Freshly Ground group outside Tutu tester at Masiphumelele

The Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation is a public benefit organisation doing research and service provision, in the field of TB and HIV/AIDS. It has a site based at Masiphumelele (Cape Town, South Africa) that is serving predominantly the Masiphumelele community.

Our work currently focuses on HIV prevention research and strategies in the Community. This includes community education and awareness around prevention strategies which include Vaccines, microbicides and PreExposure prophylaxis.

The 1st December is World AIDS Day which we will be observing through an event aimed at making women aware of HIV prevention options that they have as well as ongoing research for an alternative HIV prevention method for women.

I will also be recognising women who have been attending ongoing Women’s Health discussions groups on issues affecting women such as Domestic Violence, Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV, Family Planning and general Women’s Health topics i.e. pap smears (doctors and other experts are invited to answer questions from the participating women). The discussion groups are open to all women from Masiphumelele community in Cape Town every Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The event will commence with March starting at 11:00am from the entrance of Masiphumelele around the community into Masiphumelele Community Hall (12:00) where various activities will take place. Due to the people we are targeting the programme will be conducted in IsiXhosa as the dominant language within Masiphumelele.

Tutu tester

Ps. our mobile Tutu tester will be outside the hall for voluntary counseling and testing.

Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu reacts in front of the 'Tutu Tester' mobile unit before being tested for HIV in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday Oct. 22, 2009.

Yours in community work,
Sipho January
+2774 495 2022

I write this in honour of Alpheus Molefe, a man who was born in Meadowlands, Soweto, 43 years ago. He was shot and killed by criminals outside the township of Vosloorus on Friday November 6.

Alpheus was our senior logistics officer — a fancy title for a simple but critical position: he drove our company vehicle.

A working-class African man who had just bought a house and a modest car — and was studying for a university degree — Alpheus is survived by his wife of 16 years, Louisa, and his 13-year-old daughter, Princess.

Poor people who die at the hands of criminals are too many and too unimportant to warrant commentary or news reporting.

But it matters to me and to those of us who knew, loved and respected Alpheus, with his bright smile and quirky strut. In a dark and litter-strewn street in Zonkesizwe, he lay dying on Friday night, shot by a man who had calmly pulled the trigger and got back into his car and drove away as if he had just stopped to ask directions.

In these times when only those who make deals, drive flashy cars and stay at expensive hotels seem to count, we think of some jobs as being better than others.

But Alpheus carried himself like a man who knew how much he mattered. He drove our office vehicle, but that was a small part of what he did for us.

He was our ambassador — a smiling face welcoming weary staff from long trips, or greeting wary visitors worried about the crime in South Africa, telling them not to worry, they were safe in his hands.

In the past few days we have received an outpouring of messages from people across the world who were devastated by the news of his violent death.

Many recalled how on numerous occasions he waited at the airport until well past midnight when he should have been at home with Louisa and their little Princess.

Always there was a warm smile: “How was your journey?” he would ask. And always, despite having never flown in his life, he would ask: “Did you have turbulence?” I promised him that we would fly him somewhere one day. It is a promise that swings lifelessly in the wind.

Like many black South Africans I am painfully aware of the racial nature of discussions about crime in this country.

Indeed, I have rolled my eyes on many occasions, overhearing the conversations of middle-class whites about how crime is spiralling out of control.

There is a dance that is played with words here, a coded discussion about race: blacks are criminals and whites are their victims, and the incompetent blacks at the top either don’t care what’s happening because whites are the victims, or they do care because they can see it is affecting the townships, but are helpless because of their fundamental ineptitude.

I have found myself downplaying crime on a number of occasions to resist playing into this unspoken code.

The day that Alpheus died I realised that we need to speak more truthfully. The day that Alpheus died, my already tenuous belief in the future of this country crumbled. Granted, it had been a tough week.

Alpheus died on Friday night and I heard the shocking news at 6.30am on Saturday. Two days earlier, on Thursday morning, I had run crying out of the office, racing home after getting a call from my husband: our 18-month-old baby and the woman who looks after her had been taking a walk when they were held up at gunpoint.

The assailant had looked the nanny in the eye, casually flicking his gaze over the baby, and he had said: “Give me your cellphone or I will kill you.”

A few months ago a man with a knife had tried the same trick on her — also in the presence of the baby. So, this time, she had nothing to give — she leaves the phone at home even when she is walking in our leafy suburban neighbourhood.

In a panic she pushed the pram into the middle of the road and tried to flag down a passing motorist. An oncoming car slowed down to take in the scene but the driver decided that he was not going to help a woman in distress with a baby.

What has happened to us?

Black and white, we are a nation that has lost the sense of humanity that I always believed would be our saving grace.

So why do I tell these stories?

These days anyone who is critical of the leadership of the ANC is subject to violently abusive language.

Our words have become as barbed as bullets, the rage of our publicity hungry leadership is as violent as the deeds of the criminals they decry. Our leaders are no longer measured and nuanced, no longer exemplary.

So, rather than take on real issues of substance and engage in meaningful debates, our new breed of politicians (many of them carryovers from the Mandela and Mbeki eras, but with a new style of confrontation, and with a worrying acceptance of aggression) chooses to attack rather than to discuss.

So, for the record, I want to be clear that these are not the disgruntled mutterings of a frustrated Cope member. I am a dyed-in-the-wool ANC member who has lived my life in pursuance of the objectives of the African National Congress.

I was born into the ANC and I grew up believing in this country as much as anyone. In my own small ways I have sought to contribute to the struggle for dignity in South Africa.

I have been a card-carrying member of the ANC, working on establishing a new branch structure in Pretoria in the mid-1990s.

I have worked in a community clinic in Diepsloot, disappearing into the shadows of Dainfern every day when many of my middle-class peers were wondering what I was doing going in and out of a township so rife with violence and despair when I didn’t have to.

I say this not to illustrate that I am special — I believe this story is common among many politically conscious South Africans in their 30s and 40s; I say it to illustrate the severity of my crisis of confidence in this nation.

When I declare that I have lost faith in the current leadership, I say so with deep equivocation — I am almost afraid to say this aloud.

Yet I would be a fool to believe that the national leadership that President Jacob Zuma has put in place to sort out the police and to protect communities from the type of crime that claimed Alpheus’s life is up to the challenge.

The analysts who have followed Bheki Cele’s progress in KwaZulu-Natal may have good things to say about him, but I find it hard to fathom how a man who embodies the qualities of gangsterism — the fancy clothes and flashy lifestyle — could serve as a credible head of police.

In the wake of the Selebi case I find it stunning that the president could appoint a man who dresses like a pimp — and who shamelessly tells interviewers that he wears Jimmy Choo shoes — as our police chief.

In a nation in which young black boys see thugs in BMWs and blinged-out attire as the decision-makers in their communities, it is shocking that we would hire a police chief who reflects in his demeanour the very traits we wish to discourage in our communities.

In Nathi Mthethwa we have a police minister who has been twice embroiled in spectacularly arrogant episodes of mismanaging public funds.

In the middle of a national crime crisis and social protests in poor communities, that are at root about poverty in the face of plenty, it seems implausible we would elect to put in place as a leader a man who flaunts his privilege in the faces of the many South Africans who have nothing.

A postscript. Minutes after escaping their assailant, my daughter and our nanny returned safely home.

Thankfully someone else stopped on the street to help them and their assailant hopped into a waiting car and fled the scene. When they got home, the baby, who had been silent while the drama played itself out, threw up in distress.

For the nanny — for whom it was the least violent of many incidents she has survived (these include a stabbing that punctured her lung 10 years ago, a gun placed against her head a few years later, and hospitalisation following a blow to the head from her mother as a teenager) — it has been a more difficult week.

At Alpheus’s small house in Vosloorus, we gathered on a grey Saturday afternoon to offer our condolences to his wife. She recounted how angry she had been at him the day before he died.

He had refused to take her to work — he was on study leave and had an exam to write later that day. When she got into Johannesburg that morning, she was mugged — they took her bag, her phone, the usual.

A day later, her anger had dissipated. A bigger crime had transpired. Her husband lay dead in a government mortuary.

She sat calmly, clearly still in shock. His daughter, with a composure that belied her 13 years, spoke for all of us. “How are you,” we asked, “Outside I am okay, but inside I am broken.”

Sisonke Msimang is the executive director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa. She writes in her personal capacity.

Copied as fair use from www.mg.co.za

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV worldwide, accounting for over two thirds (67%) of all people living with
HIV and for nearly three quarters (72%) of AIDS-related deaths in 2008.

An estimated 1.9 million [1.6 million–2.2 million] people were newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008, bringing to 22.4 million
[20.8 million–24.1 million] the number of people living with HIV.

In 2008, more than 14 million children in sub-Saharan Africa had lost one or both parents to AIDS.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s epidemics vary significantly from country to country—with most appearing to have stabilized, although often at very high
levels, particularly in southern Africa.

The nine countries in southern Africa continue to bear a disproportionate share of the global AIDS burden—each of them has an adult HIV prevalence
greater than 10%.

With an adult HIV prevalence of 26% in 2007, Swaziland has the most severe level of infection in the world. Lesotho’s epidemic seems to have
stabilized, with a prevalence of 23.2% in 2008.

South Africa continues to be home to the world’s largest population of people living with HIV—5.7 million in 2007.

While the rate of new HIV infections in the region has slowly declined, the number of people living with HIV slightly increased in 2008, partly due to
increased longevity stemming from improved access to treatment. Adult (15–49) HIV prevalence declined from 5.8% in 2001 to 5.2% in 2008.

By the end 2008, 44% of adults and children in the region in need of antiretroviral therapy had access to treatment. Five years earlier, the
regional treatment coverage was only 2%.

As a result of treatment scale-up, people are living longer in many countries. In Kenya, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 29% since 2002.

Women and girls continue to be disproportionally affected by HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the region, women account for 60% of all HIV
infections.

Young women between the ages of 15 and 19 are particularly vulnerable to HIV. In Kenya, young women are three times more likely to become infected than their male counterparts.

Drops in HIV incidence were reported among women in Zambia between 2002 and 2007. In the United Republic of Tanzania, national HIV incidence fell between 2004 and 2008. Zimbabwe has experienced a steady fall in HIV prevalence since the late 1990s, due to changes in sexual behaviour.

In East Africa, HIV prevalence seems to have stabilized and in some settings may be declining. In Burundi, HIV prevalence fell among young people aged 15 to 24 in urban areas between 2002 and 2008 (4% to 3.8%) and in semi-urban
areas (6.6% to 4%) during the same period, while HIV prevalence increased in rural areas from 2.2% to 2.9%.

Although HIV prevalence in West and Central Africa is much lower than in southern Africa, the subregion nevertheless is home to several serious
national epidemics in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire (3.9% HIV prevalence) and Ghana (1.9% prevalence).

Key regional dynamics

Heterosexual intercourse remains the epidemic’s driving force in sub-Saharan Africa, with extensive ongoing transmission to newborns and breastfed
babies. However, recent epidemiological evidence has revealed the region’s epidemic to be more diverse than previously thought:

Sex work continues to play a notable role in many national epidemics. In Kenya, sex workers and their clients accounted for an estimated 14.1% of new HIV infections. In Uganda, sex workers, their clients and their clients’ partners accounted for 10% of new infections in 2008.

Seven African countries (Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Mali and Nigeria) report that more than 30% of all sex workers are living with HIV.

Several recent studies suggest that unprotected sex between men is probably a more important factor in sub-Saharan Africa’s HIV epidemics than is
commonly thought. In a recent survey of men who have sex with men in Malawi, Namibia and Botswana, the HIV prevalences among the participants were 21.4%, 12.4% and 19.7%, respectively.

Although common in sub-Saharan Africa, homosexual behaviour is highly stigmatized in the region. More than 42% of men who have sex with men surveyed in Botswana, Malawi and Namibia experienced at least one human rights abuse.

Injecting drug users in sub-Saharan Africa appear to be at high risk of HIV infection. In the region, an estimated 221 000 drug users are HIV-positive,
representing 12.4% of all injecting drug users in the region. In Nairobi, Kenya, 36% of injecting drug users surveyed tested HIV-positive.

HIV prevention

Evidence suggests that HIV prevention programmes may be having an impact on sexual behaviours in some African countries. In southern Africa, a trend towards safer sexual behaviour was observed among young men and women between 2000 and 2007.

In South Africa, the proportion of adults reporting condom use during their first sexual encounter rose from 31.3% in 2002 to 64.8% in 2008.

As in the case of increased access to antiretroviral therapy, sub-Saharan Africa has made remarkable strides in expanding access to services to
prevent mother to child HIV transmission. In 2008, 45% of HIV-positive pregnant women received antiretroviral drugs, compared with 9% in 2004.

http://data.unaids.org/pub/FactSheet/2009/20091124_FS_SSA_en.pdf

Please if you’re at health department or invloved in HIV related activitives especial support groups here’s a concept you could use as theme for your event (HIV Birthday).

“Seven years ago today, I found out I was HIV positive. I’m thinking a lot today about how my life has changed since that day. You know, I have to say, there has been good and bad, ups and downs, but I continue to be thankful for the life I have. Ironically, I think I am healthier living with HIV than I was when I was negative. The one thing I still struggle with today is fear of stigma/disclosure. But I’m working on it! I’m being more open about my status because I do feel that silence = shame, and I have nothing to be ashamed of!” mikeosito

“Before I tested positive, I could never understand why anyone would want to have an HIV birthday. However, my HIV birthday is October 16th – also 7 years. In the beginning, I didn’t think that I would be able to get through this but I have since learned to appreciate life. I now say that HIV will eventually take my breath but I refuse to let it take my life! Good luck in your continuous journey”. Dakotalagrange

“2 years ago on the 20th of this month I know was when I got infected. I’m so glad that I am here today in 09. God bless everyone”. car2d2

“unfortunately i don’t recall the exact day, but it’s twenty years ago this month i was diagnosed with hiv…who knew i’d still be around to talk about it!” Vanyel5

“My “HIV Birthday” is today…November 17th.

It’s been 9 years for me.

And, you are right…how things have changed in one’s life”. Polymath
www.thebody.com

For more infromation on HIV related stories including treatment and ongoing research for prevention and treatment go to http://www.thebody.com

websites like twitter, facebook, etc. are blocked at my workplace this blog/note was brought to through http://ping.fm

testing skype for ping

City’s vice squad violating SWEAT’s interdict Lawyers acting on behalf of SWEAT (Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce) have submitted a letter to the City of Cape Town detailing in legal terms why the ongoing arrests of sex workers are unlawful and requesting that the City respond by 5 November.

On 16 October 2009 the City issued a media release stating that they had arrested 84 sex workers for soliciting and that the purpose of the arrests was to ‘profile sex offenders at the police station and register them on the City database if they are habitual offenders’ – such evidence ‘can subsequently be used should habitual offenders be arraigned in court’. All eighty-four of the sex workers who were arrested were released ‘after being profiled and fined’.

According to letter written by Angela Andrews from the Legal Resource Centre: ‘The arrests violate the terms of the interdict granted in favour of SWEAT by the High Court on 20 April 2009, and the circumstances in which arrests can be made without a warrant. Such arrests must be made with the intention on bringing the arrestee before a court and cannot be made with the intention of “profiling” an alleged offender or imposing a series of admission of guilt fines on them.’

Vivienne Lalu, advocacy coordinator at SWEAT felt that the City should be held accountable to the law like everyone else. She further stated that sex workers fought long and hard to obtain the interdict. She said: ‘Sex workers do have rights even though the work they do is considered a crime.’ SWEAT would value any opportunity to engage the City regarding this matter. The random arrests of sex workers not only fails to address real crimes and those criminals who capitalize upon sex workers, but cause the industry to be driven further underground and result in sex workers not being able to access their human rights.

Please contact Vivienne Lalu from SWEAT on +2721 4487875 / +2782 4940788 or Angela Andrews from Legal Resource Centre on +2721 4238285.

The media has been canvassing for relaxation of regulations with regards to what it can publish and what it cannot publish. Thus far a number of these laws have been relaxed compared to apartheid era. However a lot still needs to be done by media or South African Broadcasting Complaints Commission as well as Advertising Authorities with regards to flexing their muscles on the kinds of advertisements that the media can publish or broadcast (access to information will not be discussed here).

I’m sure a lot of you have come across a number of advertisements particularly on newspapers that make you wonder, is this business being advertised here legal? i.e. abortions adverts as well as the over 18 business services. I mean who in their right mind approves those adverts, can’t the courts charge these institutions alongside the culprits or owners of the businesses advertised.

There has been a number of reports by the media on the effects of illegal abortions and how our government systems are failing to curb this yet on the same newspaper there are at least 4 adverts of illegal abortions. Has anyone amongst you heard or saw action taken against these media institutions for their role in the killing of innocent children who die daily at the hand of these heartless barbarians. How many people out there who have had the worst ordeal have publicly mentioned that they saw the contacts of the abortion this on the newspaper and yet nothing has been done to change this.

The worst thing some of the editors and those in charge of the adverts sections are parents themselves, how do they sleep at night knowing fully well that somewhere in some dingy corner a girl is going through excruciating pains that she shouldn’t be or could be dying.

So as we celebrate this day while demanding more media freedom let us be careful how we use it.

There’s a no parent out there who will be willing to increase his/her daughter’s allowance knowing fully well that she’ll spend it at a tavern or club drinking her kidneys out or in the modern street lingo eliminating her neurons.

SA 800 mitre Gold Medalist, Semenya 'Caster' Mokgadi

I’ve been following the story of Mokgadi “Caster” Semenya the female 800 mitres’ specialist at the Berlin (German) Olympics.

I have to say I’m over the moon with her achievements thus far she really deserves a big, loud welcome when she lands at OR Tambo international airport. However what I find disturbing is the support she’s not getting from human rights and gender groups in particular those who were so vocal when Julius Malema (ANC Youth League leader) made certain dumb comments in relation to women abuse.

In Semenya we have a woman who is being politely told that she’s not a women therefore a man unless proven otherwise by western methods, questions are raised about her body, her face, moustache, her way of celebrating a victory etc. It doesn’t take an expert to figure out that this amounts to emotional abuse the fact she’s compared to males.  I know for a fact that you’ll never find a single woman in the world who would be happy to be told that they look like a man.

If one were to scrutinise the whole story we would realise that Semenya is being emotionally abused and the fact that the organisations should be at forefront in defending this abuse are silent. Even more disturbing is the fact that we as South Africans are not as vocal as we ought to be (the same way we are when our political leaders make dumb comments),  while she continues to being subjected to continuous abuse at an international level.

This silence not only creates doubt on the confidence we have in her but also encourages this abusive behaviour against her. I will not be comparing her to other athletes intentionally because this is not about other athletes but about our own questionable loyalty towards her and our continuous silence while she endures abuse as a representative of South Africa.      

Despite all of this she has continued to deliver on the responsibilities we have entrusted in her, even though we have not been as supportive as we ought to be. She has remained a national hero after her excellent performance in the 800 mitres at World Athletics Championships in Berlin last night.

Some of you might have been thinking perhaps she went for a sex change. Let’s look at this option closely, she 18 years of age raised by her grandmother, Maphuthi Sekgala who’s 80 years old currently. If she had this option how much will it cost for the sex change? She just turned 18 therefore this procedure would have required her grand mother to sign on her behalf, now how many grandmothers out there would approve of this?  We often wonder why people like the Kwaito artist, Mshoza go for breasts implants (34C) and nose jobs to look more feminine, hope this answers your question. So next time you pick-up your tabloid or magazine and see women going under knife DON’T BLAME THEM, THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THE ABUSE!

Minister of Provincial and Local Government: Republic of South Africa, South Africa.

Sicelo Shiceka this week stuck to his controversial statements that “herbs” have an important role to play in “bringing down the viral load in HIV/AIDS”.

Still recovering from an era of AIDS denialism and quackery under former health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and then President Thabo Mbeki, South Africans read in a weekend newspaper that the minister of co-operative governance and traditional affairs believed that herbs “surpasses antiretrovirals because your body gets used to them” and “arrests the spread of the viral load”.

Offered an opportunity to explain his comments, Shiceka’s spokesperson Vuyelwa Vika this week sent an e-mail response to a set of questions.

“The Minister believes there is enough space for both herbs and antiretrovirals within the health management environment in our country. His statement to the journalist was that since we live in a democracy where people have a choice, people should have choices even in terms of their health and wellness and the kind of medical treatment they choose for various illnesses and conditions, including living with HIV.

“He said he knows of people who have used herbs and have reported a marked decline in their viral load. He also said because we live in Africa and Africans use herbs and other forms of indigenous knowledge systems, they should not be embarrassed and use these secretly because it is a choice they have, but the one thing that the system of indigenous medicine needs to be rid of are charlatans who can take advantage of our people.

“However, the presence of charlatans does not take away from the fact that for some in society, traditional herbs and ways of medicine do work and have been proven scientifically to work,” Vika said.

Asked to share the evidence on which the minister had based his claims that herbs could reduce the viral load of a person living with HIV/AIDS, Vika said he had witnessed it in his community and among family and friends. She added that he was unable to name the specific herbs he was referring to as he was not a herbalist, but urged the journalist to “do your research and go to herbalists in the country”.

Invited to explain his statement that herbs “surpassed” antiretrovirals Vika responded that “in some instances the herbs have surpassed antiretrovirals where people reacted negatively to ARVs but reacted far more positively to herbal medication which indicates that people should exercise their choices and work with what their bodies work the best with.

“Rather than this being turned into an either or situation, the Minister believes that it is primarily a health management issue and there can never be a one size fits all”.

Vika also confirmed that the minister knew of instances where “more than just one person living with HIV arrested or contained the increase of the viral load in their body
after using herbal medication – meaning instead of spreading/increasing, the viral load stabilised and after some time actually went down”.

In the weekend report Shiceka states that he was planning to meet with the health department with the aim of making traditional medicine available in every health facility.

Vika said the Shiceka was planning to bring together traditional healers and the health department to explore means of mainstreaming alternative African indigenous health and medicinal systems and getting rid of charlatans through legislation – “to the extent of making these ways of healing and preventative medicine accessible in hospitals and clinics, without demonising them and making African people feel ashamed of their ways of doing things”.

Vika said the minister’s thinking was in line with Eastern societies, “including the example of Chinese herbal remedies, which are not a source of shame to the Chinese and have actually gained the respect of the rest of the world. There cannot be a one method fits all in health management, so ARVs can co-exist with African indigenous ways of herbal medication”.

Reminded of the confusion caused by Tshabalala-Msimang’s statements on nutrition and other natural remedies being superior to western medicine, the Vika responded that “People living with ARV (sic)are living with the virus but have minds which work very well, so they are not easily (be)”confused” by clear statements like what the Minister said.

Asked pertinently whether the minister supported ARVs as part of the various tools in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Vika said agreed that it was acceptable as an “alternative for those who prefer them, because people have a democratic right to choose what works for them – for some it is ARVs, for others, herbs.

“This is the democracy the Minister sacrificed his youth to see unfolding in South Africa, so that everyone of us can exercise some of these fundamental choices.”

Mark Heywood of the AIDS Law Project said Shiceka’s comments were worrying and disappointing.

“Comments such as these set the country back to an era that we thought we had gone moved from. We hope that the minister can retract his statement and that the health department can take a stand against it”, he said.

Nathan Geffen of the Treatment Action Campaign said it was not the state’s role to say that people have choices in how they treat HIV.

“Obviously people have choices. The state’s role is to inform people what choice will save lives on the basis of scientific evidence. There is no evidence that any intervention other than antiretroviral medicines suppress HIV viral load, it is this message that all representatives of the state should be conveying,” said Geffen.

07.08.2009 Anso Thom and Lungi Langa

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032436