Africa Media Watch

To mark World Aids Day, Africa Media Watch this week looks at how the pandemic is being covered in the media of the world's most severely affected continent.

Family affair

The Eritrean newspaper Tirigta called for intensive campaigns and a change in personal habits to combat Aids.

Every family member should discuss Aids and its consequences with their children

Eritrean weekly Tirigta

"Although the campaign against Aids in Eritrea has been positive, the rapid spread of the disease calls for concerted efforts to combat it. Since no cure or vaccination has been found, the only way to combat the deadly disease is through intensive campaigns and by changing our lifestyle."

"One of the ways to combat Aids is to accept and acknowledge its existence. Every family member should discuss Aids and its consequences with their children," Tirigta said.

Children must be told

It called on the government in Asmara to "discuss and pass important resolutions, and allocate a special budget for Aids".

"Eritrea is proud of its human resources and improving human resources is one of the main policies of the government. But when Aids is present, it is impossible to think about developing human resources and bringing about socio-economic development," the Tigrinya-language weekly added.

MPs not 'serious'

Kenya's East African Standard said MP Peter Kaindi "has challenged fellow legislators to undergo HIV tests.

MPs should undergo HIV/Aids tests prior to contesting

MP Peter Kaindi

He said such a move was necessary if Kenyans were to take them seriously in the fight against the disease.

He wondered why legislators were not treating the epidemic with the seriousness it deserves".

Mr Kaindi said that in future, prospective parliamentary candidates should "undergo HIV/Aids tests prior to contesting".

Community mobilisation

In neighbouring Uganda, a "mayor's alliance against Aids" was launched, according to a report on Radio Uganda.

The sad part is that the deaths rob the country of economically active people who are highly trained and skilled

Lesotho employers' association

Uganda Aids Commission director-general Dr Kihumuro Apuuli called on mayors and local leaders to combat the spread of Aids "through community mobilisation, and allocating resources at their disposal". He said that "nearly 2 million Ugandan children have been orphaned by Aids".

Business leaders in Lesotho expressed concern at the "alarming increase" of Aids and HIV in the country. According to The Association of Lesotho Employers, "the sad part is that the deaths rob the country of economically active people who are highly trained and skilled", the Mopheme Newsshare Foundation reported.

One of many South African Aids victims

"The number of man-hours lost to the economy due to absenteeism related to HIV/Aids is enormous," association executive director Thabo Makeka said, urging the government to provide a statistical analysis of economic losses.

"The association appealed to employers to take an active part in all HIV/Aids-related activities, particularly awareness and preventive measures," the report added.

"Holocaust"

Nowhere is Aids more in the limelight than in South Africa. A look at the Independent media group's web site makes sobering reading, with headlines like: "Panic as new stats reveal more Aids horror", "Aids wipes 80,000 off last year's voters roll", and "South Africa faces 'Aids Holocaust'".

The Cape Times reported that Aids "is thought to have claimed over 300,000 lives in South Africa already, with the worst yet to come".

We cannot stand by and watch children die

South African medical professionals

There was "anger at the death of five Aids activists in Aids week" aimed at both "the government's failure to provide treatment" and the opposition of the pharmaceutical companies to the importation and local manufacture of cheaper anti-retroviral drugs.

Aids activists say a deal to be signed on World Aids Day between the government and the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to provide the drug Fluconazole free to the public health sector might be little more than a "public relations ceremony for World Aids Day".

The Cape Times said a group of health professionals would present a petition to the Department of Health demanding anti-retroviral treatment for HIV-positive pregnant women, which they say could save the lives of 100 children daily.

"The response of the Department of Health has been sluggish at best. We cannot accept this. We cannot stand by and watch children die," the petition says.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.