US singer and actress Queen Latifah joined a mass anti-AIDS march in the South African city of Durban Saturday, where grandmothers bringing up children orphaned by the disease also took to the streets. Holding up signs that read “I care, do you?”, around a thousand grandmothers walked in a colourful procession to draw attention to their plight, as the coastal city readies to host a global AIDS conference from Monday.
The United States condemned on Sunday what it said was a “severe response to recent peaceful protests” in The Gambia, where a party youth leader has been killed and some senior opposition leaders arrested. One of the people arrested was Ousainu Darboe, leader of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), along with supporters and party officials who had gathered at his home. “The United States condemns the government of The Gambia’s severe response to recent peaceful protests. We call for an immediate end to violence and urge all Gambians to exercise restraint,” said John Kirby, a State Department spokesperson. The Gambia is headed by President Yahya Jammeh, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1994 and has made headlines for eccentric proclamations, including a claim to have invented a cure for HIV/AIDS.
The United States government on Monday overturned its 30-year ban on blood donations by gay men, saying they can now donate 12 months after their last sexual contact with another man. The Food and Drug Administration said its decision to reverse the policy was based on an examination of the latest science which shows that an indefinite ban is not necessary to prevent transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. “Ultimately, the 12-month deferral window is supported by the best available scientific evidence, at this point in time, relevant to the U.S. population,” Dr. Peter Marks, deputy director of the FDA's biologics division, said in a statement.
General health has improved worldwide, thanks to significant progress against infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria in the past decade and gains in fighting maternal and child illnesses. The study's main findings were that global life expectancy at birth for both sexes rose by 6.2 years — from 65.3 in 1990 to 71.5 in 2013. Healthy life expectancy at birth rose by 5.4 years — from 56.9 in 1990 to 62.3 in 2013.