HIV: UN meets goal to treat 15 million-By Michelle Roberts Health editor

The goal to get HIV treatment to 15 million people by the end of 2015 has already been met, says the United Nations Aids agency.

The landmark figure was reached in March - nine months ahead of schedule.

It follows decades of global efforts and investment to get antiretroviral drugs to those in need - such as people living in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2000, when the UN first set goals to combat HIV, fewer than 700,000 people were receiving these vital medicines.

According to UN Aids, which has a report out today, the global response to HIV has averted 30 million new HIV infections and nearly eight million Aids-related deaths since the millennium.

Over the same time frame, new HIV infections have fallen from 2.6 million per year to 1.8 million, and Aids-related deaths have gone down from 1.6 million to 1.2 million.

Meanwhile, global investment in HIV has gone up from £3.1bn ($4.8bn) in 2000 to more than £13bn ($20bn) in 2014.

And concerted action over the next five years could end the Aids epidemic by 2030, says UN Aids.

But progress has been slower in some areas.

Ending Aids

A major gap seems to be in awareness of HIV status, which is the biggest barrier to treatment access, says the report.

And treatment access for children has lagged behind adults - although this is now improving.

The proportion of children living with HIV who receive antiretroviral therapy almost doubled between 2010 and 2014 (from 14% to 32%), but coverage "remains notably lower than it does for adults", says the report.

Even though new HIV infections have gone down, there is still an unacceptable number of new HIV infections each year, contributing to the burden of the epidemic.

In 2014, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 66% of all new HIV infections. And at the last headcount, there were an estimated 25.8 million people in this region living with HIV. The estimated count for the whole world was 36.9 million.

This year sees the switch from Millennium Development Goals to broader Sustainable Development Goals.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations said: "The world has delivered on halting and reversing the Aids epidemic.

"Now we must commit to ending the Aids epidemic as part of the Sustainable Development Goals."

The report says the next five years will be critical and recommends front-loading investment to "sprint" towards an ambition of ending the Aids epidemic by 2030.

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Israel not bound by deal with Iran - Netanyahu

"Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction. We will always defend ourselves."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on TuesdayIsrael would not be bound by the nuclear deal between world powers and Iran and would defend itself.

Appearing before the television cameras to make a statement in which he underlined Israel's disappointment in the deal that he described as a "stunning, historic, mistake", he said:

"Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction. We will always defend ourselves

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Buhari promises to honour all international trade agreements

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday promised that his administration will honour all international trade agreements that will directly improve the living conditions of Nigerians.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted the President as speaking during an audience he had with the outgoing Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, Mr. Mustafa Pulat.

Buhari said under his leadership, the Federal Government would give special attention to the implementation of such agreements, especially in the provision of infrastructure, good education and job opportunities.

Commending the Ambassador’s efforts to expand areas of bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and Turkey, Buhari applauded the growth of trade between both countries in recent years.

“I am impressed with the improvement in our trade relations which coincided with the period you arrived in Nigeria.

“As we settle down into governance, we will look into other areas in which we can work together and directly help
our people,” Buhari reportedly assured Pulat.

The President also praised the outgoing Ambassador’s positive impact on education in Nigeria as reflected in the increased number of Turkish schools and universities in Nigeria.

Pulat told the President that during his two and half years in Abuja, he focused on ensuring better cultural, educational and trade relations between Nigeria and Turkey.

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Azubuike’s Inspiring Story Of Youth Corps Community Service By Margaret Mwantok

The quote, “Ask not what your country can do for you,
ask what you can do for your country” by former
American President John Kennedy appropriately
captures the essence of Chibuzor Miran Azubuike’s
book The Girl Who Found Water.



It’s a memoir

 of her years as a Youth Corpoer in
Bauchi State before insurgency siege.
Azubuike is an epitome of what change truly is in a
hopeless community. The story is told in a simple
language that recurs and endears it to readers. In 114
pages, Azubuike recounts a story full of emotional
trauma, as she saw her being posted to Bauchi State
to serve as a punishment rather than a blessing.

Her reaction is typical of Corper members from the
south posted to the north, because of Boko Haram
insurgency. Apparently posted to what could be
termed a harsh environment, Azubuike recounts how
she put up a good fight to achieve her goal of making
impact in the community of Bigi Tudun Wada, a
community with over six thousand population that got
water from only one well. Azubuike took up the
challenge, as her Community Development Project to
provide clean water for the people

According to her, “The budget for the borehole was
N600,000, but I was optimistic I could raise it”.

Some individuals and ministries rejected her
proposals, but her persistence paid off when her
project was commissioned and she was named Lady
Haske (a clean lady) and also crowned Sarkin Aiyuka
(king of hard work) by the community. The book also
provides a broad picture of the average Nigerian who
has very little knowledge of his country. As such, he
relies on half-truths or lies from other people until he
encounters the local community and is enchanted by
what he sees.

The Girl Who Found Water gives a picture of efforts
being made to sustain the intent of the NYSC scheme
to integrate Nigerians. The book is an inspirational
piece to those who are being discouraged by family,
friends or society. Chibuzor had to overcome her fears
despite the discouragements from the society and her
friends.

''She had so much expectation from her service year.
As she put it, “I wanted to learn a foreign language
and engage in meaningful activities that would add to
my CV and increase my chances of getting a good job
after the mandatory service year”.

The Girl Who Found Water encourages today’s youths,
especially aspiring corps members to report to
whichever state they are deployed instead of
struggling to get redeployed, as one kcan never know
where his or her would excel.

Azubuike’s style is captivating and entertaining and
makes for easy reading. Other corpers will be inspired
to follow her example and give quality service during
their service year. Buoyed by her success in making
water available for a landlocked community, Ms
Azubuike is setting up her NGO project where she
could continue impacting society through service.

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Russia Seeks Cooperation In Science And Technology With Brics Members

As a further step to consolidate the group's footprint, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has ordered to sign a memorandum on cooperation with BRICS countries (namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in the sphere of science, technologies and innovations, the official website of the Russian government reported in March.



The memorandum aims at "forming a strategic system for cooperation in the sphere of science, technologies and innovations between countries - members of BRICS." The memorandum will be signed by Russia's Ministry of Education and Science on behalf of the Russian government.

BRICS experts, researchers and analysts have noted that considering the progress that has been made since its inception, it is significant for the leaders to move more rapidly in prioritizing the potential areas of economic influence and there are no doubts this will be done in the nearest future, already starting with the creation of the National Development Bank.

The deal to establish the bank was signed last year by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Under the July 2014 framework deal, the founding countries will create a $100-billion reserve currency pool to ensure the bank's financial stability. The bank could help shore up funds for many different infrastructure projects.

"Without doubts, the BRICS group members, five major developing economies, have huge scientific and technological potentials for bolstering cooperation and can reach great height in their collective achievements, this could mean forming an unseparable consolidated alliance," Edward Bely, Candidate of Sciences and Scientific Secretary at the Institute of Latin American Studies under the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Buziness Africa in an interview in June.

The Executive Director of the Russian National Committee for BRICS Research Georgy Toloraya told TASS News Agency in an interview on the occasion of the group's Civic Forum opening on June 29 that "there are several important cooperation spheres, for example, combating cyberterrorism, cyber threats, just terrorism, responding to new threats and challenges, including infectious and non-communicable diseases, drug trafficking and even regional conflicts, participation of BRICS in their settlement, various aspects of humanitarian and natural disasters," he said. "This subject is becoming increasingly important."

Similarly, Modern Diplomacy Senior Editor and also the Founder of Internacionalista based São Paulo, Patricia Galves Derolle, thinks that Brazil is very much interested in cooperating in the spheres of of science, technologies and innovations as proposed by Russia. Brazil cooperates without asking for something in return, it cooperates to help the countries develop. However, cooperating in fields such as innovation and technology will bring appreciable results in the long-run.

"I think all of the countries, except China, use the group for their own national interests, but clearly Russia and Brazil believe more in the BRICS than any other member country," Derolle, an author of many policy articles including - What Does It Mean To Be An Emerging Power, - wrote in an email comment to Buziness Africa from Brazil.

Brazil is the largest country in size and population in comparison to other Latin American countries, and it is the seventh largest economy in the world by nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Since the mid 2000's, Brazil has become a more attractive global player: it has diversified its economy and its partnerships, and launched the Growth Acceleration Plan (2007) in order to increase investment in infrastructure and provide tax incentives for economic growth.

Long before the creation of BRICS, Russia and India (R&I) have been very close strategic partners and now also in the BRICS group. In the objective views of the Indian Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan, the BRICS group has much potential to cooperate in many areas, including education, science, technology and many other areas and Delhi hopes that that the period of Russia's presidency in BRICS will allow for boosting and consolidating cooperation among the members

"There is considerable potential for strengthening intra-BRICS cooperation in areas like online education, affordable healthcare platforms, virtual BRICS University, small and medium enterprises, tourism, youth exchanges and science and technology. We hope to see forward movement in these areas in BRICS 2015. Therefore, we can say BRICS today plays an important role in global politics and economics." Raghavan said in an interview with Interfax.
Ahead of the Ufa summit in July, the Russian Foreign Ministry posted an article on its official website written by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. "Russia and its partners have a long-term goal stipulated in the group’s Durban declaration, and it is to transform BRICS into a full-fledged mechanism of strategic and current inter-action on vital issues of world politics and economy," Ryabkov wrote in his policy article.

As Russia is fulfilling the functions of BRICS chairman, it is guided first and foremost by this objective. The Russia plans to hand over about forty new proposals on investment cooperation ( that will include a promulgated cooperation to the mining of mineral resources, power engineering, and telecommunications) in the form of a roadmap to the partners.

In an official message to the participants and guests of the first Civic Forum of BRICS held in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out the role of people's diplomacy in ensuring mutual understanding between the countries. The message said in part: "Your forum opens a new dimension in the BRICS activity by involving the representatives of various non-governmental organizations and civic circles of the five countries in the joint work."

Putin stresses further that the efficient solution to many issues of modern international relations is impossible without an active mobilization of the civil society. The agenda of the forum is in line with the priorities of the Russian presidency in BRICS and fully reflects the goal towards strengthening mutually beneficial multilateral cooperation in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres.

In her academic policy research paper under the title "South Africa beyond BRICS" released in April, Memory Dube, is a Senior Researcher with SAIIA's Economic Diplomacy Programme, argues that "the BRICS alliance seems to have yielded limited benefits for South Africa in terms of interest articulation in global economic governance beyond the rhetoric of reform and democratisation of global economic governance institutions."

While elevating South Africa's voice in global economic governance debates, it has been difficult to identify tangible economic benefits flowing from South Africa's membership of BRICS outside of the normal bilateral economic engagement that South Africa has with individual BRICS members, which pre-date its BRICS membership, and, of course, the New Development Bank whose benefits can only be spoken of in potential terms as it is yet to be operational, she noted.

It is also necessary to consider whether issues are country-specific, of regional priority or dominating the global economic agenda. In addition, it is important to note that issues are multi-dimensional covering the financial, trade and investment sectors, reform of global institutions, and south-south development cooperation, Dube noted and further pointed out that “it is becoming increasingly apparent that South Africa needs to explore alternative groupings in global economic governance fora which are aligned meaningfully with its domestic and strategic interests.”

The SAIIA, is a non-governmental research institute, focuses on South Africa's and Africa's international relations. It provides analysis, promotes dialogue and contributes to African policy making in a dynamic global context.

The BRICS countries collectively represent about 26% of the world's geographic area and are home to 42% of the world's population. In 2013, the share of the BRICS countries reached 16.1% in global trade, 10.8% in military spending and 40/2% in production of non-renewable energy resources. The BRICS consumer market is the largest in the world and is growing by $500 billion a year. The next BRICS summit will take place in Ufa, the capital of Russia's Volga republic Bashkiria, on July 8-10, 2015.

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MAXIMIZING IMPACT THROUGH STRONG HEALTH SYSTEMS

Since our founding, Mali Health has worked at the health systems level to improve not only access to basic healthcare, but the quality of care itself.  Today, we partner with clinics to improve the capacity and quality of the services they provide to the residents of our partner slum communities.

                    We utilize participatory strategies and our years of experience to identify areas in need of improvement.  With partners that include providers, patients, and management, we set small, achievable goals for improvement, a process in which all stakeholders are involved, enabling continual progress toward a better patient experience. Achievements include:

• Reduced the cost of medical care for children enrolled in our Action for Health program
• Operationalized the prescription process, ensuring patients get the most effective treatments at an affordable price
• Increased transparency, educating patients on what services are available at the clinic and what the standard price is
• Improved bedside manner and patient entry systems, helping clinic staff communicate more clearly and sympathetically with patients, improving the patient experience and encouraging future health-seeking behavior.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
                               Mali Health also assists in building health infrastructure.  In 2010, we helped construct a clinic in Sikoro to improve geographic access to care for the neighborhood’s thousands of residents.  We later added a wall to provide privacy for patients, and in 2013, we helped to construct a dedicated maternity ward, giving women a safe, private space in which to give birth under the supervision of a health professional.  The Sikoro clinic has been fully integrated into the Malian healthcare system and is run by a local health committee so that, despite our continued collaboration, it operates independently of Mali Health, ensuring its sustainability.

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Benitez 10th man to take Madrid hotseat under Perez

The hiring of Rafael Benitez as Real Madrid boss on Wednesday makes the Spaniard the 10th coach to serve under Florentino Perez during his two spells as the club’s president between June 2000-February 2006 and since June 2009.  The 68-year-old has sanctioned the spending of reportedly over a billion euros on transfer fees during that time for the return of three league titles, two Champions Leagues and two Copa del Reys.  Here, AFP sports looks at the nine men that have come and gone under Perez’s leadership:  Vicente del Bosque (November 1999-June 2003)  Arguably Perez’s most famous and ludicrous decision was to let the now Spanish national team manager go just days after he had won a second league title in three seasons. 
Del Bosque was also in charge for Madrid‘s ninth Champions League win in 2002.  Carlos Queiroz (June 2003-May 2004) The new head-coach of Real Madrid football team, Rafael Benitez (L) and Real Madrid's president Florentino Perez smile as they pose with the team's jersey during a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on June 3, 2015. The hiring of Rafael Benitez as Real Madrid boss today makes the Spaniard the 10th coach to serve under Florentino Perez during his two spells as the club's president between June 2000-February 2006 and since June 2009. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU  The new head-coach of Real Madrid football team, Rafael Benitez (L) and Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez smile as they pose with the team’s jersey during a press conference at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on June 3, 2015. The hiring of Rafael Benitez as Real Madrid boss today makes the Spaniard the 10th coach to serve under Florentino Perez during his two spells as the club’s president between June 2000-February 2006 and since June 2009. AFP PHOTO / PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU  The Portuguese was already a well-known name due to his position as Alex Ferguson’s assistant at Manchester United, but he failed to make a successful transition into the top job at the Bernabeu.  After a promising start, Madrid collapsed to finish just fourth in the league and were also surprisingly eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League by Monaco.  Jose Antonio Camacho (May 2004-September 2004)  Former Spain boss Camacho returned to the Bernabeu after leaving without so much as playing a game during a 22-day stay as boss in 1998.  However, he didn’t last very long the second time round either as a poor start to the league campaign and a 3-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in their first Champions League group game saw Camacho gone by September.  Mariano Garcia Remon (September 2004-December 2004)  A seven-time league winner with Madrid as a player, Garcia Remon was promoted from being Camacho’s assistant when the latter left, however his reign also lasted only a few months and he has only had a brief spell in charge of second division side Cadiz since.  Vanderlei Luxemburgo (December 2004-December 2005)  The experienced Brazilian did at least manage a year in charge after the multiple changes to start the 2004-05 season.  However, he too struggled to find the balance in a squad overloaded with attacking talent and was sacked after a wonderful performance from his compatriot Ronaldinho guided Barcelona to a 3-0 win at the Bernabeu in December 2005.  Juan Ramon Lopez Caro (December 2005-June 2006)  Final appointment by Perez before his first reign came to an end with his resignation in February 2006.  Mauricio Pellegrini (June 2009-May 2010)  With Perez back in power and having a second go at the galacticos project, the Manchester City manager was brought in to oversee the signings of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso.  However, a 4-0 humiliation at the hands of minnows Alcorcon in the Copa del Rey, elimination to Lyon in the last 16 of the Champions League and second place to Barca despite a club record points tally saw the Chilean gone after one season.  Jose Mourinho (May 2010-June 2013)  Faced with an all-conquering Barcelona, Perez turned to the man that had defeated Pep Guardiola’s men on the way to winning his second Champions League with Inter Milan in 2010.  Mourinho’s time was filled with controversy and fall outs which ultimately led to his departure from the club after one league title and a Copa del Rey in three seasons.  Carlo Ancelotti (June 2013-May 2015)  Ancelotti delivered Madrid‘s most successful ever calendar year with four trophies, including the long-awaited 10th European Cup in 2014.  However, he failed to win a major title in his final season despite a club record run of 22 consecutive victories before Christmas.  His dismissal was, though, Perez’s most criticised decision since Del Bosque’s departure 12 years previously.

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