The United States has donated $16m for AIDS vaccine research in five countries including Uganda. The US Department of State said in a statement the money would be given to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), an NGO facilitating AIDS vaccine research. The money will be spent on designing and testing candidate AIDS vaccines.

The Health Department on Wednesday said it had reached agreement on protocols for the provision of antiretroviral drugs to rape survivors. This follows Health Minister Manto Tshabalala Msimang's announcement on April 17 that rape victims would be provided with anti-Aids drugs at public hospitals as soon as possible.

A government programme to fight HIV/AIDS - billed as the most ambitious of its kind in Africa - is being jeopardized by a low turnout. The government is subsidizing the cost of a generic drug-cocktail, but the stigma attached to having the virus is preventing people from coming forward.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has "warmly welcomed" the arrival of a 33,000 mt shipment of relief food into the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam at the weekend, earmarked to help feed millions of people facing food shortages across Southern Africa. The US-donated food aid was transferred onto trucks and rail wagons destined for Malawi and Zambia. After Tanzania, the ship is to set sail for Maputo to deliver the remaining 9,890 mt of food for drought-hit Mozambique, a WFP statement said. Trucks take four to five days to reach Malawi from Dar es Salaam.

Heavy rains in Kenya could precipitate a health crisis in any number of ways. In rural areas, water sources can become contaminated, and because most rural folk do not know how to de-contaminate drinking water, this could easily translate into greater incidence of water-borne diseases.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has released a new formula on Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORI) that will further save millions of lives and reduce the severity of illness of those suffering from acute diarrhoea. The solution responsible for saving the lives of millions of children worldwide is salt and glucose sugar, proportionately combined and widely used to treat children under five with acute diarrhoea, a killer disease.

The AIDS crisis continues to expand in numbers and reach, without immediate medical solutions in view. As a consequence, the centrality of prevention and mitigation through education is being recognized in countries and among agencies. Educational interventions should provide the knowledge and encourage the development of attitudes and skills that can limit the spread and impact of the epidemic. Agreement about what the issues are, and key actions to be taken, can help in increasing the speed and effectiveness of the response. The document is available in English, French and Spanish (PDF Format).

Burkina Faso will host meningitis experts to a meeting in July to discuss and adopt a global response to recurrent outbreaks of the disease, says Jean Gabriel Wango, Secretary General of the Health Ministry. Burkina Faso says an outbreak of the disease earlier this year is now under control."We can say that the most difficult period has gone," Wango said. "Since 19 May, Burkina Faso has been out of an epidemic situation."

The May 27 issue of the New Republic examines how Uganda's "ABC" HIV/AIDS prevention program has primarily used behaviour modification to lower HIV infection rates and how that model could be applied to the rest of Africa. ABC, which began in 1987 after President Yoweri Museveni became aware that many soldiers in the army were HIV-positive, stands for "Abstain, Be Faithful, or wear a Condom." The program focuses primarily on abstinence before marriage and fidelity inside of marriage, and has "little to do" with condoms.

Families in southern and western Zambia are expecting the worst in coming months, if the current drought conditions continue, according to a report by CARE International. The survey noted that eight out of 10 farmers reported maize crop failure in the range of 76-100 percent of anticipated yields. Given the lack of fully-grown crops, many households have begun eating green maize but more distressing is that five people have already died from eating wild roots.

Several developing countries on Wednesday urged changes to the newly launched Global Fund against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to give states with the most patients more of a voice in its activities.

Several developing countries on Wednesday urged changes to the newly launched Global Fund against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to give states with the most patients more of a voice in its activities.

The 'Genomics and World Health' report has been recently published by the World Health Organization(WHO). The report is intended to highlight the relevance of genomics for health care worldwide, with a particular focus on its potential for improving health in developing countries.

A report by the Danish group Physicians for Human Rights, which documents the politicisation of Zimbabwe's growing food crisis. The full report contains detailed fieldwork examining the distribution of food in particular villages and towns, on which these findings and conclusions are based.

The most up-to-date who publication on the subject, the report may help 191 WHO Member States to ensure that genome technology is used to reduce rather than exacerbate global inequalities in health status. In the coming decades, information generated by genomics will have major benefits for the prevention, diagnosis and management of many diseases which have been difficult or impossible to control. At the same time, this new field presents a series of highly complex scientific, economic, social and ethical issues which are dealt with in the report.

Our current knowledge about risk factors for poor birth outcomes is based almost exclusively on hospital data. How relevant are these findings in developing countries where most babies are born at home? A study by the UK University of Southampton examines factors linked to premature births, underweight babies and Caesarean section deliveries in Kenya.

What are the reproductive health needs of people affected by conflict? How important are reproductive health issues to these communities? How can relief agencies improve their accountability to the beneficiaries of international aid during conflict? A study by Oxfam and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine investigated these issues in southern Sudan.

Evaluations of sexually transmitted infection (STI) programmes often ignore the series of hurdles that patients have to overcome before they are cured. So they tend to overestimate cure rates. Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, the National Institute for Medical Research and the African Medical and Research Foundation, Tanzania, attempted a more accurate estimate of STI programme success in Mwanza Region, Tanzania.

When Mercy Makhalemele's husband died of HIV/AIDS seven years ago her home was taken away after the insurance company refused to pay out his life cover. "At the time, I decided not to fight it because I had too many things to deal with," she told PlusNews. As the executive director of a local community organisation, Makhalemele has been working with members to create a burial scheme for people with HIV/AIDS. Through her work, Makhalemele said she has encountered people who have been treated with injustice and a lack of respect, because of their status.

Traditional medicine is becoming more popular in the north and up to 80% of people in the south use it as part of primary health care. The situation has given rise to concerns among health practitioners and consumers on the issue of safety, above all, but also on questions of policy, regulation, evidence, biodiversity and preservation and protection of traditional knowledge. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a global plan to address those issues. The strategy provides a framework for policy to assist countries to regulate traditional or complementary/alternative medicine (TM/CAM) to make its use safer, more accessible to their populations and sustainable.