HIV & AIDS

On Monday, 30 July, loveLife launched the second series of Foxy Chix – an innovative radio series on Y-FM (99.2 FM) – that celebrates the power of female friendship, while offering a platform for young people around the country to express their views, be in control of their destinies and make the best choices for their lives.

Foxy Chix is a story of friendship between three teenaged girls - Noni, Jazz and S’bosh - who are navigating challenges similar to those faced by other young girls in communities across South Africa. The Foxy Chix are funny, ambitious, daring and fall in and out of love on their tumultuous journey to womanhood. They embody an attitude that is foxy – and that isn’t just about being sexy – it’s about being smart, bold, outspoken and destiny-bound.

Foxy Chix - a daily, one-minute radio drama series that culminates in a weekly omnibus every Thursday - was launched on Women’s Day 2011 after extensive research was conducted throughout South Africa to fully understand young South African women. It found that girl groups are highly influential among them and highlighted that they yearned to express themselves and have their voices heard. The research also cited various psycho-social and socio-economic issues - such as transactional sex - driving high risk behavior among young women that fuels HIV.

 Empowering women could more effectively help in curbing the spread of HIV, Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and philanthropist said at the AIDS conference in Vienna on Monday. Speaking to reporters at the 18th International AIDS conference, he cited the example of Avahan, a national HIV prevention programme in India supported by the Gates Foundation co-founded by him. The active participation of women, he said, has worked successfully in slowing the spread of the virus among India's high risk population.

 DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA and VIENNA, AUSTRIA (July 20, 2010) — UKZN researchers have achieved an important scientific breakthrough in the fight against HIV and genital herpes with a vaginal gel that significantly reduces a woman’s risk of being infected with these viruses. The results of the groundbreaking safety and effectiveness study of an antiretroviral microbicide gel study were reported today by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.

More and more people are getting infected with HIV/AIDS in Malaysia.  The Ministry of Health has indicated that the number of HIV/AIDS infected people has risen drastically since the first reported case in 1986.