The British government has given three South African organisations and researchers from five countries a multi-million rand grant to develop vaginal microbicides (a gel that can be used to prevent HIV transmission) over a five-year period.
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.
South Africa is among the world's leading countries hard at work in the search for an AIDS vaccine. Head of the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Dr Tim Tucker estimates it will be at least "7 to 10 years" before an effective vaccine will become available and affordable. In this audio report Tucker explains what the vaccine initiative is and why he is optimistic.
The Global Campaign for Microbicides has hit out at the lack of interest by large pharmaceutical companies to urgently develop a microbicide that could protect women against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
US doctors have come up with a new potential treatment for HIV infection that involves boosting the body's immune system so it can fight the virus more effectively.
Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has kicked off the New Year with the launch of a new plan aimed at tackling the unacceptably high tuberculosis (TB) rate in the country. The minister said it was 'not simply another piece of planning on paper'.
The AIDS helpline exists to offer advice and information to anyone wanting to know more about HIV and AIDS. Should I have an HIV test or not? What can I do if I discover I'm HIV positive? Who can I talk to about any concerns I have? Informed support is literally just a phone call away, on 0800-012-322.
Twenty years into the AIDS pandemic, condoms remain the only protection humanity has against the transmission of the HI virus during sex ' which is why interest in the female condom is growing.
Health workers and AIDS activists have applauded the Pretoria High Court decision which instructs government to extend their mother-to-child HIV transmission prevention programme throughout the country. In this editorial, Kerry Cullinan welcomes the judgment.
While anti-retroviral drugs for mineworkers remain out of reach, most mines have well-developed HIV/AIDS strategies.
A lack of treatment and care options, excessive workloads and defence against self-traumatisation are some of the reasons why doctors at Red Cross Children's Hospital do not form close bonds with their AIDS patients.
Laboratory rats deprived of sleep die within two to three weeks. A lack of sleep in humans makes us less productive and more accident prone. Kerry Cullinan takes a look at what researchers do and don't know about getting a good night's sleep. Next time your partner kicks you in his sleep, be tolerant. He may have "restless leg syndrome" ' one of a range of problems causing sleep disorders.
The Commission for Gender Equality claims virginity testing is sexist and unconstitutional. But the testers say they are saving girls from teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS.
The old traditional practice of virginity testing has been undergoing a revival in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands in an effort to protect girls and young women from HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Those in favour of the ritual say this is a valuable tradition that is not a "test", but a voluntary inspection and one in which young women are eager to participate.
A pilot project in Khayelitsha, Cape Town is hoping to show that it is possible to dispense antiretroviral therapy to people living in peri-urban, poor communities provided proper counselling and monitoring is in place. Matthew Damane has been taking a triple combination of drugs since June and is firmly convinced of the benefits the medication has made to his life.
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