HEALTH: Simpler AIDS Drugs to Benefit Children

A new form of AIDS treatment for children, targeted at families in rural areas, will be available within months, according to an official from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

SOUTH AFRICA: A National Health Controversy Takes on Regional Dimensions

The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), one of South Africa’s largest AIDS lobby groups, says it has obtained evidence indicating that government was implicated in illegal medical experiments on people living with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania, involving the discredited product Virodene.

HEALTH-WEST AFRICA: Rural Areas Said To Be in the Shadow of AIDS Efforts

Certain West African researchers have expressed concern at the disparities between rural and urban areas in their countries as regards HIV/AIDS services and prevention initiatives.

Q&A: "Drug Addicts Are Victims, Not Criminals"

This week, Stephen Lewis, the outspoken former U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, was invested as Knight Commander of the Most Dignified Order of Moshoeshoe - a knighthood which is Lesotho's highest honour.

TRINIDAD: Condom Machines the Latest Front in AIDS War

Among the frequently asked questions on the website of the National AIDS Coordinating Committee (NACC) in Trinidad and Tobago is one dealing with the use of condoms in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

HEALTH: No Sex Education Please – We’re Indian

Though adolescents are said to be at the centre of the AIDS epidemic and India has the largest number of infections in Asia, this conservative country continues to shy away from incorporating sex education in school curricula.

HEALTH: EU Opposes Cheap Medicines for AIDS in Thailand

The European Union's top trade official has called on Thailand to revise its efforts to provide cheap medicines to people with AIDS over concerns that the country could be undermining global rules on intellectual property.

HEALTH-SRI LANKA: Lessons From Int&#39l AIDS Meet

For Padma, a sociology graduate from a Sri Lankan university, the three-day International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) that ended Thursday was nothing short of an enlightening experience in her life.

HEALTH-BURMA: HIV Rates Falling As Funds Dry Up – Experts

Burma is seen as a reclusive country whose real HIV and AIDS situation is a deep, dark secret. But top Burmese officials, independent experts and AIDS researchers here painted a picture of a country that is making some progress, despite what some called its "unethical" abandonment by international AIDS organisations.

HEALTH-CENTRAL ASIA: Intravenous Drug Use Feeds HIV Pandemic

The steep rise in HIV cases in recent years in Central Asia - at a pace faster than in other regions of the world - has set alarm bells ringing among government and non-government groups in the former Soviet republics.

HEALTH-ASIA: HIV, AIDS Take on A Woman&#39s Face

The feminisation of HIV and AIDS continues in full swing in the Asia-Pacific, reflected in the fact that almost 40 percent of new HIV cases are among women, even if the newest estimates show that there are fewer people than originally estimated to be living with the virus in the region.

HEALTH-ASIA: Hope Sets Tone for AIDS Congress

The 8th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP) opened here with a strong message of hope, anchored on the fact that the world's most populous region still has relatively low prevalence rates of HIV despite problems of poverty, discrimination and stigma.

HEALTH-ASIA: When Hearth Is No Longer Her Home

To Princey Mangalika from Sri Lanka, AIDS has come to mean hatred, hunger, humiliation and death.

HEALTH-ASIA: Unheard Voices Resonate at AIDS Photo Show

Sabina Yeasmin Putul has a silent, determined look with her left fist clenched tight in front of her face - a vision of strength, grace, and resilience all in one.

HEALTH-ASIA: &#39Tackling HIV/AIDS Goes Beyond Morality&#39

On the second day of the three-day Interfaith Community Forum ahead of the 8th International Congress for AIDS in the Asia-Pacific (ICAAP) here, different religious groups gathered together to share their experiences dealing with HIV and AIDS - once a controversial, taboo issue for many of them.

HEALTH-PAKISTAN: Drug Addicts Routinely Denied Anti-HIV Medicines

''I’ve been running temperature for the past 25 days and lost about five kg in the last one month... just feel so weak every day,'' says Mohammad Sohail, 28, who tested HIV positive a little more than a year ago. His CD4 count is 152.

KENYA: More Women in Parliament, Hopefully – By Way of the Constitution

Kenya's parliament will soon debate a constitutional amendment bill to improve female representation in the legislature by creating 50 special seats for women. At present, only some eight percent of parliamentary posts in the East African country are occupied by women.

HEALTH-INDIA: Novartis Patents Case Far From Dead

Cancer patients in India have reason to be relieved at a high court ruling this week which dismissed a petition by Swiss pharmaceuticals multinational corporation (MNC) Novartis challenging an Indian law which denies patents for minor or trivial improvements to known drugs.

SIERRA LEONE: A Women&#39s Issue That Women Are Wary of Campaigning About

Female genital mutilation (FGM) can make sex painful, complicate childbirth, lead to urinary tract infections, enable the transmission of HIV - and induce a host of other ills. So, promising to fight this practice should be a winning strategy for someone hoping to be elected to parliament this Saturday in Sierra Leone - where about 90 percent of girls and women undergo FGM, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.

HEALTH-INDIA: On War Footing to Stamp Out Bird Flu Outbreak

For the past fortnight, the menu on the Manipur state government’s table has changed from the staple of fighting HIV infections to stamping out an outbreak of avian influenza.

HEALTH: India Verdict Welcomed by Advocates for Affordable Medicines

Non-governmental organisations that advocate poor countries’ access to affordable medicines applauded an Indian court’s dismissal of a challenge brought by Swiss-based drug-maker Novartis.