Up to half of Malawi's professional workforce could die of HIV/Aids by 2005, the World Bank has said in a report timed to coincide with the opening of a major conference in Kenya on the pandemic in Africa. Professionals in the education and health sectors are particularly affected in the impoverished Southern African country, as are members of the army and the police, the study says.

Older people caring for orphans and vulnerable children in countries severely affected by HIV/AIDS face hardship and isolation, and are in urgent need of support, according to a new report by HelpAge International and the International HIV/AIDS Alliance. The two organisations highlight the critical role of older carers in sustaining these vulnerable families, whose situation is rarely addressed in the debates around HIV/AIDS. They urge international and national agencies and donors to respond to the needs of these families, and help to ensure the wellbeing of the children who have lost their parents to AIDS.

A lobby group, the Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines, is demanding that the government provide affordable or free antiretrovirals (ARV) for Kenyans. "What we want to see is an expanded programme to treat as many people as possible," said Gitura Mwaura, Chairman of the coalition. "We believe the government has the resources, and can do something," he said. "Its priorities need to change."

The cholera epidemic in Liberia has killed 110 people in the capital Monrovia over the past four months and is now gaining ground in the country's second city Buchanan, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The 13th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA) is underway in Nairobi, Kenya from September 21-26, under the theme "Access to Care." Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate, under pressure from President Bush, has rejected an amendment to provide $3 billion instead of $2 billion for the first year of President Bush's promised $15 billion HIV/AIDS initiative. The U.S. is currently spending an estimated $1 billion a week in Iraq, and Congress is currently considering a request from President Bush for an additional $89 billion for the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. This posting contains a set of talking points released earlier this week by Africa Action, detailing the broken promises of the Bush administration on HIV/AIDS.

The 13th International Conference on AIDS & STIs in Africa (ICASA) takes place between 21-26 September in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference is a forum where every two years African scientists, social leaders, political leaders and communities come together to share experiences and updates on the responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The objectives are to: Review and discuss updates on major advances in understanding the epidemic; Provide a forum for critical analysis of various responses to the HIV/AIDS/STI epidemic and discuss the extent to which these responses have impacted on the course and status of the epidemic and; Outline and set effective strategies and priorities for dealing with epidemics from an African point of view. Click on the URL below to find out more about the conference.

A Kenyan drugs company plans to start making anti-retroviral drugs to treat Aids sufferers next month, becoming the first African company outside South Africa to do so, the company said on Wednesday. Activists hope for a breakthrough in fighting the epidemic by producing the life-prolonging drugs in Africa, where only a tiny minority can afford the imported versions.

Delegates at a conference on HIV/AIDS in Africa’s Great Lakes region are exploring ways in which people living with the disease could gain greater access to affordable anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs. The conference, the second of its kind in the Great Lakes, brings together delegates from Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, as well as representatives of the World Bank, UNAIDS, NGOs and the UK-based Community Health and Information Network.

No fewer than 30 people have been confirmed dead within the last month in Gusau following an outbreak of cholera in the area. The UNICEF consultant at the Gusau General Hospital, Dr. Sa'adu Idris, said the hospital has admitted 150 patients suffering from the illness in the last month.

The decision by the Government to ask Aids patients to pay for drugs at public hospitals has been condemned. The move will deny the majority of more than 200,000 people living with Aids access to the life-prolonging drugs commonly called anti-retrovirals, the Kenya Network of Women with Aids executive director, Ms Asunta Wagura, said.

The debate on abortion came to the fore early this year when a section of women parliamentarians openly called for its legalisation. Health minister, Charity Ngilu, has asked the government to spearhead public debate on abortion. She said it was unfair that women did not have a free hand in their reproductive health. "I personally feel the continued denial of women to make free choice on their reproductive health life is wrong and the policy should be reformed to allow that freedom," she was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.

According to official statistics, there are 2.2 million HIV infected people in Ethiopia, out of a population of 67 million. Ethiopia ranks third after South Africa and Nigeria in sub-Saharan Africa in absolute numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS. The United Nations agency, UNAids estimates that 91 percent of reported AIDS cases are within the age group of 15 to 49, the most economically active and productive age group in Ethiopia.

He/she will be responsible for providing technical expertise within the project objectives & work plan, coordinating the implementation, supervision and follow-up of the project activities in close collaboration with the administrative coordinator on site. MPH and/or Medical doctor qualified in public health & epidemiology with a minimum of 5 years of field experience particularly in Africa requested.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) began on Monday distributing food aid to an estimated 15,000 internally displaced Burundians in Mubimbi Commune, Bujumbura Rural Province, an official told IRIN on Monday.

HelpAge International will run a three-day workshop (17th – 19th September) to address the role of older persons in the care of AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children. This will take place at the Silver Springs Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants are drawn from Southern and Eastern African countries and the UK. They will comprise representatives of organisations working with older people, orphans and other vulnerable children, AIDS Control Councils, government representatives and donor agencies. Older people and AIDS orphans will be invited to participate and share experiences.

Using 50 questions and answers, this book explains in a simple but precise manner how and why the debt impasse for developing countries has been arrived at. Illustrated with figures, maps and tables, it details the roles of the various actors involved, the mesh in which indebted countries are caught, the possible scenarios for getting out of the impasse, and the various alternatives to future indebtedness. It also sets out the various arguments - moral, political, economic, legal and environmental - on which the case for a wholesale cancellation of developing countries' external debt rests.

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Scientists have ascertained that a local herb that grows in most parts of Uganda is effective in curing malaria, including strains that are resistant to conventional drugs. Dr. Goretti Nambatya, the National Chemotherapeutics Laboratory (NCTL) director said they identified the herb through countrywide surveys in which they collected a variety of herbal concoctions. Scientists are preparing for large-scale tests, based on World Health Organisation guidelines.

Donor organisations and the Tanzanian government have started making contingency plans following several warnings of an imminent food shortage for some two million people.

A high-profile AIDS activist, who had vowed not to take AIDS drugs until the general South African population had access to them, announced Monday he has begun taking the potentially lifesaving medication. Zackie Achmat changed his mind following the government's instructions to the health ministry to plan for the possible distribution of AIDS drugs to the public, the South African Press Association reported.