drug multinationals. Speaking at the XV international AIDS conference in Bangkok a Health NOW! spokesperson argued that millions of lives could be saved if developing world nations were not forced to sign unfair trade agreements by developed countries. Multilateral as well as bilateral free trade pacts he said were devastating the lives of the poor, contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS and compounding the devastation caused by the pandemic.

Togo's health ministry is throwing its weight behind new combination drugs in the fight against malaria but their high price-tags put them beyond the reach of many people, who turn instead to traditional remedies and black market medicines. Malaria kills an African child every 30 seconds, according to the World Health Organisation, which says one of the greatest challenges facing the continent is the parasite's increasing resistance to established treatments such as chloroquine, the cheapest and most widely-used antimalarial.

AIDS activists in South Africa hope that the inclusion of sex workers in an HIV research project will draw attention to the need for outreach programmes targeting this often marginalised group. About 600 female sex workers in and around Durban, the capital of eastern KwaZulu Natal (KZN) province, are expected to participate in the study which begins at the end of July.

The government of the Central African Republic (CAR) has launched a "2004-2015 Operational Plan" to reduce maternal and infant mortality. By improving access to health care and providing social support networks, the plan will attempt to reduce the infant mortality rate of children aged less than five years by two-thirds by 2015. In addition, CAR hopes to reduce maternal mortality to one-quarter of its present level within the same time frame.

UNICEF

UNICEF is seeking a Senior Project Officer for its health and nutrition work in Mozambique. The officer will be responsible, under the overall guidance of the Senior Programme Officer, for the development, design and implementation of all related programmes within the country, including emergency preparedness and response.

International Resuce Committee

The International Rescue Committee is seeking a health co-ordinator with the responsibility for the development, implementation and evaluation of all the organisation's health-related activities in the Kivu and Katanga province as well as for the development of a strategy for IRC health interventions throughout DRC.

In late 2003, largely as a result of pressure exerted by TAC, the government formally committed itself to rolling out HIV treatment. This policy shift has posed several questions related to TAC’s interim and long term political future, given the reality of the roll-out. Will the ‘centre fail to hold’ as factions emerged in the politically ‘broad umbrella’ social movement that is TAC? Will it simply become a service-delivery focused NGO working for the Department of Health? Will the government’s commitment to HIV treatment policy reform lead to TAC’s co-option? Will it render itself obsolete through its own success lobbying for wider HIV treatment access?

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced this week that Djibouti could increase its food production by up to 50% over 5 years if the farmers planted faster growing crops more adaptable to short rains. At present the country has to import about 80% of its food requirements, including all its rice, wheat, flour and sugar.