HEALTH-THAILAND: Afro-Asian Music Connection Helps AIDS Awareness

The defining moment for U.S.-born Thai folk-rock musician Todd Lavell Tongdee, in terms of relating to the AIDS deaths of African musicians to his own crusade back home in Thailand, was when he played with Nigerian Afro-rock star Femi Kuti and his Positive Force Band at an international concert in Beijing, China.

HEALTH-SENEGAL: Cardinals and Khalifs Unite Against AIDS

It's 13:30 in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Friday. Traffic stops around the Old Mosque. The sound of babouches shuffling on the pavement replaces hooting. Thousands fill the streets.

HEALTH: ‘Fighting AIDS Needs More Than Money’

A new study shows a significant rise in bilateral aid to fight AIDS, but development groups point out that it will take more than money to fight the pandemic.

HEALTH-ZIMBABWE: Street Children Vulnerable to AIDS

Children who "live rough" on the streets of Zimbabwe's capital and other cities, face a multitude of problems – including AIDS.

HEALTH: ‘More Money, Less Ideology’ – AIDS Activists to Bush

As some 15,000 official delegates and representatives of civil society gather in Bangkok this week for an international AIDS meeting, one of the big questions is whether U.S. President George W Bush is prepared to modify his more ideological positions on fighting the disease.

HEALTH-LATIN AMERICA: HIV/AIDS an Unequal Epidemic

There are 1.6 million people in Latin America living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the AIDS epidemic is growing, and although it is under some control, it continues to hit certain countries and certain groups very hard.

HEALTH: Moves to Contain AIDS Failing

Moves to fight AIDS have been failing overall with five million more infections reported last year, UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot announced Tuesday.

HEALTH: AIDS Catastrophe Set to Hit Asia, Warns U.N.

With one in four new HIV cases being reported from Asia, the sprawling continent is on the verge of being felled by an AIDS epidemic that would dwarf the devastation wrought by the killer disease in Africa, experts warned.

INDIA: Poverty, Gender Imbalances a Lethal Mix for HIV/AIDS

In this village in India's north-western state of Rajasthan, Kamla, a woman in a long and flowing sequined skirt and a bright pink headscarf speaks of the hurdles in spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS among other village women.

HEALTH-EAST TIMOR: Hip-Hop and Rock for Condoms Challenge Church

Musicians in the predominately Catholic East Timor are taking their HIV/AIDS message directly to the people by circumventing official Church policy that bans the use of condoms.

POLITICS: An African Army, for Africans?

As the third annual summit of the African Union (AU) draws closer, the spotlight is falling on the organisation's newest branch: the Peace and Security Council, and its proposed standby force.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Women Charting the Continent’s Future

"We must congratulate Rwanda for achieving 48.8 percent of women representation in parliament. This is the highest in the world. It means gender parity is no longer a dream but a reality in Africa," said Lulu Xingwana, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Minerals and Energy, to thunderous applause from over a thousand women who gathered in the capital, Pretoria, this week.

HEALTH: ‘Failed Aid Kills A Million Women’

More than a million women have died because rich nations have failed to honour their commitments to promote sexual and reproductive health, a group of NGOs said at the launch of a new campaign in London Thursday.

HEALTH-MOZAMBIQUE: Lessons Learned About AIDS Prevention

The AIDS pandemic has taken a particularly heavy toll on Southern African countries – not least Mozambique. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), latest statistics indicate that about 13 percent of the country’s 19-million-strong population is infected with HIV.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Reversing the Medical Brain Drain

The flight of nurses and doctors from South Africa - and other African states - has long been a source of concern for the governments of these countries. And, the advent of AIDS has sharpened fears about the effects of this migration.

DEVELOPMENT: Lesotho Bears Brunt of Difficult Harvest in Southern Africa

The camera zooms in on a woman who is complaining of weakness and a skin rash. "The doctor says I'm not eating enough," she told a South African television station this week, in a news clip shot in the tiny kingdom of Lesotho.

RIGHTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: No Rest in the Twilight Years

Getting older in Africa isn't what it used to be.

RIGHTS-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Human Trafficking Stretches Across the Region

Young South African women are being given false job offers to lure them into prostitution in Macau, a former Portuguese colony now under Chinese control, says the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

HEALTH-NAMIBIA: "Let Us Call a Spade a Spade"

The contest to determine who would succeed Namibian President Sam Nujoma as head of the ruling South West African People's Organisation (SWAPO) was eagerly watched in the country and the Southern African region.

POLITICS-AFRICA: Upbeat on Globalisation, Although Southern Africa Lags

Africans feel relatively positive about globalisation and the United States, although the enthusiasm for both is markedly weaker among Southern Africans and Tanzanians than among people in other parts of the continent, according to a major survey of seven sub-Saharan African nations.

HEALTH-SOUTH AFRICA: Making a Necessity “Sexy”

A sparkling, bright blue cap, and a mask for the nose and mouth await visitors at the main door. Before being let into the building, visitors are also handed a pair of nylon socks to cover their shoes: mandatory attire for touring Africa’s only condom manufacturing firm.