By api

The funding is not enough. The disease is a menace and when those affected by the disease die they live behind children who are unable to care for themselves. World leaders should put more energy and funds to fight the disease and help those suffering from it.

Photo: FreeFoto.com

Most countries rely heavily on donor funding

JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI – Faced with the global economic downturn and less money from donors, national HIV programmes in East and Southern Africa – the region hardest hit by HIV/AIDS – are struggling to stay afloat. IRIN/PlusNews brings you a wrap of countries feeling the biggest pinch.

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 

According to medical relief agency Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), funding shortfalls caused the government to cap the number of people starting on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment at 2,000 new patients for 2011, even though an estimated 15,000 people are on waiting lists for the drugs. Only 12 percent of those in need of the life-prolonging medication are receiving it.

NGOs have been asked by the Ministry of Health to limit HIV testing because there is no money available to buy drugs to treat those eligible for ARVs. Access to drugs for opportunistic infections and testing for CD4-counts or viral loads is extremely limited.

DRC is largely dependent on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria to finance its treatment programmes, and other donor projects are winding up, making the country even more dependent on dwindling Global Fund grants.

Uganda

Poor funding in 2010 led HIV care facilities to reduce patient enrolment. Service providers said they were afraid to encourage people to test for HIV in case they needed ARVs and were unable to provide the medication. In August PEPFAR responded to appeals from healthcare providers overwhelmed by patients by making a commitment to increase its support to the national treatment programme.

However, HIV programmes remain poorly funded and Uganda’s appeal for $270 million from the Global Fund in Round 8 was rejected. Although the government now contributes some $60 million annually to buying HIV drugs from a local manufacturer, critics say HIV/AIDS efforts will remain stunted unless the government makes a more meaningful contribution.

South Africa

In November 2011, South Africa’s leading HIV/AIDS lobby group, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which is largely dependent on the Global Fund, released a statement warning that without this money, TAC will be forced to close its doors and retrench 280 employees in 130 branches at the end of January 2012. TAC volunteers distribute over 5 million condoms a year and the group’s treatment literacy project educates patients about HIV treatment in many of the country’s public health facilities.

As some donors pull out entirely and others shift from programme implementation to technical assistance, many patients who previously got their treatment from well run NGOs are being transferred to already overcrowded public health facilities.

Burundi 

Following a Global Fund rejection of its application for money in November 2007, the government said there was a gap of $83 million to cover all the needs of the national AIDS strategic plan from 2007 to 2011.

In 2010, HIV-positive patients in some parts of the country complained that they were unable to access drugs to treat opportunistic infections and many could not afford a CD4 test, which measures immune strength and is required before health facilities can initiate patients on ARVs.

At the end of June 2011, World Bank funding – more than $50 million over a nine-year period – for Burundi’s AIDS response ended and has not been renewed. The Global Fund and the World Bank have been Burundi’s largest HIV donors. In September, associations of people living with HIV reported that several of their members had died due to an ongoing shortage of ARV drugs.

Swaziland 

The country with the highest HIV prevalence has been grappling with shortages of HIV treatment, testing kits and laboratory tests essential for initiating and managing patients on ARV treatment, caused mainly by a drop in revenue from the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) as a result of the global economic downturn.

Swaziland recently received emergency funding from PEPFAR to help supply first-line ARVs until the end of April 2012, but further ARV shortages have been predicted.

Mozambique 

An estimated 96 percent of the HIV budget is donor-funded, with the Global Fund and PEPFAR providing the largest portion. Mozambique’s Round 9 funding has not yet been released due to concerns over poor financial and supply management, and its Round 10 grant proposal was not approved. Other donors, including the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, have withdrawn support as the UNITAID grant comes to a close.

Mozambique is expected to face shortages of first-line ARVs by the end of 2012 or even earlier, unless an emergency funding request to the Global Fund is approved. The country is looking for other funding alternatives to help bridge the projected shortfall.

Kenya

HIV/AIDS funding received a blow when the Global Fund rejected its proposals in rounds eight and nine. Kenya has a projected $167 billion shortfall to cover its HIV programmes up to 2013. The country has put more than 400,000 people on ARVs, but another 600,000 need the drugs and have no access to them.

At the end of November 2011, HIV-positive people in Coast Province, eastern Kenya, held demonstrations over the lack of drugs in health facilities, forcing people to purchase the drugs from private pharmacies, but many who can’t afford the drugs are going without.

Kenya’s Cabinet has proposed that the Ministry of Finance create an HIV/AIDS Trust Fund to support scaling up the HIV response. If approved, the government will contribute 1 percent of its annual revenue to the fund.

kr/kn/he source http://www.irinnews.org

By Chief editor Korir, API

African Press got wind that Willys bar will have a celebration on Friday to mark one year anniversary. API took contact with Mr Ablai Max Jagne who is associated with Willys bar Management.

Speaking to API, Mr Ablai Max Jagne, (former Manager at Burger King – Oslo S) who is now the Entertainment and marketing manager of the newly opened Opera Bar, which is a stone throw away from Willys bar, said the celebrations at Willys bar to mark the anniversary will be fabulous.

Mr “Max”, as he prefers to be addressed in the business world, is also connected to Willys bar operations, while at the same time managing entertainment and marketing for the New Opera bar.

The celebration tomorrow will enable many people to attend because the date falls on a weekend. They will find it easy to travel to the place. The management is lucky to have the bar just opposite the main Oslo Central Train Station which is only 3 minutes walk to the celebration venue.

This week Willys bar has operated for one year and the place will celebrate the day.

Friday the 2nd December at 20.00 PM, you and your friends undoubtedly will be at Willys bar where the management will thank you as customers. There will be abundance of cakes and Champagne drinks – how sweet this sounds?

I wonder how it will be, and yet I choose to believe it will be a lovely day for everyone – a Friday of cakes and champagne at Willys – how can it not be excellent!

Those who know Willys bar will undoubtedly agree with me when I say, the place is full of good surprises. The place  sometimes have good live bands and DJ music many days throughout the week.

Entertainment in this world is something we as human beings long for at times of  relaxation. At Willys bar, many have found moments to relax with the type of music they love.

The good thing for the customers is the fact that even when there is live band or DJ playing, the customers have the right to request the management for the music they like, and they surely get it.

One year ago, when the place started, there were many African people frequenting the place, but one could also find some Norwegians enjoying there due to their love for African music.

These Norwegians who had worked in Africa, and were now back in the country after the completion of their contracts in the African continent,  wanted a place like those they had frequented while they worked in Africa and they found that in Willys bar – the atmosphere and the music full of african rhythms.

But over the months after the  opening of the place, it has managed to attract customers from all works of life. Now it is frequented by people from all continents of the world, making colour of the customers “a no issue thing”.

The good things many of those people who frequent Willys bar come up with are the attributes to the management. They say the management is keen in their work.  One  fact that stands tall, they say, is the important and quick steps they take when they discover any of their customer being harassed by another customer.

They are credited with solving the problem discreetly, and as fast as possible – in a good way and at the same time ensuring that it does not disrupt the good evening for other guests.

A frequent guest at Willys bar, Mr John Otieno told API today that he will be at the celebrations this Friday with his friends, not only to enjoy the management’s Champagne and cakes, but also to boggy the night ou. He says he was also present one year ago during the opening of the bar.

ONE YEAR AT WILLYS BAR

Check out on the live music through videaos taken at Willys bar. Many types of musuc since inception of Willys bar one year ago. The DJs have also played a huge role in promoting the place with their good and positively aggressive DJ’ing.

Watch a few of our selected videos, among many vidoes filmed at Willys.

Here below – a popular Tanzanian musician was in Oslo and gave good entertaining to a full house at Willys bar on 22nd April this year 2011.

API Video.Tanzanian Musician. Willys Bar. Norway 22.4.2011

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Musicians who have entertained guests at Willys bar in the past year are as follows:.

Copyright. API Video. Sharova Ekaterina entertains at Willys 23.March 2011

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Copyright API video. A musician at Willys in Oslo

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Copyright API Photo. Little Pete Band at Willy’s Bar, Norway.

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Copyright. API photo. At Willy’s bar. Norway. Little Pete Band

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API Video. Musicians at Willy’s bar April 2011

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Copyright API Video. Lonesome Willy at Willy’s Bar in Norway

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Copyright API Video. Lonesome Willy at Willy’s Bar in Norway

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Copyright API Video. Tanzanian in a one day jam at Willy’s bar in Norway

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Copyright API video. Ablai Roots at Willy’s Bar in Norway

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Copyright API video. Ablai Roots at Willy’s Bar in Norway

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There is, therefore, reason enough not to fail to attend the celebration.

Related article:

• Norway: Oslo by Night – weekend out, a new outing place soon to emerge – Opera Bar.
• http://africanpress.me/2011/04/23/friday-22nd-april-music-lovers-got-a-treat-by-tanzanian-musician/

End

by api

Photo: International Potato Center

The orange stuff is good for you

JOHANNESBURG,  – A helping of an orange coloured sweet potato just twice a week could save lives in Mozambique. This is no ordinary sweet potato – it has been bred to have a high beta-carotene content, a compound rich in vitamin A, which is found naturally in the root, hence the more intense orange colour. The human body is unable to synthesise vitamin A and has to obtain it from external sources.

“We find that children under five [years of age] reported consuming orange sweet potato [OSP] twice a week when available. They tend to eat OSP boiled, and the amount of beta-carotene consumed between OSP and other sources then exceeds the US recommended daily allowance for vitamin A when averaged over the week,” said Alan de Brauw, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), who managed the impact evaluation of a three-year study which ended in 2009.

The study was published in the British Journal of Nutrition, and showed that OSP is effective in providing vitamin A to malnourished women and children in Mozambique, where the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is very high. The research was part of a HarvestPlus project, a programme run by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research.

VAD globally, and in Mozambique

VAD is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children, and increases the risk of disease and death from severe infections. In pregnant women VAD causes night blindness and may heighten the risk of maternal mortality.

Globally, an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 vitamin A-deficient children become blind every year, and half of them die within 12 months of losing their sight, the World Health Organization has noted.

In Mozambique an estimated 2.3 million children below the age of five years are vitamin-A-deficient, according to a study funded by Helen Keller International and published in the peer-reviewed journal, Public Health Nutrition, in 2004.

The study warned that in the absence of appropriate policy and programme action, VAD will cause over 30, 000 deaths annually among children younger than five, representing 34.8 percent of all-cause mortality in this age group.

A 2010 analysis by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said about one in every six children dies before she or he reaches their fifth birthday. In 2004 it was estimated that the total number of deaths among children under the age of five was 117,000 – about 320 child deaths every day.

Malaria and acute respiratory infection (ARI) are the two main immediate causes of mortality among young children in Mozambique, with AIDS emerging as a major killer. UNICEF says malnutrition is a significant underlying cause of child mortality.

Studies have shown that in areas where VAD is prevalent, vitamin A repletion reduces child mortality by 23 percent on average.

Grow it yourself

Vines bearing the beta-carotene enhanced potato were distributed to more than 10,000 households in Zambezia Province, northern Mozambique, which has the country’s highest number of children living in poverty. Many of these households traditionally grew and ate yellow or white sweet potato, which are poor sources of vitamin A.

IFPRI’s De Brauw reported that by the end of the project, “We found women consuming more OSP (and vitamin A), and by-and-large, households were consuming OSP they produced themselves.“

He said they are planning to do another survey in 2012 to find out how much OSP has been retained by households that participated, to see if the vitamin A in the diet is still adequate three years after the project took place.

When the project ended, OSP was providing more than 70 percent of all dietary vitamin A and was the third most important food in the diet (after maize and rice) for young children. OSP also provided more vitamin A than other local foods such as pumpkin, leafy green vegetables, or mango, according to HarvestPlus. “Available for about 3 months of the year, or longer in other regions, OSP can help close the VAD gap when other vitamin A-rich foods or supplements are not available,” the project said in a release.

Cow cafeteria

Researchers across the world have been studying this hardy root, trying to develop other uses for it.

The sweet potato is a rich source of complex carbohydrates, vitamins A, B1 and B2, calcium, and fibre, and also produces more edible energy per hectare than wheat, rice, or cassava. Around 130 million tons of it are produced annually in more than 100 countries, including China and many parts of Africa, and the CIP says it is the world’s fifth most important food crop by weight.

It is drought-tolerant, and therefore has tremendous potential as a nutrition source in countries where water for irrigation is likely to become scarce as the impact of climate change unfolds, said Genoveva Rossel, curator of the sweet potato collection at the International Potato Centre (CIP) in Peru. The sweet potato is likely to have been grown in Peru over 5,000 years ago.

The CIP, in partnership with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), in Kenya, has been experimenting with the sweet potato to position it as an alternative to napier grass – also known as elephant grass – a primary livestock feed in Kenya’s dairy industry.

East Africa has the highest per capita consumption of livestock products such as meat and milk in sub-Saharan Africa.

Expanding populations have increased the competition for grains as food for people as well as animals, making it scarcer and more expensive, especially in the dry season. Napier grass requires significant allocations of land and is currently suffering a disease outbreak.

The sweet potato could change this. Apart from using it as animal feed, the CIP is working directly with pig and dairy farmers in Kenya and Rwanda to test the feasibility of using sweet potato vines as silage and leaf protein supplements. Valerie Gwinner, spokeswoman for CIP, commented: “The researchers call it the ‘cow cafeteria’.”

jk/he source.www.irinnews.org

by api

Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN

Inadequate low-cost housing has led to a rapid increase in informal settlements in Nairobi (file photo)

NAIROBI,  – Several demolitions of housing near airports in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have not only displaced hundreds of families but challenged the humanitarian response in urban emergencies.

Amid criticism of the way the demolitions were carried out, humanitarian workers say relief aid for urban crises was often not pre-positioned, unlike in rural-based emergencies.

“There is a gap in responding to humanitarian challenges and needs in urban settings in Kenya; including populations displaced by demolitions and evictions,” said Choice Okoro, head of communications and advocacy at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Kenya (OCHA).

“The populations affected and displaced by the Mitumba slum demolitions [in mid-November] are yet to receive any humanitarian assistance. This is due mainly to the fact that traditional humanitarian response systems are tailored and geared towards rural emergencies,” Okoro said. “What this means for Kenya is that while more fatalities and displacements have been recorded in urban disasters in 2011, response strategies and priorities have targeted rural districts in the country.”

She said 3,025 households were displaced following the demolition of Mitumba slums, near Wilson Airport, which borders Nairobi National Park. The demolitions, which have also taken place in other parts of the city, such as Eastleigh, Kiang’ombe, KPA slums and Embakasi, were part of an operation to reclaim government land and clear structures near vital installations.

“The lack of adequate low-cost housing for the poor is leading to rapid increases in… informal settlements. There are currently over 168 informal settlements in Nairobi, home to over two million people. [They] constitute 55 percent of the city’s total population and yet they are crowded on 5 percent of the total land area.”

As a result, Okoro said, thousands have encroached on unoccupied land, including road reserves, railway lines, forests and public utilities.

“Whereas there exists advocacy on the legality and due processes for these demolitions and evictions, more planning and preparedness needs to happen to reduce the humanitarian impact of these demolitions and evictions,” Okoro said. “This will include ensuring that there are clear plans for resettling populations affected.”

Bulldozed

Kamau*, owner of a block of flats in Eastleigh, told IRIN on 28 November: “The bulldozers did not spare anything in their path; the worst thing was that there was no notice; many of us were caught unawares.”

The demolition of buildings in Eastleigh started on 21 November.

Photo: UNICEF

An official says city residents have encroached on unoccupied land, including road reserves, railway lines, forests and public utilities due to lack of affordable housing (file photo)

Mohamud Ahmed, a student in Eastleigh, told IRIN: “I have decided to move even before the flat we are renting is [hit]; it is one of those that has been marked for demolition. The building has 38 flats and many people are moving out; even those with nowhere to go. It is better to move your property rather than wait until the bulldozers arrive.

“Perhaps the landlords were warned; many of those whose homes were destroyed had no notice, they just woke up to the demolitions,” he said. “It seems nobody cares about our plight; I appeal to the government to help by informing people like us of when these demolitions are about to take place.”

A parliamentary committee has been established to investigate the demolitions, with committee chairman Mutava Musymi saying the manner in which they were carried out done was inhumane.

“It’s not about votes, it is not about politics, it is about the people,” Musymi said during a committee session.

On 28 November, the Nairobi Provincial Commissioner, Njoroge Ndirangu, told the parliamentary committee that the provincial administration was implementing a government directive when it oversaw the demolitions.

Asked if he had considered the health, safety and education of the evicted, Ndirangu said he had expected all government departments to ensure that no one suffered during the demolitions.

Ndirangu said the Kenya Airports Authority, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, the Kenya Air Operators Association and the Nairobi City Council had written to Internal Security expressing concern at the dangers posed by buildings near airports.

“I was presented with evidence that these places were in the flight path and were a danger to lives,” Ndirangu told the committee.

The plight of those rendered homeless in Eastleigh was aggravated by ongoing heavy rains.

Johnestone Kibet, whose rented flat was one of those demolished in Eastleigh, told IRIN: “The rains made it difficult to salvage the little that we could, electronic goods just got damaged. It did not help that some onlookers took advantage of the rains to grab whatever they could.”

Kibet added that notice of demolition or eviction should not only be served on landlords, some of whom did not pass on the message to tenants. “If we had known our building was one of those to be demolished, we would have moved earlier,” he said.

“We have nowhere to go, the rains are destroying whatever we salvaged,” another resident said.

In a statement, the Kenya Airports Authority maintained it had notified residents to vacate the areas.

Dominic Ngigi, KAA head of corporate affairs, was quoted in a local newspaper as saying the demolitions were done purely on the basis of safety and security of the airports.

“If an accident were to occur, loss of life would be horrific and the blame will be on the government. This is a disaster waiting to happen,” said Ngigi.

*Not his real name

js/mw
source.www.irinnews.org