UNFPA IN THE NEWS – SEPTEMBER 20-26, 2003

AFRICA: Traditional Plants and Herbs Help Eliminate AIDS Symptoms

The Globe and Mail (Canada) reported September 24 that treatment with traditional plants and herbs can virtually eliminate the symptoms of AIDS, a group of frustrated African doctors told a continent-wide conference on the disease. They said, however, that Western aid donors, more familiar with pharmaceuticals, wouldn’t provide the money for large-scale testing of herbal treatments, or back research and production efforts. An 18-month study, which began in July of 2001, followed 45 patients with late-stage AIDS in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. "You had to see it to believe it," said Dr. Tony Johnston, a former director of the United Nations Population Fund in Africa who monitored the study. "The shock was how fast their opportunistic infections, their Kaposi's [sarcoma, a skin cancer common to people with AIDS] and oral thrush cleared up." Read: Globe and Mail

BANGLADESH: Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia

News of Bangladesh reported September 23 that Bangladesh will receive 2.4 million US dollars equivalent to Tk 13.79 crore under the EU/UNFPA Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia (RHIYA) Program. An agreement to this effect was signed between the Bangladesh government and UNFPA. The story noted five national NGOs –Marie Stopes Clinic Society (MSCS), Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB), Save the Children UK-Bangladesh (SC-UK), Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and Concern Women for Family Development (CWFD) –will work in partnership with UNFPA and MOHFW/GOB. The RHIYA projects will cover Sylhet.

GHANA: Millions of Male Condoms Distributed

Ghana News Agency reported September 24 that Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) has within a period of almost four years distributed over nine million male condoms in 52 districts under a community-based project. Elsie Aryeh, Program Manager of PPAG, said 26,658 female condoms had also been distributed and new family planning users increased from 68,007 to a total of 507,340 under the project between 2000 and September 2003. Moses Mukasa, UNFPA Country Representative, said world population was increasing by over 80 million people each year with almost all the population growth, taking place in developing countries. Read: Ghana News Agency

NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand Calls for More Resources to Tackle HIV/AIDS

Xinhua General News Service reported September 23 that more attention and resources need to go to tackling the spread of HIV/AIDS, which is one of the greatest threats to international well-being, New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff said. The story also mentioned that New Zealand also gave about 3 million NZ dollars (about $1.74 million) to UNFPA and International Planned Parenthood Federation, which deal with sexual health issues. Read: New Zealand Press Association

PAKISTAN: Access to Health Facilities Is Poor

UN IRIN reported September 24 that a visiting team of French medical personnel on an intensive five-day humanitarian tour of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, found that while local surgeons and doctors were competent, access to health care was not up to the mark, the head of the mission told a press conference in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. The humanitarian mission was sponsored in part by the UNFPA, which provided logistical support and focused on human-resource capacity-building, Brasseur told IRIN. Read: UN IRIN

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Population Action Plan to Serve as Model

PNG Post-Courier (Papua New Guinea) reported September 24 that a draft provincial population action plan for the Central Province could be used as a model for the development of plans for other provinces. The Central Province plan, now being reviewed at the Provincial Population Action Plan workshop in Lae, has been highly commended by UNFPA representative Dr. Geoff Hayes. He said he hoped other provincial planners would use the experience and lessons learned as a guide as they ventured into formulating their own plans for their respective provinces. "It is important that these plans are owned by the provinces. These will be uniform but will vary because of the different needs," he said.

SIERRA LEONE: UNFPA Supports Police Program against HIV/AIDS 

Panafrican News Agency (PANA) reported September 20 that police inspector-general Brima Archa Kamara and UNFPA representative Dr. Mamadou Diallo have signed a memorandum that specifies the UN agency will provide financial assistance to the police force’s HIV/AIDS programs. A UNFPA press release said it would release $100,000 for police programs against the spread of HIV/AIDS, which Diallo warned could decimate a country's human resources. He warned that it was very easy for both adults and youths to be infected by the pandemic, if precautionary measures were not taken.

UNITED STATES: Column by Nicholas Kristof, “Killing Them Softly”

The New York Times ran a September 20 column by Nicholas Kristof that noted, “[Bush is] launching his administration on an ideological war against groups like the U.N. Population Fund and Marie Stopes.”He added, “In fact, these groups are engaging China in just the way the White House recommends most of the time. When the topic of human rights abuses in China is raised, Mr. Bush usually argues, wisely, that it would be wrong to impose sanctions that punish the Chinese people. So it seems odd that when the issue is Chinese family-planning abuses, Mr. Bush responds by punishing African women.”Read: New York Times

UNITED STATES: Bush Lacks Credibility

The Star Tribune (MN) ran a September 24 editorial that noted, “The hallmark of [the Bush] administration has been a yawning gap between its words and its actions, and that was true as ever of Bush's U.N. speech. The editorial also listed some of the many reason Bush lacks credibility: “Bush rejected the Kyoto treaty on global warming; he rejected funding for the U.N. Population Fund, even though it has nothing to do with abortion; he rejected the International Criminal Court; he rejected the treaties on the rights of children and the rights of women; he snubbed a number of important U.N. conferences, such as the conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.”Read: Star Tribune

ZAMBIA: UNFPA Donates Medical Equipment

Xinhua General News Service reported September 25 that UNFPA has donated to Zambia seven ambulances and two ultra-sound machines valued at 2.5 billion kwacha (about $500,000), Zambia News Agency reported Thursday. UNFPA country representative Margret O'Callaghan was quoted as saying the donation is part of a $1 million assistance program to the health sector in North-Western province. He said the UNFPA has been focusing its attention on HIV/AIDS and reproductive health programs in the province.

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