The New York Times reports on a “genetic variation that once protected people in sub-Saharan Africa from a now extinct form of malaria may have left them somewhat more vulnerable to infection by H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The gene could account for 11 percent of the H.I.V. infections in Africa, explaining why the disease is more common there than expected, researchers based in Texas and London say. The researchers said their finding had no immediate public health consequences. But if confirmed, it would offer an important insight into …

Elizabeth at The Wisdom of Whores brought my attention to the website of Human Life International whose mission is “to promote and defend the sanctity of life and family around the world according to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church through prayer, service and education.”
HLI boast the results of its impressive detective work in Tanzania that “resulted in the destruction of over 10 million condoms.” HLI is clearly against the promotion or use of condom for the prevention of HIV infection and has a 12 points “facts sheet” about …

There is a country where HIV-positive children are being turned away and excluded from primary and secondary schools.
Parents of children as young as four were told by head teachers that teachers, other parents, school personnel and even dinner ladies would have to be told of the children’s medical status.
Guess in what country this despicable discrimination is happening?

Rating 3.00 out of 5

The Guardian reports that “in an interview with the Ugandan publication the Daily Monitor, the Archbishop of Uganda, Henry Luke Orombi, said: “They [the progressive churches in the northern hemisphere] have money and will do whatever it takes to make sure that this vice [homosexuality] penetrates Africa. We have to stand out and say no to them.”
The choice of word was revealing (as always, emphasis mine). The archbishop was (in)advertently echoing another enlighten religious leader, the Iranian President Ahmadinejad “In Iran we don’t have homosexuality like you have in [America]” …

“In September 2007, a mobile recording studio was set up in Bo, Sierra Leone, to help the town’s musicians and HIV peer educators make an album of anti-HIV songs called ‘HIV e dae-o’ (HIV is real). Alongside the recording, a computer animation expert taught local young people techniques allowing them to create music videos for the songs.
Using these new materials, trained young Sierra Leonean peer educators will be able to spread public health messages to the region’s youth, teaching them about HIV and how to protect themselves, and helping to …