Each year over 300 million people fall ill and about one million people worldwide die of malaria, a disease that is preventable. The disease affects populations in more than 90 countries, many of them in Africa. Professor Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria says South Africa and Tanzania will benefit from the malaria eradication programmes under Global Fund that will hopefully prevent the spread of malaria in both countries.

Deputy President, Jacob Zuma says government has allocated about R3.3 billion to fight HIV/AIDS over the next three years through a comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategy that includes prevention, treatment, care and support. He says an additional R350 million has been set aside for home and community-based care and support programmes and that over the past two years an estimated eleven thousand health workers have been trained to manage opportunistic infections. For the next three years about 100 health workers per province will be trained annually to manage HIV/AIDS. Zuma adds government has also formed partnerships with civil society including traditional leaders, traditional healers, non-governmental orgranisations (NGO'€™s), community-based organizations (CBO'€™s) , trade unions and faith-based organizations. Thandeka Teyise compiled this report.