What should happen when miners who are HIV positive are injured or die as a result of working underground?

Can talking about sex to children help them understand the dangers of HIV and AIDS? As a mother and a role model, Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Minister for Public Service and Administration, feels it is important for parents to get involved in issues that relate to their children's health, especially when it comes to addressing HIV/AIDS. She says that discussing sexual issues with children should not be a taboo but an opportunity to enlighten children about the various choices they have. She says her own children are keen to talk about HIV/AIDS.

In many parts of Africa, talking openly about matters of sexuality is taboo and there is still a stigma attached to illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. In many traditionally patriarchal cultures, women and young people have little status or power when it comes to decision-making and this affects their ability to negotiate safe sex. Professor Davison Munodawafa, Director of the Guidance, Counseling and Youth Development Centre for Africa in Malawi, says while sex remains a private issue, AIDS has forced some parents to open up and talk about sex.

A debate around compulsory HIV testing of miners is set to shake the mining industry in the coming months, raising concerns around discrimination versus the protection of miners if their HIV status is known. By Khopotso Bodibe and Nawaal Deane.  

For Thanduxolo Bonkolo of Nyanga, Cape Town, facing up to his addiction to drugs is the only way he can survive. Thanduxolo says his addiction to the drug Mandrax turned him into a thief and that he even stole from his parents to support his habit. But he is trying to kick the habit and turned to the Guguletu Anti-Drug Association for help. Nomfanelo Plaatjie, of the Siyasebenza Clinic in the Phillipi Informal Settlement, says drugs have a negative impact not only on the people who abuse them but on their friends and family as well.

The Communities of Guguletu, Langa, Nyanga and Crossroads have taken upon themselves a responsibility to fight alcohol and drug abuse in their townships. Pupils, parents and elderly societies are saying enough to drug trafficking.

The first human trial of HIV vaccines to be held in South Africa is due to start in the next two to three months.

Government'€™s mother to child HIV prevention programme is in danger of turning into a dismal failure in at least six provinces. National staff have failed, repeatedly, to attend crucial meetings. Key provincial posts have been vacant for more than a year and there is a chaotic approach to crucial issues such as infant feeding, HIV testing, drug dosages and the following-up of babies and mothers. This does not bode well for an anti-retroviral treatment programme in the public sector.

A number of hawkers sell quick '€“ and often condomless -- sex on the side to supplement their incomes, an ILO study has found.

Hopes of most developing countries of stemming the tide of AIDS, TB and Malaria have very little chance of becoming reality.

How do well-known South Africans deal with talking about sex to their children? To celebrate youth during the month of June, Thandeka Teyise of Health-e News speaks to two role models. The Mayor of Cape Town, NomaIndia Mfeketho, says children have the right to know more about issues that affect them and that discussing sex opens their minds, enabling them to make informed choices. Essop Pahad, Minister in the President'€™s Office feels HIV awareness messages are getting through to the youth but adds that it is still best for parents to talk to their children about their options.

Sexism, culture and religion can have a positive or negative impact on the young. So says Brandon Keegan, an 18-year-old first year student at UCT and a Sunday school teacher at the Rondebosch United Presbyterian Church. Brendan feels churches can become more involved in HIV/AIDS awareness among young congregants who are often the most vulnerable. Thandeka Teyise of Health-e News Service compiled this audio in English.

Twenty-seven years ago, in 1976 the youth of South Africa stood up to wage a fight against the injustices of apartheid.