Current Articles
Anglo American and De Beers assist in preserving National Heritage Archives at the University of Fort Hare
The Anglo American Chairman’s Fund and the De Beers Fund have provided the Alice Campus of the University of Fort Hare with two R3.9 million grants (R7.8 million in total). These grants were used for the upgrading of the National Archive Heritage and Cultural Studies (NAHECS) Building, which has now been completed and was officially reopened today. With these grants, the NAHECS will continue to contribute to the upliftment of education in the country and the study of national heritage.
Young lead safe sex revolution against AIDS
Young people in Africa are leading a “revolution” in HIV prevention and driving down rates of the disease by having safer sex and fewer sexual partners, the United Nations AIDS programme says.
The prevalence of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS is falling among young people in 16 of the 25 countries most affected by the disease, a study by UNAIDS found, with many of them on track to hit a 25% reduction target in HIV/AIDS rates in 15- to 24-year-olds by the end of the year.
In a study published ahead a global AIDS conference due to be held in Vienna next week, UNAIDS found that in 16 of the 25 worst affected countries, rates of HIV had been falling among young people, with some of the most dramatic declines seen in Kenya, where there was a 60% change between 2000 and 2005.
Botswana, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe have all achieved a goal set agreed in 2001 to reduce HIV prevalence in 15 to 24-year-olds by 25% by 2010, it said. Burundi, Lesotho, Rwanda, Swaziland, the Bahamas and Haiti were all “likely to achieve” it.
Condom use was also on the increase, the study found, with 10 countries reporting more use of condoms among women and 13 reporting increased condom use among men. Cameroon, Tanzania and Uganda reported increases in condom use by both sexes.
Read more at TimesLive.
South African government greenlights three-month supply of ARVs
In a bid to ease pressure on South Africa’s over-burdened public health sector, the government has given hospitals and clinics permission to give patients on HIV/AIDS treatment a three-month supply of their antiretroviral medication (ARVs).
In a recent memo the Department of Health said there was no legal barrier to supplying patients with multiple months of treatment, and it could lighten the burden on the health sector; an estimated 700,000 patients are currently receiving ARV treatment through monthly visits to public health facilities.
Department of Social Development to launch Older Persons Act in KZN
As part of Nelson Mandela Day celebrations, the Department of Social Development will on Thursday officially launch the Older Persons Act in KwaZulu-Natal to promote the status of older persons.
The Older Persons Act (Act 13 of 2006), which came into effect on 1 April 2010, has been developed to protect the elderly against physical, emotional and financial abuse.
Broadband ‘critical’ to future global development
Broadband networks are as vital to the world’s economic and social future as transport, water or power, according to the United Nations-backed Broadband Commission for Digital Development.
The group met recently in Geneva to discuss its vision for accelerating the development of broadband networks across the globe, and will present two reports to the UN in September.
World Cup leaves no quick wins for South Africa’s poor
South Africa’s image may have changed after it successfully hosted the World Cup but the billions spent on the event had little impact on improving the life of poor South Africans.
Analysts said the real benefits of the World Cup — hosted in Africa for the first time — will only be seen in years to come.
South African lay counsellors can give HIV test
Lay counsellors in South Africa can now legally perform HIV tests, but delays in paying them and shortages of test kits are threatening a national campaign to scale up voluntary HIV testing and counselling (VCT).
Before new regulations came into effect in May 2010 only nurses were allowed to administer finger-prick HIV tests, but AIDS activists had long argued that this not only added to an already heavy work load, but could also hamstring the VCT campaign aiming to test 15 million South Africans by 2011.
Fish nets join mosquito nets against malaria
New drugs to fight malaria may well lie at the bottom of the ocean, according to researchers studying over 2,500 samples from marine organisms collected at depths of over 900 metres. They have already found 300 that contain substances that can kill the parasite.
“So far we have a hit rate of over 10 percent,” said Debopam Chakrabarti, Professor of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at the University of Central Florida, who is leading the research.
Chakrabarti has spent over 20 years researching treatments for the mosquito-borne illness, and turned to the largely unexplored biological potential of the ocean because “[current] drugs are becoming increasingly less effective and [malaria] is still killing,” he told IRIN.
The UN World Health Organization has noted that about 3.3 billion people – half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria, and around 1 million people worldwide are killed by it every year.
Read the full story at IrinPlus News.
Winners of the 2010 De Beers English Olympiad announced
The Grahamstown Foundation announced the rank order of the top 100 De Beers English Olympiad winners at an official prize giving ceremony held in Grahamstown earlier today.
Shannon Basson from St Mary’s DSG in Pretoria was announced the winner of this year’s competition. Kerstin Hall from Chesterhouse in Durbanville and Kajal Tulsi from Edenvale High School in Johannesburg achieved second and third place respectively. The top three candidates will be treated to a literary tour of the United Kingdom in December
2010.Analysts cautious about South Africa’s education changes
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga’s new changes to South Africa’s school curriculum were cautiously welcomed by analysts yesterday.
The changes, together with an action plan known as Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025, were to be gazetted by the end of next month and implemented in 2012. The content was drawn from the existing curriculum and updated, eliminating gaps and fixing imbalances.
