Welcome to the "test" version of the new
website and database of the Centre for HIV/AIDS Networking,
or HIVAN, as it has come to be known.
There can be very few citizens of KwaZulu-Natal who
remain unaware of the extent to which the HIV/AIDS epidemic
is engulfing our province, and amongst the academic
community, of the challenges it entails, which are unprecedented
in the roughly 5000-year known history of the destruction
and adaptations resulting from the evolution of humans
and their parasites. Africa bears 70% of the global
burden of this disease, and most of this is concentrated
in the southern regions.
We in KZN sit at the very centre of this terrible tragedy.
As a leading institution in this region, we have a special
responsibility to society to find the best proven methods
to conquer the HIV/AIDS epidemic, to make these measures
(as we discover them) more widely known, to determine
the range of strategies appropriate to their implementation
and finally to facilitate such implementation. Our contributions
may be small, but we can magnify their impact by doing
first-rate work in bringing together people and their
ideas on controlling the epidemic. We hope that this
site and the various activities planned by HIVAN will
support these efforts.
HIVAN and its staff
HIVAN was established at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in
Durban eight months ago to stimulate multidisciplinary
research and training partnerships in the field of HIV/AIDS,
to provide mechanisms for cross-sectoral networking
around HIV/AIDS research, training and intervention,
and to assist in ensuring that the University itself
is equipped to deal with the effects of the epidemic
on its own campuses.
HIVAN currently has external funding for a three-year
period to support a small core staff, consisting of
two Directors (one from the biomedical sciences and
the other from the social and behavioural sciences),
a Researcher, a Project Manager and an Administrative
Officer. It also has a budget for technical development
of its IT components, as well as for further fundraising
activities to place HIVAN in a position to realise the
ambitious - but entirely necessary - agenda it has set
itself. Several other contract staff members have been
engaged against a short-term grant to assist with HIVAN's
start-up phase, while a number of the University's permanent
academic staff members assist on either an honorary
or voluntary basis. We are deeply indebted to them and
to the many other individuals from the University community
for the assistance they have provided in the past months.
Website and database launch
After a period of intensive preparation and development
of physical and technical infrastructure, a number of
HIVAN's core components are to be launched over the
next few months. First among these is this website and
its associated on-line database of more than 800 organisations
and individuals engaged in HIV/AIDS work in KwaZulu-Natal.
As you will see, the website contains up-to-date news
on HIV/AIDS and a host of other facilities such as discussion
boards, useful links, information on funding opportunities,
basic educational materials and many other features.
Over time and through interaction with our users, we
plan to augment these features and the database significantly.
HIVAN would appreciate comments, suggestions and other
contributions from the University community before the
site is launched publicly next month.
Details of University staff
As many of you will know, over the past few months
we have been engaged in a data-gathering effort on all
campuses to ensure that our database includes the details
of as many of our University staff, students and Schools
active in the HIV/AIDS field as possible. To assist
us with this, please search the HIVAN Networker database
to make sure that we have you listed and that the information
on you and your School, Centre or Unit is comprehensive
and accurate. We would be grateful if you would take
the time to add or update the relevant details where
necessary. The system has been designed to allow users
to do this themselves, and instructions are provided
within the site. Please feel free to give HIVAN a call
should you need assistance.
Community newsletter
In addition to these electronic media, HIVAN is producing
a community newsletter called Sondela (meaning "coming
closer"), the first issue of which will be released
at the end of this month. Published in both English
and isiZulu, it aims to draw into the networking fold
those who do not have access to the website and database.
Copies will be distributed to all Schools and service
divisions within the University.
The Campus HIV/AIDS Support Unit
Another major initiative, the Campus HIV/AIDS Support
Unit, will shortly come to fruition as a result of close
consultation with a range of stakeholders within the
University, including student organisations, Student
Counselling Services, the Campus Health Clinic, Residence
Services and the newly established AIDS Intervention
Office (operating within the office of Professor Salim
Abdool Karim). To be opened at the start of the second
semester, the Unit will provide not only advice and
counselling, but will also serve as the locus for a
plethora of campus-based HIV/AIDS-related activities,
from peer counsellor training to HIV/AIDS-related service-learning
initiatives and student-run community outreach activities.
Premises for the Campus Support Unit on the Howard College
campus have recently been completed, and are conveniently
located opposite the entrance to Townley Williams Residence,
close to both the E G Malherbe Library and the Rick
Turner Student Union Building. On the Pietermaritzburg
campus, the Unit currently operates from an office in
Student Counselling but will shortly be relocating to
the former SRC Bookroom in the Students Union Building.
HIVAN hopes to establish satellite offices for the Campus
Support Unit on the University's two remaining campuses,
Edgewood and the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine,
in the second half of the year. We are currently raising
funds to support these activities on all campuses.
HIV/AIDS research and teaching symposium
Also planned for the second semester is a University-wide
HIV/AIDS Symposium around research and training in the
field of HIV/AIDS. The Symposium will serve as a forum
for showcasing current research, encouraging partnerships
between researchers and developing a University-wide
multidisciplinary HIV/AIDS research agenda. A similar
process will be pursued in respect of teaching and training,
both to stimulate integration of HIV/AIDS into curricula
and to encourage collaborative teaching and in-service
training programmes around HIV/AIDS. HIVAN has already
established a community reference group, the members
of which will provide input on community and grassroots
needs and priorities for research, training and capacity-building.
Fellowship and Job Shadow programmes
Other initiatives to be launched later this year include
an HIV/AIDS Visiting Fellows Programme and an African
Job Shadow Exchange Programme. The Fellowship Programme
will bring to the University prominent international
scholars in the HIV/AIDS field, while the Job Shadow
Programme will allow for residential and work exchanges
between public sector and civil society HIV/AIDS practitioners
in KwaZulu-Natal and counterparts elsewhere in South
Africa and Africa.
Comments on and contributions to any aspect of HIVAN's
work are most welcome, and can be sent to HIVAN's general
e-mail address: webmaster@hivan.org.za . Further information
can also be obtained by contacting HIVAN's Administrative
Officer, Andisha Maharaj, on Ext 3195.
We sincerely hope that all members of the University
community will make use of HIVAN's services, participate
in its activities and become partners in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. There is so much to be done.
Jerry Coovadia and Eleanor Preston-Whyte
Co-Directors : HIVAN
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