Organisations of people living with HIV/AIDS will as from Monday (28-10-02) gather under one roof in a four-day summit aimed at assessing the way South Africa is responding to the AIDS crisis. The summit, convened by Thanduxolo Doro, representative of the PWA community on the SANAC, is in itself a response to a call made by the national AIDS co-ordinating body for every sector member to hold individual sectoral summits to discuss their future role and scope of work within the AIDS pandemic. Khopotso Bodibe looks ahead at the summit.

The time has come for men to become actively involved in combating violence against women says Bob R F Phato who presented a Men'€™s Forum petition Deputy President Jacob Zuma recently. Phato said the unacceptably high level of HIV infection was also a men'€™s issue and that men should begin to assume greater responsibility for health.

It is still not clear whether people living with HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal will ever see any of the $72-million granted to the province in April by the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). The Global Fund has indicated that from this week it will start to disburse money to projects approved in its first round of applications '€“ but unless procedural problems surrounding the KZN grant are cleared up, this province'€™s money will not come through. Kerry Cullinan reports.

Brown bread and mielie meal, the staple food of the country'€™s poorest citizens, will soon be fortified with vitamins to help combat malnutrition. According to draft regulations published by the Department of Health on Friday (October 18), it will soon be compulsory for the milling industry to add a range of micro-nutrients to their products or face legal action.

CAPE TOWN - Deputy-president Jacob Zuma has met with the Treatment Action Campaign leadership, the second positive indication in less than a week that Government was grappling with providing anti-retrovirals in the public sector. In a significant move, Zuma and director-general for health Dr Ayanda Ntsaluba met with the TAC representatives led by national chairperson Zackie Achmat and national secretary Mark Heywood at Tuynhuys on Tuesday night.

Men Care Enough to Act was the theme of the Men'€™s Imbizo held in Parow and Langa near Cape Town recently. Men in Partnership against HIV/AIDS also gathered in Cape Town to voice their frustration and disappointment at those men who continue to abuse women and children. The main focus of the event was the role men can play in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic and sexual and domestic violence in South Africa. Well-known South Africans such as Steve Khompela, Caesar Molebatse, Dumile Mateza, Blondie Makhene as well as hundreds of men from the nine South African Provinces attended the forum to show their support.

Khaya Nkontso, coordinator of PPASA'€™s Men As Partners programme, is trying to help raise men'€™s awareness around issues of reproductive health, sexuality and HIV. Khaya says not all men are violent and want to dominate women. He says many men are showing a greater willingness to become involved in health issues that affect themselves as well as women and children. One of Khaya'€™s aims is to educate men about HIV/Aids, sexual violence and how to work in partnership with their wives or lovers.

In its recent workshop in Cape Town, the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) agreed that the body should undergo massive restructuring in order for it to have a clear response to the HIV/AIDS challenge. SANAC has drawn criticism from a range of AIDS organisations, which accuse it of not representing the interests of people living with HIV/AIDS. The organisations have called for more representation on the SANAC of civil society as well as business organisations. Khopotso Bodibe filed this report.

Brian Smith, Human Resources Director at Volkswagen South Africa'€™s Uitenhage plant says that although his company has been involved in HIV education for quite some time a formal policy was only implemented in July this year. The National Union of Metal Workers is working with the company to make a success of the programme. Mr Smith was reluctant to confirm HIV prevalence at VWSA saying the company was awaiting results of saliva tests that were recently taken from workers. Thandeka Teyise reports.

In this audio report by Khopotso Bodibe, we hear how the unwillingness of many South Africans to speak openly about sex and HIV/AIDS is slowing down efforts to market the concept of sexual rights to society.

Have you ever heard about sexual rights? If you have are you denying others their sexual rights because you are simply too macho to care? Or, you can'€™t negotiate your sexual rights because you feel powerless to insist on them? Well, the Women'€™s Health Project '€“ an NGO that works in the field of women'€™s health promotion '€“ is currently running a workshop called '€œThe Sexual Rights Campaign'€ in an attempt to educate men, women and the youth about sexual rights and how they can be attained. Khopotso Bodibe reports.

Two hearts beating as one. No, this is not the title of the latest Hollywood blockbuster or a pop song. It'€™s a reality in the life of 37-year-old Paul Thesen.His life story could quite easily be a big hit, almost too incredible to be true.

Next time you get a sexually transmitted infection (STI), it may be worth your while to go to your local clinic rather than slinking off to see a private doctor. Researchers have found that the much-maligned government clinics are better at treating STIs than the average general practitioner (GP).

Stronger warning labels will be added to paracetamol sold in the United States in an effort to curb accidental overdoses that have lead to hundreds of deaths in that country. Anso Thom reports.