More feature stories on Eastern and Southern Africa

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Breaking down cultural barriers to address HIV
12 January 2010|
Cultural structures and systems can facilitate or inhibit the success of HIV programs such as voluntary male circumcision, PMTCT and social protection. Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibé visited the Luo Council of Elders in the western part of Kenya to discuss their role in social transformation, during his five day official visit to the country.
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Kenya Launches 3rd National AIDS Strategic Plan
12 January 2010|
Kenya’s third generation National AIDS Strategic Plan was launched by the country’s Prime Minister Hon. Raila Odinga in Nairobi. Built on the recently undertaken Modes of Transmission analysis, the plan responds to the need to rethink some of the priorities of the HIV response to align them with the evidence now on hand.
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South African Muppet Kami speaks the language of acceptance
17 December 2009|
Sesame Street fans across the world are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the popular children’s television programme this year. In South Africa, the programme’s local version called Takalani Sesame is revelling in the popularity of its mustard-coloured furry Muppet, Kami, who is openly living in HIV.
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Eminent African Jurists discuss HIV and the law
14 December 2009|
A three-day meeting to highlight the role of the judiciary in the response to HIV has concluded in Johannesburg. The gathering co-hosted by UNAIDS, UNDP, International Association of Women Judges and the International Commission of Jurists was attended by 30 judges from a diverse range of African countries and legal traditions.
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UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Her Serene Highness Princess Stephanie of Monaco visits the frontline of the HIV epidemic in South Africa
14 December 2009|
Visiting South Africa for the first time in her role as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Her Serene Highness, Princess Stephanie of Monaco met with community organizations and partners at the forefront of South Africa’s response to the HIV epidemic. South Africa has one of the largest HIV epidemics, with an estimated 5.7 million people living with HIV.
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Danny Jordaan and UNAIDS Executive Director discuss global AIDS outreach around FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa
04 December 2009|
Earlier this week in Cape Town, UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé met with Mr Danny Jordaan, Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South African Organising Committee to discuss support for global outreach on HIV by the South African government around the epic event which will take place next summer.
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President Zuma and UNAIDS Executive Director call for mass prevention movement at World AIDS Day commemoration in Pretoria
01 December 2009|
To mark World AIDS Day, UNAIDS Executive Director Mr Michel Sidibé joined President Jacob Zuma and South Africans in their national commemoration in Pretoria where he called for the forging of a mass prevention movement.
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Global Fund approves US$2.4 billion in new grants
12 November 2009|
The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria concluded its 20th meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with the approval of new grants with a two-year commitment of US$2.4 billion.
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President heralds new era in South Africa’s AIDS response
01 November 2009|
South Africa’s response to AIDS received a powerful boost with President Jacob Zuma’s landmark speech to the National Council of Provinces on 29 October 2009. The speech heralds the beginning of a new movement to accelerate access towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the country which has the largest number of people living with HIV. In his speech the President calls on all leaders to work together and use evidence to inform the country’s AIDS response.
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Empowering women to protect themselves: Promoting the female condom in Zimbabwe
29 October 2009|
The female condom can be a tool for women’s empowerment, allowing them to protect their own reproductive health and that of their partners. In Zimbabwe, the national AIDS-prevention team, along with UNFPA, have seen their efforts lead to a dramatic increase in female condom use after just three years.
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Cricket stars raise awareness about HIV in South Africa
26 October 2009|
Famous Sri Lankan cricketers Kumar Sangakkara, Angelo Mathews, Chamara Kapugedera and Lasith Malinga recently visited young people living with HIV at the WITSECHO Adolescent Sprint Holiday Programme near Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Governments and civil society expand access to HIV testing and counselling
30 September 2009|
A brightly coloured van known as the ‘Tutu Tester’ has become a familiar sight in Cape Town, South Africa, as part of an accelerating drive to persuade people to know their HIV status. More than 10 000 people have been tested and counselled since May 2008 when the mobile clinic from the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation took to the road.
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More infants protected from HIV as access to antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission increases
30 September 2009|
Despair is giving way to cautious optimism even in the most HIV-affected African nations as antiretroviral drugs become more widely available to stop HIV-positive women from infecting their unborn child or infant, thus edging closer to United Nations targets for an HIV-free generation of children.
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Friends of UN Plus in Swaziland, Mozambique
21 September 2009|
Strengthening efforts towards a stigma-free work environment for United Nations staff living with HIV and their families, UN Plus has launched a new Friends of UN Plus initiative in Swaziland. Keeping up the momentum to break down barriers and silence around HIV in southern Africa, this will be followed by the launch of a similar initiative in Mozambique on September 23.
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UNAIDS, Millennium Villages join forces to keep children free from HIV in Africa
21 September 2009|
UNAIDS and the Millennium Villages Project signed an agreement in New York to strengthen efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa. The aim of the partnership is to help local governments create “Mother to child transmission-free zones” in 14 ‘Millennium Villages’ across ten African countries.
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Resources for regular lab tests could be used for HIV treatment
11 September 2009|
Having 12 children and a very old mother to support, Vincent, middle-aged Ugandan single father living with HIV, knows that his death would spell disaster for the whole family. “If I had died, where would these people go?” said Vincent perched on a stool with his legs outstretched.
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Rwanda leading the way in jointly tackling TB and HIV
02 September 2009|
Dr Jorge Sampaio, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Stop TB and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé together witnessed, first-hand, delivery of integrated HIV and TB services during a visit to the Socio-Medical Centre in Biryogo, Rwanda.
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UNAIDS Executive Director official visit to Rwanda continues
01 September 2009|
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé has met with President of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, and the First Lady of Rwanda, H.E. Jeanette Kagame, as well as representatives of civil society organizations. Yesterday he addressed the 59th session of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Committee for Africa in Kigali.
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UNAIDS Executive Director’s first official visit to Rwanda
28 August 2009|
UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé will pay his first official visit to Rwanda from 27 August to 3 September to recognize and support the achievements of the Government of Rwanda in the HIV response and conduct high-level advocacy for universal access to HIV services and the Millennium Development Goals.
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Evidence shows new drug combination dramatically reduces mother-to child transmission of HIV during breastfeeding
22 July 2009|
According to a new study led by WHO, if HIV-positive pregnant women are given a combination of antiretroviral drugs from late in pregnancy until six months into breastfeeding, rather than a short course of drugs that ends at delivery, their babies are over 40% less likely to become infected with HIV.

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21 March 2013

UNAIDS welcomes UK’s strong commitment to development aid . More

20 March 2013

UNAIDS calls for Zero parallel systems for HIV and TB. More

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