Two South Africans have been appointed to a high-profile Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA). The University of Natal's Professor Alan Whiteside and World Bank managing official Dr Mamphele Ramphela are members of the 20-person commission, chaired by Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa K. Amoako, and established at the behest of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Commission's mandate is to study the impacts of HIV/AIDS on African state structures and economic development and identify threats to governance. It will report back in June 2005.

It'€™s almost two years since the first Living with AIDS programme went out on air. In this audio report, we listen back to some of the voices of people whose lives and work highlight key issues that still challenge our society.

What would make you change your sexual behaviour to ensure you were safe from risk? In this audio report, the head of the Centre for the Study of AIDS, Mary Crewe, talks about the shortcomings of many of the messages that have been used in South Africa to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. She argues that until messages acknowledge the context in which people are living and recognise the importance that emotions like desire have in motivating sexual behaviour, AIDS prevention messages are unlikely to help people change their risky sexual practices.

In Uganda, a concerted effort by political, community and religious leaders as well as the country's health sector has reduced HIV prevalence from a high of 30 percent to between 6 and 8 percent today. In this audio report we talk to Dr Alex Coutinho of TASA - The AIDS Support Organisation in Uganda - about what the country has done to destigmatise the disease and reduce HIV prevalence.

In this audio report, a collage of the sounds and voices from the 14th International AIDS conference that ended in Barcelona on Friday July 12. Voices include Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Joep Lange (new president of the International AIDS Society).

Former president Nelson Mandela has called on government and business leaders worldwide to find ways to provide access to treatment for all people living with HIV/AIDS who need it.

Based on existing resources, South Africa can '€œeasily afford'€ to provide anti-retroviral therapy to between 60 000 and 70 000 people in the next five years. This was the conclusion from a study by Dr Chris Kenyon of the Health Systems Trust and Dr Andrew Boulle, a registrar in the School of Public Health at the University of Cape Town, presented at the 14th World Conference on AIDS in Barcelona yesterday (Tuesday).

It's been two years since the world met in Durban to exchange knowledge and experiences about the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This Sunday, the 14th International AIDS conference opens in Barcelona, Spain. In this audio report two researchers working in Khayelitsha, Cape Town give a preview of papers they will present at Barcelona detailing the provision of antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings through the public health system.

Stigma and discrimination are sadly all too often associated with HIV/AIDS. In this audio report two women who are open about their HIV positive status recount their experiences at the hands of neighbours. Nontsikelelo endured a prolonged beating with a sjambok, but fought off a man who attempted to rape her, claiming he wanted to "taste" what it was like to have sex with someone who has HIV. Zoleka was sworn at and had her house damaged by neighbours jealous of her life who claimed she didn't deserve to be happy as she was a "walking coffin". Mandla Majola of the Treatment Action Campaign speaks out about the need for perpetrators to be brought to book.