HIV/Aids Africa

Challenges still facing the country, according to the
findings of the Namibian Preparatory Committee for the Johannesburg World Summit
on Sustainable Development, include high population growth, over-dependence on
natural resources, poverty and inequality, HIV/Aids, land reform, the need to
bring responsibility over natural resources to local institutions and improved
land and water management.This was announced at a news conference, which took
place recently at the Rössing Foundation in Khomasdal. Namibia will participate
at this landmark summit which is scheduled for 2 to 11 September next year in
Johannesburg, South Africa.Also the need to improve environmental collaboration
between ministries and other agencies, the streamlining of government, passing
important relevant legislation, expanding co-operation with neighbouring
countries, building local capacity, increasing access to information and
preparing for adverse climate changes were highlighted in the summit?s
assessment of Namibia?s progress in the field of sustainable development.The
United Nations Development Programme and IBIS sponsored the report that Namibia
will submit at the summit. The report was commissioned from independent
consultants and was made public a week ago under the auspices of the preparatory
committee. Introduction of the report was done by Ms Anna Matroos of the Desert
Research Foundation of Namibia.The committee considered the ten years since the
1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). According
to the Namibian participants, rural and urban poverty, huge disparities in
income distribution, unequal access to land and natural resources, poor
education, health and housing are evidence of the social debt that the country
inherited with independence.It also highlighted the environmental debt that
Namibia inherited, naming the marine fisheries sector, the productivity loss of
agricultural land, the decline of bio-diversity in the country and
deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion and declining water and wetland quality
all of which cost the country well over N$300 million per year in lost
productivity according to the committee.However they praised Namibia for
remarkable progress in addressing these issues particularly through the
Namibia?s Green Plan created in 1992 to draw government, NGO, private sector and
communities together to work towards sustainable development. This lead,
according to the summit organisers which includes the Ministry of Environment
and Tourism, Department of Environmental Affairs, Nepru, NNF, NPC, Polytech and
UNAM, to Namibia drawing up a 12 Point Plan for Integrated and Sustainable
Environmental Management. Other participants in the drafting of the 12 point
plan were the city of Windhoek, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural
Development, Ministry of Regional, Local Government and Housing, the Namibian
NGO Forum, Nacso and Namta.The 12 Point Plan was then incorporated into the
5-year National Development Plan addressing such areas of activity as the
development of new policy and legislation. Also the devolution of rights and
responsibilities to local people, combating of desertification, protection of
bio-diversity and the development of environmental economics and natural
resource accounting procedures and more, became some of the core issues in the
plan.According to the committee, a very significant development was the
establishment of the Directorate of Environmental Affairs to spearhead
sustainable development in Namibia.In a later statement the committee said
Namibia?s NDP2 (Second National Development Plan) is of great significance since
few countries world-wide have been able to mainstream their environmental and
sustainable development objectives.The members of the committee also praised the
Vision 2030 initiative currently planned and collated under the auspices of the
National Planning Commission and State House.

Namibia’s growing economic imbalances have resulted in widespread crime,
corruption, poverty, alcohol abuse, high unemployment, destruction of the
environment, suppression of human potential and HIV/AIDS epidemic.There is a
need for government to take steps towards a radical re-think in the way it
supports economic development. Government needs to concentrate its efforts and
resources in areas where it has the greatest degree of control and where its
impact will be most felt. Economic vision renewal should set out the role
government plays in providing the best conditions and framework that encourages
entrepreneurship, and for the private sector to grow and flourish as well as
supporting the attraction of international investment and encouraging
international trade. Government resources should be spent on infrastructure
development, research, improving and creating the right environment for business
to succeed and maximising the potential of the nation?s capital in delivering
economic prosperity.In collaboration with the legislative body, civil society
and the private sector, government should develop detailed strategic and
operational plans that attracts private sector development with foreign
investment and can create an environment for strong and sustained economic
growth.A whole government approach will be needed in the creation of a long-term
roadmap for economic progress for the country through the establishment of a
common framework aligning all policies and plans, and fully engaging the private
and public sector in their implementation. Priorities on equal ground and most
efficient private public partnership where responsible decision makers are local
and foreign partners in manufacturing and industrial cooperation to expand the
role of public and government will be important for economic vision renewal in
Namibia.If government wishes to retain control over its own affairs, if it wants
to develop a sustainable, productive economy, or if it wishes to build a
productive economy, then it has to dispel the myth of an ineffective tribal
self-government.According to an International Association of Outsourcing
Professionals (IAOP) report, outsourcing is a natural evolution of how the
global marketplace operates today and follows successful waves of economic
transformation in the past. Outsourcing epitomises the quintessence of true
globalisation with services being provided where they are efficiently and
economically produced, and delivered where they are most needed and valued.To
me, it is the key missing element in vision 2030, which has helped to position
emerging economies such as South Africa, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia, China,
India, Russia, Ireland, Philippines, Poland Romania and
Czechoslovakia. The driving factor behind the development of outsourcing
has been the need to cut costs while the enabling factor has been the global
electronic internet network that allows digital data to be accessed and
delivered instantly from and to almost anywhere in the world. The main factors
influencing the beginning of outsourcing movement were a combination of
pressures to reduce labour costs, save on operational costs such as payroll,
administrative costs, utilities and to improve productivity and expanding
economical labour in other countries and Namibia. According to the IAOP?s
report, the global outsourcing industry is worth over US$1 trillion each year
and India is gaining a market control of about US$50 billion, China is getting a
market of US$15 billion while other countries get a market revenue of over US$1
billion. Namibia need to align her economic strategy with other world economies
through outsourcing because I do realise that both developed and developing
countries are using outsourcing as a global vehicle to attract investment and
boost their economies. And to ensure that Namibia becomes a potential emerging
destination of outsourcing, there is a need for the government to
establish a Namibia Outsourcing Agency (NOA) with the power to regulate
all outsourcing business in Namibia and foreign countries. I am sure that there
is potential for the government to start taking steps towards the direction of
building a progressive economic vision renewal because such a vision will open
doors and produce realistic scorecards that can govern the process of
broad-based economic transformation and
empowerment.

People are vulnerable to HIV infection at two levels, which are social vulnerability as well as biological vulnerability.Social vulnerability is caused by poverty and ignorance, while biological vulnerability is caused by poor nutrition, said Stephen Muliokela, director of the Golden Valley Agricultural Research Trust (GART) in Zambia.?Biological vulnerability means that even though people are on antiretroviral drugs, they remain sick because of malnutrition. If these two issues, social vulnerability and biological vulnerability are to be addressed, agriculture must be the master key in comprehensive mechanisms to fight HIV and AIDS,? said Muliokela.He was speaking at a workshop held by the Conservation Agriculture Forum (CAF).Muliokela further said GART?s intervention programme in the fight against HIV and AIDS is focused mainly on impact mitigation and that research done over the past six years have shown that there is a relationship between agriculture and HIV and AIDS.?Agriculture is one of those tools that can be used in the mitigation against HIV and AIDS. If food insecurity and poverty is dealt with HIV and AIDS will have less impact on the population,? he said.The Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry launched a booklet ?The Basic Economics of Draught Animal Power (DAP) use in Crop Production; includes HIV/AIDS, Gender and Environmental Issues? at the same event. According to ?The Basic Economics of Draught Animal Power (DAP) use in Crop Production; includes HIV/AIDS, Gender and Environmental Issues?, the agriculture sector is one of the sectors that are hit the hardest by HIV and AIDS. ?It is a fact that we are affected by HIV and AIDS. Our colleagues in the health sector have done a lot in terms of providing medicine but we in the agriculture sector also have to do our part in fighting this disease,? said John Mutorwa, Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry.The impact of HIV and AIDS on the agriculture sector can be reduced by shifting from labour intensive crops, by adopting labour saving technologies, by using minimum tillage methods to reduce labour requirements and soil erosion and the use of farm organic wastes to fertilise the soil.

Choirs,
plays, cultural performances, films and visiting South African leaders will be
among the highlights of next week?s human rights celebration from 11to 14
December. The Office of the Ombudsman is organising the week in order to mark a
new emphasis in its operations and its public educational role.Highlights of the
week will be the launch by PM Hage Geingob on 11 December. South Africa’s Human
Rights Commission Chairperson Dr Barney Pityana will speak on 12 December on ‘A
Country free of Racism’. Ending discrimination is the theme on 13 December while
14 December will concentrate on freedom of speech, including a media workshop
and a talk by Sandile Ngini from South Africa. Drama groups, church and cultural
choirs will celebrate freedom of culture in Windhoek’s Zoo Park every
day.?Namibia has a lot to be proud of in our human rights achievements, and we
must celebrate that. Ensuring people know about and are willing to stand up to
defend our fundamental human rights and freedoms, as outlined in our
Constitution (Chapter 3), is empowering and part of our continuing liberation
struggle,? said Ombudswoman Adv Bience Gawanas in a statement.She added:
?However, we must realise the impact that even a single human rights violation
has on people’s lives, on our emerging national culture and on the respect for
the liberty and dignity of all.?Gawanas said Namibians? determination to defend
human rights, democracy and justice must always be something to be proud of, as
it is one of the fruits of the country?s independence.The Ombudsman’s mandate,
laid out in the Constitution and the Ombudsman Act, covers the investigation of
complaints about abuse of power, harsh or discourteous treatment or corruption
by a government official or employee of any organ of government.Her mandate
includes violations of fundamental (human) rights and freedoms laid out in the
constitution and over-ulitisation of natural resources and degradation of the
environment?The Office of the Ombudsman has seen giant gains in handling the
first two categories of complaints, with big increases in productivity measured
as the number of complaints investigated and resolved and I would like to thank
all ministries and other government bodies for their growing interest and
co-operation with the office,? she added.She said her office is now ready to
move on to the third category, prevention, and aim to educate Namibians about
the positive aspects of human rights as laid down in the constitution. Gawanas
said the prevention efforts will focus particularly on vulnerable segments of
society such as children, people with disabilities, older people, marginalised
groups, refugees and persons with HIV/AIDS. The conduct of public officials in
general, including members of the forces, will also be included.?If people are
more aware of their fundamental rights and freedoms, they will be ready to speak
out and act in their defence. Co-operation between government and
non-governmental organisations, including the churches, trade unions, youth
groups and those working with vulnerable people in Namibia, should also be
promoted,? the Ombudswoman said.She added that people experiencing or are aware
of violations of fundamental rights are welcome to complain to the Ombudsman,
who will investigate their cases. She said although her office do not have the
role of prosecuting offenders, the Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations in
most cases have led to decisive action by the relevant authorities.Her office is
also preparing leaflets and brochures and has pledged to continue taking its
work around Namibia by maintaining a steady programme of regional visits and
hearings.

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Malawi urged member countries to strengthen joint efforts to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region, the news agency Inter Press Service reported on Tuesday. President Sam Nujoma, current chairman of SADC, said at the opening of the summit in Blantyre that the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to pose a major threat to the development of the southern African region.HIV/AIDS was one of the key issues on the summit’s agenda. Nujoma said that it was estimated that about 10 million people in the region are living with HIV/AIDS, accounting for 5% of the total population of the region. “The reality is that today we have in the region a traumatic situation where either grandparents or children head households,” he noted. Malawian President Bakili Muluzi also emphasized the importance of joint efforts in fighting against the scourge. “We can win the fight against HIV/AIDS if we work together with determination,” he stressed.A new UN report, ‘HIV/AIDS: Implications for Poverty Reduction,’ says the pandemic is shaving off up to 2% of annual economic growth in many SADC countries and will shrink total Gross National Product (GNP) by up to 40% within 20 years. SADC executive secretary Dr Prega Ramsamy said that this was unacceptable and more should be done to reverse the trend. Nujoma also called for increased investment in research for vaccine, generic drugs, treatment and care for those living with the disease. In a SADC ministerial meeting held ahead of the summit, Malawian Vice-President Justin Malewezi said the 14-country SADC has less than 5% of the world’s population but “is home to more than 50% of those living with HIV/AIDS, and is where 60% of the AIDS deaths have occurred”. He also said the pandemic “is turning back the clock on development, and nowhere has it reached such emergency proportions as it has in this region.”

The Construction Industries Federation (CIF) is an employer?s body acting in the interests of the industry, according to Mr Pieter Postema, managing director of Stocks Building Africa and vice president of the CIF.This week he addressed various issues currently facing the construction industry. The most pressing issues of the day, according to Postema, are HIV/Aids and the Value Added Tax (VAT) requirements in the current legislation.Regarding the Aids issue, Postema said that the problem is getting bigger and bigger for the industry as the disease is most disruptive amongst semi-skilled and skilled workers. He explained that it is these skilled and semi-skilled workers who form the teams that are often sent far and wide across the country to work. This keeps them away from their families for significant periods of time. He pointed out that they earn reasonable salaries which means they are able to afford the services of prostitutes placing them at higher risk to Aids.Although he noted that the industry has done little to address this problem, he indicated that more active involvement should be the solution, adding that the federation is considering steps to afford more dedicated time and energy to this problem. These steps will be discussed at the federation?s upcoming Annual General Meeting, he said.Input VATThe VAT issue concerns the current legislation which does not allow developers to claim VAT paid to contractors and consultants back as input VAT. Although this practice is applied in South Africa, and is being considered in Botswana, according to Postema, the current situation in Namibia means that local developers will pay, for example, about N$18000 on a N$100 000 construction project as VAT which cannot be claimed back.He pointed out that in the previous tax system, General Sales Tax and an import levies were payable on materials used in the construction of a building. Now that system has fallen away and been replaced by the 15% VAT payable on the cost of the building.All this translates into an effective increase in the cost of developments of some 9% to 10%, according to Postema. He stressed that this has a major negative impact on many local developments.RedressThe federation has approached the Minister of Finance, Hon. Nangolo Mbumba to appeal for a review of the relevant legislation, said Postema. He explained that if this VAT can be claimed back by developers it would effectively mean a saving on costs of between 5% or 6%. He noted that this would have tremendous spin-offs for the industry as a whole including encouraging more developments and a boost for labour. He also said out that the impact on revenue of reviewing the act would be minimal as construction currently represents only some 4,5% of Gross Domestic Product.Outside the foldHe mentioned that the increased dominance of Chinese contractors in the Namibian market is an issue that has still not been resolved. However, he said that impact of this has not been felt as badly this year due less construction work being initiated by government and the tendency of Chinese contractors to target government contracts primarily.Wide ScopeThe CIF provides crucial services to its members including limiting labour unrest through negotiations with the Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (MANWU), he said. The CIF also deals with the Labour Council and the Namibia Employers Federation as well as commenting on the new labour act and improving on statistics used in Namibia. The federation deals with the implementation of affirmative action in the industry and has relations with the chamber of commerce and the Construction Industries Association (CIA). Issues like national health and safety are among many dealt with by the CIF, said Postema.

(IRIN) – The link between HIV/AIDS and hunger in rural communities has received a great deal of attention in Southern Africa, where HIV/AIDS seems to have added a new dimension to the region’s four-year-long food crisis.But a new report has argued that although HIV/AIDS constitutes a humanitarian catastrophe, the impact of the epidemic was not a major cause of the region’s food crisis during 2001 and 2004. The study by the Overseas Development Institute’s (ODI) Forum for Food Security in Southern Africa, noted that in Zimbabwe, poor policy choices were the main reasons why the food crisis dragged on. Widespread chronic poverty also contributed to the emergency, which at its peak, had up to 7.5 million out of a population of 11.6 million in need of food aid.It has generally been accepted that HIV/AIDS has contributed to the region’s food insecurity by reducing farm production and incomes and undermining the ability of households to cope.But there was still not enough evidence to quantify how HIV/AIDS has impacted on farming communities, author of the report Steve Wiggins told IRIN.Southern Africa land expert Scott Drimie agreed that “a great number of studies on the impact of HIV/AIDS [in this sector] are snapshots and are largely anecdotal,” and there was still a need for more evidence on the long-term impact of the pandemic.However, Drimie cautioned against the danger of “understating” HIV/AIDS, which remained a significant factor among the entangling causes of the food crisis, alongside drought and the impact of donor-driven economic reform programmes.The United Nations has also emphasised the “triple threat” of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity and weakened state capacity as triggering the humanitarian crisis that at its height threatened more than 14 million people in Southern Africa.Although, the impact on coping with HIV/AIDS was “severe”, this was largely for households with sick members – “again perhaps 9 percent of households at any one time in the worst affected countries”, the report found.A Michigan State University study on HIV/AIDS and the agricultural sector in Eastern and Southern Africa came to similar conclusions as the ODI report. It found that the initial wealth of households, the sex of the deceased, and the ability of the household to attract new members mitigated the effects of HIV/AIDS.

New Indian
patent law could threaten ARV access
Johannesburg (PLUSNEWS) – A piece of legislation
currently under consideration in India’s parliament has unleashed a flurry of
protest all over the African continent.For the past month, a worldwide storm has
been brewing among AIDS activists, who have expressed outrage at amendments in
India’s patent laws that will prohibit the production of cheaper, generic
versions of patented drugs, including anti-retrovirals (ARVs).As one of the
largest producers of generic medicines, two-thirds of which are exported to
developing countries, India has played a crucial part in supplying affordable
ARVs to African countries rolling out national treatment programmes.The
country’s generic drug industry is also the only supplier of three-in-one
fixed-dose combination drugs, which are easier to use and adhere to.Protestors
in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda marched to the Indian High Commissions in their
countries this weekend to express their concern. Petitions have also been
flowing fast and furiously among West African activists.Dr Nafis Sadik, the UN
Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, and Stephen Lewis, the UN
Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, also waded into the debate by sending a
joint letter calling for continued access to generic drugs to the Indian
government.”People Living With AIDS stand poised between life and death. The
Parliament of India can make it possible for millions of people to embrace
life,” part of the letter read.In Kenya, “about 80 percent of all ARVs that we
have available come from India … our lives are at risk” James Kamau, steering
committee member of the Pan African Treatment Access Movement (PATAM), told
PlusNews.

Old Mutual Namibia this week launched its HIV/AIDS Workplace policy to its staff members.The purpose of the policy is to provide clarity on the company?s views on HIV and Aids as well as on employees? rights in this context.Mr Gerson Kamatuka, manager human resources at Old Mutual said: ?Old Mutual Namibia decided to commit itself to adopting a positive and constructive policy designed to minimise the impact of HIV/AIDS and other chronic conditions on its employees and their dependents and colleagues.? He said Old Mutual Namibia recognises that employees living with HIV/AIDS or other chronic conditions have the right to pursue as many of their normal daily activities as their condition allows.Kamatuka said the Old Mutual Namibia HIV/AIDS policy is a step in providing the necessary resources and leadership to implement an effective awareness programme aimed at advising employees to limit the further spread of HIV/AIDS amongst the workforce, raising awareness and addressing attitudes towards employees living and working with HIV/AIDS.Kamatuka said that by publicising such a move, Old Mutual will motivate other companies to follow suit and actively join the fight against HIV/AIDS.?We can no longer expect government alone to spearhead the battle with HIV/AIDS. This disease touches all of us and as such we have a responsibility to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and the negative stigmas surrounding HIV-positive people in our own environment,? Kamatuka said.

A Gala dinner to raise funds for charity is being organised by the Christina Swart-Opperman Aids Orphan Foundation Trust. The Trust said the dinner is scheduled to take place early next month aimed to raise further funds to help in its goal of helping orphaned children.The dinner, themed Our Beautiful Country, Our Beautiful Children will take place on 18 November.The dinner, which will be the Trust?s eighth fund raising event will go a long way in giving the Trust more muscle to help more children in their already difficult lives. On the night of the dinner, 64 special children from projects supported by the Trust will perform cultural performances to entertain those present. Poems by well-known local poet, Mvula ya Nangolo will mellow the dinner which will mean more than just delicious food for the children.The dinner has a fitting theme ?Our Beautiful Country, Our Beautiful Children?. Dr Swart-Permanent explains the theme. ?The incredible beauty and diversity of our country and children will be the overall theme, which will be reinforced by all performance as well as the cuisine?.The Trust is planning to sell 50 tables (with 30 sold already) in order to raise the N$500 000 it is hoping to raise from the dinner. Dr Swart-Opperman said the money raised will be used to continue with the Trust?s current projects , ?as well as embarking upon identified assistance for additional homes and families?.8045 children have benefitted since the Trust was created in February 2003. ?Funds are solicited by tying in with companies? corporate social responsibility and by hosting unique fund-raising events,? said Dr Swart-Opperman.The dinner will be made possible by sponsorships either in kind or money by My Health, Namibia Breweries, Ammoniac Events, Business Connexion, Olthaver & List, Bank Windhoek, Trip Travel, Welwitschia Travel and Safari Court, where the dinner will take place.