Presented by the MRC Health and Development Research Group and WHO Collaborating Centre for Urban Health, under the auspices of the Public Health Programme of the University of the Western Cape.The course is aimed at post-graduate level and a degree or diploma in one of the Health or Life Sciences, or Town Planning or equivalent practical experience is recommended. Fees are: US$ 600 for one Module and US$ 1,100 for both.ZAR prices vary.

The African Women's Media Center (AWMC) will hold a five-day cyber training on reporting on HIV/AIDS for French-speaking African women journalists from June 11 to June 15, 2001. The Internet-based seminar is designed to equip French-speaking journalists with substantive knowledge about HIV/AIDS and provide practical tips on reporting on HIV/AIDS in Africa. Sessions will be live for four hours each day for five days.

Dr. Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), today said that "political will to fight hunger on a sustainable basis and a firm commitment to invest in agriculture and rural development are critical elements of any effort aspiring to achieve sustainable alleviation of hunger and poverty in Africa."

Cipla to Provide AIDS Drugs to Nigeria; Nation Op-Ed Draws Parallels Between Drug Access and Antiapartheid Movements; U.S. to Give $200 Million to Global AIDS Fund; Annan To Make First Contribution to Global AIDS Fund With Award Prize.

Comstock outlines some of the starker scenarios that might result from strict adherence to the principle. Saunders and Ho appear to dismiss his scenario and paint a much rosier picture, but they do acknowledge the importance of continuing research, although with substantial constraints on the basic side. Along the way they get into the question of feeding a growing world population, and I will take that as my starting point. It is important to do so, because the initial assumptions concerning this issue can influence the discussion in critical ways.

"Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), like all the new technologies, are instruments that can be used for good and for bad in the same way that they can be either managed to the benefit of the most needy or skewed to the advantage of specific groups," the UN Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf said today.

University of Western Cape, South Africa, starting as soon as possible, applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced persons. Appointments will be for one year in the first instance but with a strong possibility of renewal.The project will involve a mixture of research and advocacy.

Both positions have an ending date of October 2002. The positions will be located at HIV InSite's new facilities at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 4150 Clement Street. These positions will be classified as
public administration analysts, with a salary range of $3,275 to $5,408. UCSF offers a generous benefits package and is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer.

MFI Travel Scholarship for Gordon Conference. The International Board of the Malaria Foundation International (MFI) is pleased to announce the Vanessa Botterill Memorial Travel Scholar-ship. This award has been established in memory of a young English woman who died from malaria in Kenya in 1997. The 2001 award is for two junior scientists, who are citizens residing and working in a sub-saharan African country, to participate in The Gordon Research Conference on Malaria at Queen's College, Oxford, UK, 5-10 August 2001. The application deadline is 15 May 2001.

I thought about going to the Quebec Summit of the Americas, but I lost my gas mask so I decided to go to Africa instead. It's interesting listening to Africans talk about globalization. While the protesters in Quebec were busy denouncing globalization in the name of Africans and the world's poor, Africans themselves will tell you that their problem with globalization is not that they are getting too much of it, but too little.

Six of the world leading pharmaceutical companies have agreed to make retroviral drugs for HIV/Aids affordable in developing nations, Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General said yesterday. "We agreed that they will reduce the prices quite considerably and some have cut it back by 80, 90%," Annan told a news conference in Nigeria on the sideline of a two-day African Summit on HIV/Aids, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) today warned that Tuberculosis (TB) cases in Africa will likely double over the next decade as a consequence of the increased spread of HIV and the under-funding of strategies effective in curing TB.

Following Court Victory, AIDS Activists Shift Focus on South African Government AIDS Drug Policies; AIDS Crisis Has Spurred Public Relations Challenges for Pharmaceutical Industry, Wall Street Journal Reports; After South Africa Court Case, 'Unified Strategy' on HIV/AIDS May Be Difficult to Find.

Malaria in Pregnancy Advocacy Brochure now available in French.

Updates and coverage of the African Summit on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and other Related Infectious Diseases, meeting in Abuja, Nigeria this year with the mandate to find solutions to the crisis.

Koffi Annan: "Dear friends, This is a conference about Africa's future. The incidence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases is higher on this continent than on any other. Of course, this fact is connected to Africa’s other problems. Africans are vulnerable to these diseases because they are poor, undernourished, and too often uninformed of basic precautions, or unwilling to take them. Many are vulnerable because they have neither safe drinking water nor access to basic health care. They are vulnerable, in short, because their countries are underdeveloped. And therefore the best cure for all these diseases is economic growth and broad-based development."

Resources on malaria from the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM). MIM is stimulating collaborative research to answer the needs of public health programs in malaria-endemic countries, modernizing communication systems used by the African research community, and strengthening research capacity and human resources where malaria takes its greatest toll --sub-Saharan Africa.

This is an updated compilation of documents from PAHO/WHO. It has been revised to address the needs of health professionals, particularly those involved in health facility planning, operation and maintenance. It focuses on problems in areas of high seismic risk. It introduces vulnerability assessments and practical measures to mitigate damage in hospitals, including structural and nonstructural aspects, and administrative and internal organisation.

In malaria endemic areas, pregnant women are more likely to be infected with malaria than other adults, particularly during the first pregnancy. They may not have symptoms of malaria, but infection can lead to severe anaemia and low birthweight, increasing maternal and infant mortality. What can health services do to lower the risk for pregnant women?

Could television be a valuable tool in the fight against HIV? Who is most likely to watch television shows about AIDS? Researchers from Population Services International (PSI) investigated the impact of a soap opera dealing
with AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire.

COSATU’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) at its meeting today welcomed Zackie Ahmet and Mark Heywood, Chairperson and Secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) for a discussion on how to take forward the campaign for affordable treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. The CEC agreed that last week’s court case victory against the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PMA) was a critical step toward establishing a legal framework for making medicines in South Africa affordable. It was also an important victory of activists, poor people and people with HIV/AIDS over corporate abuse of power.