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SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 349 for 3 - 9 November 2007

09 Nov 2007 15:36:44 GMT
Source: IRIN

JOHANNESBURG, 9 November 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS

SWAZILAND: Declare HIV/AIDS a "humanitarian emergency" MADAGASCAR: Cooperatives keep vanilla farmers afloat SOUTH AFRICA: Gap between haves and have-nots yawns wider ANGOLA: Mystery disease strikes 284, kills four ZIMBABWE: Thirsty Bulawayo struggles with diarrhoea SOUTHERN AFRICA: Stop Zimbabwean deportations say refugee organisations

ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again

SWAZILAND: Declare HIV/AIDS a "humanitarian emergency"

The impact of HIV/AIDS in southern Africa, which has 9 of the world's most affected countries, needs to be reassessed as a "humanitarian emergency" on its own, enabling interventions to be made timeously, a leading AIDS researcher argues in a new paper.

For this to happen, Alan Whiteside, director of the Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, said in the paper, co-authored by researcher Amy Whalley, the conventional understanding of a humanitarian emergency has to be rethought.

See full report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75160

MADAGASCAR: Cooperatives keep vanilla farmers afloat

In the face of plummeting vanilla prices, forming financial cooperatives has kept several thousand vanilla farmers in northeastern Madagascar afloat.

The price of vanilla, the Indian Ocean island's chief export, has fallen steadily from a record high of US$450 per kg to $500 per kg in 2003, to just $50 per kg by early 2005, reaching about $30 per kg in 2007. Most vanilla production is concentrated in the fertile area of Sava, in the northeast, where about 70 percent of the population depends on the spice to make a living.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75174

SOUTH AFRICA: Gap between haves and have-nots yawns wider

An off-the-cuff remark by a leading trade unionist that millions of South Africans were economically better off under apartheid than under democratic rule has highlighted the country's stubborn poverty rates, but also scored points for the unionist's favoured candidate in an increasingly fractious presidential succession race.

About a third of South Africa's roughly 48 million people live on US$2 or less a day, even though the country is Africa's economic powerhouse and contributes about 25 percent of its gross domestic product. The growing disparity in income between rich and poor now ranks as one of the widest in the world.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75191

ANGOLA: Mystery disease strikes 284, kills four

The number of people affected by a mystery illness that has already claimed the lives of 4 children on the outskirts of the Angolan capital, Luanda, has climbed to 284. Contaminated food is a suspect but authorities are still in the dark as to the exact cause.

The symptoms include weakness, drowsiness, muscle spasms, a confused state of mind, dizziness, and difficulty in walking and speaking, but the culprit disease has yet to be identified. Authorities are waiting for the results of blood, urine and faeces samples that have been sent for testing.

See reports: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75194 and http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75231

ZIMBABWE: Thirsty Bulawayo struggles with diarrhoea

More than 3,000 cases of diarrhoea have been reported in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, in the last two months, as residents struggle with water shortages.

Since the outbreak was first reported in August, the city has experienced a 10-fold increase in cases, from 300 to 3,600, up to the second week of November. The Bulawayo's water woes began early this year, when 3 of its 5 supply dams were decommissioned due to low water levels. The two remaining dams have failed to meet its daily water requirement.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75193

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Stop Zimbabwean deportations say refugee organisations

A prominent international refugee organisation is calling for an end to the deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans by neighbouring countries.

After a month-long fact-finding mission to the region, Refugees International, a US-based non-governmental refugee advocacy group, published a bulletin, Zimbabwe Exodus, on its observations. Deportations are very costly for the host governments and do not achieve the goal of deterring undocumented migration, the report said.

See report: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75215

ZIMBABWE: HIV rate falls again

When Zimbabwe registered a decline in HIV prevalence rates in 2004, and again in 2006, the news was met with scepticism, but new official figures released on Wednesday indicate the downward trend has continued, with rates falling by 10 percent over the past 5 years.

The Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, assisted by a group of international experts, based the new seroprevalence rate on HIV infection in pregnant women attending antenatal clinics, and estimate the level among the adult population at 15.6 percent, according to a UN statement.

See report: http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75144

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Last updated:Fri Nov 9 15:39:34 2007