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| People with AIDS demand economic and food security |
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             According to UNAIDS, almost 50 percent of adults living with HIV in the world are women, and the proportion of newly infected women is on the increase in every region. Currently, approximately 17.5 million women are living with HIV globally, an increase of over one million within the last two years. Sylvia Akinyi Opondo has lived with HIV for the last 19 years. Over the past few years, she has dedicated her life to supporting those like her to cope with the disease. “The biggest problem we have as people living with HIV is food and medicine,” she says. “When we go without, we succumb to various ailments and die.” According to Sylvia, although the government guarantees free antiretroviral drugs in public hospitals and health centers, the cost of treating some of the opportunistic infections is still too high for the majority of people living with HIV.“Will I send my children to school, because I know they have a future, or spend the little money I have on my health?” she poses. Sylvia was speaking recently during the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) HIV/AIDS conference held in Nairobi, where the theme of the meeting was ‘changing lives, changing communities’. Sylvia is keen to see the social institutions in Kenya strengthened to ensure that all who need free treatment and medication have access. Although the feminization of HIV/AIDS dominated the discussions at the conference, Sylvia now feels that economic and food security matters ought to be prioritized to transform lives and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Studies on HIV/AIDS treatment demonstrate that nutrition is an important part of the medical package, and should be a component in the management of AIDS. In Eldoret, nearly 400 kilometres north-west of Nairobi, two government institutions and a US university are now prescribing antiretroviral drugs alongside food as part of the treatment. The Moi University School of Medicine, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the Indiana University of the US have partnered in a program called Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/Aids (AMPATH), which grows the food with the rest provided by UN World Food Program (WFP). Although the intentions of the program are noble, it falls far short of meeting the needs of a large swathe of the population in Kenya in need of assistance. According to UNAIDS, almost 50 percent of adults living with HIV in the world are women, and the proportion of newly infected women is on the increase in every region. Currently, approximately 17.5 million women are living with HIV globally, an increase of over one million within the last two years. The proportion is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, where almost 60 percent of people living with HIV are women.
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| Kenya Audio Visual Archives Conference |
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The African Woman and Child Feature Service, the Kenya Archival Study Group and the Ford Foundation office in Nairobi, Kenya will hold the Preservation, Conservation and Restoration of Audio Visual Media Conference. The conference will be held at the National Museums of Kenya in Nairobi, from December 3rd – 5th 2008. |
| AWC at the Highway Africa Awards |
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