South Africa

Aussie stars support loveLife project

Nathan Bracken and Brad Hodge took time out of their preparations for the ICC World Twenty20 2007 to visit a project as part of the ICC’s work with UNAIDS and UNICEF to raise awareness on AIDS.

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“Cricket can help combat HIV and AIDS”, says Graeme Smith

The Proteas skipper Graeme Smith is not only upbeat about victory in the ICC 2007 World Twenty20 but also optimistic about how cricket can add to combating HIV among children and young people.

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Promoting sport and HIV prevention

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” “Play cricket for South Africa!” the six boys cried out in unison when asked about their future aspirations. The group of 9- and 10-year-old ‘mini-cricketers’ from Alexander Township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, were at Wanderers to meet some of their heroes from the Bangladeshi cricket team, here to participate in the ICC World Twenty20 2007, taking place in South Africa from 11 to 24 September.

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McCullum backs HIV and AIDS campaign

Neil McCullum wears two caps – star cricketer for Scotland on the pitch as well as a physical education teacher.

Squeezing in training sessions and international cricket play when his day job allows, Neil also manages to make time in his busy schedule to support the ICC’s HIV awareness programme by visiting children infected with or affected by HIV.

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Pakistan cricket team talks about HIV prevention

Bats flashing. Balls flying. The three young boys, their fingers intertwined in the links of the wire-mesh fence, watched mesmerized as some of their cricket idols trained on a pitch just outside of South Africa.

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Head of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Malcolm Speed joined Indian star Virender Sehwag and Cecilio Adorna, UNICEF India country representative, in a visit to the Antiretroviral treatment centre of the Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital in New Delhi at the end of August. The visit was part of the ICC's partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF to raise awareness and reduce stigma around AIDS and the impact of AIDS on children through the global campaign, UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE AGAINST AIDS.

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Stars back AIDS awareness campaign at ICC World Twenty20 in South Africa

International cricketers will highlight the situation of children and young people living with HIV as part of a far-reaching AIDS awareness campaign during the 2007 World Twenty20 world cricket championship in South Africa.

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The cricket World Twenty20 will focus
on children, young people and HIV.
Logo credits: ICC

International cricketers will highlight the situation of children and young people living with HIV as part of a far-reaching AIDS awareness campaign during the 2007 Twenty20 world cricket championship in South Africa.

Players, participating in the competition from 11 to 24 September in Johannesburg, will promote HIV prevention messages as part of the International Cricket Council's (ICC) ongoing partnership with UNAIDS and UNICEF.

Cricket fans will also be targeted by loveLife - South Africa's national youth HIV prevention programme - who are also partners in the initiative.

Top players, including South Africa captain Graeme Smith, Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka and India's Yuvraj Singh will feature in public service announcements for the 'Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS' campaign highlighting how HIV can affect the lives of young people. Broadcasters from 105 countries will be encouraged to use the messages that will be screened to fans on giant screens at the 27 matches during the tournament.

Other stars will visit UNICEF and loveLife community-based project activities in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg to promote AIDS awareness to young people and encourage them to develop life-skills to avoid HIV infection.

Players also plan to wear red ribbons in selected matches to demonstrate their support for people living with HIV.

Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara said: "I hope people will listen to cricketers, I hope that our support helps and that it brings a different perspective to building interest in these issues and raising awareness. It's important to raise awareness any way that you can and if different voices and fresh faces help then that is good."

New Zealand cricketter Ross Taylor visiting
community-based project in South Africa.
Photo credits: ICC/Rebecca Hearfield

South Africa star AB de Villiers added: "I have a very soft heart and to see those children and the way they cope with HIV puts a lot of what I do as a cricketer in perspective. I have been involved in a few projects to do with 'Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS' in different parts of the world where we have toured and it has been a very worthwhile thing to do.

"I feel a real calling to help wherever I can. The issue of AIDS is close to my heart because of the impact it has had on my country but I think we have a responsibility as high-profile sportsmen to do what we can as it helps to open eyes and it inspires people to do something about the problem. Awareness is a big factor in helping prevent the spread of HIV so the more we talk about it and keep it in the public eye the better."

India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh added: "Any social cause is important for top players playing any sport because people look up to you and you need to make them understand and educate them about issues relating to HIV. Through the ICC working with UNAIDS and UNICEF, we can deliver important messages to people all over the world."

Michael Hussey of Australia will also be supporting the campaign. He said: "When I visited an education project in the Caribbean during the ICC Cricket World Cup, I saw for myself the importance of educating young people on HIV and AIDS. UNICEF and UNAIDS play a vital role in addressing this epidemic and by supporting this partnership, by meeting young people and raising awareness of HIV and AIDS, I hope I can personally play a part in reducing discrimination."

As well as player-related activities, the 500 volunteers working at the event have all received HIV and AIDS education from loveLife health trainers, supported by UNAIDS. There will also be advertising boards at the grounds promoting the 'Unite for Children, Unite Against Aids' campaign.

The African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS - a coalition of more than 50 African broadcast companies - will also be supporting the partnership, promoting player visits and event activities related to the partnership.

Cricket is popular in many of the countries that are most impacted by AIDS, including India and South Africa.

“UNAIDS has worked for many years with the ICC and the partnership has helped us reach large audiences with HIV prevention messages. Sport is a powerful force for change and the cricket players are great roles models helping us not only promote HIV prevention but also tackle the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV and AIDS,” said Andy Seale, team leader for civil society partnerships at UNAIDS.

Part of this story first appeared on the ICC web site: http://www.icc-cricket.com/

Links:

As part of efforts to prevent transmission of HIV from new mothers to their babies, South Africa has set up a programme called “Mothers to Mothers” (m2m). As part of the programme, women are trained to mentor other pregnant women and new mothers living with HIV. Mr Gene Falk explained that Mothers to Mothers was proving to be an effective, sustainable model of care. The women can also use a telephone hotline which has been an important channel of conveying education and support. Public education through TV shows also proved to be one of the most effective ways of informing women about mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

In Zambia there are over 16 % of adults aged 15-49 are living with HIV. Dr. Namwinga Chintu from Zambia’s Center for Infectious Research said that follow up to identify infants who’d been exposed to HIV, was a priority. She added that in Zambia, initiatives aimed at preventing mother to child transmission of HIV had been increased thanks to collaboration between the Zambian government and partners backed by the US government. In a country where the AIDS epidemic has had a devastating impact on all facets of Zambian life, she said that co-operation between government and partners involved in the AIDS response was crucial. She called for innovative funding programmes to help prevent mother to child transmission of HIV and for the implementation of methods that support government ownership.

“A little push in the right direction can make a big difference,” she said

She cited many challenges in implementing HIV programmes, including competing health priorities, how to deliver services to hard-to-reach areas and the poor rates of facility deliveries.

UNAIDS Executive Director Dr. Peter Piot, at the
opening of the third South African Aids conference
in Durban, 05 June 2007.

“If South Africa can achieve its aims, the country will be well on the way to leading Africa into a new phase in the AIDS response,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot, at the opening of the third South African Aids conference in Durban yesterday.

Congratulating South Africa for its new “ambitious and credible” five-year National Strategic Plan for Aids, which aims to half new infections by 2011, Dr Piot underlined that the effective implementation of the plan is critical for future progress. “ The National AIDS Plan represents an incentive for all of us, wherever we work, to take a cold, hard look at what we are doing and to change what needs to change,” he said. “Failure to reach the ambitious, but necessary, goals would be a collective failure on all our parts. You have a better chance than any other country in the region to deliver on AIDS. If you can't, who can?" he added.

Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Deputy President of
the Republic of South Africa and Dr Peter Piot,
UNAIDS Executive Director, during the press
conference that took place after the official opening
of the South African AIDS conference in Durban,
05 June 2007

More than 4000 scientists, activists and medical experts have joined in Durban this week for the third South African AIDS Conference. At the conference opening, Dr Piot joined Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ncguka, who heads the recently restructured South African National AIDS Council, social activist Graça Machel and the Treatment Action Campaign’s Nkhensani Mavasa on the podium.

The conference theme is Building Consensus on Prevention, Treatment and Care, and organisers hope to end the four-day meeting with a formal declaration on the way forward on key topics, such as the role of male circumcision in preventing HIV transmission. Other issues up for discussion include WHO/UNAIDS’ new guidelines on HIV testing and counselling and the spread of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis, to which people living with HIV are particularly vulnerable.

The conference will run from 5 – 8 June.

The HIV and AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South
Africa, 2007 – 2011 details concrete targets to be
reached in specific areas by 2011. Photo credit:
UNAIDS/E.Miller

The AIDS response in South Africa has been given a boost with the successful endorsement of two key processes: the restructured South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) and a new national AIDS plan which will guide South Africa’s response to AIDS over the next five years.

The revamped Council is a high-level multi-sectoral partnership body chaired by South Africa’s Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, with a civil society representative to be elected as the deputy chair. The Council comprises government ministers and leaders from 18 civil society sectors and it will play a leadership role ensuring consensus is built on and maintained on issues of AIDS-related policy and strategy. The Council will also oversee the overall implementation and review of the new National Strategic Plan.

Heralded as South Africa’s most dynamic and comprehensive document on AIDS issues yet, the HIV and AIDS and STI Strategic Plan for South Africa, 2007 – 2011 draws on lessons learned from the country’s response to AIDS over the past decades and details concrete targets to be reached in specific areas by 2011.

On May 2, the South African Cabinet officially endorsed the five-year plan. Key to the development of the plan has been the extensive participatory and consultative process that started in 2006 and involved government officials, a wide range of civil society organizations, the United Nations, academic and research institutions, labour and business.

The primary aims of the plan are to cut the number
of new HIV infections by 50% and reduce the impact
of HIV by expanding access to appropriate treatment,
care and support to 80% of all people diagnosed
with HIV. Photo credit: UNAIDS/G.Pirozzi

The primary aims of the plan are to cut the number of new HIV infections by 50% and reduce the impact of HIV by expanding access to appropriate treatment, care and support to 80% of all people diagnosed with HIV. The plan also pledges to reduce the rates of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to less than 5% and to allocate 40% of the projected budget towards HIV treatment.

Mark Heywood, of the AIDS Law Project and Treatment Action Campaign and member of the UNAIDS Human Rights Reference Group, who was involved in the drafting of the document, said he believed it was a "serious and bold" plan. “Its recognition of the centrality of human rights is very important and it provides much-needed targets concerning treatment and HIV prevention, as well as clearly assigned responsibilities for making the plan a reality,” he said.

“This process brought the South African government closer to civil society and has given us, as a nation, the opportunity to find each other and recommit ourselves to fighting the spread of HIV,” said Member of Parliament Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, representative for the disability sector within the National AIDS Council and member of the Task Team of national AIDS experts appointed by the Director General of the Department of Health to lead the finalization of the national plan. “It was a collective effort and I believe it will be a collective effort once again as we implement the plan. The plan shows us that today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be even better,” she said.

At the end of 2006, one in nine or 5.5 million South
Africans were living with HIV, with a prevalence of
18.8% in the adult population. Photo credit:
UNAIDS/P.Virot

Throughout the development of both processes, UNAIDS worked closely with the National AIDS Council and the South African Department of Health. Through the Joint UN Team on AIDS, UNAIDS provided technical support to several civil society consultations during the development process.

“Supporting these processes has been a priority for UNAIDS in assisting South Africa to drive its response forward. We welcome the new and bold leadership in strengthening the AIDS Council and developing the solid national plan. The extensive reaching out to, sharing with and learning from civil society and other partners underlines the movement towards a unified national response to the epidemic,” said UNAIDS Country Coordinator Mbulawa Mugabe who was also a member of the 16-member Task Team.

“Critical now is the timely and effective implementation of the plan, which UNAIDS and the UN family will be supporting as much as we can to make the goals laid out a reality for South Africa,” he said.

At the end of 2006, one in nine or 5.5 million South Africans were living with HIV, with a prevalence of 18.8% in the adult population. HIV prevalence is not yet declining although it has stabilized among young people 15-24 years. National HIV prevalence among pregnant women at Antenatal Clinics was 30.2% in 2005.

In June South Africa will hold the 3rd National AIDS Conference with the theme: Building Consensus on HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care. The conference aims to serve as a platform for deliberations on the key contentious issues relating to HIV prevention, treatment and care. UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot will open the National Conference.

UNAIDS/M.Jensen

African traditional medicine is often the primary, and frequently the only, accessible health-care option for many people living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Attempts to bring biomedical and traditional health care together for people living with HIV began in the early 1990s when the World Health Organisation recommended that traditional medicine be included in national responses to HIV.

“People all over the world have always sought advice from both biomedical doctors and traditional healers for all kinds of physical, emotional and spiritual problems. HIV is no exception” said Purnima Mane, Director of Policy, Evidence and Partnerships at UNAIDS. “It is our responsibility to ensure that people have access to the best possible care which they need and seek.” she added.

UNAIDS/L.Gubb

Early attempts to combine the best of both systems included a variety of projects that looked at the usefulness of traditional herbal remedies for the treatment of HIV-related illnesses. Studies looking at traditional healers’ perceptions of sexually transmitted infections and HIV infection were also conducted. With this information, collaborative projects began, training traditional healers as educators and counsellors to disseminate information on HIV and sexually transmitted infections in their communities and to their peers.

One such project involved the Inanda healers from the Valley of a Thousand Hills, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. In 2000, community leaders called for help in strengthening their response to the AIDS epidemic. They identified local traditional healers as having an important role to play. In response to their request, social scientists and medical doctors began working in partnership with the local traditional healers on HIV prevention projects.

A group of around 16-20 healers attended one-day monthly workshops where they learnt about HIV transmission, prevention, treatment and care. Discussions took place around traditional and cultural sexual practices that could prevent HIV transmission and safer sexual practices involving more than just condoms.

Herbal treatments such as Sutherlandia frutescens, also known as the ‘cancer bush’, which is produced in pill form and enhances appetite and immunity, were debated alongside other traditional medicines used by the healers.

WHO/UNAIDS/P.Virot

Coordination of the needs of the patient within a family and community context was an important part of the discussions. Traditionally, healers apply holistic healing approaches to problems and illnesses during their consultations, and whilst the patient remains the focus, equal importance is given to the socio-cultural background where the support network and the family interaction are essential.

“We must find more ways of facilitating and supporting the unique contribution healers can make to the response to AIDS,” said Andy Seale, Chief of Civil Society Partnerships at UNAIDS.

Through the regular meetings, the healers have established an informal support network and rely on each other for referral and resources. Increasingly, ways are being found to stimulate both referral networking with the formal health sector and with the traditional healers.

The ripples of the Inanda healers’ work have become increasingly widespread and more and more people are requesting HIV testing, counselling and support through the healers. There is hope in the Valley of a Thousand Hills and the commitment to make a difference.

As part of the best practice collection, UNAIDS has published practical guidelines to help health authorities develop productive relationships between traditional healers and moder biomedical professionals and strengthen the response to AIDS. http://data.unaids.org/Publications/IRC-pub07/JC967-TradHealers_en.pdf

Nazareth House, a faith-based organization located in Cape Town, was the first Catholic orphan care institution in South Africa to provide paediatric antiretroviral therapy for the HIV-positive orphans it cares for.

The Sisters of Nazareth House are currently caring for 35 children made orphans by AIDS and 20 adults living with HIV, most of whom, due to the complexity or severity of their symptoms can no longer care for themselves or be cared for by their family or community.

Photo credits : UNAIDS/L. Alyanak

Like Nazareth House, many faith-based initiatives have been on the front-line of the epidemic since its devastating effects on the population became apparent in Africa. Nowadays, faith-based organizations, which often reach the most remote communities, as well as being prominent in large urban centres, are uniquely placed to provide a range of quality HIV-related services (from training of home-based caregivers to provision of antiretroviral therapy) to those in need.

However, the valuable work of organizations within the Catholic Church based upon their religious principles sometimes lacked the coordination and level of support needed to improve the effectiveness of their responses to the AIDS epidemic.

It was under these circumstances that the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), in partnership with the Catholic Medical Mission Board, launched the Choose to Care initiative. The initiative, supported by funding from the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Foundation and other sources, started in 2000 as a coordinated response to the overwhelming need to provide HIV-prevention education, care and support to communities in the southern African region.

“Since 2000 the SACBC AIDS Office has coordinated the response of the Catholic Church to AIDS in South Africa, Swaziland and Botswana, strengthening and building on existing programmes, as well as helping to initiate new ones. The continuum of Choose to Care in most of the programmes and projects linked to the SACBC has seen commitment to prevention, care and support to people infected and affected by AIDS,” stated Mr. Johan Viljoen, Programme Manger of Choose to Care Project.

Photo credits : UNAIDS/L. Gubb

At first the Choose to Care projects were engaged in providing prevention and care services. However, the provision of treatment to those living with HIV, particularly orphans and vulnerable children, has become one of their main activities. The sites supported by the SACBC providing antiretroviral therapy aim at complementing government programmes in areas where government-funded antiretroviral therapy is not available, notably in resource-poor communities.

Nazareth House was one of the first sites where antiretroviral therapy was provided as part of the Choose to Care initiative. By replicating similar small-scale programmes implemented through the diocesan and parish system, the Catholic Church has been able to scale-up HIV programmes that remain rooted in and responsive to the needs of local communities.

This approach has been proven to be effective as is shown in a study recently researched and written by Rev. Robert J. Vitillo, Special Adviser on HIV for Caritas Internationalis. The study has now been published as part of the UNAIDS Best Practice Collection as an example of how a coordinated response to the epidemic made by a faith-based organization has increased HIV prevention education, care and support to communities affected by AIDS as well as complementing governments’ efforts to achieve universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support.

“The highly variable nature of the epidemic has been met with a wide variety of Best Practice responses. The Choose to Care initiative is especially interesting as it provides evidence that a large scale response to HIV may be achieved through support, coordination and guidance given to a large number of locally-rooted small-scale programmes,” noted Alistair Craik, Best Practice Manager, UNAIDS.

Drawing upon independent research the study shows that the Choose to Care projects are valued both for their compassion and practical effectiveness. Further proof of the strength and effectiveness of the Choose to Care model is provided by the fact that since 2005 when, as planned, funding support ceased, the great majority of projects have continued, sustained by new sources of support.