With the US presidential race too close to call, both candidates are trying to woo black voters, who are the poorest and most disadvantaged sector of American society with the highest burden of disease.

The Durex Global Sex Survey shows that South Africans are careless about AIDS. Fifty eight percent of us have unprotected sex despite living in a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence levels in the world. Health-e spoke to a matriculant living with AIDS about the importance of safer sex.

HIV/AIDS continues to challenge our society at every level '€“ including our schools. How dies a matric pupil cope with hearing that she is HIV positive mid-way through her final year at school and how has this affected her relationships with and preparations for her matric exams?

Improved relations between the sexes and a change in men'€™s attitudes can go a long way towards reducing gender-based violence and the spread of HIV. Creating better men is the goal of the Men as Partners network. Their latest project was launched recently in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.

After the birth and sudden death of her fourth child in 1997 the 27-year-old Nokwanda learnt that she was HIV positive. Writer SUSAN WINTERS tracks the final four years of Nokwanda'€™s life and the emotional and physical journey of the brave Eastern Cape mother and her family.

It happens in Zambia and Uganda. It'€™s also common practice among same-sex male couples in San Francisco, in the United States. Now it'€™s being introduced in South Africa. We'€™re talking about HIV counselling and testing for couples. Health-e News Service reports.

Naheng tsa Zambia le Uganda ha se ntho esele. E boela e le setlwaedi toropong ya San Francisco, Amerika, pakeng tsa baratani ba banna. Jwale ho se ho etsahala mona Aforika Borwa. Re bua ka hore balekane ba nke mohato wa ho fumana tsebo ka tshwaetso ya HIV le ho itlhatlhoba mmoho ka nako e le nngwe.

Ha o qala ho iphumana o na le tshwaetso ya HIV motho o atisa ho fihlelwa ke nako ya bodutu le ho touta. Health-e News Service e tlaleha ka mokgatlo wa ho qala kontinenteng ya Aforika eo sepheo sa ona e leng ho thusa baruti ba nang le tshwaetso ena kapa ba amehileng ha bohloko ka tlasa boima ba kokwana hloko ena.

A consultative workshop involving the national health minister, her provincial counterparts, scientists, researchers and other experts has agreed that nevirapine will remain as therapy to prevent the transmission of HIV from a pregnant women to her child. A decision on alternative therapy will be taken once further research has been conducted.

The greatest shortage among health professionals is in the nursing sector which has a 25 percent vacancy rate, but a failure to address human resource issues at all levels is undermining the entire public health system.

More than 20 years into the AIDS epidemic and UNAIDS estimates that worldwide some 38 million people are living with HIV. AIDS has killed an estimated 20 million people. At the closure of the 15th International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Machel pleaded with world leaders, politicians and the business community to combat the epidemic.