The view from one of Zimbabwe's beleaguered commercial farmer's houses is a constant reminder of what he has lost. From the front window he can clearly see what was once a rolling field of lush green wheat. It has been reduced to a bed of dry stalks after pro-government militants drove cattle through the field.

Timed to coincide with World Food Day on 16 October, an international coalition of partners is set to launch a week-long global education campaign to encourage children and youth to get actively involved in creating a world free from hunger and malnutrition. The global 'teach-in,' backed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), will take place in more than 30 countries.

The cereal deficit Zambia has been experiencing threatens household food security, the acting director of Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM), Helen Samatebele, was quoted as saying by the 'Post' newspaper on Monday.

Approximately 250,000 Ethiopian children under five years of age are HIV positive, the Ethiopian health ministry announced Tuesday. A UNICEF official working with AIDS prevention efforts in Addis Ababa confirmed the total but added that the figure is an "estimate."

You are invited to participate in an online debate on the future of HIV/AIDS Communication, and particularly the challenges of evaluation in this field. The debate is designed particularly to help inform the agenda and discussions of a forthcoming meeting of the Communication for Development Roundtable, being organised by UNFPA in association with UNESCO and the Rockefeller Foundation and facilitated by the Panos Institute. This debate will be held over a period of five weeks and is hosted by The Communication Initiative.

The World Health Report 2001, Mental Health: New Understanding, New Hope has been launched by WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland in Geneva Switzerland. The Report is a review of the status of knowledge and research about mental and neurological disorders and provides a road map for a global reform of mental health care and prevention. The report details ten recommendations by governments and outlines three different scenarios for action, based on countries' level of affluence and economic development.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday in New York City met with "top officials" from seven major drug companies in his continuing effort to gain price reductions for drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS, the Wall Street Journal reports.

South Africa's Independent Newspapers and loveLife, a national HIV prevention program aimed at youth, on Tuesday announced a five-year partnership to facilitate the groups' fight against the nation's HIV/AIDS epidemic, Xinhua News Agency reports.

The EHP library malaria bulletin no. 22 is now on the EHP website. Contents include: Action plan for the reduction of reliance on DDT in disease vector control. WHO, 2001; The impact of insecticide-treated bednets on malaria and anaemia in pregnancy in Kassena-Nankana district, Ghana: A randomized controlled trial; Community health worker performance in the management of multiple childhood illnesses: Siaya District, Kenya, 1997-2001.

This article by Ann Klofkorn Bloome, from the World Links Online Collaborative Project, discusses their ongoing initiative around HIV/AIDS in four African countries. The project targets students and teachers in Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and Zimbabwe. An online facilitator focuses discussion around HIV/AIDS causes, myths, and community action.

The World Health Organisation regional office for Africa begins its return to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, on Tuesday after a four-year absence caused by civil war, the UN agency reported.

South Africa's national census which starts next week, will not include questions on HIV/AIDS, as the topic was "too sensitive", Motale Phirwa, National Census Manager of Statistic South Africa, told IRIN on Tuesday.

We know that more than 80% of the population in Uganda depends on agriculture production. For the rural population - more than the 85% of the total population - agriculture is the main way of making a living either as pure subsistence farmers or with a little semi-commercial farming. The Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) - a central element of Uganda's poverty eradication strategy - is key to enabling the rural population to improve their livelihood and ensure food security through changing subsistence agriculture to doing farming as a business.

After the success of Ahmadou Kourouma's penultimate novel En attendant le vote des bêtes sauvages, the Ivoirian writer's latest work, Allah n'est pas obligé (Editions du Seuil), has erupted onto the French literary scene this autumn, where it has been nominated for several and won one of the country's top literary awards. Over to the author.

The South African government continues to resist efforts to supply its citizens with antiretroviral drugs, the "only medicines known to slow the replication" of HIV, the Washington Post reports.

Some global health workers are now "cautious" about making the case that the security of developed countries is linked to the health of underdeveloped nations, according to Nils Daulaire, president and CEO of the Global Health Council.

29-31 October 2001, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The founding Conference of the African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network (AMVTN) was held in Arusha, Tanzania during February 1995. The second AMVTN Conference was held in 1998 in Accra, Ghana. In between the AMVTN Conferences, we have mainly organized training workshops, which have benefited over 200 African scientists and associated staff. Given the progress being made in malaria vaccine research and development the 3rd Conference of the AMVTN is now planned for Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 29-31 October 2001. For more information contact:
Prof. W. L. Kilama, Chairman/Coordinator African Malaria Vaccine Testing Network C26/27 Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology Building
P.O. Box 33207 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

A tax imposed by South Africa's government on tobacco sales as part of an anti-smoking drive has led to a decisive fall in cigarette consumption over the last eight years, according to new research.

Modern public health has paid little attention to prevention tailored towards Muslims even though the Islamic population now numbers over 1 billion. Religion is a major component of the social life of many communities throughout the world, but in disease prevention we often use the concept of "one size fits all," with little recognition of religion or culture. Religion's positive influences can be incorporated into a strategy for health promotion and disease prevention by using recent developments in information technology.