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On 18th December 2011 Jason Wessenaar died after being stabbed seven times in the neck. It was 3am in the morning. He was 39. He had spent the night at his home in Pretoria West with friends. Nothing was stolen from his house. After crying out for help, and being heard by his neighbours, he died almost immediately. His murderers are still out there. The murder is being investigated by officers at Pretoria West police station. But so far there appears to have been no progress, and Jason’s family is not being kept informed.

Please sign the petition to demand justice for Jason and many other victims of senseless murder. Call on the South African Minister of Safety and Security, the Gauteng Commissioner of Police and other leaders of the South African government to ensure that Jason’s killers are brought to justice.

Click here to read the whole petition.

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The Global Network of People Living with HIV mourns the sad passing of HIV activist and advocate Catherine Williams of Trinidad and Tobago. Catherine had been at the forefront of the HIV response at a national, regional and global level since her HIV diagnosis, aged 29. Catherine worked tirelessly for over 23 years to improve the lives of people living with and affected by HIV in Trinidad and Tobago with the NGO she co-founded, Community Action Resource. In 2006 Catherine received the Godfrey Sealy Award for her work in the field of HIV in the Caribbean region. Catherine played a significant role in the establishment of the International Community of Women Living with HIV.The positive community will miss Catherine’s passion and commitment and the HIV response is poorer for her passing.

To read a tribute to the life and work of Catherine Williams from a Trinidad and Tobago Member of Parliament, please follow this link.

It is with shock and great sadness that we have heard about the tragic and untimely death of Jason Wessenaar – Moloatsi. Jason was attacked by unknown assailants at his home in Pretoria West (South Africa) in the early hours of Sunday the 18th of December 2011. In these difficult times GNP+ offers condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Jason was known to GNP+ as a brave, intelligent and committed HIV and gay rights activist. With his easy manner and great knowledge, he was a positive role model for many, always having the courage to stand up and speak out against misconceptions and injustices. He was friendly, open and truly cared about the people around him.

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New Delhi: A total of 61 HIV-infected children were forced out of schools in seven states in the last three years and the current year, the Rajya Sabha was informed Friday.

Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari, in a written reply, said: "As per information available with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), 61 children infected by HIV were removed from schools."

According to the minister, the incidents took place in Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal and Maharashtra. A maximum of 27 cases were reported from Andhra Pradesh followed by West Bengal 13 and Haryana 9.

Source: Daily Post, India

Uganda’s parliament has voted to revive the debate over the much-reviled bill that would allow state-sanctioned executions of homosexuals.This week, Ugandan parliamentary member Rebecca Kadaga informed lawmakers that the legislation will be sent to a session committee for consideration.

The legislation was first introduced in 2009 by lawmaker David Bahati. After an international outcry, however, the bill did not hit the floor for a vote before the end of the previous parliamentary session. The legislation would punish “aggravated homosexuality”–meaning homosexual activity by “serial offenders” or those who are HIV positive–with the death penalty. According to Human Rights Watch, Uganda’s Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee suggested adding a section that would make it a criminal offense to perform same-sex marriages.

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The European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) released guidelines “Emergency guidance on ART forced treatment interruptions due to drug unavailability (forced stock-outs) for people living with HIV and their care providers in Europe and Central Asia” at the 13^th AIDS Conference in Belgrade. These guidance follows HIV advocates and UNagencies register increasingly regular antiretroviral (ARV) treatment interruptions due to stock-outs in several countries within Europe and Central Asia.

"We have recurring stock-outs,especially in Central and Eastern Europe, for multiple reasons such as bad planning, bad communication between departments, Ministries not understanding the importance of continuous treatment and other reasons, and the problem is moving to diagnostics, making monitoring difficult to impossible", explained Brian West from the Board of Directors of the EATG.

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