South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, speaking on public radio on Monday, said that Roberto Giraldo, who denies that HIV causes AIDS, will not be appointed as a ministerial adviser but is simply being consulted by the government for his advice on nutrition and HIV/AIDS, the South African Press Association reports.

An expert group has reaffirmed that unsafe sexual practices are responsible for the vast majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, and that safer sex promotion must remain the primary feature of prevention programmes in the region. Following a review of evidence, which included recent articles suggesting that a majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa are due to unsafe medical practices, particularly injections, the experts concluded that such suggestions are not supported by the vast majority of evidence and that unsafe sexual practices continue to be responsible for the overwhelming majority of HIV infections.

This commissioned report aimed to provide insight into issues related to communication of HIV/Aids to children in the 3-12 year age group, with an emphasis on South Africa. The overall brief includes identifying of key issues related to children and HIV/Aids, including discrimination, grief, knowledge, attitudes and practices.

In response to a health crisis caused by months of fighting in the Central African Republic the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) will begin distributing drugs to hospitals and health centres in three eastern provinces, an official said on Thursday.

A Nigerian non-governmental organisation has concluded that ethical concerns loom high in HIV drug trials in the country. The Centre for the Right to Health (CRH), based in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria, made this assertion in a recent report on the experiences of People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) during recently conducted drug trials.

South Africans living with HIV/Aids have been given new hope. They might soon have access to treatment and better care, after the Finance Minister, Trevor Manuel, announced plans to almost double the amount spent on HIV/Aids. Over the next three years, R3,3 billion (400 million US dollars) will go towards extending preventative programmes and finance "medically appropriate" treatment for HIV/Aids.

Kenyatta National Referral and Teaching Hospital (KNH) is a classic metaphor of what ails the public healthcare delivery system in the country: A colossal monolith that is structurally unsuitable for efficiency and organisational order, the hospital has a capacity of accommodating upward of 2,000 patients, making it truly one of the biggest hospitals in the world. But the hospital has for many years been a monumental dysfunctional edifice that has defied efficiency and proper management of medical service delivery.

Government's plan to provide free health care for all may be difficult to implement unless the economy improves, says Avenue Healthcare Chairman Dr Amit Thakker. Thakker, who is also the chairman of the unregistered Kenya Association of Healthcare Organisations (KAHO) feels that the only time Kenyans can have reasonable access to health care is when the government revives the ailing economy.

Some 20 million Kenyans - more than half the entire population - are regularly affected by the most deadly malaria parasite: Plasmodium falciparum.The cumulative human suffering and economic damage caused by malaria is immense. Children and pregnant women are most at risk. Each year, an estimated 26,000 children, that is a staggering 72 per day, die from direct consequences of malaria infection in Kenya.

Some 20 million Kenyans - more than half the entire population - are regularly affected by the most deadly malaria parasite: Plasmodium falciparum.The cumulative human suffering and economic damage caused by malaria is immense. Children and pregnant women are most at risk. Each year, an estimated 26,000 children, that is a staggering 72 per day, die from direct consequences of malaria infection in Kenya.

A review hearing of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture in Geneva last week dismissed the Harbinson Draft, describing the document as inadequate in addressing the concerns of developing nations in international agricultural trade.
The draft, commonly known as the Harbinson Draft, had been issued on 17 February by Stuart Harbinson, chairman of the WTO Agriculture Committee. In a statement released at the end of the review hearing last week, participants said: "The Harbinson Draft text reveals the emptiness of the Doha Ministerial Declaration's stated intention of placing development, food security and rural livelihoods at the heart of the Doha Round."

Health-e is a news agency dedicated to producing news and analysis for the print and electronic media regarding health policy and practice in South Africa. The particular focus is to report on health issues affecting the poor and disadvantaged, and the implications of different health policies for society as a whole. Content is tailored to the requirements of different weekly newspapers and/or radio stations.

The International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) will convene HELINA 2003, the fourth HELINA (HEaLth INformatics in Africa) conference in South Africa from 12 to 15 October 2003, focused on communication and information technologies (ICT) in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. The conference aims to bring expert clinicians and researchers in HIV/AIDS together with regional and international experts in health informatics in a unique forum.

Drug companies are continuing to sell anti-retrovirals at hugely inflated prices in South Africa with some branded drugs selling for up to eight times more than generic versions available worldwide but that are not yet manufactured locally. The price for an annual course of triple therapy consisting of AZT, 3TC and Nevirapine in South Africa would cost around R20 000 (around R1 700 per month) before VAT and the chemist’s mark-up is added. In contrast, the same course of generic ARVs would cost around R3 300 year (or R275 a month). The huge profit margins of the drug companies forms the basis of a complaint lodged last year at the Competition Commission by a group of people living openly with HIV/AIDS, health workers, labour and civil society.

The cost of a state supported anti-retroviral programme in its most expensive year could be below R10-billion and still be highly effective, according to calculations by Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and researchers at the University of Cape Town (UCT). TAC manager, Nathan Geffen, presented these figures to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Health last week.

Thousands of people have fled a town in one of the two areas of Congo-Brazzaville most affected by the Ebola virus, which in the last two months has killed more than 80 people.

In January 2003 President Bush proposed the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, calling on Congress to spend an additional $10 billion over the next five years to help countries in Africa and the Caribbean fight AIDS. The US announced that 14 countries with the highest rates of HIV infection in Africa and the Caribbean would be the targeted beneficiaries of the additional $10 billion. However, according to the United Nations Development Program statistics, in the same period these 14 countries would pay approximately $36 billion in total debt-servicing to their creditors in the rich countries.

Two Dutch journalists Raymond Bouuman and Pim Hauinkels, were arrested on 26 February in the city of Bulawayo for filming a bread queue. The two work for the Dutch TV Journal ITL5. The two journalists were taken in for questioning by the police.

Two Dutch journalists Raymond Bouuman and Pim Hauinkels, were arrested on 26 February in the city of Bulawayo for filming a bread queue. The two work for the Dutch TV Journal ITL5. The two journalists were taken in for questioning by the police.

Preliminary results of the first HIV/AIDS vaccine to be tested on humans were "promising" and an indication that it was possible to provide a degree of protection from HIV infection, UNAIDS said on Monday.