Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Mali has been elected to the US programme of Global Health Initiative, according to a communique issued Friday after a meeting Thursday between Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré and the director general of Global Health Initiative, Ms. Lois Quam, an envoy of the US President, Barack Obama. Full text...

Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - UNAIDS Country officer in The Gambia, Mr. Nuha Ceesay, on Thursday called for collective support to fight HIV and AIDS. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - Participants at the World Youth Summit on AIDS, which ended Sunday in Bamako, Mali, have called for action to secure financing for a sustainable response to HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The Global Young Leaders Summit on HIV/AIDS opened Friday in Bamako, under the chairmanship of Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure. Full text...

Bujumbura, Burundi (PANA) - A national awareness campaign to promote male circumcision to more effectively fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS is being implemented in Burundi, where the pandemic is said to affect at least three per cent of about 8.1 million citizens, PANA learnt from the Minister of Public Health, Ms. Sabine Ntakarutimana. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The Director of the Human Development Sector at the World Bank, Mrs. Ritva Reinikka, on Thursday expressed satisfaction with the implementation of strategies against HIV and AIDS in the Congo with funding from the Bank. Full text...

Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Thursday lauded gains made by Kenya in the fight against HIV/AIDS, over the last three decades. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday urged world leaders to take bold decisions to tackle the AIDS epidemic, warning that, "recent gains, while laudable, are fragile". Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - About 17,000 cases of HIV/AIDS were detected in 2010 in Angola, following 342,931 tests conducted throughout the country, the Director General of the National Institute for the fight against AIDS, Mrs. Dulcelina Serrano, said Tuesday. Full text...

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) - France, through the Red Cross, has decided to support the fight against HIV/AIDS in Mauritania with 600,000 euros, a communiqué of the French Embassy here, received Friday by PANA announced. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's HIV prevalence has dropped from 4.6 per cent to 4.1 per cent, and the number of people infected is estimated at 3.1 million, Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, disclosed here Thursday. Full text...

Bamako, Mali (PANA) - The People's Pharmacy of Mali (PPM), a state-owned company under the Malian Ministry of Health, will spend over 5.1 billion CFA francs on anti-retrovirals (ARVs) and 320 million CFA francs on reagents this year as part of the fight against AIDS, PANA learnt Wednesday from the company. Full text...

Kigali, Rwanda (PANA) - More than 8,000 women tested positive to HIV, representing 2.7 per cent of the womenfolk in Rwanda in 2010, a report issued Thursday by the country's National Statistical Institute (NISR) said. Full text...

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – UNAIDS Executive Director for the West and Central Africa region, Mrs Meskerem Gruniky Békélé, on Monday called on civil society to be deeply involved in the prevention against the pandemic, especially in universal access to anti-retroviral drugs. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The World Fund against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will grant 17 billion CFAF to Congo to fight against HIV/AIDS, the Committee of National Coordination of Projects announced Monday in Brazzaville. Full text...

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) - Guinea Wednesday became the 17th country to join the United Nations project to care for 8 in 10 children with AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis, PANA learnt from official sources. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - Tanzania has acquired expanded resources to help fight HIV/AIDS, with the opening of a new paediatric Centre of Excellence through a public-private partnership involving the government, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and other American institutions. Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) - The chairperson of the Angolan Network of HIV/AIDS Services Organizations (ANASO), Teresa Cohen, has said much remains to be done in taking HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns to all parts of the country. Full text...

Port Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The president of the Network of People living with HIV in the Indian Ocean (Ravanne Plus), Nicolas Ritter, has questioned the effectiveness of JMAR, a type of tea sold in Madagascar and supposedly said to cure AIDS. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - A forum that brings together people living with HIV/AIDS and their families opened on Saturday in Tripoli on the initiative of the Libyan Association "Al-Tahadi" in the fight against HIV/AIDS and the Libyan Centre against diseases. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) – More women are being infected by the HIV virus in Pointe-Noire, the major economic and industrial centre in southern Congo, according to a survey carried out by the HIV/AIDS Department. Full text...

Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Libya and Spain Thursday in Tripoli signed a cooperation agreement under which Spain will take care of 30 Libyan children living with HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The German government has announced a grant of 23 million Euros to three central African countries to fight HIV/AIDS, under the second phase of the Strategic Plan to fight against HIV/AIDS in Central Africa (PPSAC), the Congolese Ministry of Health and Population announced. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The United States and South Africa Tuesday signed a Partnership Framework that will guide future efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Full text...

Rabat, Morocco (PANA) - A total of 5,319 HIV/AIDS cases were reported in Morocco at the end of September, with young women aged 15-24 making up 62 per cent of cases, according to Nadia Bezzad, chairperson of the Pan African AIDS Control Organisation (OPALS). Full text...

Luanda, Angola (PANA) – A counselling and voluntary testing awareness campaign marked Luanda celebration of World AIDS Day on Wednesday in Viana district. Full text...

Niamey, Niger (PANA) - Niger's health minister, Hassan Nouhou, on Wednesday in Niamey hailed the efforts made by his country in the fight against the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Full text...

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC), the world's largest group of businesses dedicated to fighting HIV and promoting the health of employees as well as communities in their work places, has elected the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Access Bank Plc in Nigeria, Aigboje Aig-Imokhuede, as its board member. Full text...

New York, US (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged governments not to relent in their efforts to roll back the HIV/AIDS pandemic, stressing the need to redouble their efforts to prevent new infections and deaths. Full text...

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) - As the largest development partner working in Tanzania on HIV and AIDS, the US has contributed over US$ 1.5 billion to the African country's fight against the incurable killer disease since the start of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, American Ambassador Alfonso E. Lenhardt disclosed here Wednesday. Full text...

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - To mark the World AIDS Day, Johannesburg’s Wits University has become the first South African institution to produce the most scientific research publications pertaining to HIV/AIDS, according to a report entitled Scientometrics of a pandemic: HIV/AIDS research in South Africa and the World. Full text...

Brazzaville, Congo (PANA) - The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Sambo, Wednesday called for the protection of the basic human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs), including their rights to employment, access to financial services and other basic conditions required for them to fulfill their social and economic needs. Full text...

Kinshasa, DR Congo (PANA) - The average prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in the Democratic Republic of Congo is 3.24 percent, with peaks at the border, mainly in the South-east, Central and South-west of the country, according to Minister of Public Health, Victor Makwenge. Full text...

Abuja, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria's federal government has promised to increase its contribution on HIV to 50% in the next five years, a US official announced U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for AIDS, Mr Eric Goosby, gave the indication during a teleconference with newsmen on the activities of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Full text...

Lucala- Angola (PANA) -- Twenty one cases of HIV/AIDS from 721 tests conducted fr om January to October were recorded at the Counselling and Voluntary Testing Cen t re (CATV) in Lucala District in the northern Kwanza Norte Province of Angola. Full text...

Lusaka- Zambia (PANA) -- A research study on Zambia, released by the Regional Net work on AIDS, Livelihoods and Food Security (RENEWAL), has revealed that AIDS and other chronic illnesses accounted for close to 13 per cent of agricultural staff deaths from 2002-2007, robbing extension agencies of their valuable workforce and reducing their effectiveness. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- The United States said Monday it would give Zimbabwe U S$57 million next year to finance programmes to combat HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Ethiopia and the US on Wednesday signed a five-ye ar cooperation agreement under which the Americans would provide support to Ethi o pia's HIV/AIDS response. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) -- President Yahya Jammeh's Office at the Gambia's State Ho use in Banjul has announced the transfer of the West African country's national AIDS Secretariat t o the President's office, PANA reported from here Tuesday. Full text...

Nairobi- Kenya (PANA) -- Significant progress has been made in several low- and middle-income countries in increasing access to HIV/AIDS services, according to a new report released by UN agencies. Full text...

Addis Ababa- Ethiopia (PANA) -- Several African countries, including Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Rwanda, have nearly met the international objectives of providing universal care for people living with HIV/AIDS, according to a joint UN assessment report released Tuesday. Full text...

Harare- Zimbabwe (PANA) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has called for univ ersal testing and treatment for HIV to help combat the pandemic, the local media reported Thursday. Full text...

Blantyre- Malawi (PANA) -- Malawi will not make it an official policy to promote and encourage circumcision among men as a way of preventing the spread of HIV, t h e virus that causes AIDS, two government officials announced here Wednesday. Full text...

Brazzaville- Congo (PANA) -- The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Congo is now 3. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) on Friday said two further clinical trials were being planned for a vaginal gel that has shown potential in reducing the risk of HIV and which, if confirmed, would be a major breakthrough in protecting women. Full text...

Lagos- Nigeria (PANA) -- Nigeria and the United States have signed a six-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on a new partnership framework in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Full text...

Abidjan- Cote d'Ivoire (PANA) -- A national consultation was held Thursday in Abi djan, the Ivorian capital, on the development of a global strategy towards the f i ght against HIV/AIDS, at the initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO). Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN is partnering with the organizers of the first-ever Youth Olympic Games to raise awareness about HIV among young people, who accoun t for 40 per cent of all new infections, as well as fight the stigma associated w i th the virus. Full text...

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) â" The Director of UNAIDS Re-gional Bureau for West and Ce ntral Africa, Mrs. Full text...

New York- US (PANA) -- The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has welcomed the launch of a new national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS, stressing the importance of tackling the disease before infection rates become high in the West African country. Full text...