For three days starting on Monday March 11, organisations and individuals working in the filed of child abuse are gathering in Parliament to provide evidence on the sexual abuse of children. The hearings follow last year's high number of child rapes that were reported in the media. The public hearings, which take place in Cape Town, have been organised by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Social Development. In this audio report in English and Sesotho, the committee's chairperson Cas Saloojee, talks about the intentions of these hearings.

"Child abusers are not people who sit in a dirty park somewhere" -clinical social workers. The sexual abuse of a child often happens over a long time before signs that a child is experiencing trauma are picked up. In this focus on child abuse, we find out what behavioural patterns to watch out for in a child to realise if they have been abused. We also hear what impact sexual abuse has on children, what help is at hand and what encourages this abuse on our children to flourish.

NAPWA, the National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS, has called on government to make available a social grant of R1 000 to people who are ill and unfit to work as a result of AIDS. In a memorandum addressed to the Minister of Social Development Zola Skweyiya, dated 22 February 2002, NAPWA demands as part of this intervention, that government provides food security or vouchers to unemployed people living with HIV/AIDS. It says once the social grant has been approved, the processing of applications must take no longer than one month. Elaine Maane, co-ordinator of the Western Cape office of NAPWA explains why they're making this call.

The Minister of Social Development Dr Zola Skweyiya, made a sobering admission in an interview with Health-e when he categorically said the government doesn't have enough money to deal with the problem presented by the growing number of orphans in South Africa. Skweyiya attributes this lack of financial resources to a growth in need that far outstrips the money available to deal with them. He says the government relies heavily on NGOs and business to create a sustainable plan to deal with the crisis.

A Basic Income Grant of as little as R100 per month will make a huge difference to the lives of those who have nothing. That is the message that children at a presentation organised by the Alliance for Children's Entitlement to Social Security (ACESS) sent to representatives from government and other concerned institutions. The presentation was attended by delegates from NGOs, human rights organisations and the media. Although it was organised for government, only a handful of officials attended. A common thread in the presentation was how a lack of income in homes prevents children from accessing an education.

South Africa, particularly Western Cape, continues in the grip of tuberculosis. Each year it is estimated that 377 per 100 000 people are newly infected with TB throughout the country. In the Western Cape it is 559 per 100 000, almost double the rate of all new infections in South Africa. However, since the implementation of the revised National Tuberculosis Programme at provincial level, as recommended by the WHO, the Western Cape has made significant progress in curbing the high incidence of TB. Some health districts even boast of an 85 percent cure rate of all new cases, a goal set by the WHO. In this Sesotho audio report, we hear how one of these districts - South Peninsula - succeeded in treating and curing TB in its community.

TB diagnosis can be done in a number of ways, including an X-ray, but most commonly the standard method is the sputum test. Results from this test can be confirmed within 48 hours. If confirmation fails, a secondary test - a culture - will be obtained and analysed. This can take up to six weeks.

The Daily Observed Treatment (DOTS) strategy is universally acknowledged as the standard treatment programme for TB by the World Health Organisation. It encourages a support system to ensure that the patient takes their medication on a regular basis. Once diagnosed with TB, a patient has to visit the nearest TB clinic every morning where they take their medicine under the watchful eye of a health worker so as to avoid patients skipping treatment.

Successes made in seeking to achieve the WHO goal to cure 85 percent of new TB cases in South Africa are at a risk of being reversed due to the explosive HIV epidemic. TB is the most common opportunistic infection and cause of death in people living with HIV in the country. This audio report is in Sesotho.

In response to the need to care for the rapidly growing number of children with HIV/AIDS, a community of Catholic sisters at Nazareth House in Cape Town, has embarked on a project in Khayelitsha where they have set up a day care centre for such children. The centre, Lizo Nobanda, opened its doors in July last year. Since its launch the number of children cared for has quickly risen to its capacity of 30. The ages of the children range from just a few months to six years. A job creation programme, "Ithemba Loo Mama" (Mothers' Hope) has started alongside the creche, giving employment and hope to mothers of the children in the care of Lizo Nobanda Day Care Centre. This audio report is in Sesotho.  

Prisoners at the Pietersburg Prison are being educated about how to prevent the transmission of HIV and the result is a prison population willing to be more honest about their sexual behaviour and the need to use condoms.

December 1st is World AIDS Day, but for Jabulile Ngwenya, every day could be an AIDS day. Jabulile is a teenager from the North West province who contracted HIV after being raped by her father over a period of time. Despite the virus that threatens to cut short her life, Jabulile believes in a future that is bright and full of opportunities. And most of her days she spends teaching people, especially children, about the epidemic. This report is in English and Sesotho.