SAHARA conference opens

Over 350 social researchers, doctors, representatives of national and international organisations, NGOs and donor agencies are attending the Second African Conference on Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS Research (SAHARA) in Cape Town, South Africa.

The four-day conference, themed "Promoting an African Alliance to Mitigate the Effects of HIV/AIDS on a Sustainable Basis", was organised by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to share ideas among scientists working on the social impact of HIV/AIDS treatment and care programmes across sub-Saharan Africa.

It is anticipated that the sharing of expertise, experience and research will help inform policy and programme implementation.

"The conference will provide a unique opportunity for African researchers to make inputs to a continent-wide research alliance on social aspects of HIV/AIDS, and it will serve as a catalyst for broader discussion," said Dr Olive Shisana, executive director of social aspects of HIV/AIDS and health at HSRC.

Presentations on nine key themes are expected: nutrition and food security, policies of access to care, stigma in relation to care, cultural and communal mobilisation, human rights, drug- and trade-related issues, the financing of AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, and HIV surveillance.

"The challenge is to take the research and turn it into practical action," said Dr Dan Kaseje of the Tropical Institute of Community Health and Development in Africa, a SAHARA partner.

The inaugural journal of the Social Aspects of AIDS Research Alliance was launched on Sunday, ahead of the start of the conference.

"The journal, SAHARA J, will fill a gap," said editor Karl Peltzer. "No other journal concentrates on the social aspects around HIV and AIDS."

Peltzer presented the first copy of the journal to Dr Ivan Toms, director of Cape Town's health services, "for immediate implementation into policies!"

The journal will be published four times a year in both hard copy and online.