HEALTH-MOZAMBIQUE: Ensuring that a Jail Sentence Is Not a Death Sentence

Like most other Southern African countries, Mozambique battles a high HIV prevalence rate, with those in need of anti-retroviral medication experiencing difficulty obtaining it at the best of times.

TAJIKISTAN: Gender Equality Clashes With Culture, Religion

Women have played important roles in rebuilding Tajikistan after the country's civil war of the 1990's. But women in this central Asian country still have many obstacles to overcome to reach equality with men, according to some local activists and international observers.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Solidarity With Developing Nations – At a Cost

As concerns continue to be expressed about the departure of African medical professionals for wealthy countries, South Africa says it is not recruiting health workers from developing nations - something that also reflects the country's own experience of the medical "brain drain".

HEALTH: Battle for Cheap Drugs Also Being Lost in WTO

The only concrete result to come out of the 2001 World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar appeared to be the Declaration on Intellectual Property and Public Health, since the rest of the decisions on a new round of trade talks are at a standstill.

HAITI/DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Early Sex Initiation and AIDS

Early sexual initiation and a lack of prevention policies are sowing the seeds of AIDS proliferation, warns a UNICEF study carried out at locations straddling the border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

DEVELOPMENT: Ireland Offers Malawi Aid After HIPC Compliance

Malawi's compliance with the requirements of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative has opened the door to a commitment by Ireland to increase aid to the Southern African country.

DEVELOPMENT-LESOTHO: Pension System Works, Despite IMF Scepticism

Twenty dollars seems a meagre amount, but it has brought an end to backbreaking toil and food insecurity for many of Lesotho's elderly.

INDIA: Patents Case Challenges the World

Médecins Sans Frontières and other groups campaigning for access to affordable medicines in developing countries are closely following a case filed by the Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis against Indian patent law.

BOTSWANA: Unemployment Surges as Government Plans Fail to Take Off

Botswana is still widely cited as Africa's economic success story, but fears are emerging of a reversal because of soaring unemployment and the sluggish implementation of government plans.

ZIMBABWE: Government Accused of Persistent Human Rights Abuses

"I was arrested a dozen times," notes Tapera Kapuya, a student leader at the University of Zimbabwe between 2001 and 2002, who says he was the target of both police and the Southern African country's intelligence agents.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: The Prospect of Unity in the Fight Against AIDS

A few minutes before the deputy president of South Africa, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, stepped into the conference hall, a participant burst into song. Soon she was joined by her colleagues in welcoming the guest of honour.

HEALTH: Engaging Burma with Funds for HIV, TB, Malaria

An injection of fresh funds to aid military-ruled Burma's long suffering people get relief from three killer diseases may help raise the level of engagement between the international community and the secretive junta.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: What’s To Be Done with 33,000 AIDS Orphans?

Ansi, Luisa, Sofía and Oveña lost their father to AIDS last year in this Dominican Republic town near the border with Haiti, after he was bedridden for six months. Their future looks dim as their mother was also infected with HIV by her husband.

RIGHTS-DRC: A Glimmer of Hope for Children Working in Katanga’s Mines

Each day, thousands of children risk their lives by working in mines in the Katanga province of south-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - something a coalition of organisations is trying to address.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Fighting Hunger May Not Always Require Food

Several studies in Southern Africa show that the direct transfer of cash to people living on or below the breadline not only prevents hunger, but also further impoverishment.

EDUCATION-ARGENTINA: Sex in the Classrooms – By Law

For the first time in Argentina, sex education will be on the curriculum at public and private schools all over the country. Women's organisations are celebrating the passage by Congress of a key law which complements the programme on "sexual health and responsible procreation" instituted in 2003.

RIGHTS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Impunity Lays the Ground for Sexual Abuse

Increasing sexual violence in Côte d'Ivoire has prompted rights organisations to call for an end to a culture of impunity which they claim has encouraged this trend - particularly as concerns the military.

RIGHTS: Social Setbacks as Big Oil Expands Pipelines

Predominantly foreign male workers who relocated to build massive oil and gas projects, combined with feeble gender policies, have brought prostitution, human trafficking, poverty, HIV/AIDS and greater burdens for local communities around those projects, new research finds.

RIGHTS-JAMAICA: Hauling HIV/AIDS Out of the Closet

When Jamaica's Health Ministry recently launched an anti-HIV stigma campaign titled "Getting on with Life" prominently featuring two HIV-positive Jamaicans speaking publicly about their experiences living with the disease, it was something of a watershed moment for groups like Jamaica AIDS Support, formed in 1991 to combat the spread of AIDS and HIV.

HEALTH: Global Fund Launched for Lifesaving Drugs

A global fund to purchase massive amounts of medicines for developing countries with money coming from "solidarity" flight taxes and other innovative financing systems was launched here Tuesday, sponsored by five countries.

HEALTH-AFRICA: “There Hasn’t Been Adequate Emphasis on Family Planning”

The problem of limited access to contraceptives is taking centre stage at an African Union (AU) meeting currently underway in Maputo.