[pronut-hiv] Pop Reporter

["Ann Burgess" <annburgess@sol.co.uk>]

I wonder if everyone on the pronut-hiv list is aware of the 'Pop Reporter list' which is run by Johns Hopkins and sends lists of websites of health related materials very regularly. One can ask to receive only those related to HIV, child health, etc. If anyone is interested in this the details are below. Ann

Details of Pop Reporter:
Archives available at http://www.infoforhealth.org/popreporter/
Subscribe athttp://prds.infoforhealth.org/signup.php
Modify your account at http://prds.infoforhealth.org/modify.php
Have an item to contribute for consideration in The Pop Reporter? E-mail the URL and description to rjacoby@jhuccp.org. Forward this message to a friend who could benefit from INFO project activities!

Robert Jacoby, rjacoby@jhuccp.org
Editor, The Pop Reporter

Example of items from latest Pop Reporter email:

Malawi Rolls Out Free AIDS Drugs (news article) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3705143.stm
Malawi has announced that it will provide free anti-retrovirals drugs to thousands of Aids sufferers. Health Minister Yusuf Mwawa said he hoped to reach an extra 30,000 people over the next year under the $196 million 5-year program. Some 14% of Malawi's 11 million people have the AIDS virus. Critics have accused the government of electioneering because they have announced the program just a week before the May 18 polls to choose a new president.

Press release: Federal Government Should Expand Its Role in Providing Treatment for Low-Income Americans With HIV/AIDS http://www4.nas.edu/news.nsf/6a3520dc2dbfc2ad85256ca8005c1381/1419d91b8d13aa8e85256e93004e1af8?OpenDocument
This report examines the current standard of care in the United States for HIV patients and assesses the extent the system currently used for financing and delivering care allows individuals with HIV to actually receive it. The book recommends expanded federal funding for the treatment of individuals with HIV, administered at the state level. This program would provide timely access and consistent benefits with a strong focus on comprehensive and continuous care and access to antiretroviral therapy. It could help improve the quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients, as well as reduce the number of deaths among those infected.

Zimbabwe: Calls for Decentralisation of ARV Programmes (news article) http://allafrica.com/stories/200405130571.html
A government decision to distribute anti-AIDS drugs at two of Zimbabwe's largest urban hospitals has been criticised because the majority of people in need of antiretroviral drugs live in rural areas.

Study: 6.7 Percent of S. African Children Have HIV (news article) http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=5120106&section=news
Nearly 7% of South African children aged between 2 and 9 are infected with HIV, a survey said Wednesday, offering grim new data for a country struggling with the world's worst AIDS epidemic. The Human Sciences Research Council said parentless children were at highest risk, with an estimated 12.7% of orphans under 18 years old infected with the AIDS virus. Executive Director of the Human Sciences Research Council presented findings of the National Household HIV Prevalence and Risk Study of South African Children at the 2nd African Conference on Social Aspects of HIV and AIDS Research in Cape Town.

Cote d'Ivoire: AIDS Activists Angry at Slow Disbursement from Global Fund (news article) http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40995&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
AIDS activists are angry that 6 months after Cote d'Ivoire received a US$91 million grant to fight the disease, not a penny of the money has been spent on actual projects to fight the spread of the HIV virus or help those living with AIDS.

Nigeria: Rights Activist Seeks to End Discrimination against Those with AIDS (news article) http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40959&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA
One of Nigeria's leading human rights activists has decided to take a public stand against the discrimination suffered by more than one million of his countrymen and women who are living with AIDS.

India: Polling Booths Used for AIDS Awareness in Kolkata (news article) http://www.newkerala.com/news-daily/news/features.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=16443
A voluntary organization used the general elections as an opportunity to rally support for AIDS: volunteers swarmed polling booths across the city to distribute condoms and educate people on the myths and facts of the deadly disease.

South Africa: 'Men Exploit Us - Now It's Our Turn' (feature article) http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20040513042856735C693995&set_id=1
This feature article relates how increasing numbers of young women are having sex for cellphones, expensive clothes, restaurant meals, and other gifts - and risk getting HIV in the process.

African Health Ministers Launch Appeal for Low-cost AIDS Drugs (news article) http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/20040513.htm
Some 14 government officials representing 13 African nations launched a fresh appeal to the world's rich countries to help fund and reduce costs for antiretroviral drugs in their fight against HIV/AIDS. The May 13 appeal, called the "Protocol of Rome," said: "The therapy that allows people to coexist with the virus and to live well, too, is available, but only for the rich world. The right to live, however, cannot depend on geography."

Zimbabawe: 51% of Zim Prisoners HIV-positive (news article) http://www.theindependent.co.zw/news/2004/May/Friday14/444.html
At least 51% of inmates currently held in Zimbabwe's 41 prisons are infected with HIV/AIDS, with limited strategies to fight its spread, a study released last week revealed.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH RESEARCH

Waiting Too Long: Low Use of Maternal Health Services in Kalabo, Zambia (research abstract) http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01202.x/abs/
This study determined the level of use of maternal health services and identified and assessed factors that influence women's choices on where to deliver in Kalabo District, Zambia. Although 96% of respondents (n=332 women) would prefer to deliver in a clinic, only 54% actually did, because of long distances, lack of transport, user fees, lack of adequate health education given during antenatal clinic attendances, poorly staffed and ill-equipped institutions with poorly skilled personnel. The authors note that unmarried women, women with higher education and women with formal employment, who are able to pay the user fees and live near a clinic are more likely to deliver in a clinic.

Infant Feeding Practices in Western Tanzania and Uganda: Implications for Infant Feeding Recommendations for HIV-infected Mothers (research abstract) http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3156.2004.01214.x
Researchers assessed the feeding practices in peripheral areas of Tanzania (n=237 mothers) and Uganda. The average reported duration of breastfeeding was 24 months in Tanzania but 18 months in Uganda. A total of 19% and 48% of the study participants, respectively, started to breastfeed their infants exclusively at the age of 4 months in Tanzania and Uganda. According to the interviewees, exclusive breastfeeding was rarely practiced in Tanzania. The authors conclude that their findings underline the necessity to promote exclusive breastfeeding if infant feeding recommendations are to be realized and emphasize the need to assess the local situation in order to ensure that locally appropriate information and recommendations are given to the target groups.

Empowering Communities to Respond to HIV/AIDS: Ndola Demonstration Project on Maternal and Child Health: Operations Research Final Report (report) (You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to access this document) http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/horizons/ndolafnl.pdf
This paper presents the results of a pre-post intervention study of the Ndola Demonstration Project in Zambia, whose goal was to pilot the introduction of infant feeding counselling and voluntary counselling and testing at antenatal care sites as interventions to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH NEWS

Uganda: Mortality Rate Alarms MPs (news article) http://allafrica.com/stories/200405100459.html
Members of parliament on the social services committee have expressed concern over the indicators for infant and maternal mortality rates, which have remained high for a long time. Infant mortality stands at 88 per 1,000 while maternal mortality is at 506 per 100,000 in Uganda.

Eating Fish During Pregnancy May Up Fetal Growth (news article) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_17714.html
Women who regularly eat fish during the late stages of pregnancy appear to be less likely to have a low-birth weight infant, according to new study findings."

Babyfood Companies 'Breaking Breastfeeding Code'  (news article) http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2920550
Efforts to increase breastfeeding rates are being hampered by widespread baby food marketing malpractice, a health campaign group warns.

Kenya: Family Joy That Did Not Last (feature article) http://allafrica.com/stories/200405100846.html
"The day she gave birth to her seventh born child is the last she lived." This feature article recounts the harrowing details of one family's struggle with the death of their mother as a result of complications of childbirth.