HEALTH: All Not Well With Global AIDS Vaccine Trials

Why were phase-1 safety trials for an HIV vaccine started in India days before the release of the results of the same trial in Belgium and Germany? And why were phase-2 trials of the same vaccine conducted in Africa?

HEALTH-AFRICA: Beef up Budget Allocations to Achieve MDGs

African states should put in place sufficient budget allocations and the right policies if the continent is to meet the global and regional health care targets that governments have committed themselves to, say campaigners.

HEALTH-ASIA PACIFIC: Stress on Community Approach to HIV/AIDS

Tired of waiting for governments to deliver on promises, activists, experts and people living with HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific will push for stronger community leadership in the battle against the disease at a regional summit to be held in this city in August.

WORLD HEALTH DAY-SOUTH AFRICA: An Outbreak Kept From Breaking Out

South Africa seems to have succeeded in preventing an outbreak of Extreme Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (XDR-TB) from spiralling out of control and spreading beyond its borders, at least for now.

ECONOMY-INDIA: After Violence SEZs Downsized

Faced with growing opposition from its political opponents as well as civil society, the Indian government has drastically limited the size and use of special economic zones (SEZs) that are meant to attract foreign direct investments and promote exports.

WORLD HEALTH DAY: WHO Warns of Gathering Crises

As World Health Day approaches this Saturday, international experts are focusing on the formidable and mounting threats to the world's collective health security.

EDUCATION-SOUTH AFRICA: ”Schooling That Hampers Development”

For 16 years, Themba was proud to be a teacher in South Africa but a wave of violence at her school has proven so nerve-wracking that she may leave the profession.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: “This Dictator Must Be Brought Down”

Zimbabwe's outspoken Catholic archbishop, Pius Ncube, has volunteered to lead peaceful, mass protests to remove President Robert Mugabe from power, as Cardinal Jaime Sin did to unseat dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines more than two decades ago.

HEALTH: TB Still World’s Number Two Killer

Although most people in the developed world view tuberculosis (TB) as a disease of the past, this curable ailment still kills a human being every 20 seconds.

HEALTH-THAILAND: US Pharma Giant Faces Public Boycott

A broad coalition of Thai non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is threatening to tap the spirit of nationalism, which runs deep and wide here, in a showdown with a Chicago-based pharmaceutical giant. The need for access to cheaper life-saving drugs has sparked this row.

Q&A: “We Want to Take Control of Our Water”

In a State of the Nation address delivered in February, South African President Thabo Mbeki said his country had "already achieved the Millennium Development Goals in respect of basic water supply, with improvement of access from 59 percent in 1994 to 83 percent in 2006."

HEALTH: Novartis Lobbies European Parliament on Patents

The leading pharmaceuticals firm Novartis is seeking to prevent the EU's political bodies from supporting an Indian law allowing access to cheap medicines in developing countries.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: What To Do When a Cyclone Hits

Sandra Alberto (picture) was heavily pregnant when Cyclone Favio struck Mozambique earlier this month on 2 March, ripping the zinc roof off the house she and her two children had taken refuge in.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Forced to Choose ”Which Rights to Violate”

Images of tiny, malnourished African children, some scavenging for leftover food, have continued to grace the covers of brochures, posters and video clips of aid agencies since the devastating famine that claimed more than one million lives in Ethiopia 22 years ago.

HEALTH-AFRICA: Facing AIDS, Malaria Amidst Brain Drain

As though the decimating effects of HIV/AIDS and malaria were not enough to deal with, African countries also have to battle with the continuing exodus of health professionals leaving the continent for greener pastures.

HEALTH: European Funds for AIDS Vaccine Falling Short

The European Union (EU) must substantially increase financial resources for research on a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which causes AIDS, leading non- governmental activists say.

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: MDGs Depend on Power Relations Changing

‘‘The people of Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta are poor not because they do not have resources but because they do not have political power. Those who wield power in Nigeria are building skyscrapers in Lagos and Abuja while there is nothing in the Niger Delta. It is the same at the global level.''

HEALTH-AFRICA: Making Policies for AIDS in the Workplace, Commonplace

With AIDS cutting a swathe through Africa's workforce, there is an urgent need for employers to set up policies that support HIV-positive staff - and ensure they are not victims of stigma. But, it's a need that often goes unaddressed.

MEXICO: Discharge of HIV-Positive Troops Ruled Unconstitutional

Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for the military to expel HIV-positive members, a practice that is habitually followed by the armed forces.

DEVELOPMENT-ZIMBABWE: A Herculean Effort Is Needed

‘‘You cannot talk of halving poverty when our country is going in the opposite direction. We are totally lost,’’ says Maxwell Tambarare, a teacher in Chiredzi, a region to the south east of Zimbabwe.

DEVELOPMENT-MALAWI: Outlook Remains Bleak for the Poor

Grace Kafere is tired. She has been on her feet for close to five hours, bending over as she moves up and down in a forest gathering twigs and branches to sell as firewood.