A resolution on the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (E/CN.4/2002/L.47), sponsored by the Brazilian Delegation, was adopted by consensus on 22 April 2002 at the Fifty-Eighth Session of the Commission on Human Rights. The Resolution urges States to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, to achieve progressively the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health; calls upon the international community to assist, without discrimination, the developing countries to this end; and appoints, for a period of three years, a Special Rapporteur on the right to health.

The Regional Office for Southern Africa of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is requesting proposals for the following three research components of IOM's regional project: "Research for action on HIV/AIDS and Mobile Populations in the SADC region", which is envisioned to be completed by the end of August 2002. The research components cover the following SADC Countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Why is the teaching of mathematics in black schools in South Africa so poor? What motivates would-be pedagogues to teach maths? Are they satisfied with the pre-service preparation they receive? Are teachers of teachers wedded to pedagogically naïve methodologies? How can training be improved?

There is a "possibility" that the South African government in December will launch a program to provide universal access to the antiretroviral drug nevirapine for HIV-positive pregnant women to prevent vertical HIV transmission, Reuters reports.

Protesting outside the Coca-Cola Co.'s annual shareholder meeting in Manhattan, activists said the company has "fail[ed] to cover the cost of HIV/AIDS treatment" for most of its African workforce, the Washington Post reports.

The cost of certain HIV/AIDS drugs has dropped in recent months, but shortages are placing many patients at risk, says a coalition of NGOs. Many pharmaceutical companies reduced their prices last year by between 50 and 98 percent for governments, international agencies and NGOs fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa. However, the Kenya Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines, which groups together several NGOs, has accused the drug companies of "giving with one hand and taking with the other".

The Catholic Institute of Education is looking for a national fieldworker, willing to travel extensively, who will be responsible for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the CIE's HIV/AIDS prevention programme in Catholic primary schools.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tuliameni Kalomoh has expressed dismay at the silence of women's organisations as women are subjected to indignities suffered from their husbands such as constant verbal abuse, physical and psychological battering and financial blackmail.

Africa Malaria Day on April 25 will be marked with more optimism than recent years due to increasing awareness that the insecticide-treated mosquito net (ITN) offers excellent protection against one of the world’s deadliest diseases. However, much works remains to be done.

Replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is briefly suppressed during acute measles, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. A study of HIV-infected children living in Zambia found that HIV levels in the blood were significantly lower while the children had measles compared to HIV-infected children who did not have measles.

President Thabo Mbeki and his cabinet have at last backed off from their controversial stance on antiretroviral drugs, with a high-powered government delegation announcing before journalists that the health department is working on a universal roll-out plan of nevirapine. In a first admission of the efficacy of the drugs, Health Minister Manto Tshabala-Msimang read from the executive's statement: "Cabinet noted that they (antiretrovirals) could help improve the conditions of people living with AIDS if administered at certain stages in the progression of the condition, in accordance with international standards."

The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa is all too evident. Millions have died, their children orphaned and entire communities destroyed. But it is the crippling effect of AIDS on African economies that is now starting to ring alarm bells.

United Nations HIV/AIDS experts believe HIV/AIDS prevalence in Zanzibar is on a steady increase, but are worried that currently available data could be underestimating the actual magnitude of the pandemic in the semi-autonomous islands.

The Awards for Action on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights have been established
this year by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and Human Rights Watch to recognize ndividuals or organizations that have made an
outstanding contribution to addressing HIV/AIDS and human rights issues. An
award will be presented annually to a person or organization in each of two
categories:

- a person residing in Canada or a non-profit organization based in Canada;
- a person or non-profit organization from another country.

These non-monetary awards are intended to recognize excellence and long-term
commitment to work having a direct impact on HIV/AIDS and human rights
issues – in particular work that is of direct relevance to marginalized
individuals and communities living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. The awards
will be presented in Montréal on 13 September 2002 during the opening
plenary of the Legal Network’s Annual General Meeting. The awards include
travel and accommodation costs to allow winners to attend the presentation
ceremony.

With only 537 polio cases reported globally in 2001, efforts to eradicate the disease have driven the incidence of polio to its lowest point in history. However the expert panel overseeing the initiative warns that given the current prevalence of conflict, the last vestiges of polio must be extinguished now, as any delay will jeopardize the success of the entire effort.

Farmers, farm and biodiversity advocates have demanded at a shadow conference during the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP6) that a fast track mechanism to address liability for genetic contamination be developed now. They also called for immediate solutions to prevent genetic contamination.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has launched a programme to bring HIV/AIDS prevention, counselling and testing to migrant populations in Ethiopia. These mobile units provide information on HIV/AIDS, distribute male and female condoms, offer voluntary counselling and testing, and provide treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to those most at risk, the IOM said. These include truck drivers, commercial sex workers, itinerant labourers, refugees and internally displaced people.

The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) has applied to intervene as friends of the court in the Constitutional Court case between the government and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC). Thabani Masuku, Idasa's constitutional analyst, says the organisation wants to encourage a co-operative approach between the government and the judiciary.

A circular giving public hospitals and clinics the go-ahead to provide the anti-Aids drug Nevirapine to HIV-positive pregnant women is being distributed, health authorities said. The document outlines the circumstances in which Nevirapine can be prescribed, the required doses, and topics for patient counselling.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the distribution by the Department of Health of a circular giving public hospitals and clinics the go ahead to provide the anti-Aids drug Nevirapine to HIV positive pregnant. It outlines the circumstances in which Nevirapine can be prescribed, advises what information patients should receive before and after Aids testing, as well as the required dosages for women and their babies.