HIV/AIDS Archives

POLITICS-U.S.: Presidential Hopefuls Vow to Double AIDS Spending

All nine Democratic candidates for president have pledged to more than double spending to fight global HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over that planned by the Bush administration until 2008.

HEALTH-SWAZILAND: AIDS a Greater Threat Than Ever Before

By James Hall

Swaziland is a small country geographically, and its population numbers less than a million. But, it has an oversized AIDS problem.

COLOMBIA: Love Thyself, Use Condoms to Prevent HIV/AIDS – Campaign

By IPS Correspondents

"Because self-love is the most important, I'm the one who carries the condom," actress Diana Angel, a favourite among young Colombian television viewers, says confidently and directly into the camera.

POLITICS-U.S.: Congress to Hike AIDS Funds in Foreign Aid Spending

By Jim Lobe

After extensive deal making, Congress is set to provide 2.4 billion dollars for global anti-AIDS initiatives in 2004, 400 million dollars more than was requested by President George W. Bush.

HEALTH-AFRICA: AIDS Orphans – The Worst Is Yet to Come

By IPS Correspondents

"We are here to sound a new and more urgent alarm over what is arguably the most neglected crisis that has been spawned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund, said in Johannesburg Wednesday.

ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: A Challenging Road Ahead for Truckers

By James Hall

The road transportation business in Southern Africa is fraught with obstacles, in the shape of AIDS and crime. However, industry players say it is also providing opportunities for promoting black empowerment.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Warm Welcome for Plan to Provide AIDS Drugs

By IPS Correspondents

After years of delays, the South African government gave its stamp of approval this week to a plan for providing free anti-AIDS drugs.

HEALTH-KENYA: AIDS Drugs Create A Few "Have’s", Many "Have Not’s"

By IPS Correspondents

The sight of the tiny, mud-walled shelter located in a slum just outside of Nairobi was heart-breaking.

HEALTH-VENEZUELA: Children with HIV/AIDS Receive Free Medication

By IPS Correspondents

Carla is a 10-year-old Venezuelan who earns good grades and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. After school, where she is in the fourth grade, she takes hair-cutting classes. But she has a carefully guarded secret: she is living with HIV, the AIDS virus.

HEALTH-ZAMBIA: People Living With HIV/AIDS Find Drugs Elusive

By IPS Correspondents

The demand for anti-AIDS drugs far outstrips supply in many African countries. But, Zambia appears to be an exception to this rule – at first glance.

LABOUR-SWAZILAND: Illegal Immigrants Replace Workforce Decimated by AIDS

By James Hall

Samito is a short, good-natured 15 year-old who seeks to support his girlfriend and their eight month-old baby by holding down two jobs.

CANADA: Cheap HIV Drugs for Africa Threatened by Domestic Politics

By IPS Correspondents

Canada's plan to be the first G8 country to relax its patent rules to allow generic copies of anti-HIV drugs to be manufactured and shipped to pandemic regions in Africa and other southern nations might be snagged in a web of domestic political changes.

POLITICS-U.S.: Activists Cheer Senate Boost to Global AIDS Funding

By Jim Lobe

AIDS activists proclaimed a major victory in their fight to push the U.S. administration to spend more in the global battle against HIV/AIDS after the Senate voted Thursday to increase the U.S. contribution by nearly 300 million dollars in 2004.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki’s Popularity Improves Among Urban Voters

By IPS Correspondents

"A liar" and "inhuman" was how popular South African satirist Pieter-Dirk Uys described President Thabo Mbeki. But, according to surveys, the popularity of the president has increased ahead of elections next year.

HEALTH-KENYA: Price Reductions for AIDS Drugs a First Step, Say Activists

By IPS Correspondents

The prospect of receiving anti-retroviral therapy was brought a little closer to millions of HIV-positive Kenyans recently, with the announcement of a price reduction for some of the drugs that are used to treat AIDS.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: 20 Years On, People With AIDS Still Suffer Discrimination

By Evelyn Kiapi

Ugandan Magdalena Achero (not her real name) is a bitter woman. As a school teacher, in a country which has been hailed as a beacon of hope for people living with HIV/AIDS, she has experienced discrimination firsthand.

HEALTH-INDIA: New HIV/AIDS Funds Won’t Go to Free Anti-Retrovirals

By Ranjit Devraj

India has just been pledged 200 million U.S. dollars to fight HIV/AIDS by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but none of this money will go toward anti-retrovirals, which activists say could help alleviate the suffering of some 4 million people living with the virus.

RIGHTS-UGANDA: Women Demand Law to Weed Out Domestic Violence

By IPS Correspondents

Rights campaigners in Uganda are demanding a law to protect women from domestic violence, which has been blamed for the high prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS among them.

HEALTH: Developed World Cripples Hope of Global Fund on AIDS

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

A defining moment to help millions infected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to be aglow in cynicism, courtesy of the world's richest countries, rather than hope that is desperately needed at this hour.

RIGHTS-THAILAND: Limited AIDS Drugs Force Doctors to Play God

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

Annop Lekhakul's early steps into the world of medicine have led him to a role that comes close to playing God. After all, he holds the power over longer life or quick death for the patients with HIV at the government hospital he serves here in Thailand.

RIGHTS-SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS Activists Challenge Discrimination in the Army

By IPS Correspondents

While government pins responsibility for its decision to ban soldiers who are HIV-positive from active duty on United Nations regulations, activists plan to fight the state in court.