The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children'€™s Fund (UNICEF) have condemned the vitamin selling Matthias Rath Foundation.

Many relationships have collapsed under the strain that one partner has HIV. And the knowledge that a potential partner has HIV has dissuaded some from pursuing the relationship. Others refused to buckle under pressure.

South Africa in particular needs to show its commitment to treating HIV positive people with anti-retrovirials if the World Health Organisation target of treating three million people by the end of the year is to be met.

More children need to be put on anti-retrovirals as the drugs are rolled out to thousands of adults across the country. University of Witwatersrand Dr Haroon Saloojee revealed that only 31 children were accessing treatment in Mpumalanga.

Treating HIV positive people when their CD4 counts are above 200 is not only lifesaving, but also more cost effective, University of Cape Town Professor Robin Wood told a conference in Johannesburg.

Bonitas'€™s decision to courier antiretroviral drugs to its members is '€œunacceptable'€, says TAC.

A review of Uganda'€™s HIVNET 012 drug study has found Nevirapine to be effective and safe in preventing HIV transmission from mother to unborn child.

Several private sector pharmacies have run out of the Glaxo-Smith-Kline drug 3TC, an anti-retroviral drug used in combination with others. Indications are that GSK is struggling to meet demand.

The health department has announced with great fanfare that it '€œmet its target'€ for the year with at least one anti-retroviral service point in each of the 53 districts.

As South Africa joins the world in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the commitments made at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing this week, the threat posed by HIV/AIDS to women'€™s development, particularly in the developing world, continues to grow. Health-e, reports.