Eighty women in the run-down district of Agua Blanca in Cali, Colombia, have been given free contraceptive pills - becoming the first recipients since the introduction of one of the most liberal reproductive rights laws in Latin America.

Earlier in the autumn, the country's Congress passed a law that gave the right to all citizens in Colombia to have access to free contraceptive drugs and surgical procedures, including tubal ligations and vasectomies.

It is hoped the law will benefit all communities, including the poorest, such as in Cali, which had one of the highest birthrates across the country.

Maribel Murillo, a psychologist who works for the Diamante health clinic, said the new law is a great achievement for Colombia, and has created a huge demand for contraceptives.

She said: "It will advance the sexual rights of women of little means, many of whom already have several children."

The law has been proposed for years, but was given a big push after President Juan Manuel Santos assumed office in August and put it at the top of his legislative agenda.

It has been hailed by some as being a progressive measure for reproductive rights, liberalising a nation that is largely Roman Catholic.

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Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has launched a new plan to tackle the issue of HIV/AIDS to coincide with World AIDS Day.

The National Strategic Plan on HIV/AIDS 2011-2015 sets out the challenges posed by the disease, and what measures the Sierra Leone government will take in terms of economic and social development to tackle the issue.

President Koroma said the National Strategic Plan is closely aligned to the government's Agenda for Change, which includes a framework to confront the issue of poverty in the country.

According to the president, the Agenda for Change highlights the existing socio-economic factors that increase people's vulnerability and risk of getting HIV.

He said: "Government will continue to provide the direction, through the National AIDS Secretariat, to the work of all stakeholders in the field of HIV and AIDS to minimize overlaps and ensure that resources are effectively channelled towards the achievement of the goals of reducing the prevalence of HIV and migrating its impact among our people."

He added that the government will seek the help of other development partners to help it overcome the challenges it faces in the future, and how it will implement the plans. And he urged people to get behind the government's goal to try and meet the millennium development targets of 2015.

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Awareness about how to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS in Fiji is being raised through sporting events, it has been reported.

A soccer tournament has been held in the country to educate people about the conditions and another one is planned, according to Andrew Prasad, Fiji Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (FASANOC) Stop HIV national co-ordinator.

"We held a combined celebration for World AIDS Day and International Volunteers Day on Saturday since they had a common message on HIV," he told Fiji Times Online.

"More than 200 people participated in the celebration that began with a morning walk.

"FASANOC is using sports activities to disseminate information on HIV.

"The aim is to create awareness that yes we can use sports as a way of outreach."

Ways in which HIV education can be integrated into sports are being looked at, according to Jokapeci Tuberi Cati, who is the animator for HIV/AIDS for Pacific Council of Churches.

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The women of Zimbabwe are about to get their hands on a new female condom, which is cheaper to produce and more user friendly than the version currently available.

National Aids Council youth co-ordinator Mrs Beauty Nyamwanza revealed the new version of female condoms, called FC2, would be distributed once supplies of the old version had been used.

She said: "The FC2s are already in the country. We are just waiting to finish the old consignment of the old condoms so that we can introduce the new ones."

According to the Female Health Company - the Chicago-based firm that makes the contraceptive - the FC2 is made from synthetic rubber rather than polyurethane, making it cheaper to produce.

Mrs Nyamwanza also revealed that distribution of its predecessor has been low compared with the male condom because of widespread criticism it had incurred, while a United Nations Population Fund official attributed the low uptake of female condoms to challenges in accessibility.

She said between 2006 and 2009 a total of 15.5 million female condoms were distributed, compared with 95.5 million and 90 million male condoms in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

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A key committee of Argentinian politicians is launching a first-ever debate on legalising abortion in the largely Roman Catholic country.

The proposed law would legalise abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and has been signed by about 50 politicians in Argentina's 257-person House of Deputies.

The debate in the congressional Commission of Penal Legislation is expected to be lengthy.

Yesterday marked the final day of this year's legislative session, shifting talks into 2011.

Abortion is prohibited in Argentina except in cases of rape or when pregnancy threatens a woman's physical or mental health.

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