AIDS activists in South Africa appear to have won the final round of a protracted battle to prevent vitamin salesman Matthias Rath from promoting his unproven remedies to patients living with HIV and AIDS. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), an AIDS lobby group, reported on Monday that Rath had failed to file court papers in time to uphold his appeal against a High Court order issued in June 2008, banning him from publishing further advertisements claiming that VitaCell, his multivitamin product, cured AIDS, or from continuing clinical trials of the product in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

The music blaring through Nyahera village in Kenya's southwestern Nyanza Province comes from two large speakers strategically placed at Mzee Dishon Onyango's home. Youths, some as young as 12, gyrate to the beats of their favourite music and consume a local illicit brew; others smoke bhang [marijuana] with abandon.

Africa must protect its food supplies from contamination by prioritising and investing in food production systems, says Ruth Oniang'o, editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Food Agriculture Nutrition and Development. January 2009 saw Kenya destroy US$8 million worth of maize — the country's staple food — after it was found to be contaminated with aflatoxin. But it seems the government agency concerned was more worried about recouping storage costs than righting its failures, says Oniang'o.

Researchers have estimated that there were about one million infections and a half a million deaths from HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis worldwide in 2006. The findings published in the February 20th edition of the journal AIDS also show that sub-Saharan Africa had the highest global burden of cryptococcal meningitis among people living with HIV. The scientists (led by Benjamin J. Park of the US Centers for Disease Control) did the study because although although cryptococcal meningitis is one of the most widely reported HIV-related opportunistic infections, the global burden is

Health, Politics and Society constitutes one of CODESRIA’s research clusters for the period 2007-2011 as articulated in the latest Strategic Plan for the Council. The theme is pursued within the framework of the Council’s overarching objective of reviving and consolidating development thinking in Africa. Within the broad framework of the mandate defined for the Council in its Charter, various research and training programmes have been developed over the years for the purpose of both mobilizing the African scholarly community and responding to its needs.

Hundreds — or even thousands — of Kenyans and Ugandans may have been told that they are infected with HIV when they are not, thanks to faulty rapid, 15-minute tests administered at VCT centres. Many others may have wrongly been declared negative, clearing them for unprotected sex, when they actually are HIV-positive. That is the worrying conclusion of a study involving 6,255 people carried out in Uganda and Kenya, which bluntly says that the misuse of rapid tests at most VCT centres makes them fraught with error and that they cannot by themselves alone determine whether one is HIV-positive or not.

With increasing demand for resources to tackle the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, questions arise as to where such resources are to be found and whether they can be fully absorbed and spent. One major source of financing for HIV and AIDS control is external aid. The debate continues as to whether increased external assistance causes macroeconomic instability. The paper argues that an increase in government expenditure, combined with proper micro-management through the greater coordination, efficiency and implementation of innovative projects and programmes, will lead to a more effective response and may prevent macroeconomic instability.

Researchers have estimated that there were about one million infections and a half a million deaths from HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis worldwide in 2006. The findings published in the February 20th edition of the journal AIDS also show that sub-Saharan Africa had the highest global burden of cryptococcal meningitis among people living with HIV.

The roll-out of antiretroviral therapy has led to a decline of about 50% in adult AIDS deaths in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, over a period of five years, according the findings of a study published in the February 20th edition of the journal AIDS. The effectiveness of antiretroviral roll-out in sub-Saharan Africa has been widely reported as encouraging despite persistent concerns about universal access and adherence. However, there are still only limited data on its effects at a population level on deaths.

People use a variety of market-based providers of health-related goods and services ranging from highly organised and regulated hospitals and specialist doctors to informal health workers and drug sellers operating outside the legal framework. Many encounters with health workers and suppliers of pharmaceuticals involve a cash payment.

A24 Media has announced the launch of its much?anticipated online stills collection, which contains some of the best photographic collections in Africa, digitised for the first time. The collection charts the past 50 years of the continent’s history, and features never?before?seen work from world?renowned photographers Mohamed Amin and Duncan Willetts. With images available online; the collection is diverse in content, capturing images ranging from wildlife, culture, sports and portraits from the Maasai of Kenya even to iconic images of the late John F. Kennedy of the USA.

The number of older people with HIV may be increasing worldwide, but doctors seldom consider screening them for HIV, thus delaying diagnosis, according to an article in the World Health Organisation's March Bulletin. These individuals are also less likely to practise safe sex, and the older the individual, the faster the progression from HIV infection to AIDS.

This report provides the first summary by the UN of how climate change, water stress, invasive pests and land degradation may impact world food security, food prices and how we may be able to feed the world in a more sustainable manner. The report examines the need to get smart and more creative about recycling food wastes. While major efforts have gone into increasing efficiency in the traditional energy sector, food energy efficiency has received too little attention.

The roll-out of antiretroviral therapy has led to a decline of about 50% in adult AIDS deaths in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, over a period of five years, according the findings of a study published in the February 20th edition of the journal AIDS.

Three months after aid deliveries to the south Somali coastal town of Merka stopped, several thousand displaced people are facing a food and water crisis, sources said. "What little food we had is gone; we have had no help in almost three months," Zeinab Sheikh Hassan told IRIN. "We are in a desperate situation and we need help now."

The total death toll from the outbreak of cerebro-spinal meningitis and lassa fever in Nigeria has risen from 300 last month to 338, according to the Minister of Health, Babatunde Osotimehin. The Minister told journalists in the capital city of Abuja on Wednesday that 333 people have died from meningitis, which has broken out in 22 of the country's 36 states, while five persons have died from the 12 cases of lassa fever.

This new resource from the DFID- and WHO- supported Safe Passages to Adulthood programme shows how projects in Africa, Latin America, South East Asia and the Middle East are working with young people in contexts of special vulnerability to prevent HIV. Building on the five core principles and three areas of action outlined in A Framework for Action - HIV/AIDS prevention and care among especially vulnerable young people (April 2004), each case study describes an innovative approach to working with young people who are homeless, using drugs, selling sex or living in deprived communities. Case studies come from Argentina, India, Iran, Kenya and Nigeria.

The conference theme, Sexual Health & Rights: A Global Challenge, reflects the 8 priorities of the WAS Declaration for the Millennium and echoes the urgent need for action to ensure sexual health and rights for all. The WAS Congress is held every two years, and brings together the outstanding clinicians, researchers, educators, activists and policy makers from around the globe to share knowledge on the diverse and often controversial issues of contemporary sexual health. Sweden has always played a pioneering role in promoting sexual education, health and equality.

This book is produced on behalf of the Network for Justice and Democracy, a non-governmental organization that is dedicated to the promotion of reproductive rights, women empowerment, advancing the cause of democracy and access of women to justice in Nigeria. The book documents laws and policies, which impact women's
reproductive health and rights and shape their reproductive choices. An exhaustive list of Appendices has been added to serve as a compendium of treaties, statutes and legislation in this novel area of law.

The Network for Justice and Democracy, a Nigerian based NGO dedicated promoting and defending reproductive rights, gender equality and advancing the cause of democracy through advocacy, education and research, is pleased to announce its publication titled "HIV/AIDs, Human Rights and Law". The book is a treatise of 10 chapters of 217 pages containing basic facts on HIV/AIDs, impact of the disease, prevention, treatment care and control of HIV/AIDs, strategies to combact the HIV/AIDs pandemic, vulnerability of girls, women and youths to HIV/AIDs, Gender and HIV, HIV/AIDs and Human Rights, Case laws and legislations on HIV/AIDs world wide.