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At the fringes of the unprecedented medication scale-up in the treatment of HIV, many African countries have experienced dramatic antiretroviral drug stock-outs. Usually considered the result of irrational decisions on behalf of local politicians, programme managers and even patients (who are stigmatised as immoral), these problems seem not to be so exceptional. However, ethnographic attention to the social consequences of the presence and absence of antiretroviral drugs in the Central African Republic (CAR) suggests that these stock-outs entail far more than logistical failures. In 2010 and 2011 in the CAR, major antiretroviral treatment (ARV) stock-outs resulted in the renewal of ‘therapeutic’ social ties and also significant social resistance and defiance. While this paper explores reasons for the shortage, its focus is on subsequent popular reactions to it, particularly among people who are HIV-positive and dependent on ARVs. The exceptional and ambiguous consequences of these drug stock-outs raise new concerns relevant to the politics of global public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following is a population-based survey of the Central African Republic (CAR) female refugee population displaced to rural Djohong District of Eastern Cameroon and associated female Cameroonian host population to characterise the prevalence and circumstances of sexual violence. A population-based, multistage, random cluster survey of 600 female heads of household was conducted during March 2010. Women heads of household were asked about demographics, household economy and assets, level of education and sexual violence experienced by the respondent only. The respondents were asked to describe the circumstances of their recent assault. The lifetime prevalence of sexual violence among Djohong district female heads of household is 35.2% (95% CI 28.7–42.2). Among heads of household who reported a lifetime incident of sexual violence, 64.0% (95% CI 54.3–72.5) suffered sexual violence perpetrated by their husband or partner. Among the host population, 3.9% (95% CI 1.4–10.5) reported sexual violence by armed groups compared to 39.0% (95% CI 25.6–54.2) of female refugee heads of household. Women who knew how to add and subtract were less likely to report sexual violence during their lifetime (OR 0.16, 95% CI 0.08–0.34). Sexual violence is common among refugees and host population in Eastern Cameroon. Most often, perpetrators are partners/husbands or armed groups. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]