text:
Explore the personal stories of Syrian refugees in Lebanon
Ghana's mixed fortune as a dumping ground for e-waste
Haru Mutasa | 05 Sep 2009 11:47 GMT | Health, South Africa, Zimbabwe
Municipal health officials in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, are struggling to cope with growing waiting lists of people in need of HIV treatment and too few doctors to prescribe the drugs.
More than 320,000 Zimbabweans are in need of anti-retroviral (ARV) drug treatment and of the 1.7 million living with HIV, only about 150,000 are receiving medication from the public health sector.
Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports on Zimbabwean migrant workers who cannot access ARVs in South Africa and are forced to return to Bulawayo clinics for treatment.
A drop in levels of funding and interruption in the supply of ARV drugs have led to the delay, suspension, or risk of suspension of the supply of life-saving HIV drugs.
This disruption, says Medicin Sans Frontieres (MSF), is putting HIV patients at risk in at least six African countries.
According to 2008 UN statistics, just under two million people were living with HIV/Aids in Zimbabwe and the prevalence rate for the 15 to 49 age bracket is 15.3 per cent.
Harare received close to $40m from the Global Fund earlier this year – money that will go a long way to combating the epidemic if it is managed properly by officials, say aid groups in the country.
With the unity government just over six months old, donor money is slowly trickling back into Zimbabwe's bankrupt economy.
But it is not enough. Just like in other parts of Africa, and the world, the global recession has cut into monies usually earmarked for aid and relief.
In Zimbabwe, ARV stocks have already become dangerously low in many public health facilities in the country.
Waiting for death
With just one doctor on duty, most of the 350 patients will probably have to wait all day to finally receive treatment.
Some walked an hour to get here; others travelled by bus from the nearby rural areas where clinics barely have sufficient headache tablets, let alone ARVs.
Sihle Dube, 32, is HIV positive and believes her husband, who left her for another woman three years ago, is the one who infected her.
She is unemployed and has a 10-year-old son to look after.
To do, that she needs to start taking anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs), but the public hospital does not have enough in stock.
Sihle says she has been on a government waiting list for ARVs for nine months.
"All I can think of, while I wait to get my drugs, is death," she says, "I've been waiting since December for ARVs – and I have no idea when I will get them. I can't afford to buy them."
Sihle sighs as she realises how far down the line she is. She sighs again when nurses announce they are "going out for lunch".
"Looks like I will be here all day or have to come back again tomorrow," she says, frustrated.
The only way to avoid the long waiting lists and the hospital lines in Zimbabwe is to buy your own ARVs at a private pharmacy. But its is a luxury few can afford.
But an estimated 90 per cent of the population is unemployed and a monthly dose of tablets costs around $23.
The price can double depending on which part of the country one lives.
Health officials estimate more than 320,000 people in Zimbabwe need ARVs, but less than half are getting them.
MSF says more than 400 people die every day from Aids-related causes.
"As you know, we can't cure HIV, we can only control it," explains Dr Brigitte van Hove from MSF.
"That's what ARVs do. They try to control it - try to stop the multiplication as much as possible. They allow a body which is immune depressed to get better and allow people to look after themselves with their families."
Ailing health sector
Zimbabwe health officials say they are trying to find solutions but the health sector is in tatters and reviving it is going to take a lot of work and money.
Disgruntled medical practitioners, who get paid just $170 a month, are always threatening to go on strike.
Drugs are always in short supply and hospital equipment is inadequate.
The coalition government of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, and his prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai says it desperately needs close to $10bn to resuscitate the economy, which had been brought to a standstill by years of mismanagement and bad policies before the coalition government was formed in February this year.
Officials hope most of this money will come from Western nations and donors.
But international donors have been reluctant to pour money into the African nation until more political and economic reforms are made on the ground.
This, coupled with the recession, means there is not enough funding to properly deal with HIV/Aids.
If the money to supply drugs keeps dwindling, many across Africa will continue to die from a disease that can be contained for less than $25 a month.
Dangerous alternatives
But some in Zimbabwe have resorted to alternative treatment.
In the poor township of Mkokoba in Bulawayo, close to 200 people sit under a tree waiting for faith healer Mkululi Moyo, who says he can heal anything from cancer to HIV/Aids, to arrive.
Some come from the capital Harare about 500km away while others come from as far as neighbouring South Africa, desperate to see the faith healer.
As Moyo finally arrives, people rush toward him. He splits them into two groups – those who are sick on his left and those who have financial problems, for example, on the right.
Two long snake-like queues are formed as people line up to fill their bottles with holy water brought by their faith healer.
When their bottles are filled they sit down and wait for instructions.
The faith healer tells them to write their problems on a piece of paper and put the paper in the bottle of "holy water".
Then they must shake the bottle hard to completely douse their problems with the blessed water.
Next, they are told to form another line and, one by one, they smash their bottles – the only way to chase out the evil demons that are making them sick.
"A person comes here to receive Jesus as their personal saviour," explains Moyo.
"I give them water filled with the Holy Spirit. Whatever illness they have – be it cancer, even Aids - I tell them Jesus has the power to heal and for real they are healed."
With Aids drugs in short supply and too expensive – the desperate are clutching onto anything that can restore their health and keep them alive.
Source: Al Jazeera
Content on this website is for general information purposes only. Your comments
are provided by your own free will and you take sole responsibility for any direct
or indirect liability. You hereby provide us with an irrevocable, unlimited, and
global license for no consideration to use, reuse, delete or publish comments, in
accordance with Community Rules & Guidelines and Terms and Conditions.
Cuba offers free sex change surgeries and government-sanctioned Pride marches, but activists say more change is needed.
Human Rights, Cuba, Fidel Castro
Denton residents protest confederate symbols while elsewhere other monuments are still being erected.
US & Canada, United States, Arts & Culture
The United States is leading secret negotiations with 11 other countries over the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
Asia Pacific, New Zealand, Health
An alarming number of young UK offenders with criminal records were previously in the care of local authorities.
Europe, Child rights, Law
At least two troops dead and 24 others wounded in attack on military police station in Agri, allegedly by PKK fighters.
War & Conflict, Middle East, Turkey, PKK, Iraq
Activities cannot be continued till end of year without immediate action to boost aid to war-torn nation, official says.
War & Conflict, Humanitarian crises, Africa, Central African Republic
101 East explores how Japan's funeral industry is getting creative as the ageing nation runs out of space for the dead.
Arts & Culture, Asia Pacific, Japan
Former classmates separated during Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 reunite decades later.
War & Conflict, Politics, Poverty & Development
An investigation into the role of one of the most influential banks in the world.
Business & Economy, Greece, US & Canada
We investigate why the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are nervous about Russia's regional ambitions.
Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin


text:
Narrow your search
Sure, kickstand covers are perfectly functional and easy to use. But these tablet stands and gadgets score bonus points for creativity.
The Apple Watch may not be fine jewelry, but Bill Detwiler cracks it open and shows you why he thinks it's a fine piece of tech.
The opah fish is able to keep its body warmer than its surroundings, which grants it some special powers over its cold-blooded compadres.
Traveling abroad? The Oneadaptr Twist works in 150 countries and includes four USB ports and a MagSafe-compatible connector.
Carmaker has teamed up with Pacific Gas & Electric to curb power grid demand by giving i3 drivers gift cards if they charge at off-peak hours.
In a wide-ranging interview with author James Bamford for Wired magazine, the former NSA contractor opens up on why he became the most wanted man in the world.
CNET breaks down the differences between Motorola's new line of Moto smartphones, which include the Moto G, the Moto X Play and the Moto X Pure Edition (also known as the X Style).
Citing supplier issues, the Russian phone maker has pulled an about face on plans to bring its unique smartphone to North America.
Send a personalized holiday card that launches a video message when it's scanned using your smartphone.
Finally, people born in 1980 have something amazing over those young'ins who came into the world in the year 2000 or on a Leap Day.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
iOS Android Expert(Java, ObjC, Swift, Web Service, Parse, Github, DSP)
Netherlands - Last active: 1 day ago - Tests: 7 - Portfolio: 1
"MY CUSTOMER'S PERCEPTION IS MY REALITY!" "I know WHAT YOU WANT MOST and WHAT I DO BEST." I am a senior IT professional who have 10+ years of software development experiences. My career had been started as a DSP expert, now I have 2 years of web programming and 5 years of social mobile app development experiences. I have delivered a lot of top quality products to my clients. My experiences and skills. Experienced with social apps - Photo, audio and video editing and sharing app - Dating app - Health, Fitness and Patient management app - Restaurant, shopping and Taxi ordering app - VOIP, Video streaming Skilled Frameworks, API and Technology - Social network integrating(FB, Twitter, Linkedln, Google API) - Chatting and Messaging (XMPP Protocol) - Geo Localization (Google Maps API) - Backend Service (Hosting and Landing) - In app purchase and push notifycation - App Advertising (Xplode, Revmob, Admob, Adcolony and Chartboost) Used mobile game engine - Cocos2d, Cocos2d-x, Box2d, OpenGL Cross Platform support - Phonegap(Angular JS, JQuerry mobile, HTML5) - Titanium and Xamarin My Professional Technology - Digital speech/audio processing - Multimedia processing(ffmpeg, vlc) - VOIP(linphone) - Bluetooth (BLE) As I described I always do my best to satisfy my customer's all requirements with top quality product based on my creative skills and effort. Thanks for visiting me!
Solid iOS/Android Developer
Turkey - Last active: 4 days ago - Tests: 4 - Portfolio: 6
iOS6, iOS7, iOS8, SWIFT and Android Expert. In the past several years I have built many Iphone and Android applications, with a focus on Maps, GIS, GPS, PUSH, and geospatial data as well as experience in information management and presentation. My core ability is complete engineering of mobile applications from the ground up, choosing appropriate database, logic, and UI technologies from the array of existing options. I have specialized knowledge in mobile sync and RESTful communicate with custom websites and existing social media data stores. I have developed 30+ mobile apps of following categories. * Social networking: Like & Share, Dating service, Events management, Messaging services * Lifestyle: Fashion & Shopping * Photo & Video: Instagram, Photo-booth style, Greeting card, Frame & Caption * Catalogues: Real-estate, Hotel & Flight, Food & Recipe booking, * Geo location navigation: Travel, Find near * Education: Language learn, Storybooks, Game for Kids * Medical: Health care, Medical service * Health & Fitness: Workout, Bodybuilding Training, * Cinema, Music, Radio, TV, Streaming apps * News, Sports, Travel, Weather, Magazine apps * Delivering top quality with professional service * Always work with creativity and fast paced development * Devoting my full time, since this is my full time position. I have strong skills in the following areas: objective c, xcode, cocoa, cocos-2d, twilio, storyboard, core-java, javascript, j2me, swift, NDK, eclipse, ios8, keyboard framework, ios-development, iphone-app-development, ipad-app-development, iphone-ui-design, ipad-ui-design, mobile-app-development, android-app-development, iphone-ui-design, ipad-ui-design, location-based, food & recipe, real-esate, restaurant, hotel-flight booking, nurturion, health-care, fitness, photo editing, video editing, social sharing, messaging, dating, timer/reminder app-development, ibeacon, github, basecamp, xmpp, streaming(wowza), parse, aviary, gpuimage, in-app purchase, gps, amazon, xml/json, rest/soap, facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube, vuforia, metaio, icloud, iAd, adwhirl, revmob, flurry, paypal.
Senior Web Developer
United Arab Emirates - Last active: 21 days ago - Tests: 9 - Portfolio: 13
I have been developing web apps for the last 6+ years and over this period I have had the good fortune to work with a lot of excellent professionals on developing web solutions in PHP, DHTML, HTML, JQuery, Bootstrap, YUI, Javascript, MySQL and Oracle. I have worked with frameworks like Laravel, CodeIgniter and Symfony. I have developed: 1. Basic portfolio sites. 2. Complete web portals. 3. Written web services. 4. Integrated different web portals with different web services e.g SalesForce, Kunaki. 5. Developed complete online solutions to business problems. 6. Worked with different database 7. Managed databases for clients. My core competency lies in development of complete website solutions, customization of off the shelf as well as open source solutions. I have experience in OOP, SQL, Query Optimization, Ajax, Software Design, Software Testing, Software Design Pattern Implementation, SVN for Versioning. My Moto is "Perfection comes first." My focus is always on quality rather than quantity.
Groups: Bluehost Developers and Designers, MailChimp Experts Group...
UI design, iOS & Android Development
India - Last active: 19 days ago - Tests: 12 - Portfolio: 9
I am Narek, tech consultant with 8 years of experience in field, running a mobile app development agency. I help start-ups and established businesses with development of mobile apps, including product design, UI design, development and publishing. Till now we worked on more than 100 projects, 3 of them were mentioned in TechCrunch. We are good in: iOS/Android development - push notifications, in-app purchases, maps, integration with APIs and whatever is required for building a successful app. Back-end development - RESTful APIs(with node.js, laravel and Yii), pubnub, parse Front-end development - Twitter Bootstrap v3, angularjs, canvas frameworks and etc.
Data Entry Specialist
Bangladesh - Last active: 2 days ago - Tests: 7 - Portfolio: 1
Over the last 5 years, I have developed a wide range of data entry specialist including personal assistant. My core competency lies in complete end-end management of a project, and I am seeking opportunities to develop from the ground up for you or your business. I also have some experience in the following areas: Internet research, Microsoft Excel etc.
C/C++, Qt, Linux, Java and open source technologies medical engineer
Egypt - Last active: 1 month ago - Tests: 17 - Portfolio: 1
In my career; I developed many Projects based on open source technologies like Linux, Qt, MySQL, Java. Projects were mainly of a medical nature; ranging from embedded to desktop to web applications. What always interests me are embedded projects, projects of complex functionality that adds emphasis on usability and user experience. Also Qt projects; I'm fascinated by this toolkit. Generally I have a good OOA&D; skills; UML and design patterns knowledge, and always like to read about different programming paradigms.
Quality Assurance Analyst
Canada - Last active: 13 days ago - Tests: 13
• Quality Assurance Professional with 4 years of experience in Manual and Automated Testing of Client Server and Web Applications in Telecom industry and e-commerce • Experienced in Functional, Regression, Sanity, SIT, UAT, and Data Migration testing • Proficient in analyzing business requirements, test scenarios, designing test plans, creating test cases, preparing test data and executing manual and automated testing • Excellent in writing and executing SQL queries for testing database back end records • Extensive in using test tools like QTP, Selenium, defect tracking tools like QC, Jira • Strong knowledge of STLC Methodologies, Tools and Technical procedures including Waterfall and Agile throughout all stages of SDLC • Knowledge in using Android Emulator for Mobile Application Testing • Self-motivated, detail oriented, quick learner, positive attitude, passionate for testing • Ability to work well both individually and within a group with great interpersonal, analytical and problem solving skills, excellent written and oral communication skills
Full time Web Programmer for Wordpress & Front-end
Denmark - Last active: 3 days ago - Tests: 6 - Portfolio: 15
I am a full time web programmer who can do the task nimbly. I am glad to know about oDesk and happy to work on oDesk. experiences html5/css3, php/mysql, jquery/javascript wordpress, codeigniter, cakephp responsive design using bootstrap About 9 years ago, I have started with web development. And I am ready for Basic English skill for communication with clients. So far I have been willing to learn new technologies and apply to my development, and satisfy all clients with the ideal results. I am ready to start with the job relevant to my skills I have. They are front-end jobs, wordpress and responsive design for mobile and iphone. I will try to avoid any complaint from clients on oDesk. Before applying to the job, I will think I am ready for this job and can provide with the perfect result that can satisfy client. I will do my best for the clients and oDesk.
ISTQB Certified Software QA specialist in Web and Mobile
India - Last active: 22 days ago - Tests: 5 - Portfolio: 3
ISTQB Certified Software QA with 3 yrs Experience Skill set: 1. Software Testing, Website Testing. 2. Proficient in Manual Testing, Functionality Testing, Regression Testing, Cross- Browser Testing. 3. Expert in Test cases development, executing test cases and making detailed bug reports with steps to reproduce, details of the bugs with screenshots and videos using Microsoft Excel and Google Spreadsheet. 4. Expert in using Bug Reporting Tools such as Bug Tracker,Google Docs, Github, Bugzilla and Bit bucket. 5. Well acquainted with SDLC, STLC & Agile Methodology. 6. Have Tested Various android application as well. 7. Responses quickly and utilizing the same in a productive manner within stringent timeliness.
Android Developer | App Tester | Website Tester | Technical Writer
Pakistan - Last active: 2 days ago - Tests: 2 - Portfolio: 5
I am multi-skilled and experienced android developer working on various type of projects for 2 years. I have a team named "MacroTech Developers" We have already released 16 apps to the android market which are becoming popular .I am a conscientious worker and quick learner. I have experience working with Sq-lite Database,UI design,Google Map,Widget making, Calender,Alarm, Remainder, Facebook integration, App decoder, De-compiler. I also have an excellent sense of colour and design. Besides developing, I can review and test android applications.I have wide range of experience testing android apps. I have tested apps on www.testflightapp.com with multiple devices. Skills at a Glance: 1. Android Development 2.App Tester (Android) 3.App Reviewer (Android and iOS) 4.Core Java 5.Web Research 6.Web Development 7.Google Play Expert 8.Template App Modifier 9.Ad Integration(AdMob,AirPush,ChartBoost,RevMob) 10. IAP (In app Purchase) Tester 11.WordPress Theme Customization. 12.Android related writings. 13. Android Tutorial Maker. 14. Website QA Testing. 15. Android app Translator. 16. Video Making for Google Play


text:
Written on: 28/06/2013
Quotes always come up very cheap with them on various websites but after you pay your deposit it is all down hill. My policy ended up being raised after the 14 day period by 40% this was due to them changing a conviction date by 2DAYS!! Customer service was shockingly bad and very snotty. Would advise anyone to stay clear of this company.... God only knows what they would be like if you had to make a claim
As rated by our community of reviewers
" Forget the rest! " Read More
Written by ade67
" AUTONET INSURANCE - THE WORST INSURANCE COMPANY " Read More
" I've been with MCE for a few years now and I am continuing to be mo... " Read More
" Terrible experience AVOID " Read More
" I think they are dead now? " Read More