21:40 09.11.2008 | All news from "AIDS/HIV"
Africa: Daily HIV/Aids Report
Zimbabwe Returns $7.3M in Misused Grant Money to Global Fund
[Nov 07, 2008]
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has returned $7.3 million in misused grant money to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said Friday, Reuters reports (Williams, Reuters [1], 11/7).
The money, which was part of last year's $12.3 million grant, was not returned sooner, because officials in Zimbabwe said they lacked foreign currency. Although John Parsons, the Global Fund inspector general, did not speculate on how the $7.3 million of the grant was spent, he said it had not been used for its intended purpose (, 11/3). Local media in Zimbabwe reported that the Reserve Bank dispersed the Global Fund money to purchase tractors and televisions. However, the bank denied the allegation, and Kazatchkine said Global Fund officials have "no evidence of fraud" (Reuters [1], 11/7).
The Global Fund on Thursday had said it would not grant new funding to Zimbabwe until the misused funds were returned, the AP/Boston Globe reports. The Global Fund's board on Friday was expected to consider Zimbabwe's request for $400 million in Round 8 funding (Sharma, AP/Boston Globe, 11/7). The Global Fund's Technical Review Panel recently had recommended the funding be approved (, 11/3). Kazatchkine on Friday said the Global Fund "greatly appreciates" the return of the funds, adding that it will "accelerate the life-saving activities of the malaria, TB and HIV programs in Zimbabwe" (AP/Boston Globe, 11/7). According to Reuters, Zimbabwe has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates worldwide and has received $88 million in Global Fund grants since 2002 (Reuters [1], 11/7).
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Botswana To Begin HIV Prevention Campaign That Focuses on Male Circumcision
[Nov 07, 2008]
Male circumcision will be a primary focus of Botswana's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts, the Sunday Standard reports. The decision to focus on male circumcision as part of a boost in prevention efforts was announced at the annual planning conference of the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships, which was held recently in Francistown. Presenters at the conference -- themed "Refocusing HIV Prevention: Using Evidence to Inform Future Programming" -- agreed that Botswana must focus on prevention, as well as treatment, care, behavior change and HIV testing. The conference marked the close of Botswana's national strategic HIV/AIDS framework for 2003 to 2009 and brought the country into a new national strategic framework through 2016, the Standard reports.
Mabel Kejelepula, a representative of the HIV/AIDS prevention and care department at the Ministry of Health, said that the department already has begun developing strategies to increase male circumcision and made negotiations with medical providers and physicians. The health ministry also is aiming to find partners to share the costs of a circumcision program, the Standard reports. An unnamed private physician in Francistown said, "In the face of conclusive evidence that uncircumcised men are at a much greater risk of becoming infected with HIV, it should be conclusive that male circumcision should be seriously considered as an additional means of preventing HIV."
Although research shows few men have been circumcised in Botswana, it is an accepted practice throughout the country (Ganetsang, Sunday Standard, 11/5).
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Health Officials in Scotland Uphold Ban on Blood Donations From MSM
[Nov 07, 2008]
Scottish health officials Tuesday rejected calls to allow men who have sex with men to donate blood, citing concerns about the number of HIV cases in the population, The Scotsman reports. National Director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service Keith Thompson said the lifetime ban against MSM is in place to ensure the safety of blood donations, but advocates have said that the restrictions are discriminatory and that the ban hinders efforts to alleviate blood shortages in the country. The Scotsman reports that 86% of new HIV cases in Scotland are recorded among MSM.
Thompson said that approximately one-third of blood donations that were found to contain HIV were traced to MSM and that it is not possible at this time for blood service staff to safely differentiate between MSM whose behavior would put them at high risk for HIV and those whose behavior would not. Careful donor selection is the only defense against this and any issues surrounding the screening of blood donations, SNBTS officials said, adding that other groups that are prevented from donating blood include people who have had sex with a commercial sex worker, injection drug user or in a country with a high HIV burden in the past year.
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