 Message from HEARD's Director, Prof Alan Whiteside I have just three weeks of sabbatical left. It has been good to be in the northern hemisphere through a spring, summer and now an autumn. HEARD's Gender and HIV and AIDS Project Gender and gender inequalities are a central aspect in the transmission of HIV throughout the world, particularly in southern and eastern Africa South African Work-Family Symposium The South African Work-Family Symposium where employers can gauge their own progress on work-family policy against other players in the industry will take place on 30 November in Cape Town. Increasing African Capacity Central to HEARD's Capacity Building agenda, the Young Researchers Initiative (YRI) aims to provide support to young researchers based in eastern and southern Africa to produce high quality, accessible research on HIV/AIDS. At Last, Progress in Developing an AIDS Vaccine According to recent media reports, an experimental HIV vaccine has for the first time cut risk of infection. HEARD's Director, Prof Alan Whiteside was invited by OUPblog to post his views on this recent development which he says this will lead to new investment and energy in the development of vaccines. OUPblog is Oxford University Press' blogosphere for learning, understanding and reflection. A New HEARD Research Agenda on XDR-TB In response to the emergence of drug resistant TB in South Africa, HEARD has set up a research project to explore the reasons for the high levels of hospital transmission of XDR-TB.   | Newsletter Issue 1 October 2009
HEARD is engaged in a long-term project facilitating local government in the Amajuba district of KwaZulu-Natal to develop an Integrated Child Welfare Management Plan as a practical mechanism by which to manage growing levels of vulnerability in the district. The Amajuba District, in the north west of KwaZulu-Natal, is marked by poverty and high HIV prevalence. It is estimated that 55% of children in Amajuba live in impoverished households and 15% are orphans. Food scarcity, access to medication and education are daily challenges, making it clear that policy is not reaching down to those most in need. HEARD's research findings stress that child vulnerability can be address by local government officials and other community leaders, if they implement the Amajuba District National Integrated Plan (NIP). The plan includes a practical mechanism to manage child well-being which urgently need to be put into place. ACHWRP's advocacy project manager, Luke Potter, says that if leadership doesn't step up to the plate the situation will deteriorate. "What is of concern is that with a 47% HIV prevalence rate and only 3.7% of the total population on anti-retroviral therapy (ART), the situation in Amajuba is only going to get worse." In order to address this crisis, HEARD is extending traditional research involvement into formative design and development of a referral mechanism that aims to create a more effective way of channeling resources to poor communities and families, whilst building on existing coping and support mechanisms. Click here to read a related article Why 'Community Outreach' is Passé |
