Local leaders in Mali, meeting at a recent workshop in Bamako, have agreed to set up committees to intensify the campaign against HIV/AIDS, improve networking among communities and promote prevention activities.

Zimbabweans continue to face a particularly severe humanitarian crisis, with nearly half the population having had their livelihoods eroded by severe macroeconomic decline and precarious food security, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Zackie Achmat, a South African who is a leading proponent of an international solution to the AIDS crisis, was in New York this week, just as his government at long last delivered on the demands that he and other activists have pushed for years - that it develop a comprehensive treatment plan for its 4.5 million citizens living with HIV. Achmat was blistering in his critique of the failure of world leaders to confront the scourge of HIV. At the top of his list was the American president. "The greatest threat to public health in the world is George Bush staying in power," he said.

President Kufuor has called for partnership between the West African College of Physicians (WACP) and governments in the sub-region to find strategies to deal with non-communicable diseases which are killing people because of their eating habits. He said diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks and mental disorders are gradually exacting a heavy toll on the people in the West African sub-region.

World Food Programme Executive Director James Morris on Monday announced that the organisation within the next six months will shift its aid efforts in Southern Africa from providing traditional emergency food aid to providing HIV/AIDS-related assistance, the Financial Times reports.

The infection rate of HIV/AIDS among young people in Africa has become a source of worry for the UNAIDS. Speaking in Lusaka, Zambia during a media workshop on reporting on HIV/AIDS recently, UNAIDS country coordinator for Zambia Dr Namposya Nampanya-Serpel said the situation was "scary" to the organisation.

According to the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases Control Programme (NASCOP), about 270,000 people urgently require ARV treatment. But, at most, only 11,000 Kenyans are receiving the drugs - 6,000 of whom are on government programmes. The United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that more than two million people in the country are HIV-positive, this out of a population of about 30 million.

The Global Human Rights Education listserv is a forum on which activists and educators exchange information on upcoming trainings and conferences; studies and "lessons learned"; human rights education resources; and new projects from around the world. Almost 3,000 organisations and individuals from approximately 150 countries are members of this forum.

A breakdown in the school environment in Africa has led to growing number of cases of HIV amongst young girls being caused by teachers, academics believe.

Break the Silence around HIV/Aids!, an exhibition of graphic prints to mark World Aids Day opens on December 1 in Pretoria and runs until December 13.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) with support from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) is inviting capable regional organisations and institutions to submit proposals to implement a regional HIV and AIDS/STI pilot project targeting selected High Transmission Areas (HTAs).

The aim of this paper is to assess the evidence of an interventional effect of male circumcision for preventing acquisition of HIV-1 and HIV-2 by men through heterosexual intercourse. It takes the form of a review of published and unpublished studies and conference proceedings.

Plans are underway to provide HIV/AIDS patients in Burundi with antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) free of charge by December, an official of the national AIDS body, the Conseil National de lutte contre le Sida, told IRIN.

The health ministry of the Republic of Congo (ROC), together with the World Health Organisation (WHO), on 14 November confirmed that a new outbreak of acute haemorrhagic fever syndrome in the northwestern department of Cuvette Ouest was, in fact, the Ebola virus.

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has welcomed the medium term expenditure framework on HIV/AIDS announced by the Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, last week. "Our preliminary understanding of the budget is that approximately R12 billion will be directed towards HIV/AIDS over the next three years." However, the TAC said they were concerned at the disappointing statement released by the Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS), which made it clear that the release of the operational treatment plan had been delayed yet again.

Representatives of 11 member countries of the Economic Community of Central African States on Wednesday announced a two-year joint action plan to fight HIV/AIDS in the region. The plan was announced in Congo at a meeting of health ministers from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda and Congo.

The government in Zimbabwe has ordered police to arrest all doctors on strike at government-run hospitals. Last week a tribunal ruled that the action was illegal, but doctors say they will not return until their demand for large pay rises is dealt with.

The government of Burundi launched a new malaria treatment, a combination therapy of artesunate and amodiaquine, on Monday, and announced the stoppage of chloroquine and fansidar, which have become resistant to the disease.

Last month the World Health Organisation declared the HIV/AIDS epidemic a global health emergency. Should governments go one step further and treat it as a disaster? Over the past 20 years, the public health community has learnt a tremendous amount about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet, despite widespread discussion about the epidemic and some measurable progress, the overall response has been insufficient: globally 42 million people are already infected with HIV, prevalence continues to rise, and less than 5% of those affected have access to lifesaving medicines, according to the British Medical Journal.

This series of three feature stories with pictures from the World Health Organisation is about people living with HIV/AIDS. Each story is very different. Some tell a tale of people struggling with the debilitating effects of HIV and the fear of an early death. Other stories are much more positive. Thanks to a breakthrough in the delivery of antiretroviral medicines, individuals are not only beating HIV, they now have renewed hope for the future, for themselves and for their families.