Fear and stigma continue to undermine efforts to address openly the impact of HIV/AIDS on our society. A short drive from Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal, Mrs Mtimkulu, a grandmother, is single-handedly raising her grand-daughter Siyanda following the death of Siyanda’s mother from an AIDS-related disease. In this audio report, Mrs Mtimkulu and Penny Gwacela, a home-based workers with the South Coast Hospice, explain the additional problem of stigma that the family face.

How safe is the antiretroviral drug Nevirapine? Last week, the withdrawal of an application by the manufacturers of Nevirapine to register it with the United States Food And Drug Administration was allowed to generate considerable concern and confusion in South African medical and political circles about the safety and efficacy of the medication. On Tuesday, a trans-Atlantic link with leading scientists in the US and South Africa categorically laid these concerns to rest and clarified the nature of the application to register the drug.

What memories would a mother wish to leave her children should she know she won’t live to see them grow up? The work of care-givers in the home-based care programme at the South Coast Hospice in Port Shepstone includes finding ways to help parents leave behind messages for their children and then to support those children in their bereavement. In this audio report, the deputy director of the South Coast hospice Mabuyi Mnguni explains some of the work of their children’s team.

There is a close correlation between how young people perceive their future options and their chances of engaging in risky sexual behaviour and contracting HIV. This is one of the conclusions from a recent survey among South African youth which also shows that although parents see HIV/AIDS as one of the biggest issues facing their children, very few parents are comfortable about talking about sex and relationships with their children.

As more and more families are affected by the AIDS pandemic, and already strained health services are unable to cope, home-based care programmes are assuming increasing responsibility for the sick and dying. In this audio report, the deputy director of the South Coast Hospice in Port Shepstone, Mabuyi Mnguni talks about the work they are doing. The South Coast Hospice has been widely praised as a “best practice model” for its home-based care service for people with HIV/AIDS.

While Wednesday’s national budget speech pledged significant additional spending on HIV/AIDS and included the progressive roll-out of a mother-to-child prevention programme, it is likely that by this time next year, there will be a growing call for government to grapple with the cost of providing antiretroviral treatment for adults. In this edition of “Living with AIDS”, people who are currently part of a free treatment programme talk about the difference it has made to their lives.

Health economists have welcomed the R1 billion allocated in the 2002-2003 budget for the national HIV/AIDS programme – although some have cautioned that it will be important to see that this money reaches those provinces worst affected by the epidemic.

A small group of people with AIDS in Khayelitsha, Cape Town are enjoying a new lease on life through access to an antiretroviral treatment programme offered by Medecins Sans Frontieres in conjunction with the Western Cape public health system. In this audio feature, a counsellor on the programme and one of the patients talk about the difference such therapy is making to people’s lives, as well as the need to counter much of the confusion sown by government’s ambivalent stance on HIV/AIDS and antiretroviral therapy.