This research training course is designed to prepare researchers and postgraduate students with requisite knowledge for formulating sound projects to meet the requirements of postgraduate training of the University of the Witwatersrand and other universities.

“I'm quite willing to share the story of my "baby" brother Martin. Baby because he was the last born in our family of seven children with me being the only girl. Martin was more my child than my brother. I was responsible for him during his years at the Malawi Polytechnic. I had just graduated myself and had started teaching at a high school." Dr Loveness Kaunda, Dean of Students at the University of Cape Town, is one of a handful of South African leaders prepared to talk openly about HIV/AIDS. Here she shares the story of her younger brother and how his death affected her family.

Botswana President Festus Mogae in an interview during the Commonwealth Summit in Nigeria on Saturday said that he was concerned that U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could be "diverting crucial money" pledged by the Bush administration to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. Botswana is among the 12 African countries targeted by President Bush's five-year, $15 billion global AIDS initiative.

At least 35,000 Angolans face starvation in the central province of Huambo by the end of the year because food stocks are limited and supplies have been interrupted, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said Monday. A WFP official told the Roman Catholic Radio Ecclesia that the affected areas were the municipalities of Bailundo, Caala, Cuima, Gove and Catata in Huambo.

The Association François-Xavier Bagnoud, Doctors of the World, and the Global Health Council have partnered to support the Jonathan Mann Award in international health and human rights. The award is presented annually to a leading practitioner in health and human rights, be it an individual or organisation, and is designed to allow its recipients a measure of financial freedom to pursue their work in the area of global health and human rights.

Africa and other parts of the developing world are preparing to negotiate better access to the markets of wealthy countries at the next ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation, Ugandan Agriculture Minister Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa said in Pretoria last week. The minister was interviewed after closing an international conference on successes in African agriculture, held in the South African capital from Dec. 1 to 3. The meeting brought together representatives of government, business, academia and civil society.

The 54th scientific conference of the Association of Surgeons of Eastern Africa (ASEA) has heard that there are currently less than 100 surgeons practicing in Uganda for a population of about 24 million, a surgeon to patient ratio of 1:30,000.

Taking care of a person with HIV is not as an easy task. Yet, many people choose to travel the road alone because they fear stigmatisation from their families and communities. Too often, AIDS is wrongly viewed as a shameful condition. This perception can lead even the most dedicated caregivers to remain silent or to shun family members to avoid discrimination. Many Zimbabweans continue to suffer in silence without having help and support from those around them.

Research from the University of Cape Town's Lung Institute has linked the high incidence of asthma in certain Cape Town residential areas to the local petrochemical refinery. The study included more than 3000 children, of which 57% said that they suffered from rhinitis, a year round 'wheeze' characterised by a runny nose and sneezing.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS have released a detailed and concrete plan to reach the 3 by 5 target of providing antiretroviral treatment to three million people living with AIDS in developing countries and those in transition by the end of 2005.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has nominated the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and its chairperson Zackie Achmat for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. TAC chairperson Zackie Achmat, who is gay and lives openly with HIV, has responded to the nomination by saying, "I am deeply honoured. The gains made by the TAC have been due to the efforts of thousands of people. It is the organisation as a whole that must be commended for the achievements thus far."

Eighteen months ago Botswana became the first African country to offer antiretroviral drugs to everyone for free. A huge amount of cash has been dedicated to the cause, but money cannot buy the workers so desperately needed. The government is desperately negotiating with China and Cuba to get more doctors, but existing staff are simultaneously being lured away by agencies in the West. Last year, Botswana lost 120 of its nurses to the UK.

A new Global Health Council report, "Reducing Malaria's Burden: Evidence of Effectiveness for Decision Makers," highlights proven, feasible but underutilized strategies in the international fight against malaria. The report, launched at the Global Forum for Health Research in collaboration with international health experts and leading public health scientists, details in one report the best available evidence on what works to prevent and treat malaria.

Court papers have been served on South Africa's four largest political parties in an attempt to compel them to reveal the sources of all large private donations made into their coffers since January 1 this year.

At least 25 people have died of the incurable Ebola virus in the latest outbreak of the haemorrhagic fever in north-western Congo, according to a new official toll released on Wednesday.

As a mother leans over to breastfeed her hungry newborn baby, doctors look on anxiously knowing she could infect her child with the HIV virus. It is a dilemma medics in rural Ethiopia say they are facing almost daily, as the country launches a campaign to prevent mothers infecting their children with the virus.

Cholera outbreaks have claimed the lives of about 40 people in Zimbabwe and international NGO Save the Children UK (SCUK) has warned that if the disease spreads to urban and former commercial farm areas it could be disastrous.

A Kenyan journalist and graduate of Internews’ “Local Voices” media training program has just received UNESCO's HIV/AIDS Red Ribbon Media Award for Excellence in Journalism in Eastern and Southern Africa.

"Live and let live" is the theme of World AIDS Day 2003, commemorated around the world on December 1st. The campaign focuses on eliminating stigma and discrimination, the major obstacles to effective HIV/AIDS prevention and care. Internews addresses the issue of stigma and discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS in a number of countries by training journalists on how to report more effectively on the epidemic; producing investigative pieces, news documentaries, talk shows and features for television and radio; providing technical support to AIDS NGOs; and supporting the development of journalist associations concerned about HIV/AIDS.

"On this World Aids Day, the Pan-African Treatment Access Movement (PATAM), a grassroots social movement for access to anti-retroviral therapy and other essential medicines extends a hand to our grandparents, brothers, sisters, friends and many others in our communities who relentlessly bear the brunt of the epidemic with unending fortitude. They are the ones whose attention does not stray away from those who lie immobile, as their bodies slowly succumb to the wiles of the HI virus. They are the young who are forced to stop attending school so that they can look after their even younger brothers and sisters because mum and dad have long died of Aids. We salute you!"