Pambazuka News 428: South Africa’s 2009 National election: Waiting to exhale

On 11 April 2009, William Jalulah, the Upper East regional correspondent of the Accra-based "The Chronicle" newspaper, was violently assaulted by supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) for photographing a violent attack. The party supporters also destroyed his digital camera.

Seated at his cluttered desk in the offices of Congo's National AIDS Council (CNLS), Franck Fortuné Mboussou is a very happy man. In a country where barely 10 percent of the female population has ever been tested for HIV, the organisation finally has enough money to buy a mobile testing unit.

People living with HIV in Uganda's northern region are facing critical shortages of essential medicines. Dr Paul Onek, director of health services in Gulu District, said supplies of malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and antiretroviral (ARV) drugs had all run out. "We last received TB drugs in January for only 400 TB patients."

Awa was killed by her husband last November in Guelendeng, 150km south of the Chad capital N’djamena. Her death was the tipping point for the town’s women, who, appalled by the rampant violence they face, have decided to fight for their rights. In December dozens of women took part in a protest march, the first of its kind in Guelendeng, to condemn the violation of their rights and to call the government to account over the impunity that prevails.

Anecdotal evidence that entrenched cultural beliefs among Swazis actively encourage the spread of HIV/AIDS has been confirmed by a joint government and UN report. The study by UN the Population Fund (UNFPA) and Swaziland's Ministry of Health and Social Welfare - The State of the Swaziland Population - echoes warnings by local NGOs that "AIDS cannot be stopped unless there is a change in people's sexual behaviour."

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