From the Field: Why an organisation founded to care for orphans no longer has a children’s home
VAUGHAN STANNARD, director of collaboration at Beautiful Gate South Africa, said the organisation’s aim now is to strengthen families to raise thriving children…
WHO warns of growing resistance to GSK’s HIV drug
Reuters The World Health Organization said on Tuesday resistance to GSK’s HIV drug dolutegravir has exceeded levels observed during its trials, citing observational and survey data received from a few countries. Resistance ranged from 3.9 per cent to 8.6 per cent and reached 19.6 per cent among people who have received and transitioned to a […]
AIDS can be ended by 2030 with investments in prevention and treatment, UN says
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters It is possible to end AIDS by 2030 if countries demonstrate the political will to invest in prevention and treatment and adopt non-discriminatory laws, the United Nations said on Thursday. In 2022, an estimated 39 million people around the world were living with HIV, according to UNAIDS, the United Nations AIDS program. HIV […]
Monkeypox outbreaks: How global organisations are mobilising faith networks to fight stigma
ADELLE M BANKS, of Religion News Service, reports on how faith leaders from across religions are working with the World Health Organization officials in combatting monkeypox outbreaks…
Saints of Past Ages: The Catholic saint who dedicated his life to a leprosy colony in Hawaii – and became an inspiration for HIV/AIDS care
In an article first published on The Conversation, MARK LAMBERT, a teaching fellow at University of Chicago Divinity School, looks at the life and mission of Father Damien and how he inspired those reaching out to people living with HIV and AIDS…
African faith leaders combat misleading theologies that promise cures for COVID-19
Nairobi, Kenya RNS When some African church pastors ordered their followers to eat grass or gulp petrol or even drink poison-laced water, their congregations have obeyed the instructions, thinking the practices would bring them closer to God. Many other pastors take their wellness advice a notch higher, claiming to heal conditions such as disability and […]
COVID-19 took toll on AIDS fight, UNAIDS chief says; Pope calls for solidarity with victims
Chicago, USReuters New infections and deaths from HIV/AIDS may increase as the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted prevention measures, said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in an interview airing on Wednesday at the Reuters Next conference. ON WORLD AIDS DAY, POPE CALLS FOR RENEWED SOLIDARITY WITH VICTIMS Pope Francis on Wednesday called for a renewed solidarity […]
Pope Francis praises book detailing LGBTQ ministry during HIV/AIDS pandemic
Vatican CityRNS In a letter to the author of a new book about the Catholic ministry to the LGBTQ community in the United States during the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Pope Francis praised the ministry’s “discreet mercy,” despite stigma and opposition by the church. The book Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories […]
“Further off track”: NGOs scramble to dampen COVID-19’s impact on people living with HIV
BENJAMIN RYAN and KIM HARRISBERG, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how those involved in the fight against HIV are battling to maintain services during the coronavirus pandemic…
Books: Of epidemics, loss and discovery in ‘African Pearl’
CHRIS GILBERT finds Dr Pamela Brown-Peterside’s memoir, ‘African Pearl’, a timely read…