IRIN PlusNews HIV/AIDS Briefs, 16 August 2001

NAMIBIA: China donates condoms and bikes to fight AIDS KENYA: Kenya AIDS Watch launches AIDS hotline GHANA: AIDS Prevention Campaign launched NAMIBIA: China donates condoms and bikes to fight AIDS Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services received a donation of 100 bicycles and 100,000 condoms from the People’s Republic of China. The donation is to enable the government to educate people in the remote parts of the country about the disease, ‘The Namibian’ reported on Thursday. Health Minister Dr Libertina Amathila said that her ministry had considered providing house-to-house counselling for people in rural areas affected by HIV-AIDS in the past, but was unable to do so due to a lack of resources. Tamathila was quoted as saying: “We need people who can visit villagers in the most remote areas of our country in order to fight the spread of the disease. We want villagers to be informed fully about HIV-AIDS and as a result my ministry has started a pilot programme whereby the use of bicycles will be a necessity.” She stated that due to the confidential nature of the programme, counselling would be done by young people, who were known in their specific communities. “We have already trained 30 people in the Caprivi region and we are currently training 50 people in Ohangwena while a further 50 will soon start the course in the Oshana region,” she added. In addition to counselling on HIV-AIDS, the counsellors will be expected to collect data on AIDS orphans and people suffering from other illnesses such as tuberculosis and malaria. The aim of the programme is to cover all the 13 regions in the country within a space of a year, starting with the regions where access to proper health centres is more difficult. The bicycles will be left in the care of Regional Governors who will be responsible for the maintenance and safekeeping of the bikes. Governors were warned that they will have to pay for stolen or lost bikes. The Chinese government has also provided spare parts, the newspaper added. KENYA: Kenya AIDS Watch launches AIDS hotline The Kenya AIDS Watch Institute (KAWI) has launched a national HIV/AIDS hotline to provide information to those urgently requiring assistance and guidance on issues related to the disease, the ‘East African Standard’ newspaper reported on Thursday. The KAWI hotline will be manned 12 hours a day and start operating on 1 September. During the launch at the KAWI offices in Nairobi, director Dr Sobbie Mulindi expained that his institute had received numerous enquiries on HIV/AIDS so decided to offer the hotline service. Associate director Kihumbu Thairu said Kenya was losing about 700 people daily due to the disease, leaving behind close to one million orphans. GHANA: AIDS Prevention Campaign launched An HIV/AIDS prevention project was launched this week in Accra, reported the ‘Accra Mail’ on Thursday. The programme, with the theme “Change for Good”, is designed to encourage behavioural change among the youth who are known to be most vulnerable to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. British Airways and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are sponsoring the project. Peer educators from the Youngsters Peer Education Project (YPEP) and Muslim Family Counselling Services (MFCS) have been trained to embark upon HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns at grassroots level. Parents, religious bodies and community leaders have also been encouraged to ensure that young people receive accurate information on HIV/AIDS and reliable reproductive services. The first phase of the project will start with the city’s three most densely populated communities.