More than four million people in Southern Africa face serious food shortages due to prolonged dry spells, floods and disruption of farming, the UN world food body said in Rome. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a report that 19 countries in Africa were facing "exceptional food emergencies" for reasons ranging from civil strife, drought, excessive rain and flooding to population displacement.

Medical experts and researchers are concerned about the accuracy of health information on the Internet. A study of 121 Web sites offering health information on five topics found information on credible Web sites is not always accurate.

Nevirapine is a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used to reduce the viral load in HIV infection. Its side effects include hepatotoxicity, gastrointestinal symptoms, and dermatological reaction.1 Efiravenz, another non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, has a similar structure to nevirapine and can cause insomnia and psychotic reactions.1 We report three cases of neuropsychiatric sequelae to nevirapine in patients with HIV infection but no history of mental illness.

In the last few years, a number of African mayors and municipal officials have become leaders in relation to responses to the HIV epidemic. They have seen, at first hand, the devastating impact of the epidemic within their communities. During two UN-sponsored consultative meetings in 1997 and 1998, a number of African leaders came together and formed the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS. With support from UNDP and UNAIDS, the Alliance has developed a strategy:the Alliance of Mayors’ Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL).

This new website from the John Hopkins Centre for Communication Programmes is an update and expansion of the Condoms CD-ROM first published in 1999 by JHU/CCP's POPLINE Digital Services. The website has ideas on designing condom promotion campaigns and putting together condom counselling information. You will also find calendars, flipcharts, kits and manuals, novelties, pamphlets, posters, research abstracts, and audio-visual materials from around the world.

There is evidence that older people are increasingly being infected by HIV/AIDS, according to a new UNAIDS report. According to the report - "Impact of HIV/AIDS on older populations" - older women appear to have higher incidence of infection than older men, with the number of new cases among women having increased by 40 percent during the past 5 years.

Prepared by the Secretariat in close consultation with the Chair and all Board members, the Board is suggested to consider adopting the agenda below.

Eighty Tanzanian religious leaders came together at a forum in Dar-es-Salaam recently to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and agree on ways to support the national campaign against the deadly epidemic.

An African film targeting young men is being used across Africa to educate youth about sexual health issues and HIV/AIDS. Filmed in Zimbabwe, Yellow Card focuses on teenage pregnancy, which is often considered a girl's problem, and explores what happens when a boy is held accountable for his actions. Through the story of Tiyane, a young soccer player who becomes a teenage father, the movie tackles the issues of unplanned pregnancy, unsafe abortion and HIV/AIDS.

The US has pledged to donate R30-million to ease Mozambicans health woes.

Donors are worried that instability at Fort Cox College near Middledrift could jeopardise funding intended to boost its education facilities.

EngenderHealth has released online minicourses on sexually transmitted
infections and HIV and AIDS. They aim to provide healthcare providers, especially those in resource-poor settings, with knowledge and strategies for HIV/AIDS and STI prevention, management and counselling with their clients. They are also available on CD-ROM from Carrie Svingen.

What are the most appropriate local health systems to deliver antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) in poor countries? Does direct observation help patients to take their drugs regularly and prevent drug resistance? Is this a feasible strategy for providing ARVs? What barriers prevent access to treatment of other chronic diseases such as TB? id21 Health's email discussion will provide a forum for a wide range of stakeholders to share their views on these and other important issues. Participants will include international and national policy-makers, health professionals, NGOs and researchers from diverse academic disciplines. The discussion report will be presented and discussed at the International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, July 2002.

As the international leaders meet in the Hague this week to discuss the UN Convention on Biodiveristy, activists are finding it difficult to get the biotech genie back in the bottle. Not even negative world opinion has slowed the development of a new generation of genetically modified plants and animals.

The Kenyan government has been urged to address the legal implications of the policy on the recently introduced Aids education in schools. The issue of discrimination and stigmatisation which mitigate against human rights, have not been adequately addressed according to the expert.

"We all know that the stigma and discrimination associated with AIDS continue to fuel its spread and exacerbate its impact. Developing countries, where AIDS and poverty are now mutually reinforcing negative forces, continue to bear the overwhelming burden of the epidemic. In sub-Saharan Africa AIDS is the leading cause of death. AIDS has left in its wake millions of orphans at risk of hunger, neglect and exploitation – and this number is set to rise to the tens of millions in the space of a few years if the spread of the epidemic is not curtailed."

For children, women and men with HIV/AIDS the rights to dignity, life, equality and their inter-connection with the right to health care access, particularly access to medicines including anti-retrovirals stands between us and death. This is particularly true in poor countries and poor communities in wealthy countries. These rights - dignity, life, equality - are essential tools in our struggle to remove the barriers to HIV treatment and health care for all. What are these barriers?

The severe food shortages experienced by many southern African countries and the resultant poor nutrition could contribute to a rise in HIV/AIDS-related deaths in the region, aid organisations have said.

The US government has lent its support to an initiative to educate the Congolese military on preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

There has been a shortage of two Bristol- Myers Squibb (BMS) antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in Kenya, reports Kenya Coalition for the Access to Essential Medicines. For a period of weeks there has been a severe shortage of reduced-price Videx 25mg tablets and Zerit 30mg capsules.