Nov 28, 2005  USA/Africa: Global Gag Rule Expands http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/gag0511.php
    The "Mexico City Policy," also known as the "Global Gag Rule" denies U.S. funding to foreign non-governmental organizations that work on safe abortion issues. It was reimposed by President George W. Bush in 2001, but in 2003 the administration said that the rule would not apply to funds for fighting HIV/AIDS. Now, according to the Center for Health and Gender Equity, the administration is reversing that policy in a new $193 million program in Kenya.

Nov 20, 2005  Africa: Africanizing Malaria Research http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/mal0511.php
    Research on malaria must increasingly be centered in Africa and be led by African researchers, stressed participants in the Fourth Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM) Pan-African Malaria Conference held last week in Cameroon. In addition to a wide variety of scientific papers on the latest research, the conference featured the designation of researcher Genevieve Giny Fouda Amou'ou as recipient of the Young Malaria Scientist Award, and the announcement of the move of the MIM secretariat from Stockholm, Sweden to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Nov 9, 2005  Africa: Stalled Growth at Global Fund http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/gf0511.php
    "I have spent the last four years watching people die." With these wrenching words, diplomat and humanitarian Stephen Lewis opens his 2005 Massey Lectures. Lewis, who is the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General for HIV/AIDS in Africa, has been outspoken in his criticism of African governments and international and bilateral donors alike for their slow response to AIDS and their neglect of women in particular.

Sep 15, 2005  Africa: Human Development Report http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/hdr2005.php
    Among the many reports issued as world leaders gather in New York to discuss their commitment to fighting world poverty, the annual Human Development Report is among the most blunt in concluding that the "promise to the world's poor is being broken." In addition to documenting the failures and presenting its annual measurement of the Human Development Index (HDI) for 177 countries, this year's report identifies specific actions that could begin to reverse the trend.

Sep 9, 2005  Africa: Global Fund Progress Report http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/gf0509.php
    "While the latest progress report points to a steady improvement in results and a persistent trend of a high-performing grant portfolio, it stresses that the Global Fund needs to sharply increase the rate of program acceleration in the next four years if it is to achieve its five-year targets." - Press Release from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, August 23, 2005.

Jun 24, 2005  Africa: Health Resources Shortfall http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/hr0506.php
    "When the G8 industrialized nations gather in Scotland next month, they should commit to subsidizing the salaries of African health workers to keep them from leaving their home countries in search of higher pay and better conditions in wealthier countries. ... All the well-intentioned efforts [to address AIDS and other health needs] are limited by the lack of personnel on the ground for both prevention and treatment programs." - Boston Globe, June 24, 2004

Jun 11, 2005  South Africa: AIDS Treatment Update http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/tac0506.php
    Despite good outcomes in many treatment centers, the message from reports and demonstrators at the Second South African AIDS Conference in Durban last week was that the government's 18-month-old plan for AIDS treatment in the public sector is still falling far short. Results are very uneven among provinces, few children are receiving treatment, nutrition programs as well as antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are failing to reach the majority of those needing treatment, and there is still no plan to address the critical shortage of medical personnel.

May 4, 2005  Africa: Rolling Back Malaria? http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/mal0505.php
    The World Malaria Report 2005, a new comprehensive report released yesterday by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, clearly lays out the strategies needed to fight malaria, which kills at least one million people a year. But despite claiming progress in more widespread adoption of these strategies, the report also acknowledges that these measures are only beginning to have an effect. More skeptical observers, such as the medical journal The Lancet in an April 25 editorial, say that lack of resources and lack of capacity for implementation have in fact crippled the war against malaria.

Apr 15, 2005  Africa: AIDS Resources Gaps http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/aids0504.php
    Despite increases in recent years, funding to fight the global AIDS pandemic is still only approximately half the minimum of more than $12 billion a year estimated to be needed. But the gaps are not only financial. Activists are increasingly emphasizing the even larger gaps in adequate human resources and upgraded health systems, that are essential for turning small-scale successes into sustainable larger programs.

Mar 29, 2005  Ghana: Medical Skills Drain http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/migr0503.php
    Among the most daunting barriers to addressing Africa's urgent health needs is the migration of health professionals to richer countries. Skilled personnel representing investment by poor countries end up filling in the gaps for the UK, USA, and other countries. The problem is widely acknowledged. But a new paper from Medact, based on the experience of Ghana and the UK, argues that current policy responses are not only inadequate but also based on many false assumptions.

Mar 7, 2005  India/Africa: Threat to Generic Drugs http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/ind0503.php
    Proposed changes in Indian patent law being considered by Parliament this month threaten to limit production of generic alternatives for newer drugs. Generic drugs from India have played a key role in lowering the price of antiretroviral treatment to make it feasible to scale up treatment more rapidly for 3.7 million Africans with AIDS who do not have access to treatment. But the new law could add one more obstacle to turning that promise into reality.

Feb 22, 2005  South Africa: Mortality Statistics, AIDS Action http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/tac0502.php
    Between 1997 and 2002, according to a new report from Stats SA, South Africa's official statistics agency, the number of recorded annual deaths in the age group from 20 to 45 more than doubled, from a little over 100,000 to more than 200,000. Although most deaths likely to be linked to AIDS are officially recorded as due to associated diseases such as TB and pneumonia, the age and disease pattern provides strong evidence of the growing impact of AIDS.

Jan 28, 2005  Africa: AIDS Progress Real but Limited http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/who0501.php
    The number of Africans receiving anti-retroviral treatment more than doubled from 150,000 to 310,000 in the last six months of 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported this week. For those on treatment, treatment adherence and survival rates were comparable to or even better than the rates in developed countries. But there are still more than ten times that many Africans who need AIDS treatment now but are not receiving it: 3.7 million people in sub-Saharan Africa alone, out of 5.1 million worldwide.

Jan 9, 2005  Africa: Year of Action for AIDS Treatment? http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/arv0501.php
    "The Indian Ocean tsunami killed 150,000, and triggered a remarkable global relief effort that has raised $4 billion for the stricken region. But AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria alone kill 40 times that number every year, taking no fewer than 6 million lives. And still, the United Nations must scramble for the $3 billion a year it needs to combat these diseases." - Toronto Star, January 8, 2005